Chapter 4
Two hours later, Liam parked his SUV three blocks away from the target address. The neighborhood was quiet. Upscale homes were pressed close together with narrow driveways and white vinyl privacy fences. Streetlights cast pools of yellow on the pavement, leaving deep shadows between.
Lina pulled up behind him in her sedan, killing the engine and lights. She’d changed into dark cargo pants and a black jacket, her hair pulled back in a tight braid. When she stepped out of her vehicle, she moved with that liquid grace that made his lion take notice all over again.
Focus, he reminded himself. Mission first.
“Ready?” she asked quietly, joining him on the sidewalk.
“Always.” He handed her a small earpiece. “Comms, in case we get separated. They’re encrypted.”
She fitted the small device into her ear with practiced ease, then pulled out her own equipment. She had a compact pair of night-vision binoculars and what looked like a very small, high-end camera.
“I borrowed some toys from the office. Figured we might need documentation if we spot anything,” she told him.
They moved together down the street, keeping to the shadows. Liam’s senses sharpened as his beast rose closer to the surface. He smelled salt water on the breeze and heard the distant lap of waves against docks. Somewhere, a dog barked then fell silent.
The target house was a small ranch-style structure, siding painted a forgettable beige.
A narrow driveway led to a miniscule garage, and a wooden fence marked the backyard boundary.
Lina had been right about the property backing directly onto the water.
He noticed the dark expanse of the inlet beyond, with boats bobbing at private docks.
“There,” Lina murmured, pointing to a spot between two parked cars across the street. “Good sightline, decent cover.”
They settled into position, crouched low. Liam pulled out his own binoculars and scanned the property. The windows were dark, curtains drawn. No vehicles in the driveway. The place looked abandoned.
“What do you think?” Lina whispered.
“No obvious signs of occupancy. But that doesn’t mean much.” He shifted his focus to the garage. The door was closed, no windows to see inside. “Could have a vehicle in there.”
“Or she could be long gone.” Lina raised her camera, snapping a few shots of the property. “We need to get closer. Check for recent activity.”
Liam’s lion didn’t like the idea of her taking risks, but his rational mind knew she was right. “I’ll circle around back, approach from the water side. You stay here and keep watch on the front.”
“No way.” Her green eyes flashed in the dim light. “We go together or not at all. I’m not sitting on my tail while you take all the risk.”
He bit back a smile. Stubborn lynx. “Fine. But we do this smart. Stay low, stay quiet. If anything feels off, we abort and regroup.”
“Agreed.”
They moved as one, slipping across the street and into the deeper shadows along the property line. Liam’s animal instincts were on full alert now, every sense heightened. He smelled old garbage, car exhaust, and something else. Something that made his hackles rise.
Magic and blood. Faint, but unmistakable. The acrid scent of dark workings.
He touched Lina’s arm, stopping her. “Do you smell that?”
She went still, nostrils flaring. Her lynx must have caught it too because her whole body tensed. “Blood magic. Recent.”
“She’s been here.” Liam scanned the area, looking for wards or tripwires. “Could still be here.”
They crept forward more carefully now, hyper-aware of every shadow, every sound. The fence was easy enough to scale. It was made of wood and hadn’t been painted in a while. Liam went over first, landing silently in the overgrown backyard. He turned, offering Lina a hand up.
She ignored it, vaulting over on her own with feline grace. He caught the flash of annoyance in her eyes and suppressed another smile. Independent to her core.
The backyard was a mess. Dead grass, a rusted barbecue grill, and a sagging wooden deck that led to a sliding glass door. But it was the dock that caught Liam’s attention. Twenty feet of weathered planking stretched out over the dark water.
“Escape route,” Lina breathed.
“And recently used.” Liam pointed to the dock. Even in the dim light, he could see fresh scuff marks on the wood, disturbed algae along the pilings. “Someone’s been using the dock within the last few days.”
They approached the house, checking windows as they went. Most were dark and empty, but when they reached the sliding door, Liam caught a flicker of something inside. Not light exactly, but a faint glow that made his lion snarl in warning.
Lina saw it too. She had her weapon drawn now, though she kept it pointed down. “That’s not normal.”
“No, it’s not.” Liam tested the door handle carefully. Locked. But the lock was mundane, nothing magical about it. “I can get us in.”
“Wait.” Lina grabbed his wrist, her touch electric even through the urgency of the moment. “If she’s warded the place, breaking in could trigger something nasty. Let me check.”
She closed her eyes, one hand pressed flat against the glass. Liam watched her face, saw the concentration there, the way her brow furrowed. After a long moment, she opened her eyes.
“There’s something, but it’s fading. Old magic, maybe a week or more. I think she’s been gone for a while, but...” She hesitated. “The new stuff, that glow inside? That’s active. And it’s not a ward.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know, but we need to find out.”
Liam pulled a slim tool from his pocket. It was a lock pick set that had served him well over the years. “Let’s get inside. But we’ll exercise caution.”
The lock gave way in seconds. He slid the door open slowly, wincing at the faint scrape of metal on metal. The smell of magic intensified immediately, along with something else. Something organic and wrong.
They stepped inside, and the glow Liam had seen from outside resolved into its source. In the center of the small living room, drawn on the bare wooden floor, in what looked like dried blood, was a summoning circle.
And inside it, something was beginning to form.
The air shimmered and twisted, magic coalescing into a recognizable shape. Not a demon. It was a person. Or rather, the image of one.
Mrs. Entwistle materialized in the circle, her form translucent and flickering sort of like an old film projection. She was exactly as Liam remembered her. A plump, grandmotherly woman with iron-gray hair and cold, calculating eyes that didn’t match her kindly appearance.
“Well, well,” the image said, her voice echoing with an unnatural quality. “Someone found Margaret’s house. I’m impressed, truly. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s probably a damned lion. Those Kinkaids are nothing if not persistent.”
Liam’s hand went to his weapon, though he knew it was useless against a magical image like this. The witch’s smile was brittle and satisfied.
“I’m going to miss being Margaret Thornfield. She had a good run, didn’t she? But all good things must end, and I’m afraid you won’t have much time to celebrate your little discovery.”
Lina grabbed Liam’s arm, her fingers digging in hard. “It’s a trap,” she hissed.
“You have less than one minute before this entire structure becomes a rather spectacular fireworks display,” Mrs. Entwistle continued, examining her translucent fingernails with theatrical boredom.
“Do give my regards to whichever Kinkaid sent you. Tell them they’ll never find me.
I have so many faces, so many names. Margaret was merely one of dozens. ”
The projection began to fade, but her final words hung in the air.
“Good luck, hunters. You’re going to need it.”
“GO!” Liam shouted, already spinning toward the door.
But Lina darted sideways instead, toward the small kitchen table visible through an archway. Papers were scattered across its surface. It looked like mail, and maybe documents, and some that looked like handwritten notes.
“Lina!” Liam’s tone was urgent.
“Evidence,” she explained simply as she swept the small stack of paper into the cross-body bag slung across her torso. Her movements were lightning-fast, born of pure feline efficiency.
Liam grabbed her shoulder, hauling her back toward the sliding door. They burst through together, feet pounding across the sagging deck. His lion roared in his mind, lending him speed and strength beyond human limits.
“The dock,” Lina gasped, matching his pace stride for stride. They were both big cats in full flight.
They hit the weathered planking at a dead run. Liam could hear it now. There was a high-pitched whine building inside the house, the precursor to detonation. His enhanced hearing picked up the mechanical click of a timer reaching zero.
Ten feet from the end of the dock. Five feet.
They launched themselves into empty air, diving out and away from the dock as far as their shifter strength could propel them. Liam caught a glimpse of Lina beside him, her body tucked tight, her bag clutched against her chest.
The explosion hit like the fist of an angry god.
The shockwave slammed into them mid-air, heat scorching Liam’s back as he plunged into the dark water. The sound was deafening, even underwater. A concussive BOOM rattled his bones and made his ears ring.
Cold water enveloped him, shockingly frigid after the blast of heat. He kicked hard, swimming down and away from the surface, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the burning debris raining down from above.
His lungs began to burn. He needed air. But more than that, he needed to find Lina.
Liam broke the surface, gasping, and immediately searched the water around him. Flames lit the night sky where the house had been. Now there was just a roaring inferno, debris scattered across the neighboring yards. Car alarms were wailing, and dogs barked in panic.
“Lina,” he called, treading water and spinning in a circle.