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Now I was really bristling. “Look,” I said, taking another step forward and summoning a glow of magic into my hand with a flick of my wrist. “What would be good for me is if you got the hell out of here and all of you left me and the rest of us alone. Tell the Frankfords they should remember what’s good forthem. Or maybe you should just think about what’s good for you.”
The man’s gaze jerked to the quavering light dancing around my fingers. A fire I could have called all the way into being and thrown at him if I’d really wanted to. It’d have been more for show than functional, but it still could have burned.
“Rose.” Gabriel’s voice carried across the yard like a warning. He’d come out of the garage apartment. He glanced from me to the guy and strode over to join us. “You heard her,” he said tightly. “Lady Hallowell asked you to leave.”
“I’ll leave when I’m damn well ready—”
An engine rumbled on the road. A pick-up truck pulled up just behind the guy. Seth frowned at him from the driver’s seat as he leaned out the open window. “Is there a problem?” he asked me. The muscles in his shoulders had flexed.
The Frankfords’ lackey might be burly, but Seth had at least half a foot on him, plus a little extra muscle besides that. Not to mention the truck. He’d left the engine running at a low growl.
The guy looked from me and my two consorts behind me to the one in the truck and seemed to decide he’d finally outstayed his welcome. “Mr. Frankford isn’t going to be pleased that you handled the situation like this,” he said, turning to go.
“You can let him know I’m not pleased he sent you at all,” I called after him.
I waited until the Frankfords’ man was well down the road before I opened the gate for Seth. Not that I really thought the guy would try to dash in—what would that even accomplish?—but caution seemed wise. I’d gathered the magic I’d sent to my hand back into my body, where it thrummed at an agitated key.
“Are you okay?” Seth asked, jumping out of the truck. “Who was that guy?”
“Some jerk the Frankfords sent to poke around,” Jin said. “Our Briar Rose brought out the thorns.” He grinned.
“I’m fine,” I said, but I leaned into the embrace Seth offered anyway. Few things made me feel quite as secure as his solid body against mine. “I just wish they’d back off.” I paused, straightening up again, and motioned the guys away from the gate. The three of them followed me around the other side of the garage.
“You know not to talk about any of this, even with each other, outside these walls, right?” I said quietly. “From some of the things he said, it’s obvious they’re monitoring what goes on around the estate, like I thought they might be. I can block them from spying right inside, but to try to push those protections farther…”
“You shouldn’t strain yourself,” Gabriel said. “We’ve had a lot of practice keeping our mouths shut in the last couple months. You don’t have to worry.”
“Even Ky and I don’t talk about anything to do with you or the rest of it when we’re not here,” Seth said. “Sometimes it’s hard, but—better than the alternative.”
I let out my breath. “Okay. Okay. Damn it!” Every time I started to think I’d gotten a handle on things, every time I found a new strategy to pursue, the Frankfords pushed back a little harder. And I hadn’t even started to really push at them yet. If they’d wanted to make me feel hemmed in, they’d succeeded.
“He’s gone now,” Jin said. “You put him in his place. I was ready to start applauding.”
“But he’ll come back, or they’ll send someone else—or something else.” I paced to the side of the garage and back again. “I thought we’d have more time than this. Do they even think about what they’re doing? I promised not to talk about them or share what we found.Inever promised not to hurtthem.”
“Rose.” Gabriel caught my arm, turning me toward him. His bright blue eyes searched mine. “You don’t really mean that,” he said.
The concern in his tone deflated some of my anger. Only some. “I don’t,” I muttered. “Not that I’d be all that sorry to hear it if something happened to them another way. I wouldn’t go calling down their wrath on us like that.”
His gaze stayed on me, the corners of his mouth tensing in a way that made my chest clench up a little, even though I wasn’t sure what was bothering him.
Jin motioned toward the house. “You know,” he said, “I’ve been thinking, if you don’t mind me messing with the décor… I could do in the house what we did with that tour bus we drove back from New York—paint glyphs on the walls to help support all that protective magic you’re doing. I could probably blend it into a sort of trim along the ceiling so it looked like a quirky design, not anything your staff would associate with magic.”
Something in me twisted at the idea of shaking up the traditional look of my childhood home just to fend off villains like the Frankfords. But we did have to fend them off. And… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to change the house up a little anyway. It held a lot of good memories, but there were a lot of bad ones in that place now too.
“All right,” I said. “That’s a great idea. Let’s really make the place ours.”
Chapter Eight
Rose
Iwasn’t sure what time it was when my phone started ringing, but I’d been asleep for just long enough for my head to feel muggy as I woke up, and the sky outside my bedroom window was completely dark. Seth, who’d stayed for dinner and ended up spending the night, stirred next to me. He hugged me where his arm was looped around my waist as if encouraging me to stay put.
My heart was already thumping too fast for that. Why would anyone be calling me this late unless it was an emergency?
Reluctantly, I scooted out of my consort’s embrace and grabbed the phone off the bedside table. The number was Imogen’s. I stared at it for a second, dazed, trying to figure out why the hell one of the witches staying under my roof would be phoning me instead of walking across the hall if she wanted to talk. Then I shook myself a little more awake and hit the talk button.
“Imogen?” I said, managing to sound reasonably conscious.
