A Wolf at the Door

As I gathered up my scattered belongings, I was puzzled to realize that nothing seemed to be gone. The drawers had been turned out, though most were empty. The bed had been stripped with no attempt made to put it back together. The desk was rifled through, Post-its and pens tossed all over the floor. But every personal item of mine was accounted for. Even the slashed-up black T-shirt. “What the hell were you looking for?” Worst burglar ever. I had to be missing something.

It took me another fifteen minutes to find it, and even then I couldn’t be sure it had been taken by nefarious forces. My trash can was empty. The trash can where I’d unthinkingly dropped the extra few inches of Cam’s blessed string that I hadn’t needed. Most likely, housekeeping had come in and cleaned. Perfectly innocuous. But I had no way to be sure.

What could someone do, with a snippet of magic string? I had no idea, and I mentally kicked myself as I dragged my repacked bag down the hallway behind me, my armor riding on the top and my sword case tossed up on one shoulder. Careless. So damn careless to just discard it that way.

“Well, either housekeeping in this place is the worst I’ve ever seen, or my room was ransacked.”

“No shit? Anything taken?” Tai was at the bar making phone calls apparently, but he put the phone down when I came in.

“Not sure yet. But they didn’t touch this,” I nodded toward the case on my shoulder. “And if they wanted to hurt me, this woulda been the thing to snatch.”

“What is it?” I laid the case on the couch, opening it for him. He whistled lowly. “Daaaamn. You really know how to use that thing?”

“Yup.” I lifted The Way out and handed it to him hilt first. “Watch it, it’s sharp.”

Tai was used to handling weapons. I recognized it in the careful way he held the sword, keeping his fingers away from the blade, not because it was sharp, but so he didn’t get fingerprints on the metal. “This is too pretty to use.”

“I’ve had the same thought myself.” I packed it away, piling my meager belongings in an out-of-the-way corner. “Let’s hope I don’t have to.”

“Bobby went downstairs to talk to security. We should tell him about your room.”

“Yeah, we need to get this door rekeyed. Too many people have access, the way it is.” I gave him a pointed look. “And, we’ll need to re-ward the door. I can’t be sure mine will hold anymore.” That’s all I could come up with. What better way to figure out a way through a magical ward than to steal a piece of it?

He raised a dark brow at me. “You need me to ask the kitchen for more string?”

“Um…no. No, we’re gonna try something different. More precisely, you’re gonna try something different.”

“I’m gonna what?”

Back in the day—I say that like I’m eighty years old or something—Mira and Ivan worked tirelessly to awaken the magic ability they were sure I had. Needless to say, it hadn’t worked. But I remembered those exercises. If I could walk Tai through them, get him to consciously access his magic, I was sure I’d at least be able to tell if it was working. I had to get Tai to reset the ward.

First, we had to wait for Bobby to return. I didn’t want people passing in and out of the door while we were trying to do this. And while we were waiting for him, Dante returned, no worse for the wear for being abandoned at the movie lot.

“Oh, Boo! I heard what happened! Are you all right?” Gretchen, fresh out of her shower and wrapped in a big fluffy robe like armor, allowed herself to be comforted.

“Sorry we had to leave you behind, Dante.” I did feel a bit bad about that, after the fact.

He just waved a hand dismissively. “Ain’t no thing. You did right, protecting my girl here.” He hugged her tightly and they sat quietly on the couch, her head nestled against his shoulder. Part of me felt a teensy-weensy bit jealous. Must be nice to have a best friend that didn’t hate you.

Not that Marty and I would ever have cuddled like that or anything. But you know what I mean.

Once everyone was safely inside, I stripped Cameron’s string ward down, carefully balling up the blessed thread and tucking it into my suitcase.

“I thought that was supposed to protect me.”

“It was. It may have been compromised now, so we’re gonna see if Tai can reset it on his own.”

Gretchen frowned in puzzlement. She made even that look stunningly beautiful. “Why aren’t you resetting it?”

“I can’t. I don’t have any magic.” I shrugged, and her confusion made me smile. Without warning, I tossed Ivan’s quartz crystal at her Maori bodyguard. He caught it on instinct, and immediately the white flaw within it sent out a strobelike pulse. Hunh. So that’s what it was supposed to do. “See that? Tai has more magical ability in one strand of his hair than I have in my entire body.” I held my hand up when she would have asked more. “He’s gonna need to concentrate, so no more questions. This may not even work.” I had no idea what I would do then.