Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“Yes, except…” Edgar put up a long, spindly finger.
“I’ll step in here.” Nessa didn’t flash me her customary smile when working with Edgar. “Some time ago, Sebastian rigged up a series of magical traps for any mages wandering in. The idea was that they would see the magical traps, avoid them, and be funneled to a specific location.”
I nodded as Mr. Tom came back in with a tray. He handed off Tristan’s coffee.
“In that location,” she continued, “I had Edgar put in his most ordinary-looking but deadly magical flowers.”
Edgar nodded. “They have killed several squirrels.”
“That’s…not great,” I murmured.
Nessa put up a hand. “The flowers were in their infancy. They’ve moved beyond that now. They’re ready for imprinting. We’d like everyone to come through and do that as soon as possible.” She looked at Dave. “You’ll want to explain about the various flowers to the new basajaunak.”
“Her has filled them in,” Dave replied. “The basandere we’re secretly calling June.”
I’d forgotten all about the name Cyra had given Her. It seemed it had caught on.
“The Elder is anxious to meet the Ivy House woods,” Dave said. “Everyone is intrigued about the various flower types, both those to eat and those to fight.”
“Great,” Nessa said. “So then, bring them by the new flowers.” She turned back to me. “All the other dangerous flowers around the property have been eaten.”
“A travesty,” Edgar lamented.
“Necessary, remember?” Nessa lifted her brow at him. “We talked about it.”
“I know,” Edgar said, wilting.
She patted his bony shoulder. “But it’s okay, because we have this new flower and a different map in the tourist building, and soon I don’t think hikers will be a problem, remember?”
“Yes,” he murmured.
Austin sat up and reached for his coffee. “You think mages are going to come in the back way to Ivy House?”
“I think that’s inevitable,” Nessa responded. “And I think they’re already working on a way how. They’ve shown they can successfully hide from the basajaunak.”
She told us about Edgar’s weird relationship with energy and his confusion with good hikers and bad “hikers.” Then about his belief that someone was going to sneak in.
“When do we think this’ll happen?” I asked Edgar.
“When Kevin Costner shows up,” he replied.
“No.” Nessa patted Edgar as she shook her head. “We’ve built it, but that’s not who is coming. Sadly. We’ll know when the woods feel wrong, we think.”
“Like they felt wrong when the mages were hiding from the basajaunak,” I murmured against my coffee mug. Austin nodded in sudden understanding.
“Yes,” Dave growled. “They can hide from us, but they cannot appease the wood. When they slink in, we’ll feel that something is wrong.”
“But we want them to find that trap,” Nessa told him. “Remember?”
She was having to do a lot of heavy lifting with this setup, it seemed.
“The mages seem trained enough,” Nessa went on, “and smart enough, to avoid Sebastian’s detection system. Edgar had us place them. I would never know they were directing someone in a certain direction, and I know why they’re there.”
“Can we not make flowers to stun?” Austin asked. “Maybe paralyze rather than kill?”
“As if I am some nautical wizard,” Edgar said in exasperation.
“Natural, I think he means, and he’s working on it.” Nessa patted Edgar’s shoulder again. “Sebastian can help once we get through the conclave. But for this, we want them dead. We want the message to get back to the people in charge that this place is a death sentence. They got in and out of the territory, fine, but Ivy House is its own threat. It’ll make them warier and give us more time.”
“And you think this breach might come at any time?” Austin asked.
“The danger is lurking,” Edgar said.
I looked at Austin, feeling the weight of that warning. We knew the danger was lurking. Aurora now had all sorts of proof. Soon it would be in our backyard, literally.
But we had a whole team for just this reason. Nessa had handled making a trap without involving Austin or me. We had to focus on the conclave, and whenever this lurking situation occurred on Ivy House grounds, we’d deal with it then. Probably when it was the least convenient, as usual.
He met my gaze for a long moment, knowing all that for himself but now reading it in my eyes or body or emotions. He nodded to himself before looking down at his lap. A flurry of emotions colored the bonds but didn’t show on his face. He hated giving up control of such a direct threat to my safety, I knew, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once. He, above all, had to focus on the conclave.
“Okay,” he said, before taking a large sip of his coffee.
“Okay.” I returned my gaze to Nessa. “Let us know if you need us.”
She shepherded Edgar out without looking at Tristan. He barely glanced at her until she was past, and then he watched her leave in silence.