“Sure, but that doesn’t mean you’re likable. People might tolerate a dickhead, but it doesn’t make you any less of a dickhead.”
“Well.” He straightened and lifted me a little higher. “Maybe so. Let’s hurry now, before your winged friends try to follow us.”
I laughed, closed my eyes, and reached for the power of Ivy House. “There is a reason those others tried to capture me when I wasn’t on this property.”
All her defenses were at the ready, waiting for me to call out which ones I wanted. Ready to play with him like a cat plays with a mouse. She hungered for it.
Not yet, though. He had information, and the grounds were extensive. I had time.
“Yes, I know,” he said. “Afraid of a house. The actual house, not the people in it.” He laughed and lifted his hands. “They were afraid the house would stop them, and yet here I am. I didn’t burn to ash the moment I set foot on the grounds, and I have the chosen in my possession.”
We passed Austin, who lay unmoving on the floor, and I reached out to him, my heart lodged in my throat. My hand hit somewhat pliant magical bars. The memory of falling through that spidery web flashed through my mind again. The magic felt similar—did that mean this prison was breakable too?
“Many of my colleagues studied the ancient texts about this house and the chosen, and they were naïve enough to take them literally. It didn’t occur to them that history evolves over time, and lore and myth often get confused for fact. A magical house with battle defenses does make for a good story. Not quite a believable story, but a good one. Now…” He opened the front door, peered out, sent a pulse of magic, and then walked out the rest of the way, pulling me behind him in my floating prison. “What I found helpful was the information about the chosen. She is the heir to a wealth of magic, yes, we know, but she doesn’t have access to it all at once. She has to learn it, little by little, until she’s experienced enough to handle the large dumps of magic she is given. You are awarded the magic you can handle. The other night was enough to convince me you can’t handle much, hmm? And thus, here you are.”
“You have got to be, and I don’t mean this kindly, the biggest know-it-all I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a few. You are never invited to parties, are you? All the droning on and on. Is that why you weren’t working with that other group? Do you have to skulk around alone because no one wants to listen to you?”
He sniffed, walking fast now, heading for the trees. I could feel a ripple of magic flowing behind us, magically covering our tracks. Austin had said that a mediocre mage could do that for fifty yards or so. The woods here were much bigger than that, except Austin wasn’t awake to find us. It would be a long walk back if the gargoyles couldn’t figure it out, and given the mess they’d made of things the last time, they might not.
Thinking of Austin made me throb with worry. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply for a moment, seeking out Ivy House.
“Can I heal him? “I asked. “I know I am supposed to find my own way, but in this… Can I heal him? Please help me.”
“You already are. You do not have to touch to heal. It began when you tried to reach out to him. You can use your magical connection to give him energy. Love strengthens the bond and quickens the pace.”
I ripped away the privacy blocks from my connections to Austin and Edgar, annoyed that I hadn’t thought about that myself. Edgar’s strength came through immediately, the blast he’d gotten clearly not as severe. I focused on Austin, thinking about my desperation to help him, to heal him—trying to touch him this way as I’d tried to physically touch him through my magical prison.
“Ah, here we go.” The man walked us into the woods, the trees reaching over us, concealing us from anyone flying overhead. “Gargoyles battle, they don’t search for prey. The big alpha hasn’t been coming to the house much—I didn’t think he’d be here. Lucky stroke for me how it ended up, huh?”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Well, if you must know, to the holding cell where the contract holder will collect you. He put a high price on your head.”
Whoever was behind this had sent out multiple teams of people, not just one group, and he’d clearly set it up like some sort of bounty-hunter situation. That wasn’t ideal.
“Where’s this holding cell? You people have magical prisons?”
“Ah. If I told you that, I’d have to kill you.” He chuckled to himself even though his joke didn’t quite fit the situation.