Page 71 of Bonds of Magic
That was odd. She was never this affectionate. Pushy, even. It wasn’t normal.
A caw sounded in the night air, and Cory’s raven, Cat, swooped over to us. But instead of landing on Cory’s shoulder like they usually did, the raven landed on the ground at Cory’s feet. They pecked once at his shoe, then hopped three times down the path that led further into the woods, and eventually to my cabin.
Cory looked from the bird to me. “What do you think that means?”
“I don’t know. They’re your bird.”
I bent down, wondering if Mouse would let me pet her the way she did Cory. Instead, she darted away and joined Cat in the middle of the path. That was even stranger. The two animals weren’t enemies, exactly, but I’d never seen them in such close proximity without one hissing or flapping at the other.
“Do you think they want us to follow them?” Cory asked.
“I think you’re thinking too much. I don’t know about your raven, but Mouse is a normal cat. She never tries to tell me anything other than that it’s time for dinner.”
“Cat, what’s up?” Cory asked. He walked forward and bent to pick the raven up, but the bird eluded his hands, flying into the air and settling down ten feet farther along the path. They cawed three times, sounding insistent.
I looked at Mouse, who trotted down the path to join Cat again. She turned and looked at me expectantly.
“I’ll follow you later,” I told her. “But I need to get Cory back to his room now.”
I started down the path that would bring us back to the manor. I’d barely made it five steps before Mouse bounded over and sank her claws into the front of my joggers. She hissed loudly.
“I think maybe we should follow them now,” Cory said.
I sighed. “Fine. We’ll follow for a bit, just to see. But then I’m bringing you back to the manor.”
I looked down at Mouse, who still had one set of claws sunk into the leg of my pants. “We’re coming, okay? You can let go now.”
She retracted her claws and rejoined Cat.
The animals seemed happy enough once we’d begun following them down the path they’d chosen for us. At each fork, they chose the path that would lead to my cabin. We passed the turn offs for History Haven, then Harvest, and I briefly glimpsed the lights of Hearth glimmering in the distance as we made the final turn towards my cabin.
As soon as we reached it, Mouse hissed again, but this time, she was directing her anger at the house itself. Cat flapped up and circled the roof over and over, cawing angrily. I walked towards the front steps, then stopped. The door was ajar, hanging loose from its hinges. My body went cold.
Someone had broken into my cabin.
Cory sucked in a sharp breath of air when he saw the door, then followed me closely as I made a circuit of the house. There was a hole in the bathroom window around the back, and what remained of the pane was spiderwebbed with cracks.
I turned to Cory when we made it back to the front. “I’m going inside to check it out. Stay out here until I know the coast is clear.”
“It’s one room,” he said. “And Cat has been cawing like crazy. I don’t think anyone’s still hiding in there. Besides, aren’t I in more danger out in the woods by myself anyway?”
“Fine.” I didn’t want to waste time arguing. “But get your knife out.”
I slid my two knives out of their wrist sheathes and held them, one ready to throw, the other ready to slash. I walked up the steps on silent feet, then pushed the door open with a bang, sweeping the room with my gaze.
It was empty, but the place had been ransacked. All the kitchen drawers were pulled out, the chairs at the table overturned. The couch cushions were scattered, the mattress pulled halfway off my bed. I darted back to the bathroom. It was empty too, but the floor was covered with shattered glass and the medicine cabinet had been pawed through.
“Did someone try to rob you?” Cory asked when I came back to the main room.
“I don’t have anything worth stealing.”
“Someone must have thought you did.”
I couldn’t shake the sense of violation I felt, seeing my home turned over like this. I realized with a jolt that this was exactly what I’d done to Teresa and Sheridan. But I’d been careful to put things back where I found them. Whoever did this either hadn’t had the time to be careful, or didn’t care. Or maybe leaving the mess was part of the message. Maybe they wanted me to feel unsettled.
“Sit tight,” I told Cory. “I need to get this cleaned up before I take you back.”
“I’ll help,” he said, and he did. Together, it didn’t take long to put the main room back in order. Cory yawned the whole time we worked, though.
