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His words sounded from outside and inside my head. While they were words I understood, they were distinctly wolf in origin, distorting them a bit. I did my best not to twitch. I used to be accustomed to this way of speech, but the centuries apart would require me to get back to that.
Frey leaned against the deck railing. “I need to know your secret to domesticating him so quickly.”
Astrid laughed, and Fen gave an indignant snort.
I turned my attention to the kitchen door when it opened, Aya and Diego walking out to join us. “So, care to share what’s going on?”
We’d known Diego had gone off on a walk with Angel while we worked with Astrid, to ensure the dog didn’t get in the way, and it could be guessed that Aya had gotten the call from him, so why Aya and Fen met up with him in such a hurry needed to be understood.
“Wait, don’t be rude,” Astrid chastised. “Frey, Dahlia, this is Diego. Diego, Frey and Dahlia.”
“Hey, nice to meet you.” Diego smiled in a way that made Dahlia’s eyes flutter for a moment.
“Hey, yourself,” she responded.
Frey slid his arm around Dahlia’s waist while offering a polite greeting back.A little possessive, Frey, are you?I could see now what Astrid meant when she said Diego was a charmer by nature, and how she might misinterpret his interest in her because of it. Unfortunately, I was also aware he’d made that interest clear to her recently at some point, thanks to Aya letting it slip, so I really did have competition for her affection.
Now that she was immortal, I theoretically shouldn’t have any issues coming out on top. But even I was swayed by her when she was mortal, so Diego’s shorter life expectancy wasn’t a guaranteed deal breaker.
“Anyway,” Diego said, “I was making sure I understood where Aya’s magic shield ended when Angel started acting weird. If I got too close, she tried to force me away, which proved to us she is very much aware of Aya’s magic, even though she’s not yet a full familiar. I thought the behavior was strange, when I spotted some weird scratch marks on a tree just outside the border, so I wanted Aya to take a look.”
He pulled out his phone and showed us a picture of crudely carved runes in a tree trunk. A muscle in my neck twitched. Could it really be that this shifter had found Astrid like Aya worried?
Aya nodded, as if she could see my thoughts. “It was the shifter. Fen confirmed there was a distinct wolf shifter scent in the markings left, but he was struggling to identify them as an individual, so he’s not sure if he just doesn’t know this one, or something else is at play, as, strangely, that was the only area with a scent of this shifter.”
“We crossed paths with Sean while out there, and he and the forest also couldn’t provide more answers for us,” Diego added.
Astrid set her full attention on Aya. “What does this mean? What was the purpose of leaving such a mark? It’s clear it was deliberate.”
My hand curled. “It’s a calling card.”
Everyone shifted their attention to me. Fen even left his wolf shape and climbed up to join us like the uncivilized mongrel he still was, leaving Angel to run into the house on her own.
“It was fairly common back in the day,” Fen said. “Shifters and Berserkers would leave them to declare something, usually to settle a score. Given we’re sure this wolf is the same one who killed Astrid before, no doubt that’s his intent.”
“There has been a lot of immortal activity here lately,” Astrid murmured. “If this shifter has been watching and waiting for an opportunity to strike again, the changes wouldn’t go unnoticed.”
“How would they know?” Diego asked. “Besides Tyr, who drove here, everyone else has teleported in.” His eyes flicked to Frey and Dahlia. “I assume you two teleported in, at least.”
Dahlia nodded. “Aya said it was okay to do.”
“It is,” Aya said. “And that magical activity is possibly the telling sign. The ability to sense magic isn’t just relegated to those who can use it. There are plenty out there sensitive to it, especially if they’ve been touched by it themselves.”
“We know nothing about this shifter,” I said. “So it’d be best to assume they can sense it, especially if they’re cocky enough to leave a calling card.”
“It would also be best if Astrid doesn’t leave the retreat without someone there to protect her,” Aya said. “Until she’s trained enough to hold her own, we can’t allow this mongrel to get too close to her.”
“What about the festival this weekend?” Diego asked. “Will she be safe? Do we need to protect the whole town from this shifter?”
Aya shook her head. “I can’t make a shield that large, and I won’t risk taking this one down to move it just for the festival. If they somehow get into the house while we’re out, and then I erect the barrier again, it won’t evict them. We’ll just have to make sure Astrid isn’t alone.”
Astrid frowned, and I could understand why. She was strong-willed enough to not want a babysitter, but smart enough not to argue.Don’t worry, Valkyrie, we’ll get this shifter, and then you can be free.
Astrid took a deep breath and latched onto Dahlia’s arm. “This is getting too serious for me. I’m told you’re a dragon. I seriously need to see that.”
Dahlia’s eyebrow lifted. “You want to see the cute humanoid version, or the big winged lizard?”
“Yes,” Astrid said, making Dahlia laugh. “Oh! And I’m told you and your sister play D&D, and we need more players at our Saturday table.”
