I don’t remember seeing the car before—definitely not at our house. If it was Aunt Daphne’s and she’s returned, she’d have parked in the garage. I don’t think the style fits my grandparents.
Why in Odin’s name would anyone be visiting at all? Dad is usually at work until late in the afternoon if not the evening. Nobody should be on the premises except one or two employees.
Gripping the strap of my satchel, I peer up at the house and then at the carefully cultivated yard around it. The drifting scent of the roses I’ve seen Daphne tending sends an extra jab of uneasiness through my chest.
Whyisn’tOther Elodie’s aunt back yet?
I reach out with a few wisps of conducted ephemera, sending the energy through the house and the grounds beyond.
Someone’s dropped in. Where exactly are they?
My tentative magical foray picks up a figure in the kitchen who’s probably our chef starting dinner prep… and two presences in the depths of the backyard.
I don’t push hard enough to have any hope of identifying them. They might notice a more forceful touch.
Maybe it’s just a gardening crew? But the sports car doesn’t seem like a likely vehicle for landscaping workers.
Drawing more ephemera around me to dampen the sound of my footsteps, I tread down the cobblestone path around the side of the house. The flowering bushes along the high wooden wall sway with the breeze, adding more sweet floral notes to the air.
No one’s standing on the sprawling, multi-tiered patio with its hot tub, gleaming BBQ, and clusters of cushioned seating. I pull even more magic around me to conceal me from view before crossing the stone-tiled space.
Beyond the patio lie a few more beds of flowers, the gardening shed that’s big enough to serve as a bachelor pad, and then half an acre of pebbled paths winding between sculpted hedges and stately oaks. I skirt the flowerbeds and pad along the grass that lines the paths rather than risk rattling the pebbles.
The voices reach me before I catch sight of the figures. Definitely not gardeners.
Dad’s voice comes first, low and strained. “—can’t really expect me to be okay with this. Snuff it all. It’s only been a few weeks since someone tried tokillher, and the police still haven’t caught the culprit.”
The voice that answers murmurs even lower, the words disappearing into the breeze.
I stalk closer until the two forms materialize in the shade of one of the farthest trees.
A streak of sunlight penetrates the leaves and glints in the hair of Dad’s companion. The sculpted red waves frame Ms. Lupul’s face as elegantly as ever.
My pulse stutters.
What’s his “consultant” doing here? Cole and Salvatore made it sound like they’d gotten her dismissed from her position.
Did their gambit not work after all? Or did Dad agree to talk to her despite a fall from grace?
I swallow against the dryness of my mouth and force my legs onward. I have to hear what she’s saying.
What if I was wrong and she’s on our side after all?
I tuck myself next to one of the taller shrubs and funnel the breeze to carry their voices more directly to me.
Dad is talking again, his tone matching the furrow in his brow. “Sending the kids into that huge park in the middle of the night—there’s no way they can monitor everyone properly. It’s a ridiculous risk.”
Ms. Lupul’s voice slides into my ears like cool silk, raising goose bumps on my arms. “They’re hardly kids, Julien. Most of the students involved are eighteen or older. Your daughter is twenty.”
Dad shakes his head. “Elodie could be forty, and it still wouldn’t be safe for her to be roaming around in the dark while someone who wants her dead is on the loose.”
My hands ball at my sides. He has no idea the woman next to him is probably connected to that “someone.”
My assessment shifts from “probably” to “definitely” with Ms. Lupul’s next response.
“I’m sure Luminary will ensure everyone’s security,” she says, her posture relaxed in her sleek pantsuit. As if she couldn’t be less concerned.
Which only makes sense if she’s in league with the people setting me up for a fall tomorrow night.