Chapter Nineteen
Violetta crouched low in the underbrush, brushing twigs aside as she peered around the concrete steps that led up to my back door.
Last year’s leaves had formed a matted carpet to either side of the stairs, cushioning the fall when Finn or one of his friends inevitably vaulted over the railing to get to their destination.
Her work clothes were practical: dark jeans, well-worn at the knees, heavy work boots, and a button-up fleece to ward off the coming chill of the evening.
She’d also put on a bright yellow vest with pockets holding vials, charms, and measuring tools.
Her ink-dark hair was pulled back in a messy tail, stray strands plastered with sweat from our search.
Despite the grime, there was an elegance to her, maybe it was in the way she moved.
Given how short she was, she reminded me of an exceptionally graceful construction fairy, here to make all my architectural dreams come true.
Smith, meanwhile, loomed beside her. If the early evening chill bothered him, he didn’t let it show.
Not that I expected him to. If anyone had a right to look comfortable in any ecosystem, it was a dragon.
The fabric of the t-shirt clung to his chest and arms, threatening to split under their breadth.
And I wasn’t the only one who noticed. I caught Violetta peering over at him more than once.
I couldn’t even blame her. I’d catch my attention sucked into the gravity well of Smith’s aura, too.
And we both had boyfriends! But, seriously, Smith’s proportions were such that you couldn’t help but look, even if you were happily in a relationship.
And, to be fair, I would say Violetta was looking a hell of a lot more than I was.
In fact, she could barely keep her eyes off him, which made me wonder about this so-called boyfriend of hers.
I also thought to myself that Smith would probably certainly like to know about this obvious admirer of his.
“Here,” Smith muttered, tapping his hand against a board that had been crudely slammed against the wall and somehow wedged to create a makeshift shelf.
“What’s that?” I whispered, leaning closer. Once I got close enough, I could feel heat coming from the board. And the longer I remained close to it, the warmer it got. Until I felt like I was standing next to a furnace.
“If I had to guess? It’s a shelf.”
“I can see that,” I said, backhanding his bicep in admonition.
Smith didn’t even wince. Actually, I don’t even think he noticed. “I’m just calling it the way it is.” Then he looked at me. “I think it’s safe to assume that you didn’t install this?”
“No, I didn’t.”
He looked at Violetta. “Which means someone else did. And I’d say it was grafted.”
Violetta blinked, then crouched lower, lips quirking in disbelief as she studied the piece of wood. “You’re… right. It is a graft.”
“Graft?” I repeated. “Explain that for the magically illiterate?”
“You’re hardly illiterate,” Violetta said. “This is just a specialized skill set. In our trade, a graft is when you introduce material from one magical set to another. It can be used in a lot of positive ways. Bolster a structure by symbolically infusing it with the strength of another place.”
“It’s a lot more common in alchemical processes,” Smith continued.
“Grafting is a very deliberate scientific process. It’s definitely above my pay grade, but my best guess?
This was grafted onto the house to serve as an entryway for that kobold.
We ought to check your shop as well. I’d put down a twenty that it’s also had something from another place—a piece of wood likely—grafted onto it, as well. ”
“And what does the graft do?” I asked.
“It allows the kobold to jump from its home into yours.”
I reached out a trembling hand and touched the shelf. If they were right, this was the door the kobold had used to enter my house and likely there was another one attached to my shop. Someone had sent this thing to scare me. Or worse. But why?
“So you’re saying it would take some know-how to establish a way to let the kobold cross inside?” I checked.
Violetta nodded. “Definitely. It takes serious skill to mix an elixir strong enough to create a channel like this. The original home the kobold is tied to could be hundreds of miles away. Maybe even further, if the practitioner who brewed the graft is powerful enough.”
We were all silent for a stretch, as that sank in.
Someone new and powerful was roaming around our Hollow.
Someone who didn’t have any qualms about frightening or even harming people in order to get what they were after.
That was a dangerous kind of enemy. Add actual skill and a dark motive, and things took a turn into the realm of the scary.
“Someone is harassing me,” I said finally, but with more certainty than I’d felt in weeks. “Someone is doing this because of something I did or something they’re afraid I’ll do. They’re trying to intimidate me. Maybe even test me.”
Smith stood and dusted off his hands. “Then we find out who.”
“And we beat their asses,” Violetta added.
I gave her a smile. “I think the more important question is why. Why me? Who would want to do this to me? What’s changed in my life over the past few weeks that warrants this kind of response?”
Aside from Smith’s request for help and the stack of books he’d provided, my life had been trundling along just fine. And then it occurred to me.
“The books,” I said, looking up at him. There had to be something to them; I just knew it. That was really the only thing that had changed in my life in the last couple of weeks.
“What about them?” Smith asked.
“I think they might be the reason that I’m being harassed. Aside from taking on your case, nothing else is new in my life.”
Violetta then looked up at Smith. “Where did you get those books anyway?”
He shrugged. “Garage sale?”
Violetta frowned. “You bought books at a garage sale?”
It was Smith’s turn to frown. “They’re on alchemy,” he answered with a frown. “So, I thought I might save myself some money by trying to create the gemstone myself. But then I got ‘em home and realized they were in German and that sort of ruined the allure.”
“Well, whatever the background on the books, I think the original owner or an owner of the books wants them back. And because this person can’t trespass directly into my home, they put these grafts in place to send the kobold in order to drive me away in a panic.”
“So he can break in,” Violetta finished, expression sour. “Take whatever he wants and then leave you to pick up the mess.”
I nodded. “Right. Let’s just say it’s a he to make things easier.”
“It could be a she,” Smith put in.
“Probably not,” Violetta answered as she smiled up at him and he frowned.
“Back to the point I was making,” I nearly interrupted.
“Right,” Violetta said. Then she looked up at Smith again. “How long have you had those books?”
He shrugged. “Maybe a couple days.”
“Has anyone tried to break in here?” Violetta asked.
“Or ruffled through your belongings?” I added.
“Nope,” Smith said. “But that doesn’t mean much. Most people and monsters are smart enough not to try to mess with a dragon. Because most people don’t like the idea of getting turned into a charcoal briquette.”
“Which explains why Smith was left alone,” I said, mostly to Violetta. She nodded.
“But you aren’t a dragon,” she said.
I nodded. “Whoever did this wasn’t expecting the fact that I have a Hollow protecting me.
He probably thought I was just a lone gypsy he could easily get the books from.
He never expected me to fight back. And there’s no way he expected that a gypsy would be backed by a whole coven of witches.
All of which he has now learned. So, if I were him, I’d wait until things died down to try again. ”
“Okay, this all makes logical sense,” Violetta said.
“So if we want to find who did this,” I continued. “We’re going to have to lure him back out into the open.”
“And how do we do that?” Smith asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe we let him believe he’s tricked us?”
“And how do we do that?” Smith repeated.
I shrugged. “Maybe I just move back into my house? Instead of staying at the coven house?”
Violetta leaned an elbow against the side of the house, tapping her boot on the hard-packed earth. “I don’t know. It seems risky to let you come back here without backup.”
I smirked. “Who said I’d be alone?”
“Explain,” she answered.
I shrugged. “Olga texted me earlier to say she had her translation done. We had been planning on brewing something tonight. So, instead of doing it at the coven house, we do it at mine. And with any luck, this little kobold won’t be able to resist taking a peek.”
“How do I fit in, because you’re not leaving this bruja behind.”
“Or this dragon,” Smith added.
I nodded, giving them both smiles. “Thank you.”
“You can thank us later,” Violetta answered, waving my gratitude away as if it were an errant fly. “Let’s get to the good stuff.”
“I’ll fill you in on the way to the coven house,” I answered.
“I need to raid Maverick’s brewing station.
” I paused and then sighed. “And I’m thinking I need to dip into my alchemical bag of tricks to beat this guy.
That means I’m going to need time and the coven’s help.
Yours too, if you’re okay with that, Violetta. ”
“Of course I am.”
I nodded. “Okay, then we return here when I’ve got everything ready. When we’re sure we can spring the trap and catch this thing once and for all.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Violetta said. “I’m in.” Then she turned to face the big guy. “Smith, maybe you should bring your little beast. Burns could take on a kobold.”
“I didn’t volunteer him in the ring, Vi,” he said.
“Because you know Burns would trounce the kobold?” He cocked his head to the side as if to say the idea wasn’t farfetched. “Well, it’s not like Burns will eat him, right?”
“Maybe?”
She frowned. “Well, I think the little jerk deserves what’s coming to it for scaring Poppy and her son.”
I raised my hands, figuring they could decide whether or not to bring Burns on their own time. “So, I can count on you both then?” I double checked.
They exchanged a glance before nodding.
“Damn straight,” Violetta answered.