He snorted and stepped away to lean against a nearby tree, showing that he was going to watch me.
That was fair. I turned and headed to the house. My heart was pounding by the time I got to Gale’s front door. I felt foolish for the amount of adrenaline going through my system. All I was doing was ringing a doorbell, it was unlikely anything big was going to happen.
Unfortunately, I was right, nothing happened. I rang again and again, making it clear to anyone inside that I wasn’t leaving until they came to the door. Determination replaced nerves and I pounded my fist against the wood, making the entire door rattle.
Still nothing.
I tried the knob, but it was firmly locked. Then I noticed a sizable gap under the door. I knelt down and pulled my sleeve back to reveal Marduk.
“The door’s locked and no one is answering,” I told him. “Could you slip inside?”
He answered by slithering out from inside my sleeve and under the door. Soon the door was opening, and I was faced by an almost human-sized serpent with his tail around the knob.
He pushed his head into my hand and nudged until my hand was palm up. Then, shrinking back down, starting at his tail and ending with his head so all of him ended up in my hand. He disappeared up my sleeve again with a happy little flick of the tip of his tail.
He liked it there, and I was becoming fond of him wrapped around my arm too.
Danzig appeared at my side as I stood up. “Should I assume that no one is home?”
“I can't imagine they were able to ignore all my ringing and banging,” I said and stepped inside with Danzig right behind me. The place was sparsely furnished with only a single chair and a folding table in the dining room.
I stepped further into the house. “This doesn’t look right.”
“Not at all,” Danzig agreed. “It doesn’t feel like anyone actually lives here. I can feel the remnants of auras, several humans and the casket druid, but no one has been here for at least a week.”
“Then there’s no danger in searching the place,” I said.
Danzig nodded, and we went through every room. They were all empty, and we ended up back at the folding table.
“This is weird," I muttered.
“It is,” Danzig agreed, then turned and looked at a door at the end of the kitchen. “Wait, there's one more place to look.”
I followed him to the door into a two-car garage full of boxes. They were stacked to the ceiling with only enough room to walk a path to the far wall.
“What’s going on here?” I murmured. I pulled the top box off the nearest stack and opened it. That didn’t help. The contents made me more confused.
I frowned. “What am I looking at?”
“That’s fur,” Danzig said, peering over my shoulder. “Amur leopard fur. They’re critically endangered.”
I opened the next box. “Is this a horn?”
Danzig nodded. “Rhino horn.”
I looked around the room. “I bet every box contains something like fur or a horn. This is disgusting."
“This is our link between Gale, Leif, and the casket druid,” Danzig said.
“I don't get the connection,” I said.
Danzig pointed to the boxes. “They were providing him with items for his magic.”
“It’s still weird," I said, rubbing my hands on my jeans. I felt horrible simply from touching these items.
“What do you mean?” Danzig asked.
“It’s obvious no one lives here,” I said, pointing around the room. “But this was listed as Gale’s most recent address. Where is she actually living? And if Gale and Leif were giving him what he needed, why are Leif and his friends dead? Does this mean Gale is probably a pile of dust somewhere?”
