Chapter 4

Morning cameand I debated closing the shop until the wards were up. As Fancypants and I made breakfast—I decided waffles would be good, along with bacon and lots of steaming hot coffee—a rare glimpse of sun broke through outside the kitchen window. I opened the window on the kitchen door, letting the chill tang of autumn pour in, along with the distant smell of woodsmoke. It was one of those last-gasp days where the deep dark of autumn lurked right around the corner, threatening to gobble up the sun.

The morning was bright and cool, but I could smell rain coming in. Storms came through all the time during the autumn and winter, and I loved the way they quickened the air, bringing with them a sense of alertness and the vivid fiery colors of burgundy and bronze and mottled yellow among the leaves that were beginning to fall.

As the kitchen began to chill, I closed the window again, grateful for the brisk blast of air that cleared my head. I brought out my phone to put in a call to Grams.

"Hey, Grams," I said as she answered. "Is this a good time to talk?"

"Of course. I'm always here for you," Grams said, her no-nonsense tone setting me at ease.

"Can you come down here today? I need to repair my wards and wondered if you would help me? There's something going on. Someone compromised my protection grid." I told her about the reading and that I'd had two customers in a row who had been incredibly irritated and unhappy. "There's nothing to say that my grid being compromised has anything to do with their dissatisfaction, but it was unusual."

"That is odd. All right, dear. I'll call my car. Will two o'clock work?"

Grateful that she was willing to carve out time for me, I let out a long sigh. "Thank you. Bring an overnight case and stay for a couple days, please." I paused, then said, "That is, if Ciara doesn't need you."

"Your aunt doesn't know me that well. Your mother's helping her?—"

I snorted. "Right, depending on what you consider help. Is my aunt okay? I asked my mother but I can't bank on her giving me an unbiased opinion."

"Your aunt is doing the best she can. It's hard to lose a child. No parent should outlive their children. It's not the natural order." She paused, then added, "I know. I've lost both a child and a grandchild, too soon. Your father and your grandfather…they both went too soon."

"I know, Grams," I said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry yourself. I've survived worse. At my age, you get used to losing people. It's all tied to the Wheel. Now, let me go so I can call my driver and pack."

As I hung up, I realized that I felt better. Grams had become a safety net for me. She had entered my life and just the right time, and carved out a niche where she fit perfectly. She was a powerful ally. When she had first shown up on my doorstep, I had been hesitant, but within a few days, I couldn't imagine not having her in my life.

"Grams is coming down this afternoon," I told Fancypants.

He perked up. "Wonderful! I'll help you clean." He immediately picked up one of the dishtowels and flew to the top of the hutch and began dusting.

I snorted. "Thank you, little dude. I guess you're right. Grams likes tidiness."

"Are you going to open the shop today?" Fancypants asked. "If you aren't, you should put a note up."

"I guess I'll open and see how it goes for an hour or so. I can finish cleaning after that." I heaved myself off of the sofa and, grabbing my keys, I headed out into the cool autumn morning.

As I neared the shop, I hesitated. Once again, my inner alarms were ringing. I glanced around, trying to pinpoint what was off. Then, I saw—the door to my shop was cracked open, and the window on it had been shattered.

Immediately, I pulled out my phone and called 9-1-1. "Hey, can you send the sheriff to my house? I have a shop on my land and the door's open. I have a security system, so I'm not sure why it didn't go off. I locked it last night."

"Have you gone inside, Ma'am?"

"No. I decided to wait when I noticed that door's open and the window's broken."

"You say your shop is on your land? Are you near your house?"

"Yes, I can get there in under a minute."

"Then go inside and lock your door. I've dispatched a unit. Stay on the phone with me until they get there, please." She sounded concerned, and it dawned on me that whoever had broken in, might still be there.

I backed away, then turned and sprinted toward the house, taking the steps two at a time and slamming the door behind me. "I'm in the house," I said, trying to calm my breathing.

"Lock the door."

"I did." I turned the locks. Fancypants spiraled down to sit on my shoulder. He glanced at the phone, then at me, but kept quiet. I edged my way to the side of the door, sneaking a peek out the window. My shop sat there, just as silent as it had been when I was outside.

"Ma'am, are you still with me?"

"Yes, sorry. The door is locked. So's my backdoor. How long till the cops get here?" I watched the shop, then glanced at the driveway. I could see the beginning of the drive, but the road was long and a thicket of woodland obscured my view of the main road.

"They're turning into your driveway now. Wait till they knock on your door?—"

"I see them," I said, as the sheriff's car pulled into view. "I'll wait for them."

"All right, I'm going to let you go. Follow their instructions." The woman ended the call and I stuck my phone in the pocket of my jeans and sat in a chair near the front door, wondering what was going on. But I'd play by the rules because I had no intention of putting myself in danger.

Fancypants still sat on my shoulder. I was used to his weight by now—he was light, and he balanced without digging his talons into me. "What's wrong?"

"When I went out to the shop, I saw that the door was open. We didn't hear the security alarm during the night, and I know I locked and set it. So I called the police."

"Good," he said. "I hope that—" he stopped as someone knocked on the door.

I answered, Fancypants flying off my shoulder to sit atop one of the hutches.

Daisy was standing there as I opened the door. I was grateful she came out herself. "Hey, Daisy. Did you find anybody?"

"No, we didn't. But…did you take a look inside?" Daisy sounded hesitant. That made me even more nervous. Fancypants followed us out to the porch.

"No. The minute I saw that the door had been opened, I decided to call 9-1-1." I took a deep breath. "So…is it bad?"

Daisy grimaced and met my gaze. "I'm not going to cushion it, Elphyra. Whoever broke into your shop last night…well…come with me and take a look."

"I need to find out why my security alarm didn't go off," I said, but Daisy had an answer for that as I followed her down the steps and toward my shop.

"We checked. The line was cut. With that particular security system, if there's a power outage, the alarms won't go off. Most of the windows are broken. They were able to reach inside through the door window to open the locks." Daisy's expression was unreadable, but she escorted me over to the door and stood back. "It's safe to go in, though watch your step. The floor's covered with broken glass and…Well, my men are taking prints, so don't touch anything. I doubt if we'll find anything but we have to try."

My heart in my throat, I peeked around the door, Fancypants hovering just above my shoulder. The moment I saw my beautiful shop, I knew I wasn't prepared.

"Oh no," Fancypants whispered.

I couldn't say anything. I couldn't take in what I was seeing. It was as though a tornado had swept through my shop. Shelves were tipped over, their contents scattered everywhere. Someone had smashed the glass cases by the cash register, and the beautiful wands and daggers were either broken or missing. Bags of herbs had been slashed and scattered around. All the books had been destroyed, their pages everywhere. And then I saw the tarot cards I used for my customers, torn and tattered, scattered all over the floor. The shop reeked from the stench of urine, and I noticed wet spots everywhere, and several dubious puddles.

"No," I whispered, reaching out. But I stopped short of taking hold of the ripped cards. For one, I wasn't about to touch somebody's piss. For another, there might be something the cops could figure out from the mess.

"Elphyra?" Fancypants landed on my shoulder, using his tail to gently sweep across my cheek. In the four months he'd joined my household, I'd grown to recognize his attempts to help.

"Yes?" I said, unable to think. I looked around at the rest of the shop. It was easy enough to see that everything had been defiled. I had the feeling that my workshop in the back was just as bad, but I couldn't handle looking at this point.

"Come on. Go outside now. You need to step away and breathe." The dragonette directed me and I followed his advice. Fancypants might be young, but he was wise.

I stared blankly at the ground, turning to find Daisy standing by my side.

"I'm so sorry, Elphyra. We'll do our best to find out who did this. Come on, let's look at the cash register. Was any money taken?"

I followed Daisy back in and waited until she opened it for me, taking care not to leave or smudge any potential prints. The till was full—no money was missing.

"It's all there. I don't know if any merchandise was stolen, but all my bigger crystals are here—though some are…" I teared up as I saw one of my larger amethyst geodes on the floor, in pieces. It wasn't easy to break crystals, but it was possible if you put enough effort in.

I knelt beside the pieces. I could feel them, they were shrieking as I touched them. Somebody had used magic to break them—a massive bolt of energy that had left them twisted and broken. I'd have to cleanse the pieces for quite awhile to ease their suffering. Even then, I might have to release the pieces into the ocean to clear out the blast of energy that resonated around them.

"I need to tell you something," I said. "Two incidents happened here yesterday. I don't know if there's any connection, but you should know about them."

As she walked me back to the house, I tried to keep from crying. Trying not to freak out, wondering who was doing this to me. The emotional woman that was in May's reading? Maybe, but who was she and why was she so upset at me?

As I entered the house, Daisy behind me and Fancypants by my side, my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID. It was Bree.

"Hey, can I call you back?"

Bree hesitated, then said, "I had a bad feeling and wanted to check on you. Are you all right?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I am, but Daisy's here. Somebody broke into my shop last night. They cut the alarm and destroyed just about everything in there. Everything's trashed, Bree."

"I'm on my way. I'll close down and come right over. Can I call anybody?"

I closed my eyes, not wanting to make another single decision. "Bran. May. That's all I can think of right now." As Bree hung up, I turned back to Daisy. "Is there a way to get DNA from urine? From the…" I winced, picturing the destruction again. "My cards?"

"The chances aren't nearly as good as they are from blood or saliva, but we can try. I'm worried about you staying here alone. From what you said, somebody has a vendetta against you. They trashed your shop this time. What if they try to torch your house?"

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," I said. I shook my head. "I'll put up some stronger wards. If all they have to do is cut the alarm cord, then the mundane solution isn't going to do any good. My great-grandmother is coming down this afternoon."

"Morgance? Definitely enlist her help. The woman could enchant the feathers off a chicken and it would thank her." Daisy glanced at Fancypants. "You didn't happen to notice anything, did you?"

He shook his head. "No. I slept pretty heavy…except…"

"Except what?" I asked, sitting still.

"I woke up around two AM. Gem was mewing and running around like crazy. I thought it was just a case of the zoomies, but she kept jumping on the back of the sofa to stare out the window. I didn't think to look. Maybe she saw someone."

"Can you ask her?"

Fancypants frowned. "Well, I can try. Time is nebulous to most animals. They understand ‘before' and some understand the concept of ‘later' but unless they're magical, they don't have any real concept of hours or minutes. But I'll try."

He flew down to the floor, where Gem was grooming her butt. He leaned forward, making a few sounds. How he communicated with animals, I had no idea, and Fancypants had no clue how he was able to talk to them, either. After a moment, he flew up to land on the coffee table.

"Gem saw something out the window during the night, so I was right on that account. The figure was humanoid, and they went toward the shop. Gem verified that she noticed I was awake, so that would put the sighting at around two AM."

"Well, that may come in handy. Did she see anybody else? Or just the one person?" Daisy was jotting down details in her notebook.

"Just the one. However, she jumped down and ran off to her food dish right after that, so we can't rule out there being more. They might have come in later or earlier. Gem only spent a moment on top of the sofa, from what I remember." Fancypants frowned. "I wish now that I'd gone over to see what she was looking at. I could have warned you."

"Don't blame yourself," I said. "If wishes were dollars, we'd all be rich." I turned back to Daisy. "So, what should I do about the mess? I mean, are you going to take anything in for evidence?"

"I'll let you know when we've gathered up what we need." As Daisy stood, she added, "I'd suggest you enlist a friend to help you clean up, or you might end up having a meltdown. I also suggest you talk to the alarm company and ask if there's an option to bury the line so that nobody can cut it again. Or use wireless technology. I'm surprised they didn't do that in the first place." Daisy stood, folding her notebook and sliding it into the pocket of her uniform. She gave me a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry this happened. I wish I could just go out and arrest whoever did this, but…"

"But we don't know who it is. I understand. Thank you for coming out. I'll call the security company today?—"

The doorbell rang. Bree was standing there, looking worried. The moment she saw me, she pulled me into a hug. "Are you all right? Are you okay?"

I gently extricated myself from her embrace. "Yeah, thanks. I'm all right, but I can't say the same for my shop, I'm afraid. It's bad, Bree. Just…bad."

"Excuse me," Daisy said, slipping between us. "I'll gather my men. We're probably done, but I'll make sure they got everything we need for evidence. We pulled as many fingerprints as we could, so we'll run all of those through the database. For now, remember my warning. This wasn't some teenager pulling a prank. Whoever did this was out to do damage. Otherwise, they would have just stolen all the expensive items and taken your money. I think this was a warning directed at you in particular, Elphyra. And the next time…"

"It might be my house, or Fancypants, or the cats. Heard, loud and clear. Thanks for coming." I waved as she headed toward her car, then turned and led Bree back inside.

"I need coffee," I said, feeling numb.

"Is it that bad?" Bree asked, leading me into the kitchen.

"Bad enough," Fancypants said, joining us. He landed on the counter next to me. "I'm so sorry, Elphyra."

"Everything will be okay," I said, more to convince myself than them. But I knew it wouldn't be. Nothing felt like it would ever be okay again. Faron was in a coma, my shop had been trashed, Owen was dead. It wasn't the worst period in my life, but it was definitely up there in the top five. "Who the hell would want to do this to me? Who have I pissed off so badly they want to destroy my shop?"

"I'll help you clean up," she said. "I closed early. I'm all yours."

"Thanks. Grams is arriving at two to help me reinforce my wards."

Bree started my espresso machine. "What would you like?"

"Triple shot vanilla latte, please." I rested my elbows on the table. "I don't know what the hell to think. I want to take photos before we start in on the shop. I need to keep a record, though the cops probably already did."

After she fixed me a triple latte and then one for herself, we saw that Daisy and her men had taken off. I swallowed the lump of anxiety lodging itself in my throat and motioned for Bree to follow me. There were plenty of cleaning supplies in the shop, so I grabbed my mug and phone, and we headed across the driveway. The sheriff had closed up but I knew what was waiting for us behind the door. I stood there, palming the handle, until I finally gathered the courage to enter.

I flipped on the light switch and, behind me, Bree gasped and froze.

"Oh, Elphyra…I…I had no idea it was this bad," she said. "This is horrible."

I tried to keep my tears back. Somehow, in the aftermath of Daisy and her men arriving, the damage and destruction seemed worse. The stench of urine filled the air, along with the mixture of herbs, spices, and powders. What would happen with all that magical powder spread out in the open? I had no idea, but the air was crackling with energy—swirling in a chaotic knot.

"I don't know where to begin," I finally said. "I'm…just…"

Bree walked over to the back room and came out with a couple brooms, a large wastebasket, and a dustpan. "You start sorting through piles for anything you want to keep. I'm going to start sweeping up the broken bags of salt and powder."

I nodded, silently obeying. Fancypants began to sort out things on the counter. As the three of us worked, in unison and silence, I tried to turn my mind off and just make it through the process.