| |
––––––––
WHEN IT WAS NEARLY time to go, the team Quin had picked to infiltrate the Von Hades mansion in Rosethorn gathered in the library. Shifters wished us luck, secretly wishing they were going with us. They would be stuck here in Scotland twiddling their thumbs while we were in the thick of danger once more.
“I’m going to try something that might help us be stealthier this time,” I said before Quin could signal Rudy to teleport us to West Virginia.
“Do we even want to know what you’re planning to do?” Jonah joked.
“It’s nothing crazy this time,” I said in self-defense. “I’m going to make us nearly invisible and cloak our magic so the druids can’t sense us.”
Quin gave me an assessing look, then nodded her approval. “Make it quick,” she ordered. “I want to be in and out before Von Hades’ guards know we’re there.”
I highly doubted we would get in and out without being noticed, but I was going to delay the inevitable battle for as long as possible. Concentrating, I combined three spells in one, then erected a shield around our group. Gasps rang out when we suddenly became much harder to see. “Stay close and don’t leave the shield,” I said to everyone. We all still wore our enchanted belts just in case we ran into any Dread Wraiths or their creepy feline friends.
“Your talents never cease to amaze, girly,” Rudy said. Lifting his hand, he clicked his fingers and teleported us to the foyer of Spencer’s mansion in Rosethorn. “The demon hasn’t had the barrier to keep us trapped in the house reset yet,” he whispered when we made it inside without being blocked. It must have gone down after we’d escaped through the portal in the kitchen the last time we’d been here.
“Shh,” Mirra said and pointed down the hallway to the left of the foyer. “Druids are coming this way.”
I’d added a muffling spell to our shield so only someone with supernatural hearing would be able to detect us and only if they were close. The two druids trod down the carpeted hall, then their footsteps echoed on the black marble floor of the foyer. Coming to a stop only yards away from us, they looked around warily before one leaned into the other to whisper to him. “How did we get mixed up with a demon?” he asked in near despair.
His companion was just as distraught. “The Grand Druid lied to us,” he replied. “Our spells to protect him failed and he was Von Hades’ thrall all along. Now we are his minions and we have to serve him, or he’ll use our souls in his next attempt to reopen the portal.”
“How many humans is he going to sacrifice to activate it?” the first druid asked.
His friend shrugged. “As many as it takes. We just have to go along with his plans and remain loyal, or the Dread Wraiths and those horrible un-dead animals will be herding us towards the altar in the woods.”
Waiting for the pair to resume their patrol, Quin motioned for Jake to take the lead. He crooked his finger at Jonah to join him. “Where is the armory?” he whispered.
“Somewhere near the study that has the animal heads mounted on the walls,” the ghost replied. “But the rooms move around so much, I’m not sure exactly where it is.” He thought about it, then brightened. “The door has a sword and a rifle carved on it. Once we find that, we’ll find the armory.”
I had to concentrate to keep the shield around us to ensure it would hide us from the sentries. Jake took the main hallway straight ahead, remaining on full alert as he searched for the armory. His fae glamor wasn’t working as well today. I had a sneaking suspicion that was due to Spencer allowing Harrow to use magic again. The demon was now so powerful that he no longer had to fear being betrayed by his butler. Not even the Grand Druid had a chance of standing up to the demon now.
Passing the door to the dining room for the third time in a row, Jake stopped in his tracks when he saw the shadowy outline of a hellhound dead ahead. Motioning for us to move, he flattened his back against the wall. I spread the shield out sideways as we stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our backs pressed up against the wall.
The demonic dog padded towards us soundlessly. Turning my head, I saw all three ghosts plastered against the wall as well. Meeting Jonah’s eyes, I saw amusement in his. He knew they were invisible and inaudible to the beast, yet they’d automatically copied us.
My shoulders began to shake as I struggled to keep my giggles in. Connor elbowed me in the side, which just made it worse. Quin leaned forward to glare at me and I almost lost it completely. A tiny snort escaped from me and the hound paused with a paw in the air. Turning its head from side to side, its glowing red eyes passed over us unseeingly.
As silent as death, it continued its patrol and disappeared around the corner. Putting my hand over my mouth, I succumbed to a fit of inappropriate laughter. Mayra was frowning at me and nudged her daughter. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked.
“Many things,” Mirra replied in a low murmur that held a hint of amusement. “It would take all day to list them.”
Jake tolerantly waited out my uncontrollable laughing fit, then gestured for us to continue. “Try to control yourself,” Quin said as I wiped tears away on my sleeve.
“I can’t help it,” I whispered. “Did you see the way the ghosts pressed themselves up against the wall like the hound could see them?” I snorted out another laugh, then gave a soft yelp when Rudy grabbed my hand and zapped me with his magic. “What the hell did you do that for?” I asked, yanking my hand away and shaking it.
“You don’t feel like laughing now, do you, girly?” he asked slyly.
Glowering at him, I hastened after the others before they could leave the safety of my shield. My hand stung for a few more seconds before the pain faded. It had hurt, but it had helped to clear away my nerves. Rudy was usually the mischievous one, but for once he was being serious. If a leprechaun couldn’t see the funny side of a situation, then it had to mean he knew how screwed we would be if our mission failed.
Even with Jake leading us, we weren’t making any headway at finding the armory. The enchantment on the house was much stronger now that Harrow was back to his full power. Or maybe it was reacting to Spencer’s upgrade to a demigod. For all we knew, the mask could be boosting the druidic magic in and around the property. It had taken the combined power of hundreds of pixies to allow us to escape from the woods at the back of the property. I hoped we wouldn’t need their help to flee from the mansion once we had the weapons we’d come in search of.
