“He mentioned her heart’s blood,” Neil mused.
Lee frowned. “I know she had wards up around the building she used her own blood for. I’m not sure what heart’s blood is.”
I knew. “It’s super dangerous since she would have to had literally taken the blood directly from her heart. For the warding to work the way it should, the blood has to be in the heart chamber when it’s extracted. It’s a very strong ward that has a lot to do with the intent of the witch who gave her blood. With it, Sarah could keep unwanted beings out. Not merely make them not want to go into a space. She could keep them out like she’d placed a metal gate across a door.”
“But I thought she’d done that all over the Council building,” Neil said. “If she did, how could Myrddin move in?”
“Because it wouldn’t work that way on large, public spaces.” Dean took over the explanation, and that was a good thing because I was at the end of my knowledge. “I’m going to suspect this had something to do with Myrddin, right?”
“Absolutely. I know she did it so she would be able to track Myrddin if she needed to. She thought he would be able to get through some of her wards and she wanted to know if he took them down.” She’d told me this in one of the last conversations we’d had together.
“The wards to track him would be easy, and if she was subtle, he might not notice. To keep him physically out, it would work best on a smaller space. Like her home or some storage area she didn’t want him to gain access to.” Dean seemed to think about the problem. “She could also have used the warding to boost any spells she might need. Her heart’s blood would have that effect.”
“So if she’d suddenly needed to keep him out, she could have used the wards to boost say a spell to keep a door closed.” I was thinking it through, too.
Dean nodded. “Yes. It would make the space uniquely attuned to her.”
“So she would have had an advantage if Myrddin attacked her.” I wanted to believe that she was out there and she was alive. “She could have gone to another plane.”
“There are no doors in the Council building. Not to other planes,” my father pointed out and then grimaced. “Excepting to the Hell plane. If she got trapped, she could have been desperate.”
Sarah knew a little about the Hell plane, but I couldn’t see her taking her daughter there. Still, if it had been the only way. “Have we heard anything about odd going-ons on the Hell plane?”
“No, but we wouldn’t hear anything. We’re on the outside. Sasha might know something, or Alexander,” Lee replied. “And it would have been long ago. By the time we came back to the Earth plane and settled here in Frelsi, Mia had been gone for years. Maybe she went off plane, too. Maybe she’s out there.”
Neil shook his head. “Not unless she found a way to… Is there any way they could have used the painting and you missed them?”
Oh, I liked that thought quite a bit. “She could have figured it out. She could have made a run for it. By the time she would have gone through, we were probably all at the brugh Summer stayed in. It was hidden. Sarah wouldn’t have been able to find us, and then we hopped all over the place.”
“It’s possible,” Dean said in a way that made me think he didn’t like the odds. “Though if she was half the witch you say she was, once we were outside our wards, she should have been able to find us with a locator spell. Or she could have tried to communicate some other way. The plane we were on was a dangerous place.”
“I want to go.” Lee’s hands went to his hips, a stubborn stance. “I want to go to whatever plane you were on and I’ll find her. I promise.”
“Lee, we have no idea how to get there,” Rhys said. “And we have things we need to do on this plane. I can’t come with you. I know how much you miss her, but they’ve had a long time to try to get back. Her mother is a formidable witch. If there was a way to return or to communicate with us, she would have. We have to face the fact that we were probably right the first time. They are lost to us.”
“I’ve let you tell me that for twelve years,” Lee gritted out, getting in his brother’s face. “What the hell turned you into such a pessimistic asshole? She could be out there. Do you even care? She was your friend, too. We used to eat dinner with them and play games with Uncle Felix. Why would you throw away a chance to find them?”