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“We should both probably take a nap,” I said. “My migraine is sitting on the outer edge of my energy field but if I don’t get some more sleep, it’s going to clobber me.” I turned to Ari. “So, what about the house? What shape is it in?”
Ari pressed her lips together. “It’s going to take some renovation. A lot of the downstairs is scorched. The upstairs is mostly smoke and water damage, but the fire really tore through the first floor. The kitchen was gutted, and dining room too—and the fresh paint acted like some form of accelerant. I’m afraid all my work added to the damage.” She stared glumly at the floor. “I can’t do anything until the insurance assesses the damage.”
“I’ll call them tomorrow morning and get the ball rolling,” I said. “We have the official cause of the fire now—magical arson.” I paused, then added, “You know, if we hadn’t already set up all our plans, I’d postpone the wedding until everything was running smoothly again. But we’d lose thousands on deposits if we reschedule now.”
“Don’t reschedule. You need something good in your life,” Ari said. “We’ll make it work. So what if it’s going to take longer? I can still work from my house and renovate during the evenings and my days off.”
“Right. It’s far too late to change dates,” Killian said. “I’m going to go take a nap. January? Join me?”
I was so tired that I decided we’d have to hope that Mills wasn’t anywhere in the area until we’d gotten some sleep. “I hate that I’m battling this constant fatigue.” I glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. “I’ll set my alarm for one-thirty.” The thought of lying down on the bed sounded absolutely wonderful. But before we could head into the bedroom, Rowan returned.
“That was Marquette. She’s located Mills. He’s holed up in a house that buttresses the Mystic Wood, overlooking the bay. She used a scrying spell. We have to go now, before he decides to go underground. Are you up to going with me? We can’t let Millie take a chance. Mills is powerful enough he could destroy her before she even managed to get out her weapon.”
I glanced at Killian. My headache was bad, but it wasn’t ready to overwhelm me yet. “I can go,” I said.
“I’m going too, if she is,” Killian said. “I’m not about to let you go after a killer who’s already got you in his sights. I’ve been hurt worse than this and if I grab some coffee, then I should be good to go.”
I turned to my grandmother. “Are you sure you want to go?”
“You’ll need my magic,” she said.
“I’ll come,” Hank broke in. “I can help.”
“We’ll need somebody else,” I said.
“I can—” Ari started to speak.
“No,” I said. I wasn’t about to ask Ari to go. Not with the fact that she was about to become a parent. “You aren’t putting yourself in jeopardy.” I thought for a moment. But before I could suggest anyone else, Tarvish stood up.
“I’m coming. Consider me brawn.”
Tarvish was more of a pacifist than anything, but as he stretched, flexing his muscles, I caught a wave of serious power. While we all knew he had specialized powers, created by the witch who had created him, they seldom rose to the surface.
“There’s a good chance that I’ll be able to throw a scare into him that should distract him. But first, a question: are we aiming to kill, or to disable?” Tarvish’s eyes gleamed.
I glanced at Rowan. “What do we do here?”
“We target to destroy. Those were our orders. Mills has already killed one of our own, and his purpose here is to disrupt the protection that the Crystal Cauldron holds over the town. So, we take him out.” She held my gaze. “If you can’t handle that thought, don’t come with us. That goes for everyone. I need you all to be ready to act as though your life depends on this. If we simply turn him over to the cops, he’ll find a way to escape.”
I grabbed my portable magic kit, and we headed out to Killian’s SUV. Once again, Hank drove while I rode shotgun. Rowan and Killian took the second seat, and Tarvish scrunched into the back. As we pulled out from the driveway, I hoped that we weren’t on a wild goose chase. And yet, part of me feared that we’d find our target—and that he’d be even worse than we thought.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“So, where is he?” I asked.
Rowan was sitting behind me, and she gave me the coordinates for Jerica. “229 Miller’s End. He’s hiding out in an abandoned house at the end of a dead-end private road. Marquette found him thanks to what seems to be a disruption zone around the house.”
“What’s a disruption zone?” I asked.
“An anti-magic zone. A place where magic has a tendency to fail. Mills set up boundaries, of course, to obscure his presence, but Marquette recognized the static, and waited to confirm it was him. It also means that magic may fail us—and him—so if you see a chance to take him out when his defenses are down, go for it.” Rowan stared out her window, and the look on her face scared me.
I thought about all the hard choices she had been forced to make over the years, like killing the predator who had kidnapped and killed Colleen’s daughter. And who knew how many other choices Rowan had faced? It was then that I realized I had no clue when my grandmother had been born, or what she had done in her early life.
“How did the Covenant of Chaos catch on?” Killian asked. “Who would want to support such an organization?”
“Those who are unhappy in their lives, who think they’re entitled to whatever they want in this world. Those who don’t want to work for what they have—who believe they’re above others and should be granted wish after wish without accepting the ramifications for their actions. And then there are those who are so miserable, they can’t stand it when other people are happy. Some years ago, several of them came together and decided that if their lives were in upheaval, maybe they could have the upper hand and command the power they felt was rightfully theirs. So they began invoking the Elder Gods of Chaos.”
“Who exactlyarethe Elder Gods?” Killian asked.
