I widened my eyes. “Wow. That devolved into unspeakable violence quickly.”
His smile was slight and his eyes were full of warmth. “Welcome to the magical world, where there are penalties for bullying.”
A soft rap came at the door. Mr. Tom was not usually in the habit of knocking, but having guests in the house had apparently changed all his habits.
I made a move to climb off Austin’s lap, but instead he stood and deposited me on my feet. He ran his hands down the outsides of my arms. “You good?”
I laid a hand on his chest, his heart beating against my palm. “Yeah. Thanks. You always know what to say.”
“The truth. All I ever say is the truth. You’re exceptional, Jacinta, and not because of the magic. Not because of this house or your crew. Definitely not because of me. You are a shooting star in a dark sky.”
My vision swam and my lip trembled. I nodded mutely.
When he stepped back, his movements were rigid, like he was forcing himself to do it. He hated people in turmoil. The alpha in him clearly felt the need to soothe me.
I took a deep breath. It was time to pick myself up, dust myself off, and solve the problem—and the only way to do that was to act. I had all the tools; I just needed to use them.
“Come in,” I called, returning to my chair as Austin sat down in his.
“Yes, miss. Here we go.” Mr. Tom carried in a silver tray laden with sandwiches, cut veggies, chips, and fruit. “If you want anything else, just let me know.” He placed the platter on a small round table in the corner. “To drink…” He ducked out into the hall and brought back a bottle of sparkling wine in a silver ice bucket, followed by a pitcher of sweet tea. “We also have a troubling amount of cheap American beer, should you want that. Or hard alcohol, if quickly numbing the pain is the order of the day.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tom, you’ve outdone yourself.”
He preened and shut the door behind him on his way out. After Austin and I made ourselves plates, I stared out the window in contemplation as I ate.
“No one thinks of danger when they see a deer,” I said, thinking out loud. “Granted, this deer was glowing, which was disarming, but if the spell hadn’t worked, we might have just thought a weirdly large deer was roaming around the woods. Either way, glowing or not, it’s not the kind of creature that makes you think violent thoughts.”
“It is certainly a benign creature. A deer wouldn’t be used for much in the magical world. I doubt the shifter has battle experience or fighting prowess. It wouldn’t have much status. From that we can assume, the shifter is considered expendable. It’s being sent here to test the potions, and to get a good look at the goings-on of the house while it does so.”
“The deer didn’t come very close to the house. It stopped at the edge of the wood, and then kept its distance while it worked around to the side yard. It also didn’t eat as many flowers as it wanted to, I could tell. If Edgar hadn’t expanded the configuration of flowers to reach into the woods, I bet it wouldn’t have been tempted into trying a couple. We wouldn’t have known it was around.”
“Edgar made a big deal about how addictive his flowers were.” He shook his head, looking out the window again. “I hesitate to agree with him. If I do, it feels like I’m walking the very dangerous path that led him where he is now. Coo-coo.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I absolutely know what you mean. I’ve been there a few times.”
Austin put his feet up and entwined his fingers again, leaning back on the headrest. “This room has a comfortable vibe. The view is nice, too, in a Monet sort of way, with the random splotches of color. Edgar is nuts, but he does know how to grow plants.”
“He cheats.”
“He’s…dutiful and goes the extra mile.”
“Cheat to win, in other words.”
“Exactly so.” A smile curled his lips. “Your father might have a point about the tracks. We’re going to make sure the area’s wet enough for them this evening, just so we know it’s the potion working and not light feet on hard-packed dirt.” His eyes came to rest on me. “I think you should move the tripwire to the grass so you’ll only be alerted if the deer comes close enough to be a threat. You need to get some sleep tonight. There’s nothing we can do right now but wait. We need to see what Agnes’s network comes up with, or if we’re lucky, Edgar will find answers first.”
“All before Elliot decides the potion is a success and brings a host of his people through my property.”