Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
Garrett swore under his breath when he spotted Moira breaking into Thorvin’s house.
“That wasn’t part of the plan.”
I gave him a look. “There is no plan when Moira gets involved.”
I sank onto the ground and put my fingers in the earth. “Give me a moment.”
“Take your time,” Garrett said dryly, “there’s nothing at stake here.”
I rolled my eyes. “If you don’t stop talking, I’m telling Caelan on you.”
“He owes me a fucking medal for dealing with you,” he muttered.
“Same.” I closed my eyes and sent a tendril of magic deep into the earth, safe from a shifter’s keen sense of smell.
Thorvin’s land was content, and I had to give the Lord some credit.
He used no chemicals to maintain his gardens, only hard work and the occasional spell to keep things healthy during the winter.
But…the Chinese wisteria was a rookie move.
I could do nothing, and the end result would be the same.
Thorvin would have a very expensive problem on his hands.
Wisteria, no matter what type, has fragrant flowers, but the Chinese type smells glorious.
The tradeoff being the plant is invasive as hell, known to tear up foundations and pipes if left to its own devices.
That’s why if you do plant the thing, you always place the bush at least fifteen feet away from any underground lines or pipes. Thorvin had not done so and was about to learn an expensive lesson, nudged along by yours truly.
Invasive roots were less than six inches from his pipes, and some had stretched even closer to the foundation. The pipes would fall first, but he might have another few years before they messed with the house’s foundation. The oak on the other hand…
I kept one thread there and sent another seeking for the oak. A chuckle bubbled from my lips. Thorvin already had foundation damage from the tree. If he had tile in his house, in one to two months’ time, it might sound like gunshots as the tile popped loose from the grout.
I was cooking with grease tonight. All I had to do was wait on Moira now.
Once she was back, I could let loose a little mayhem and we could get out of here.
“Target acquired?” Garrett murmured.
He stood above me, slightly to the right, his gaze locked on the house.
“I won’t have to do much. Thorvin’s landscapers are inexperienced.
“The oak?”
“And the wisteria. The oak has already done its work. The wisteria is close.”
He glanced down at me. “Think you can do it with no one the wiser?”
I grinned. “Sure can. The earth will cover up the scent of my magic which should be faded by the time someone gets out here to start work. Not that a Lord would closely supervise the manual labor something like this requires. Should be in the clear.”
“Good. Your friend on the other hand…” His voice trailed off. “She got a death wish or something?”
“Moira’s always been brave.”
His sharp look made me laugh.
“And a little insane,” I added. “Though she’s been relatively tame since she came to Joy Springs.”
He pointed at the broken window Moira had disappeared into. “That’s tame?”
I snickered. “You should have seen her six years ago.”
Moira rarely brought up how we’d met, but we both knew one thing: we’d saved each other.
Both of us were self-destructing one action at a time, and meeting each other had brought it home how much we needed another person to rely on.
But it wasn’t my story to tell. Moira had been wounded in heart and soul, and I was right at the cusp of coming to terms with the divorce, the attack, and what I’d become afterward.
Looking back, maybe Moira had needed me a little more, but we’d locked onto each other and never let go. If this is what she needed to burn off some steam, I’d sit here and wait for her as long as need be.
The minutes passed by, and Garrett was getting antsy, shifting back and forth on his feet and wringing his hands. “She’s been in there for too long.”
“Tess hasn’t reacted. If anything was about to go wrong, she’d know.”
“She’s a kid,” he scoffed.
“She’s a banshee, and arguably more powerful than all of us.” In some ways, she was. Tess could travel wherever she wished, possess people, predict when someone was about to die, and more. And I had no doubt she was keeping many things hidden from us.
Garrett’s brow furrowed. “No kidding?”
“Scout’s honor. If she was in any mortal danger, everyone in a four-block radius would know.”
“Huh. I’ve never been around banshees much.”
A light flickered in the house. Garrett’s posture straightened, eyes fixed straight ahead.
A dark figure appeared from the same window and leapt off the roof in a lithe motion.
Moira touched the ground and went into a roll before popping up and disappearing in a flash of light, almost invisible to the eye.
Seconds later, she appeared in front of us, grinning like a loon. “Done.”
“Ready for the next act?” I asked.
She nodded. “Do your worst.”
Headlights appeared in the long driveway. Tess popped out of existence.
“Hurry,” Moira said, an urgent note in her voice. We were concealed by tree cover, but we couldn’t linger for long.
“Cover me.”
Without waiting for an answer, I closed my eyes and wrapped a tendril of magic around the wisteria roots, whispering encouragement for them to grow, to tangle, to thrive.
Ever since my Chimera magic had merged with my Floromancy, I had to be careful with my power, otherwise it might spiral out of control. After months of practice, I had the amount of pressure needed for a fine operation like this almost down to a science.
The roots responded, winding tightly around Thorvin’s pipes. As they did their work, I sent my awareness to the oak, coaxing it just a little to speed up the natural process of utterly destroying Thorvin’s foundation.
The moment the pressure built, and the first crack appeared, I pulled my magic back and opened my eyes.
“Give it twenty-four hours, maybe less.” Dusting my hands off, I stood and shivered.
Regulating my temperature wasn’t usually an issue, but it was cold as hell out and burrowing into the ground took a lot of energy.
Moira grinned. “Same. Ready to go?”
We looked at Garrett. He sighed. “I only came to keep you fools from dying.”
“I don’t want to say Thalia was wrong,” Moira gloated, “but this was one of the easiest sabotages I’ve ever been involved in.”
The vehicle came to a stop in front of the house and Thorvin stepped out, oblivious to our presence.
“See you back at the house,” Moira said. With a wink, she blinked out of existence.
Damn. I needed to get my hands on some of those potions. Think of the possibilities.
A gunshot rang out into the night.
Garrett dropped like a stone.