Magical Midlife Invasion (Leveling Up 3)

Austin spotted me and headed my way, his expression tight. “The basajaun is off to see to his mountain. He told me to tell you he’ll be back to check in. It’ll probably take him a week or so—they don’t rush. He’ll expect some flowers for his trouble. The enemy is all accounted for, either below the ground or let loose, as requested.”

“They shouldn’t have been here,” I said. “They were forced in here, and kept here, for your distraction. It isn’t right to punish them for basically being prey.”

He shifted his weight between his feet, looking off to the side. “I know. You made the right call. I offered them sanctuary here if they need it. Most of the survivors will likely take me up on it.”

I smiled up at him, relieved. His gaze zipped down to me and lingered for a moment, but he quickly looked away again.

“There was no way that mage could be revived after what Niamh did to him,” Austin said. “We’ll get no information there.”

“What information do we need that he didn’t directly tell me?” I turned and started walking toward the back door. The rest moved with me, Austin beside me and Edgar falling back with the shifters. “Except for how he knew I’d walk right into his trap.”

Austin shook his head. “He had a few of those magical pockets set up. I walked into one, as did the basajaun, as did Layan.” I saw the bald man nodding. “How the mage was able to follow your progress and get to the right setup while you were in it, I’m not sure.”

“Magic,” I said, only half joking.

“Yes. Magic. It would be nice if you could learn whatever magic that was.”

“Yes, it would. We need a mage on staff. Someone experienced and resourceful.”

“And patient,” Edgar added.

I dragged my lip through my teeth. “Someone that could work with everyone in the house.”

“A misfit, or they’d never get along with Mr. Tom and Niamh,” Edgar said, which was somewhat rich, coming from him.

I stopped beside the back door, staring at my feet, thinking. Waiting. A moment later, it came, a shock wave of power pulling at my middle before rocketing out into the world, headed away to find someone with the attributes on my wish list. My third summons.

Austin stopped beside the back door. “And now we wait to see if we can handle whatever turns up.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I thought you always came out on top.”

He winked, and I laughed.

When I moved toward the house and he didn’t follow, I turned back. “You’re not going in?”

“No. I need to get home and change. Then I should check in at the bar.”

“Oh.” I pushed away the momentary feeling of disappointment. I’d gotten used to him hanging around, but I had to remember that the guy had a life. He didn’t live here. “Right, well…thanks. For everything.”

The shifters meandered away, and Edgar slipped into the house, shutting the door behind him to give Austin and me a moment. I licked my lips, suddenly nervous and not totally sure why, other than that Austin’s serious expression, almost regretful, put me on edge.

“Of course,” he said. “You did great this evening. You beat that mage at his own game. You’re really coming along.”

“Looks like I’ll have to keep progressing fast, given the rate Elliot keeps turning up. He always seems to send a barely manageable challenge.”

Austin nodded. “He probably sends people he thinks capable of easily besting you. No one in the history of magic learns this quickly and is this potent after less than a year. I bet you blindside him every time he goes up against you. That can’t sit well with him.”

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “This one didn’t totally make sense, though, did it? He attacked at the same time as someone else. We were all thinking it was so he could protect his interests, but Ivy House largely took care of the front yard attack. The two parties didn’t have anything to do with each other at all. At least not here. Since no one was left alive from the front yard attack after Edgar caught the last, we can’t very well research if there is some other connection. Regardless, it was more like Graves’s guy was using the front yard attacks as a distraction to get me alone.”

Austin turned just a bit, looking back into the woods. “He certainly wouldn’t have been able to do much with the people at his disposal. They weren’t fighters, as we’ve discussed. Maybe they thought we’d have to expend more resources on the other attack. It might have been another way to gauge Ivy House’s strength—your strength.”

I shrugged. “Hard to know.” I took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. At least I’ve identified two spells that make Ivy House vulnerable. The others are listed in that book, and we know which ones Elliot is aware of so far. If I work with Edgar, I can set up some booby traps to find anyone sneaking around. We just have to figure out a way to target those particular spells. I don’t want to accidentally blow up a hiker who’s unintentionally trespassing. In the meantime, we’ll work together to fortify the town and house.” I paused, then added, “Oh, hey, I was thinking. I can’t use those gargoyles at the hotel on my team here. Or Cedric. I only have a certain number of seats available in my council, and I don’t want them all to go to the same magical species, but couldn’t you use them? Some fliers in your pack wouldn’t go amiss, as long as you have someone monitoring them closely. They are lazy as hell if you let them be.”