Well, that answers that. Maybe Sunshine will know? I’d sent her a text on the drive over, but I hadn’t heard back from her—she was probably still having dinner with her family. （I was hoping that even if Orrin’s precise language had nothing to do with fae magic or customs, she’d know something. She was practically a walking encyclopedia.）
I’ll have to think about it later—fighting while distracted will make me sloppy, and I can’t risk any mistakes right now.
With Captain Reese and her secretary—a lanky vampire who dressed like a pirate and carried pirate gear with her outside of the Cloisters, which included a collapsible spyglass and a cutlass—we were a team of twelve.
There were more than twelve wizards in House Tellier, but we were planning to question Gideon Tellier and just a handful of others so we wouldn’t be outnumbered—unless the House decided to attack.
Wizards were considered the weakest of supernaturals, and House Tellier wizards weren’t known for their prowess with magic. On a normal day, I’d be confident we wouldn’t have any trouble subduing all the wizards of House Tellier. Except. We were coming to their magical House.
If the House willed it, it could turn into a fortress, and we’d have to infiltrate it to drag Gideon and his cronies out. That would be a much more difficult—and dangerous—thing.
Tetiana whistled as she stepped up onto the sidewalk. “Are all wizard Houses obnoxiously colored, or are the Telliers special?” She pointed to the orange and yellow trim.
April grabbed Brody by the shoulder when he started to lean against the rustic, hip high wooden fence that surrounded House Tellier’s property and dragged him backwards. “Maybe don’t insult the magical House when we need its cooperation, Tetiana. Also, nobody touches the fence or reaches into Tellier property until we must. Grove.”
Grove had uncorked a glass vial and was holding it over the fence. “But this is my chance to see if a House can get poisoned!”
“Grove,” Sarge growled.
“Yessir!” Grove shoved the cork back in the vial and tossed the vial into his bag.
“Formation,” Captain Reese called.
Our team spread out down the sidewalk so that we made an even line, giving each of us enough space to move and maneuver as necessary.
We hadn’t quite gotten into formation when the front door opened, and a man with a jaw so square he looked like his face had gotten smashed into shape with a shovel flung House Tellier’s front door open.
“What is the meaning of this!” The man—he looked like he was maybe in his late fifties—snarled as he stalked down the pathway of stone pavers that ran from the House’s porch to the sidewalk.
“Adept Tellier.” Captain Reese called. “We’re the Magical Response Task Force. We’re here to take Heir Gideon Tellier and several other wizards in for questioning.”
I stood next to Captain Reese at the center of our lineup. If the Telliers resisted, I was going to be the first to step on to House Tellier land. （And potentially the first to get buried alive, maimed, and/or injured if the House chose to inflict damage. But with my higher healing and general abilities, I was the best candidate to take the risk.）
Standing next to the captain gave me a perfect view of Adept Tellier’s face. His complexion turned ashen and he visibly gulped.
“Questioning?” Adept Tellier sputtered. “Questioning for what?”
Captain Reese’s smile turned savage. “For using magic to endanger humans.”
Adept Tellier went from pale to red faced with anger. “W-what? How dare you accuse us! The Wizard Council cleared us from your baseless accusations regarding the library.”
“As it just so happens, we have questions about other instances when Tellier wizards just happened to be in the area,” Captain Reese said. “Just call out your wife, son, and the top five mages in your House.”
“Nonsense!” Adept Tellier stiffened. “We will not submit ourselves to this obvious attack on our illustrious wizard House!”
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Jade
Behind him, the front door of House Tellier opened. I recognized the wide shouldered posture of Gideon Tellier as he slouched his way across the porch.
Adept Tellier didn’t hear his son’s approach as he continued. “The Wizard Council will not stand for this as you are obviously so against us—”
“The Wizard Council has no power to keep us from questioning you over a new potential case,” Captain Reese boomed over the Adept. “And our findings tonight will be reported directly to the Regional Committee of Magic.