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“It wasn’t,” I cut in gently. “The anomaly in our blood saved her.”
“Then she is a ghost?”
“No. She’s a spirit guide.”
Mom sucked in a breath, then blindly reached behind her, found a chair, and all but collapsed into it.
“Your spirit guide?” she whispered.
I couldn’t help smiling. “I think the general consensus in the spirit world is that I’m not a suitable candidate for a guide.”
“That is a certainty,” Belle said, amused.
Mom glanced at her. “Then why is she even contacting Elizabeth, let alone helping her? That’s an extremely unusual situation, isn’t it?”
“Cat was an extremely unusual woman, and that has transferred over to the spirit world,” Belle replied. “According to my guides, her power gives her some flexibility in her interactions with our world, as does the fact that—despite her death thirteen years ago—she has not yet been assigned her witch.”
Mom sucked in a quivering breath and released it slowly. Calm descended once again across her features. “Then we wait for Catherine to contact you?”
“I don’t think we dare,” I said, at the same time as Samuel. I flashed him a smile and added, “We leaving now?”
“Given we only have an hour, yes. Until we’re sure you can track your father, it’s impossible to make other plans.”
“You’ll still search for him in the meantime, of course,” Mom said.
It wasn’t a question but rather a statement, and Samuel’s smile cooled. “Of course.”
She nodded and pushed to her feet. Samuel led us back to the cars, and in very little time, we were heading back across Canberra to the Marlowe compound. Guards were still very much present, despite the fact neither Mom nor Dad were. Security opened the gates, and we followed the sweeping driveway around to the front of the building, then stopped. Belle’s phone rang, the ringtone telling me it was Monty.
“Answer it, or he’ll stress out,” I said. “It’s going to take me time to locate a link anyway.”
She immediately did so. I climbed out, my gaze sweeping the building. I’d been born and raised here, but in some respects, it had never truly been the home of my heart, simply because I’d always felt like an outsider. It may have been nothing more than the imaginings of a child not getting the same attention as her siblings, but still…
It remained absolutely beautiful to look at—a Victorian-style double-brick residence of grand proportions—but the style and beauty were just a front. Its heart was barren and ugly.
I blinked.
That ugliness was real, not emotive.
I swallowed and said, “Ladies and gents, we have a problem.”
“We do indeed.” Ashworth stopped beside me and studied the house. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s a transport void.”
“Void spells are theoretical,” Samuel said. “I’ve certainly never seen any evidence of their existence.”
“Well, you have now,” Eli said.
Mom frowned. “Rodrika would have the power to create a transport void, but I sincerely doubt she’d have the knowledge. All references are kept secure, and any attempt to access them is immediately reported.” Her gaze swept the house. “Surely the twenty minutes they were here wouldn’t have given them time to create such a thing.”
“It’s possible the demon managed to snare a naturally occurring one. They’re rare, and generally too small for human use, but they can be adjusted.” Amusement briefly flared in Ashworth’s eyes. “It’s been theorized such voids are the reason socks go into a washing machine as a pair and come out single.”
I snorted. “If I find those socks when I go through this void, I’ll let you know.”
“You can’t go through,” Mom said. “You could quite literally end up anywhere in the world. These things can even cut through the rules of time and space.”
“They didn’t have the time to create a complex void, let alone one that allows backward travel,” Ashworth said. “The latter is a dangerous and complex process that takes days, not minutes. And if things go wrong... well, let’s just say there’s a reason they’re banned.”
I glanced at him. “That suggests you’ve come across one before.”
