Chapter 31
Chapter
Thirty-One
Rhaz came in for a landing, Anon on his back. He touched down not far from where Caelen and Quill were laying a trap. Caelen told him they’d built something similar between the manse and the back fence when the Salreth had been stalking Aaron.
Magic users were rarely seen in his realm, watching the two work was mesmerizing.
Jackson, in turn, watched Rhaz marvel as they wove light and magic together to form a sort of net. “You’ve honestly never seen this before?”
Rhaz shook his head. “It is amazing. I wish Basil were here to see this.”
“Surely Basil has seen magic being wielded,” Anon commented.
“Basil has spent his entire life in service to my family.” Rhaz glanced at Anon, then back at the two spellcasters. “He’s never been outside our realm.”
“Really?” Anon drawled. “Now that’s interesting. Perhaps we should take the little tyrant on an outing. I’m sure Caelen or Quill could whip up a glamour for him.”
Rhaz’s eyes widened. “A glamour? I have heard of that. Fae can do such things. But Quill?”
“Yes, he can do it,” Jackson assured him. “Between him and Caelen, they can make Basil appear human.”
Rhaz openly gawked at Jackson. “I will believe it when I see it. Basil is a three-foot gnome. How can they make him appear human?”
“Trust me,” Jackson said. “They can do it.” He smiled at Anon and started to chuckle.
Rhaz suspected they were sharing some private joke. He would have to ask them about it later.
He continued to watch Quill and Caelen spin their trap of light, and when they began to chant words in a language Rhaz couldn’t understand, the woven strands faded and disappeared.
“Where did it go?” he asked.
“It’s camouflaged,” Quill said. “Trust me, it’s still there.”
Rhaz scanned the ground, looking for any trace of the trap. “What does it do?”
“If the creature steps into it,” Caelen said, “it will encase the Sarian, trapping it.”
Rhaz took in their surroundings. They were out in the open, not far from a small grove of trees. “But what if someone sees it?”
“Look around you, Prince of Dragons,” Anon said. “We’re out in the middle of nowhere. We had to drive across open prairie to get here.”
“The net will render whatever it catches invisible,” Quill said. “We don’t need to worry about anyone seeing it. If someone did come along, there might be a shimmer of light, nothing more.”
“Amazing,” Rhaz said. “You are truly a great wizard. And you, Caelen. You are indeed a prince of the Fae.”
Caelen gave him a slight bow.
“He’s also responsible for bringing my house to life, but we won’t harp on that,” Anon sang.
Caelen rolled his eyes. “I thought we were past this.”
“Never.” Anon smiled, slapped Caelen on the back, and headed for the van. “Now, where did Emory run off to?”
“He’s in the trees over there,” Jackson said. “Setting up his equipment.”
“More equipment?” Rhaz asked. “Is it the same as the equipment he set up the other day?”
“No,” Jackson said. “This is different. We’ll be able to tell if the trap has been sprung from the manse. Then we hurry over here and see what wandered into our trap.”
“It’s highly unlikely that we’ll catch anything,” Anon said. “But one never knows. The Sarian might come back through here. Even if it doesn’t spring the trap, Emory has enough sensors set up in the area that we should pick up movement.”
“What if a herd of deer comes through?” Rhaz asked, curious. Human technology was its own kind of magic.
“Emory says the sensors will know the difference,” Caelen said. “At least if a bunch of deer do come through, we’ll know the sensors are doing their job.”
Rhaz shook his head in amazement. “What marvels there are in this realm. Combined with magic, just think of what could be accomplished.”
Caelen and Quill exchanged a look, then glanced Anon’s way. The vampire wore a contemplative expression.
He turned to them. “Perhaps one day magic and technology will meet. But that might be a long way off. Humans tend to corrupt themselves, and whatever is around them. Not all, mind you, but it only takes one.”
The others nodded solemnly as Emory emerged from the grove of trees and headed their way. He took in Rhaz and Anon. “Anything?”
Anon shook his head. “No. Nothing.”
Emory turned to Rhaz, who also shook his head. He let out a long sigh. “Mr. Bristow should be back tomorrow. But I’m guessing Major Kincaid knows this isn’t the first time he’s gone off for a few days.”
“Does the major know what Bristow is doing?” Anon asked.
“No,” Emory said. “And if he does, do you honestly think he’d tell me?”
“Good point.” Anon clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly. “Well then, we’d best be off.” He let out a breath. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is becoming frustrating.”
He looked around at everyone. “What say we get in a little R and R before heading out tomorrow night?”
“What is R and R?” Rhaz asked.
“Rest and relaxation,” Jackson said. “And I agree. What did you have in mind?”
“I say we get the girls and Aaron, and so long as we can trust him, Basil.” He gave Rhaz a pointed look. “And make a night of it at Tequila Mockingbird. Dinner and some karaoke.”
Jackson burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Rhaz asked. He knew Tequila Mockingbird was a restaurant. Phin had mentioned it.
Phin. Rhaz missed her.
“Karaoke?” Jackson managed when his laughter finally died down. “You want to slap a glamour on a gnome and take him out for Mexican food and karaoke?”
Anon shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
Jackson burst into another fit of laughter.
Emory grinned. “Can I come?”
“Of course,” Anon said. “So long as you’re not missed. We wouldn’t want to get you into trouble.”
“I should be fine. They’ll call me if they need me.”
“You mean Paul Bristow will call you,” Anon corrected.
Emory looked down at the small piece of equipment in his hand. “Yes.”
“Very well,” Anon said. “It’s a plan. Come along, gentlemen. Let’s go home.”
With that, they climbed into the van and headed back toward Moon Creek Falls. Rhaz had no idea what karaoke was, and he wasn’t sure Basil would allow anyone to glamour him. But he did know one thing. If Jackson, Caelen, and Aaron were bringing their mates, then he was bringing Phin.
Phin was halfway through updating her résumé when there came a knock on the front door. Jessica, who had been looking at old photo albums, looked up from the sofa. “Were you expecting someone?”
Phin shook her head. She set her laptop aside, left the living room, and opened the door. When she did, her breath hitched.
Rhaz stood on the porch. His red hair stirred in the breeze, and the familiar sight of him made her stomach perform an alarming flip.
“Hello, Phin,” he said.
“Um.” Her voice. Where was her voice? “I mean, uh, hi,” she stuttered.
Brilliant. She could barely talk. What must he think?
His gaze shifted past her shoulder. “Hello, Jessica.”
Jessica appeared beside Phin as if summoned by magic. “Hi, Rhaz. What are you up to?”
“Oh, I just happened by,” he said casually. The three of them stood there for a moment in awkward silence until Rhaz cleared his throat. “I came to invite Phin to dinner.”
“Dinner?” Jessica asked and elbowed Phin in the ribs.
“Someone decided that everybody requires...” He frowned and made a face. “R and R.”
Jessica beamed. “Rest and relaxation, baby!” She did a fist pump.
“Um. Yes, that.” He nodded. “We are meeting at Tequila Mockingbird tonight.” He looked Phin in the eyes. “Would you like to come?”
Phin’s heart sank. Naturally, a group outing. It wasn’t like he was here to ask her on a date. She silently chastised herself as Jessica continued the conversation without her.
“That sounds like fun,” Jessica said.
“Yeah.” Phin nodded. “It does.”
Rhaz smiled, and his expression hit her with too much force. Why did he have to be so handsome and nice and...
Oh, she was so confused!
“I hope you’ll come,” Rhaz said with a light shrug.
Jessica’s eyes narrowed. “Hope Phin will come or hope both of us will come?” She waggled her eyebrows.
“Jessica!” Phin hissed in her ear.
“What?” Jessica said with a shrug. “He didn’t specify.”
Rhaz glanced between them, smiling. “I hope both of you will come. Richard too, Jessica, if he’s able.”
Jessica smiled. “Oh, he will be. I’ll call him right now.” She disappeared back into the living room.
Phin wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Her cheeks heated as she gave her attention back to Rhaz. “Well, okay, um, what time?”
“Six o’clock,” Rhaz said, his eyes locking on hers once more. He gave her a smile, a parting nod, and before she could say a word, turned and started down the front walk.
As soon as he hit the sidewalk and started off, Jessica grabbed Phin’s arm, making her jump.
Phin spun to her. “What the heck, Jessica?”
“Okay,” Jessica said, her face beaming.
“Okay, what?” Phin shot back.
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Are you blind? He is so into you.”
Phin shut the door. “Really, Jess? It’s a group outing. It’s not like he asked me on a date.”
“He came all the way over here to invite you personally,” she sang.
Phin leaned against the door and crossed her arms. “He invited both of us, in case you didn’t notice.”
“He only invited me because I shoved my way into the invitation,” Jessica grinned at Phin.
Phin opened her mouth, then closed it again. Jessica had a point. “He was just being polite,” she said.
Jessica snorted. “Right.”
Phin came away from the door and returned to the living room. She headed straight to the couch and sat. She needed to finish her résumé and get back to work.
She picked up her laptop and brought the résumé up, but the words on the screen blurred together. She could still hear Rhaz saying he’d hoped they would come, which, of course, was ridiculous. People hoped their friends attended things all the time. That didn’t mean anything.
The doorbell rang.
Jessica’s head whipped around. “Maybe he forgot to say something,” she said.
Phin frowned. “I doubt it. Why would he come back?” She left the couch, crossed the room, and opened the door.
A delivery driver stood on the porch holding a huge box wrapped in brown paper. “Seraphina Ironwood?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” She studied the box. What could be in it? Oh no…
“Sign here, please,” the delivery driver said. He handed her an electronic device. A few moments later, she was carrying the box into the living room.
Jessica stared at it. “What is it?”
Phin shrugged. “I don’t know.” But she had a good guess. She set the box on the coffee table.
“Well, open it,” Jessica said, motioning for her to hurry.
“Jessica, calm down.” Phin went to her father’s desk, pulled open a drawer, and grabbed some scissors. She cut the string, then began to unwrap the box.
The moment she started peeling away the paper, Jessica dropped to her knees beside her. Phin pulled the paper away and lifted the lid off.
They froze.
Inside were neatly folded stacks of clothing: the blouses she picked out at the boutique, a sweater, the skirt she liked, and two dresses. The denim jacket with rose emblems was also there. And on top of it all sat an envelope.
Jessica snatched it up before Phin could so much as react.
“Jessica, for crying out loud!” Phin scolded.
“What? I am helping,” her sister said with a shrug.
“You are absolutely not helping,” Phin stated with a frown.
Jessica ignored her and opened the envelope. A receipt slipped out along with a note. Jessica read the note. “In case you need to return anything. It’s signed Marie Woodhouse. She must work there.” She picked up the receipt. Her eyes widened.
Jessica slowly looked up at Phin. “Oh my gosh.”
“What?” Phin hedged. “Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”
Jessica’s eyes scanned the receipt. A knot formed in Phin’s stomach. She snatched the receipt from her sister and wished she hadn’t
The boutique’s name was printed across the top. Underneath was a list of every item Rhaz had purchased. And at the bottom sat a total large enough to make her want to pass out.
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes,” Jessica drawled, smiling.
Phin went around the coffee table and sank onto the sofa. “I can’t believe he bought all this.”
She remembered telling the saleswoman she would be sure to act surprised when Rhaz gave her the clothes, but she was downright flabbergasted.
Phin groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Oh my gosh, this is too much. This is so too much.”
Jessica joined her on the couch. “Wow.”
“That’s not helping, Jess.”
“No, seriously, wow,” Jessica said.
Phin rubbed her hands over her face a few times. “What am I supposed to do with all this?”
Jessica snorted. “Wear it, of course.”
“I can’t wear any of it.”
“Why not?”
Jessica picked up the denim jacket. “This is gorgeous.”
“Because he’ll be there tonight,” Phin stammered.
Jessica stared at her, then started laughing. “That’s exactly why you should wear some of it.”
Phin picked up a throw pillow and hit Jessica with it.
Jessica grabbed it and smacked her back. “Think about it, Phin. If somebody gave me a gift, I’d use it.”
“This isn’t a scarf, Jess. It’s practically a wardrobe.”
“That’s even better.” Jessica pulled out a skirt. “Oh my gosh, this is cute.”
Phin stared at the open box full of beautiful clothes. She would never buy things like this for herself. She groaned aloud, trying to figure out what to do. Part of her was thrilled, the other part terrified.
“What’s the matter with you?” Jessica asked.
Phin leaned back on the couch cushions and stared at the ceiling. “I have absolutely nothing to wear tonight.”
Jessica’s grin was immediate and horrifying at the same time. “Um, sis, don’t worry. You are going to try on everything.”
Phin’s stomach dropped as Jessica pulled her off the couch, picked up the box, and headed for the stairs.