Page 62 of Woods of the Raven

“Okay, so she’s hiding in this pocket dimension, trying to kill me, yeah?”

“Yes,” Declan confirmed.

Lorne summed up, “And she’s going to kill more girls and put one on every side of his land so that when Xander calls to the corners of whatever, he basically won’t be able to.”

“That was the plan, yes.”

“Was the plan?” Lorne sighed deeply. “It’s not the plan anymore?”

“No,” Declan told him. “It can’t be.”

He explained that because one side of the land ended at the ocean, it wasn’t possible to place a body there. It would move with the tide, might be pushed too close onto the land or be pulled too far out to sea for the exact boundary of the land.

“So then, there won’t be more dead girls?” Lorne asked him.

“Not for that reason,” Declan affirmed. “But it doesn’t mean the people in your town are safe while she’s here.”

“I understand,” Lorne said sadly.

“You know,” Declan began, his gaze on me, “whoever put the wording in the deed to your land, about the boundaries, was very smart.”

“Witches are cagey that way.” I winked at him.

“And even if they hadn’t, your land is, as Rulaine said, locked with those on both sides of you. Your neighbors were included with the secondary warding. Why is that?”

“Neighbors are important to protect, don’t you think?”

He threw up his hands in defeat. “You don’t have to answer, of course you don’t, but I’m compelled to ask—how far down are those wards buried, and what were they wrought with?”

He’d never believe me if I told him about the chthonia, the rare, primordial, bled for, birthed for, earth magic that once was known to many but over the centuries changed first into superstition, then eventually became forgotten lore.

“It’s ancient, isn’t it, whatever you tap into?”

“Yes,” I conceded. “In my family, the old ways were passed down.”

“You’re fortunate. Because it’s all well and good to know the wards are there, but another thing altogether to be powerful enough to reach them.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“That’s protection, banishment, and clearing magic all tied to what? Blood? Bone?”

“Sacred midnight things,” I answered, smiling at him.

“I understand. You won’t tell me, and let’s face it, I had a bit of magic as a faun, but it never served me in the least. I’m thrilled to be done with all of it.”

“Well, I’m glad, because the change is irreversible.”

“Not to worry. I’m overjoyed to never lay eyes on Rulaine again. Her true form is terrifying.”

“She won’t be able to detect you,” I promised him. “That’s elemental magic she doesn’t have.”

“I know, and thank you again.”

“Last thing,” I said, crossing my arms. “Can you tell me who Rulaine is trying to bring through the rift on my land?”

He sighed deeply. “I wish I knew, but I honestly don’t know. Rulaine didn’t trust me enough to say. I know she told Sola. If you know a necromancer, Sola could be resurrected and made to answer your questions.”

“You can do that?” Lorne asked him.