“Mhm.” I nodded, seeing that I obviously had to switch gears or he’d likely clam up with more off jokes. “Aaaand you never commented about your lack of teammates. You were picked on in magical school, weren’t you? Always the odd man out. I hear this tale a lot. Do you hold a grudge? Is going out on your own, sticking your nose up at the other team, your way of saying nah-nah-nah-nah?”
He looked back at me, annoyed. “A Jane becoming magical. What a strange turn of events. I doubt they’ll mention that in the history books.”
“I doubt they’ll mention you, either.”
He puffed up. “If I bring you in, I will earn a coveted place on one of the most elite magical teams in the nation. I will earn a highly desired spot at a master’s table. The money I earn from bringing you in will allow me to hire a bard, if I want, or marry from within the magical elite.”
I didn’t know what the most elite magical team was, but someone surely would. This guy was just shedding hints, likely because he didn’t think I’d be able to escape.
“Whoever you buy for a wife won’t want to sleep with you. That’s got to be dick shriveling, huh? Remember what I said about being a dickhead…”
His shoulders tightened. Anger crackled in his gaze when he turned around. I was walking a fine line—if I pushed him much further, he’d do something to knock me out. I hadn’t made it this long in life without seeing the signs of a man on the verge of violence.
I tried to pump energy through the connection with Austin, hoping it was happening, and hoping whatever I’d done subconsciously was having an effect. But I didn’t want the mage to get me much closer to the border of the property. Time to act.
Magic built within me, feeding on my anger at being trapped. I pulled a magical blanket of darkness over us, shadow crawling across the crisp blue sky. The ground rumbled, rocks shivering around us, and leaves waved without a breeze.
The man looked at the sky first, and then his head dipped as he watched a rock slowly roll across his path.
There was so much I could do, but I didn’t get the chance. Ivy House, impatient, took over.
Fog rolled in as though driven by cowboys on horses, tumbling through the trees, so thick it was swampy. It pushed in around us, making the man startle. Menacing laughter echoed around us, up high in the tree branches, down low in the bushes. A foot-high body ran out in front of the man, a lovely little doll face looking up with a smile, a knife in its animated hand.
“Oh God, oh no.” I balled up. “What the hell, Ivy House? You’re doing this on purpose to mess with me!”
“What is that?” The man peered down at it like a moron.
“You got your myths wrong, Mr. Know-It-All. Ivy House is very much a threat, and you will not make it off this property alive. You brought this on yourself!”
A little plastic body dropped from the sky. It fell on him, its hands out, holding two needles.
“Oh, gross.” I pushed back against the web, this assault not intended for me but terrifying nonetheless.
“Gah!” He reached up to grab the doll as it swung its chubby little arms down. The needles dug into his face, and I rolled over, my stomach swimming.
“There are other ways to crack a nut, Ivy House,” I said, seeing a little creature running up behind me, one of the Halloween dolls that had given me nightmares. It passed under my thankfully suspended cage. “There are other ways to crack a nut. Use the other ways!”
The man screamed, flinging the doll off his head. The magic around me faltered.
“No, no, keep me in here until they’re gone,” I said, not trusting Ivy House to give me control of those dolls. I didn’t want to wander around in the mist with an unseen army of dolls. Talk about my worst nightmare. “How’d they even get here so fast?”
A barking cough sounded out of the dense white to our right. Another to our left. Needles sprayed, silver glimmering in the dim light. They dug into the mage’s clothes and embedded in his skin.
He sprayed out jets of magic, one zipping past me, and another coming head-on.
I screamed and magically pushed outward at my cage, bowing then breaking it, falling to the ground. But I didn’t escape quickly enough to dodge the spell. I threw up my hands—the spell-blocking equivalent of flapping my arms to fly.
A skeleton jumped in the way just in time, the magic hitting it and exploding the bones outward. I stared for a solid moment, unable to understand what had just happened.
Dirt moved in the trees to my right, hard to see through the rolling, tumbling mist, but I thought I saw something jutting up out of the ground. Then I was sure of it when a torso interrupted my field of vision.