Page 29 of Wolf Trap

Marrock came in. “You can say that again! He was shooting red flames from his palms, out of control! We almost had to sedate him! Otherwise, you would’ve heard from us sooner!”

Washing through my limbs, relief. And guilt. But then again, my past relationships weren’t exactly healthy.

I stood away from him, trying to reach for his forehead as he towered over me. His voice was deep. “I don’t have a temperature. I’m fine now. Well,” wide eyed, he glanced at Marrock, “Marrock’s magic helped! It comes and goes… Seems all this magic in me, and losing self-control, well, I needed time.”

I ran my hand down his arm. “You should sit down, let me take a look, this is worrying. Did you have any magic, other than the obvious, before?”

Uncharacteristically, Marrock burst out laughing. “I suspect you’ve already found that out, love. Come on Lycaon, she’s right. Let her look at you!”

Dismissing that, Lycaon waved his hand. “No, really, I’ll be fine. Austin said you had a hunch to go back to Ellsworth Manor. I’ll help.”

Squeezing past Marrock, Austin answered. “She’s right and we’ll take a fast look at Lycaon. Not for your sake, more for ours. Untamed magic is nothing to dismiss. Especially coming from Adara. God knows. After the last visit to Ellsworth, you need to be prepared. If you find what you’re looking for, what then?”

I shrugged. “That depends… I just have a hunch. The weaponry Adara uses, their magic. We found a stash of magical objects there the last time. I’d like to re-look there, but that depends on how many of them there are.”

A voice called from the living room, “I’ll go with them, Austin. I can transport us all there, and quickly out if needed.”

“Anthony?” Marrock edged out of the way as I went to the living room. “You’re looking better.”

He glanced up. Sitting in a chair, his ankle bobbed on his knee as he placed his phone down. “Thanks to you, Elsa. I am a bit less… crispy! I can’t say I’m enamoured to be going back, but I’ve added some additional warding to myself. So, we’re going back to the house of horror to look for something that we’ll know what it is, once we see it?”

I rolled my eyes. “Really? You don’t have to come.”

“And what, you’ll drive?”

“I had a feeling. Call it a premonition. I just know there’s something.”

He cast a lopsided smile, then fixed his grin on Lycaon, who came in, standing right next to me. “I’m teasing. I get it. A hunch. Something that could help us… Well,” he leapt up swiftly. “Ready when you are.”

“Hang on one minute, Lycaon. Hold still,” Austin called.

Lycaon’s shoulder dropped, as I cast my hand over him, with Austin joining me. Squinting, Austin muttered, “Umm. You’ll have to keep an eye on him. His energy is erratic and too strong!”

Grunting, Lycaon answered, “I am strong. I can handle this.”

Muttering, Marrock sidled into the living room where we were all standing. “No disrespect, but you didn’t exactly handle it well. But with Elsa and Anthony by your side?”

“Ok. What happened, exactly?”

“Nothing more than he,” Lycaon stared at Marrock, “already said. Apart from feeling dizzy, then fire seemed to shoot from my palms. It lasted all but seconds. I’ll be alright.”

I glanced at Anthony, whose mouth was open, wide-eyed in disbelief. He huffed, “Well, ok then. Got it. If the werewolf starts shooting fire, we’ll intervene. Or duck out of the way.” Frowning at Lycaon he said, “Just be bloody careful where you aim that, right?”

Lycaon nodded.

10

DEAD MAN WALKING

Me, Lycaon and Anthony crowded behind a tree close to Ellsworth Manor, peering around it.

His body close to the tree, Lycaon raised his head, sniffing the air.

“I can’t smell anyone or anything. It looks deserted.”

I let out a sigh, peeking around the tree. “I hope so, but I doubt we’ll be able to just walk in.”

Glancing over my shoulder I asked, “Anthony, how come you offered to help? It’s suicide working with me. Adara has made that clear.”

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