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Celeste glanced past him, at Eben. “Where did they go?”
“The Grey House,” Eben replied. “Sunny requested it. He offered her the world, but she kept him close by.”
Celeste nodded. It was a good start, and it showed Sunny really had thought it through and hadn’t been tempted. They were within reach. They could still help her. However, The Grey House would quickly become a fortress once they were inside.
Cullen turned away and set off toward town on foot.
Eben ran after him. “Get in my camper,” he called after Cullen, “we can drop you at the town.”
“You’ll ‘drop me’ nowhere,” Cullen retorted. “I’ll walk to The Grey House.”
Celeste darted over and put her hand on Cullen’s arm, soothing him with a dose of her special magic. “Get in the van, Cullen, it’ll be quicker.”
Cullen glared at them. “I must witness Nathaniel’s wrongdoings so I can avenge them.”
“Shall we allow it?” Celeste asked Eben.
“He can get in the van,” Eben replied, “if his wrists remain bound behind his back.”
Cullen reluctantly agreed.
Rowena and Aveline helped Eben tie him up.
Cullen growled and cursed and wrestled with his restraints, bellowing with frustration.
Eben clamped his hand over Cullen’s mouth.
Cullen continued to wrestle and Eben glanced Celeste’s way, seeking permission to restrain him by magic.
She nodded. Cullen was a total liability, but it would delay them to put him under a strong enough spell to keep him safe and out of harm’s way. “Quickly, get in the van. We can’t afford to waste any more time, we need to get out there.”
They all headed for the van and piled in, with Cullen sitting on the floor in the back of the camper surrounded by the others.
Eben put his foot on the floor, racing along the roads and up the hill to Fox’s manor house.
Willow followed in her Mini.
Celeste tried to reason with Cullen along the way, but he refused to stay behind in the town.
“You must let her sort this, Cullen,” Celeste said as they rattled along the roads at supernatural speed.
He went silent, but the look in his eyes remained unsettling.
Unsurprisingly, when they reached their destination, the twenty feet high gates were locked.
“Okay, everybody, it’s going to take all our power to get inside.”
Forming a chain, they wrapped their hands around the bars on the gates and pooled their joint efforts, all of them vibrating with the energy it took to open the gates. Eventually, they clicked open.
Once inside the grounds, Celeste instructed them. “Scatter in pairs, surround the building. We have to be ready to deflect his shield. He’ll want to trap Sunny inside.”
She waved to Eben, gesturing him closer. “Stay with me. Secure Cullen in the van first, though. He means well but he can’t be trusted.”
She waited for Eben to return.
As he walked back from the van, the van started rocking and jolting.
Creeping through the foliage, Celeste peered in the dining room windows. Luck was on their side. She’d been rightly drawn to this spot. She spotted Sunny as she weaved energy around Fox’s form, who was in his seat at the opposite end of the table to her, eating.
