Page 18 of Mochas and Minotaurs

“Maybe your great-great-grandmother?” Declan suggested.

“Perhaps.”

“It seemed it was generally ignored as a piece of smut. But it was notable enough to have been mentioned once in a book of urban legends and lore. I didn’t manage to get my hands on a copy, but even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to read it.”

“ButIcan read it.” It might not be useful, but I didn’t want to leave any stones unturned.

Griselda’s face suddenly darkened.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“They’re messing with the wards again. It’s already weakened, and I haven’t had the time or energy to fix it.”

“What can I do to help?” I tried to tamp down the urge to fight something, anything, just to protect her.

“Food and rest. And physical safety so I can focus all my energy on the ward and not have to worry. That’s why I came here instead of staying at the library or going home.”

Declan glanced around the gym. “We got a lot done today. Why don’t you go support your witch, and I’ll go see if I can dig up anything else on this Countess of the Bull.”

“Be careful,” Gigi warned.

“Aww. She’s worried about me. How cute,” Declan said flippantly.

Gigi narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m worried about you giving us away.”

“I can handle myself.”

Gigi didn’t look too reassured but relented. “Well, if you’re so good, then do me a favor?”

“Sure. What?”

“Look around the building for me and see if you find anything out of the ordinary.”

“What exactly am I looking for?”

“Anyone hanging out inside their cars within sight of the building. It’s possible to cast spells from afar, but it takes a lot more energy, and even then, most casters need to be able to sight their targets. There’s an advance trick of opening a tiny keyhole portal to see the target before casting a spell. But again, that portal location needs to be sighted or relayed by someone else.”

“Kind of like needing an IP address before connecting to it.” Declan nodded like he totally understood. “Gotcha. I’ll take a look around.”

Chapter 9

Griselda

“He’s back!”

That was the message that came right before Declan sent a picture of a rental U-Haul parked just down the street from our location with the perfect view of the building. And who was inside? None other than our Faux Hobo.

“We found our troublemaker,” Marcus said.

I could almost feel him relax through the air between us. If it was Arcane, then it wasn’t his dragon.

“I guess he never got the wasps out of his car. The question is: is he the one prodding at my wards, or is he simply spotting for someone else?”

“I still don’t understand how that works,” Marcus admitted.

“It’s kind of like this. Let’s say I want to open a portal that joins your living room with my living room—”

“Why would we need to?” he asked. “We can just knock down the walls.”

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