Kidding. Missed you at dinner. Hope you’re okay.
She watched the messages deliver, but a read receipt didn’t pop up.
“I think she’ll be all right,” came Rowan’s comforting voice.
Stacy glanced up, opening her mouth to reply. Whatever she might have said never came off her tongue as a loud blaring sound filled her ears.
Stacy winced. “What the hell is that?”
Kiera and Miles started, eyes widening. Rowan paled. “The magical alarms. Someone is coming onto the grounds!”
CHAPTER FIVE
Stacy’s blood boiled. Who the hell had dared come to her home? Victor must have sent them. She didn’t see how it could be anyone else. He’s found me at last, she thought.
Though pale with fury, Rowan remained calm. He turned to Stacy. “Suit up downstairs. Kiera, go with her. You two will be stationed in the house. Miles and I will go out to meet them.”
Stacy almost objected, but Rowan knew far more than she did about defending this home.
“And if you need us?” Kiera asked.
“You will know my signal,” Rowan answered.
Kiera seemed as calm as she’d been a minute ago before the alarms went off. Miles had sobered. Gone was the glittering amusement in his eyes. Stacy got the sense these three had worked together in tense situations before.
Rowan put a steadying hand on Stacy’s shoulder and lowered his voice. “Whoever is here has not heard the alarms go off. They don’t know we’re aware of their presence. Only those inside the house can hear them.”
Every time Stacy learned something new about the magical security system, she was more impressed. Her mother had thought of everything. “Go kick their asses, Rowan,” she responded before motioning Kiera to follow her.
A stone staircase led to a safe room and armory on a lower floor. Stacy headed for the room containing the magical armor that formed to her body as if it had been custom-made for her. When she had it on, she didn’t even look like she was wearing armor.
Several blades of varying sizes lay on a table. Kiera hefted a pair of small twin swords with hilts covered in runes. More runes went down the blade, glowing softly as the fae woman’s magic touched them.
Kiera’s eyes glowed with wonder, turning from violet to amber. “Your mother must have imbued these blades with powerful enchantments intended to last a long time.” She met Stacy’s gaze. “To some extent, she must have known you would one day need these. She prepared you.”
Stacy selected a dagger, and the warmth of the enchantments coursed up her arm. “I think you’re right. She may not have foreseen exactly what’s happening now, but she must have always known her home would need protection.” Stacy glanced at Kiera, a small smile tugging at her lips. “You look like someone who’s stepped inside an expensive shoe store.”
“I may be a cook and housekeeper, but I’m also a trained assassin,” Kiera replied, twirling a knife. Her long black nails gleamed around the blade’s handle. “I’m very good at what I do.” Her words were both a promise and a threat.
Stacy wondered how much of Kiera’s skill was innate and how much she had acquired over years of training and combat experience. Those questions were for another time, though. She shucked off her loafers and replaced them with boots.
Kiera smiled. “I love a little danger now and then as much as I love sweets. If we get through tonight, I’ll serve dessert.”
After selecting her weapons, Stacy watched the fae woman produce a small vial of dark green liquid from her pocket and apply it to a blade. “Poison,” Kiera explained. “Another thing I know a lot about.”
“As long as it doesn’t end up in my dessert,” Stacy’s replied. She kept the awe from her voice, doubting Kiera would appreciate it. The sidhe fae wanted the awe of her enemies, not her allies.
Maybe one day, we will be friends, too, Stacy thought as she and Kiera headed for the stairs.
Silence blanketed the estate. Whatever Rowan and Miles were doing, they had not yet made combative contact with the intruders.
Kiera’s eyes glowed, and her voice purred as she unsheathed the twin blades. “Let’s show these idiots exactly what the consequences are for trespassing.”
Rowan stood at the edge of the estate with his back to the house and gardens. He poured his magic into the ancient enchantments of the stone wall surrounding this part of the grounds. The intruders were not yet past the gate, but they had passed the border beyond them by the road. They would be upon them soon.
He clenched his jaw as he bolstered the defenses. He had done this many times before and would do it many more times. It felt natural to him. Under his breath, he invoked the names of the spirits of the estate that Stacy had not yet seen, figures who remained out of sight because they preferred being unseen.
He finished by whispering Catherine’s name. “Protect your home. Protect us. Protect your daughter.”
He began to feel one with the land beneath him and the stone wall under his fingers. Finally, when he decided the defenses were secure enough, he returned to the front of the house and spotted Miles using the trees in front of the porch to shield himself from view.
The branches had grown longer with Miles’ prodding and formed a canopy over the pathway leading to the house. Shadows gathered under them, permeated only by the silvery glow of the moon now lifting over the woods. Miles’ face was grim and focused, so unlike the jovial attitude he had displayed throughout the day. Despite the situation, Rowan had missed seeing this side of his old friend.
“Didn’t think I’d be doing this so soon,” the groundskeeper murmured.
“I apologize that this is happening your first day.” Perhaps this was best. Miles and Kiera would quickly learn why he’d asked them to come here as the estate’s protectors.
Miles grinned. “What do you mean? This is the fun part.”
Of course he would find this fun. Rowan opened his mouth for a sly comment before he felt something crash against the magical barriers beyond the gate. Shit.
Miles stiffened, a sign that he’d felt it too. Another crash came, more ferocious than the first. The ground itself seemed to shudder, and runes glowed in response along the various barriers. The house, the stone wall at the edge of the estate, the trees, and the gate.
A third blast of magic landed. This time, it didn’t rumble through the ground but slammed into the gate. Portions of the bars disintegrated, turning to dust that floated away on the wind.
“Uh, was that supposed to happen?” Miles squeaked.
