Chapter 17
Seth jogged to the front gate, where Ari stood looking slightly bewildered next to a curvy woman who couldn’t have been more than five and a half feet tall. She had two large suitcases beside her and was studying the castle with an expression of intense concentration.
“You must be Seth,” she said without looking at him, her Texas accent unmistakable. “Granny Tucker said you’d be the tall, dark, and broody one running security. She wasn’t wrong.”
“Judith Chetry?” Seth asked.
“Just call me Judy. Judith sounds like someone who wears pearls and goes to cotillion.” She finally turned to look at him, and Seth was struck by her eyes.
They were luminescent hazel that seemed to see more than they should.
“And before you ask, yes, I’m legit. Granny Tucker sent me.
Sam Kinkaid arranged the flight. And this place…
” she gestured at the castle behind him, “…is absolutely crawling with dark magic. Blood magic, specifically. Old workings layered over new ones. Whoever was using this place knew what they were doing.”
Seth pulled out his phone and checked the photo Sam had sent along with the second text. It matched the woman in front of him exactly. She was even wearing jeans and a University of Texas hoodie that looked like it had seen better days. Exactly as in the photo.
“Welcome to Germany,” Seth said. “Sorry about making you wait at the gate. It’s been an eventful few days.”
“I can see that.” Judy picked up both suitcases like they weighed nothing, which suggested she was using magic to lighten them. “Can we get moving? I’ve been traveling for fourteen hours and I’d really like to start neutralizing some of this nastiness before I collapse from exhaustion.”
“Of course.” Seth gestured for her to follow. “Ari, go ahead and let everyone know we have a guest. Call ahead to Wilhelm and ask him to prepare a room.”
They walked toward the castle, and Seth watched Judy’s expression shift from tired to intensely focused. She was muttering under her breath, words he couldn’t quite catch but that sounded like they might be Latin.
“Dark magic, black magic, blood magic,” she said more clearly, shaking her head.
“These people did not mess around. I’m seeing wards, traps, and what looks like…
Oh, that’s just nasty. There’s a listening spell tied to a compulsion ward on that pillar by the front door.
Anyone who talks near it would feel compelled to report what they heard to someone specific. ”
“There was a conventional surveillance system that we already neutralized,” Seth told her.
“This is more than that. It’s magical and layered.
Old magic that’s been there a long time.
” Judy stopped walking about twenty feet from the main entrance, her eyes unfocused like she was seeing something invisible to everyone else.
“Physical surveillance backed up by magical compulsion. Double redundancy. Smart, if you’re paranoid. ”
She set down her suitcases and pulled out what looked like a piece of chalk from her hoodie pocket. “Give me a minute. I need to neutralize the dark wards on the entrance before we go in, or you’ll have a headache for the next week because of the way it’ll clash with my personal wards.”
“The entrance is warded?” Seth asked.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Judy rolled her eyes and then started drawing symbols on the ground in chalk, moving in a careful pattern.
“Whoever set these up wanted to make sure anyone with magical sensitivity felt unwelcome. Also, there’s a nasty little tracker spell that would ping their location every time someone new entered.
Let me just…” She finished the pattern and pressed her palm to the center. “Dissolve.”
The chalk marks flared with golden light, then faded. Judy stood, dusting off her hands. “There. That should take care of the immediate problem, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
They approached the entrance, and Seth opened the door. Judy stepped inside, then immediately stopped.
“Oh, wow,” she said softly. “Yeah, this place is bad. Really bad.” She was staring at something only she could see, her expression a mix of professional interest and revulsion.
“Blood magic everywhere. No human blood workings are visible in here, thank heaven, but still. They were using animal sacrifices to anchor their workings.”
She started walking slowly through the entrance hall, still muttering.
“Black magic here…dark magic there…oh, that’s a really gross binding spell.
Wonder what that was supposed to bind.” She paused near a decorative suit of armor.
“And this has a ward on it that would give anyone who touched it nightmares. Charming.”
Wilhelm appeared from a side corridor, taking in Judy’s appearance with barely a flicker of surprise. “Good evening. You must be our expected guest.”
“Judy Chetry, at your service.” She was still looking around like she was cataloging invisible problems. “You’re the new butler, right? I can tell because you don’t have any magical taint on you. Everyone who worked here before would’ve been covered in it.”
“Wilhelm Jarling. Pleased to meet you.” If Wilhelm was startled by her directness, he didn’t show it. “Shall I show you to your room?”
“In a minute. Let me just…” Judy pulled out a small pouch from her other pocket and started sprinkling what looked like salt in a careful pattern. “This place needs a serious cleansing, but I can at least neutralize the immediate threats for tonight.”
Helena appeared next, drawn by the commotion. Judy looked at her and nodded approvingly. “You’re clean too. Good. So far, the new staff I’ve seen are all clean. That makes this easier.”
“Makes what easier?” Helena asked.
“Getting rid of all this.” Judy gestured vaguely at the air.
“The Venifucus left magical booby traps everywhere. Probably thought they’d still have access to the place and wanted to make sure they could track everything happening here.
I’m going to have to spend the next few days systematically removing their workings. ”
She yawned suddenly, looking every bit as jet-lagged as she’d claimed. “But maybe I should do that after I sleep for a few hours. Where’s my room again?”
“This way,” Wilhelm said smoothly. “May I take your luggage?”
“I’ve got it, thanks. These have magical supplies and they’re warded against tampering.” Judy picked up both suitcases again. “But if you could show me where I’m sleeping, that would be great.”
As Wilhelm led her toward the stairs, Judy paused and looked back at Seth.
“Oh, and those tunnels under the castle? The ones with the blood magic wards? Yeah, I felt those too. We’ll need to handle them tomorrow.
I’m too tired to deal with that level of blood magic tonight, sorry to say.
That stuff will require some serious concentration. ”
“How did you—?” Seth started.
“I’m a mage. We sense these things.” Judy grinned tiredly. “Plus, Granny Tucker gave me a full briefing. She’s scary accurate with her predictions. Said you’d have exactly three hidden entrances, warded tunnels, and a workshop in the basement that would make my skin crawl. So far she’s spot on.”
She followed Wilhelm up the stairs, still muttering about “dark magic residue” and “blood anchors” and “really creative ward placement.”
Seth stood in the entrance hall, watching her go, and felt a weight lift slightly from his shoulders. They had a mage now. Someone who could handle the magical threats he couldn’t see or fight directly.
He pulled out his phone.
SETH: She’s here. Already started neutralizing entrance wards. Says the place is “crawling with dark magic.” Granny Tucker apparently briefed her thoroughly.
SAM: Granny usually knows what’s needed before we do. Granny claims Judy’s one of the best ward-breakers ever born. She’ll get your castle cleaned up.
SETH: Good. We’re going to need her expertise. Found three hidden tunnel entrances, all warded with blood magic.
SAM: She’ll handle it. Get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be busy for you and I’m just getting my day started here.
SETH: Sorry. I wasn’t thinking about the time differential. Hope I didn’t cause you to get up too early.
SAM: I was already up. No worries. I get up early to deal with our foreign interests all the time. It’s routine for me these days.
SETH: Still, thank you, Alpha. I really appreciate all your support with this mission.
SAM: Happy to help. We really need to neutralize the threat of that castle and those who’ve used it for so long. You’re doing good work. Keep it up.
Seth pocketed his phone and headed back outside to continue his rounds, feeling a bit better about what he’d so far accomplished and looking forward to doing even more.
For the first time since arriving at the castle, he felt like they might actually be getting ahead of the threats instead of just reacting to them.
They had new staff, a mage to counter the magical defenses, and his team securing the perimeter. Petra was safe, surrounded by people who would protect her instead of working against her.
Now they just had to survive whatever the Venifucus threw at them when the mages returned. But that was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, they’d made real progress. And Seth had kissed Petra until they were both breathless, which definitely counted as a win in his book.
Petra gave up trying to sleep after punching her pillow too many times to count.
She’d been lying in bed for over an hour, staring at the canopy above her while her mind replayed every moment in the library with Seth.
The weight of his body against hers. The taste of his kisses.
The way his hand had explored her waist, her hip, and the small of her back with such careful reverence, like she was something precious.