Page 73 of Shadow's End

“I’ll go collect our gear,” Belle said. “You’d better call Ashworth and warn them we’re heading over.”

I nodded and followed her inside, locking the sliding door, then heading into my bedroom to grab my phone. It rang just as I was reaching for it—and it was Ashworth.

“Is everything okay, lass? We heard the explosion, and from where we are, it seemed a little too close to you and the café.”

“Marie hit the ranger station with mage fire, and it’s taken out half the block.”

He swore. “Any casualties?”

“At this point, no rangers, but until they put out the fires that started after the mage fire hit and get into what remains, no one can be sure if there was anyone in the other buildings.”

“At least it happened at midnight. Had it been midday, it would have been far worse.” He paused. “Why hit the ranger station though?”

“They thought they were hitting me?—”

“The magic on the pin,” he cut in with a groan. “It was a tracker.”

“Yep. You want to put the kettle on? Because we’re planning a little vengeance and we’re coming over there to plot.”

“Putting it on now. We’ll see you all soon.”

I hung up, swapped out the shorts for jeans and boots, then grabbed my purse, keys, and phone and headed downstairs to wait with Belle. Monty appeared nearly twenty minutes later.

“Sorry,” he said, sweat trickling down the side of his face and staining his T-shirt. “Most of the spell had disintegrated, but there was a tiny kernel of magic left in the remains of the ranger station, and it took me a while to dismantle it.”

“Any idea what the kernel was?” I asked.

He caught the bottle of water Belle tossed him and opened it up, taking a long drink before answering. “It was some sort of ‘Eye’ spell, designed to send images back to whoever spelled it.”

“So that they could admire their handiwork, no doubt,” Belle said. “Although if you killed it, they’d know their destructive efforts failed.”

“Maybe not, because they’d have seen me rather than Liz or you, so it’s possible they could still believe their plan worked.”

“At least until I start spelling again,” I commented.

“Indeed, so hold off doing so until we’re ready to hit them.” He drained the bottle, then tossed it into the bin. “Let’s get out of here.”

He grabbed our packs and led the way out. After opened the passenger doors for me and Belle, he tossed the packs into the back, then wrapped the SUV in what I presumed was an invisibility spell—from the inside, it was hard to tell, because the spell was external and the vehicle visible for us—then climbed into the driver’s seat. After starting her up, he reversed out, then switched over to drive and hit the accelerator. Tires squealed as we shot toward the street. Thank God no one happened to be walking across the entrance to the lane at that particular moment, because they’d have been mown down.

As he swung right, I twisted around and looked out the rear window. I couldn’t see anyone—or anything—obviously following us, but tension nevertheless rode me. The streetsremained empty, though, and we reached Ashworth’s in good time, parking out the front.

After Monty had dismantled his spell to ensure no other car would crash into it, we grabbed our packs and headed through the gate and up the rose-lined path to the front door. Ashworth quickly ushered us inside, the house delightfully cold compared to the night.

Eli placed the teapot and a jug of milk on the table, then went back for the cups and a packet of Scotch Fingers. “Sorry, Monty, we’re out of cakes.”

“Anyone would think I am nothing more than a walking stomach,” he said, even as he reached for a biscuit.

“Well, not entirely a stomach,” Belle noted, a teasing light in her eyes. “You do have one other notable attribute.”

A smile twitched his lips. “A biggus dickus?”

“Biggus feetus.”

He laughed and nudged her. “With one comes the other, I’m afraid.”

I rolled my eyes. “When you have finished the sexual byplay, we have a raid to plan.”

His amusement instantly fell away. “Where is Jaqueline holed up?”

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