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It's Darcy. And a quick glance behind Annie reveals he isn’t alone. Blaire and Edmond are with him, Blaire looks ready to break-and-enter in an all-black outfit with a black knit cap pulled over her curly brown hair and Edmond is pacing like an anxious husband outside a maternity ward.
I clear my throat and force myself to release Annie’s hand. “Thank you. For bringing them.”
“Of course,” she says, her lips curving as she steps away from the door. “Colin’s already at your place with his forensics team, looking for clues.”
I follow her out, tailed by a huffing Laura who hurls herself at Edmond, moaning and fussing as he braces himself to remain upright through the embrace.
“I understand. You poor lamb,” he murmurs as he rubs a hand up and down her shuddering back. “I’m here now, love, no worries. I’m just glad you’re all right.”
Laura pulls back, groaning at length while waving a paw toward Annie and me.
For a heart-stopping moment, I’m afraid she’s tattling on me for making out in the catacombs, but when Edmond’s gaze shifts our way, there’s only worry in his blue eyes.
He continues to rub Laura’s head as he translates for the rest of us. “Laura was returning from foraging yesterday when she saw the cabin door burst open and things start flying off the shelves inside. Not long after, a leather tube of some sort floated out the door and disappeared toward the mountain on the other side of the swamp. But as far as she could see, there was no one carrying it.” Edmonds glances back at Laura, who’s nodding in relief to have finally been able to tell her story. “She thinks it might have been a ghost.”
“Or a vampire in an alternate form,” Darcy says, echoing my thoughts exactly. “I have no idea what a ghost would want with the architectural plans for the Blackmore mansion, but a vampire from a rival clan…”
Edmond sucks in a breath. “That’s what was in the tube?”
“Yes.” I curse myself for not realizing the leather holder was missing this morning. “All the plans, dating back to the seventeenth century. Every secret passageway, panic room, and escape route is clearly marked.”
Darcy’s lips firm into a grim line. “I’ll head to the estate now and warn Ferris we’ll need to rethink our security plans. Urgently.”
“I’ll come with you,” Blaire says. “I’ve been working on a few spells that might be able to help.”
Darcy shakes his head. “No, you should go with Baron first. Make sure his cabin is protected with your strongest wards and join me after. I’ll stop by the pub on my way to the estate and warn Casey that I might not be home to feed Amy in the morning. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”
“Amy’s doing better with the sippy cup,” Annie says. “She’ll be fine. And Casey will understand. Keeping everyone safe from a hostile takeover comes first.” She shoots a searching look my way. “I’m assuming that’s what’s happening here? Someone wants to be the new vampire in charge?”
My jaw clenches as I nod. “Though I doubt it’s a single vampire working alone.”
“I wonder if this has anything to do with the people who kidnapped us last fall,” Blaire muses, glancing toward the bluffs by the sea. “From the beginning, my gut has said someone paid those shifters to jump us. Otherwise, what would have been the point? We didn’t have any money or drugs on us, and those guys were allegedly law-abiding citizens before. Something motivated them. Or someone.”
“As far as we know they were law abiding citizens,” Darcy says. “They’d only been in town a few months.”
“But you do know all Blackmore Manor’s secrets,” Edmond says. “You, Colin, and Baron are probably the only ones who do.”
“I should have hidden the plans,” I say, shame dragging at my lungs, making it hard to pull in a breath. “Or worked on the design for the addition at the estate.”
“You had no way of knowing someone was planning to break into your home,” Darcy says.
“I should have. Or at least been prepared for the possibility. Lately, I’ve felt…watched. And not by a force that means me well.”
“I’ve felt the same thing,” Edmond adds, sending Darcy’s brows arching higher on his forehead.
“It’s okay that you didn’t notice, Darcy,” Annie says. “You and Blaire have been busy falling in love and saving the town.”
“Not an excuse for dropping balls,” Blaire says, dragging a clawed hand through her hair before plopping her sock cap back on and tugging it down to her ears. “But no use crying over spilt milk. There’s too much to do.” She pushes up on tiptoe to kiss Darcy’s cheek. “I’ll see you at the manor soon. It shouldn’t take long to ward Baron’s place. Protection spells are pretty easy these days.”
“See you soon,” Darcy echoes as he presses his lips to her forehead. “And be careful—all of you. Don’t go anywhere alone. Edmond, stay with Blaire. Baron, make sure Annie gets home safely before you join us at the estate. I assume you’ll be staying in the guest wing until we get to the bottom of all this?”
“That might be best,” I say, though the thought is enough to make my bones itch. I’ve grown so accustomed to the isolation at my cabin, I can’t sleep when there are other people nearby.
Especially people who stay up half the day gossiping in the junior clan barracks located beneath my guest suite at the manor…
“But once Blaire’s warded Baron’s cabin, he should be safe to stay there, right?” Annie asks, adjusting the duffle bag slung over her chest as she glances my way, “I mean, if he wanted to. I know how hard it is to feel rested when you’re not in your own bed.”
“You clearly haven’t seen Baron’s sad little bed,” Darcy says dryly.
