‘I’ll give it a miss if that’s OK.’
‘I reckon you could keep up if you wanted.’
‘I couldn’t do that in the limo.’
Paige looked up from a sofa. ‘You’re going to run to North Wales?’
‘Yeah, we’ll be back in a couple of hours.’
It didn’t take them long to reach Wales and head north. Alex could have used the vase, but he wanted to run and relieve some of the tension which had built up inside. They checked all the villages, and graveyards they came across, but found no clue. He saw signs pointing to Anglesey. There was something he had read about the place, but couldn’t remember what. The wolves couldn’t sense anything so they returned home.
‘Any luck?’ said James, who was playing pool against Sammy.
Alex shook his head. ‘No, we couldn’t find anything.’
Claire stared up at him. ‘You’re saying you ran to north Wales and back in less than two hours.’
‘We had to stop and look around some graveyards,’ said Alex. ‘Has Blaze gone to bed?’
James watched Sammy take a shot. ‘She’s in the office with Daralis looking into her ball and counting the demons.’
Alex poured himself a drink before sitting down. ‘That could be handy, so are you regretting giving all those toys away?’
‘No, just confused. I collected it all, I even checked them out, but couldn’t find anything so I just put them in the suitcase.’
Claire put her book down. ‘You ever notice weird shit happens around you, Alex?’
‘All my life, I thought I was past it then you got married.’
‘We cancelled it, but you decided to change that for us.’
Alex smiled at her, and at Paige. ‘Any regrets?’
‘No, I quite like my life at the moment, how about you?’
‘No, I don’t think so,’ said Alex, and his eyes grew big. ‘Oh crap! I forgot about Mother and Thomas.’
‘Who’s Thomas?’ said Skye.
‘My little brother . . . and my mother won’t be happy.’
‘You’ve other family?’ said Michelle, from the opposite sofa.
‘Yeah, and I feel guilty now.’
Claire sniggered. ‘And so you should.’
‘Don’t be mean, he’s had a lot on his plate,’ said Paige.
‘I know, I’m only teasing.’
Paige glanced at Alex. ‘I thought you said she was on holiday.’
‘She was, but should’ve been back by now.’
‘She would have phoned you if she was back.’
Alex looked pale, and his mouth contorted. ‘The last time I used my phone was the day we went out after the snow thawed.’
James patted him on the shoulder. ‘You’re in so much trouble.’
‘You better go and find it,’ said Claire, ‘and see if she has left you any messages.’
‘No, she’ll be in bed, we’ll go and pick her up tomorrow,’ said Alex, as Blaze and Daralis came out of the office.
‘Did you find them?’ Joseph asked.
‘Yeah,’ said Blaze. ‘A lot of them were fighting each other.’
James looked hurt as he flopped down on a sofa next to Asima. ‘You didn’t invite us to watch?’
‘I would’ve, but I might have lost the image. I counted forty-two in the house, and there were fourteen of the others outside nearby. It looked like they were waiting for more to join them, but you took care of that.’
‘I take it they gave up waiting,’ said Alex.
Blaze sat down. ‘Yeah, I did see a few more groups of them, but they’re too far away. The rebel ones were outnumbered, but are much stronger and would have succeeded in the attack if it wasn’t for their lack of weapons.’
‘Those claws are pretty nasty,’ said James.
Blaze shrugged. ‘Yeah, but no match against guns, the rebels killed eight of them, but lost six and retreated.’
‘Fourteen and the nine we sent back,’ said Alex. ‘How many were in the groups you saw?’
‘Twenty, they’re on the way, but it’ll take them a while.’
‘So, there’s thirty-four in the house, and twenty-eight of the others. The house ones are in trouble if they all attack at the same time.’
‘You think they’re after the son?’ said Joseph.
‘Yeah, they’ll want to kill him along with everything else in the house.’
‘Including the woman?’ said Blaze.
Alex nodded. ‘I’m afraid so, but if we take out one of the group’s tomorrow night we would put a stop to it.’
James scratched his head. ‘I thought the son had gone missing.’
‘Maybe he has,’ said Joseph. ‘Or it could be a ruse, and there is probably more than one son.’
‘How come the other demons are so far away?’
‘I guess the warlock had sent them to look for pixies,’ said Alex, ‘and there was no quick way back after the ladies killed him.’
‘Can they sense each other?’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Blaze. ‘I thought they did, but they waited a long time for the others after you killed them.’
Alex thought about the warlock dying. ‘What happened to the house demons bodies?’
Blaze shuddered. ‘The ones who were killed . . . melted.’
‘Melted?’
‘Yeah, like they were made of wax.’
‘Tomorrow we’ll work out which ones we take out first,’ said Alex.
‘The rebel ones,’ said Daralis. ‘They’re growing bigger and killing a lot of animals.’
‘I agree. But the ones in the house are too frightened to come out while the rebels are there, and we don’t want thirty-four of them coming out in different directions.’
‘Why would they do that?’ said Claire.
‘So we don’t know which ones to follow.’
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Luella
Luella woke, still tired, eyes sore from crying. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her legs before resting her head on them. She had been searching for over a week, and could always sense him however far away he had been. There was nothing, he was gone. She had tried all her spells, but still nothing. She had been out every night searching where he might have been, but found no sign of him. Luella’s sister was also missing, it was unusual, but she could be abroad as it was an easy thing for her to do. Today would be the worst, she was finally going to the police, and dreaded what they would tell her. She dressed before going downstairs. She couldn’t face breakfast, and had eaten very little in the past week. Luella looked like she was in her forties, a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, but now had the strain of worry showing on her face from crying herself to sleep every night. The doorbell rang, she opened it and stood there were two women.
* * *
Alex woke to an odd sensation as he couldn’t feel his bed. He opened his eyes and understood why, as he was floating near the ceiling. The sudden realisation sent him crashing back down. ‘House, what happened there?’
You were floating in your sleep, said the spirit.
‘I’ve worked that out for myself, but how?’
I do not know, maybe it had something to do with your dream you had of Daralis.
‘Why would it make me float?’
Your dream if you noticed was different to your others. You did not dream of the future or of the past, but of the present.
Alex sat up. ‘That’s true, and I loved the part where I was flying.’
Maybe it wasn’t just a dream but your spirit travelled, too.
‘I did wake up afterwards with a lot of energy,’ said Alex, he thought about floating, and was off the bed again. ‘I can float.’
So it would appear, said House dryly.
Alex thought about turning round, he did, and was now facing his bed. He thought about moving around the bedroom, he did, and bumped his head into a wall. ‘It might take some practice.’
Please only practice indoors, as the ceiling will stop you
going too high.
‘I think I’ve got the hang of it now,’ said Alex, as he rubbed his head, and drifted down to the floor. ‘I still believe there’s something in Daralis’s cottage I need to see.’
Go and have a look.
‘I’ve no idea of what to look for, so how’s Carrie?’
The infection has gone and she is healing well, but will need a couple more days before she can fight again.
Alex felt relieved. ‘That’s good news.’
This is not what we expected is it?
‘If you mean our friends getting hurt or chasing demons at night, then no it isn’t.’
You should . . . erm . . . take me tonight, said House, in a whisper.
Alex looked up. ‘Don’t you need to stay here?’
No, that was only while the warlock was a threat, if you don’t want to take me I will understand.
‘I’d love you to come. I just need to put one of your artefacts in the study.’
You already have one in the vase.
‘Oh Yeah, and it gives me something of an idea, but it’ll have to wait until I’ve fetched mother.’
* * *
Shaula came out of her bedroom as Alex walked past and he picked her up. ‘Hey, sweetheart, where are you going?’
‘Hello, Papa, I’m going to have breakfast.’
‘Me too, but I might eat you instead.’
Shaula giggled. ‘You have my permission to carry me there.’
‘Why thank you, Princess.’
The children and the pucas had lessons today, and just like any other children they were not over keen on them, but they loved their teacher. Flax had already learnt to read, and Gort wasn’t far behind her. Monday was reading and writing day. Sally would start reading a book out loud and the girls would take it in turns to read out the next parts. Afterwards they would write about it.
Carrie was already in the party room eating her breakfast, it was the Monster.
Alex put Shaula in a chair, and sat opposite Carrie. ‘How you feeling?’
‘I feel great, my shoulder’s a bit sore, but I’m so hungry I had to have this.’
‘That must have been some drink Daralis gave you.’
Carrie blushed. ‘I heard I was a little drunk.’
‘You could say that, but it was only for a few seconds, so I wouldn’t worry about it.’
‘I’ll be OK for tonight though,’ said Carrie, and looked down quickly.
‘No, I’m sorry, House said two more days for it to heal properly.’
‘Do you believe I’m a liability?’
‘Where on earth did that come from?’
‘Not sure, I just feel I’m not good enough.’
‘You’re more than good enough. We need you, but not while there’s a chance you might damage your shoulder for good.’
‘It doesn’t feel that serious.’
‘No, the others did a good job, but your wound needs time to heal.’
‘You’ll let me go again?’
‘I’m no doctor, but soon as House says you’re fit enough, then you come with us, but don’t worry we’ll leave some demons for you.’
‘I really believed you would stop me going.’
‘I won’t lie to you, as I did think about it. Nothing to do with how good you are, but when you got hurt it was like someone had taken a red-hot knife to my stomach.’
‘What made you change your mind?’
‘Paige and Blaze, and they were right, so I made a decision. James and Asima decide who can go, and House will tell me when you’re healed.’
‘I can wait, I’ve been doing it for a while, so don’t worry about me.’
‘No training or working either.’
‘OK, boss, but you gonna to manage without me?’
‘I hope so, as House is going with us.’
* * *
Alex sat on a sofa reading the morning papers, looking for any information on the Chamberlain Company. He was waiting for James to come back with the car, when he heard his name called out.
‘Alex,’ a little boy shouted.
‘ALEXANDER!’ a woman shouted even louder.
‘Thomas,’ said Alex, jumping off the sofa and ran to them. He picked the boy up in his right arm, and in one fluid motion he had his other arm around the woman and kissed her cheek. ‘Mother.’ Alex noticed she’d been crying. ‘I’m so sorry if I upset you.’ The thought of upsetting her was too much for him to bear.
His mother embraced him. ‘I know you didn’t, and I’d suffer another week I went through to see you move the way you just did.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were back until last night.’
She gave him a stern look. ‘You could have called me.’
‘It was late, and I didn’t want to wake you. I’ve been waiting for the car to come back so I could fetch you, but someone beat me to it,’ said Alex, looking at the grinning Paige and Claire who had come in with them. ‘But don’t stop worrying until you’ve met the other inmates.’
‘Hello, sister,’ said Daralis, and silence filled the hall.
‘Have you been hiding from me, too?’ said his mother.
‘Sister?’ said Alex.
‘No, Lu, I’ve not been hiding, could you not sense me?’
‘Sister?’ said Alex.
‘No, I couldn’t sense anyone,’ said Luella, who looked a lot like Daralis.
‘Sister?’ said Alex again, and most of them in the hall were now giggling at him, apart from Claire and Paige who were both doubled up laughing.
That is my fault, said House. The shield blocks anyone from sensing who is inside, I will alter it to suit.
‘Sister?’ Alex uttered once again.
‘Yes, dear,’ said Luella. ‘We are sisters, and have been for a very long time.’
‘A very, very long time,’ said James, leaning on the frame of the front door.
‘I hope you’re not making fun of the ladies, James,’ said Claire.
‘Course not, they look great, it’s the look on Alexander’s face.’
‘Who’s Alexander?’ said Carrie.
‘I am,’ Alex muttered. ‘Shouldn’t you lot be working?’
Carrie smiled. ‘Nope, you told me not to do anything for a couple of days.’
‘What work?’ said Claire.
‘But you’re not that old,’ Alex said to his mother, and quickly backtracked. ‘I meant it in a nice way.’
Daralis embraced her sister. ‘I know what you meant, and your mother is a year older than I am.’
‘Auntie Dar,’ Alex gasped, as memories came flooding back to him. ‘I’ve met you before at your cottage.’
‘I forgot about that, you were such a cute little boy.’
‘I think you’ve some explaining to do,’ said Luella.
Alex laughed. ‘I think we both have some explaining to do, I just found out your sister and my aunt is the wicked witch of the west,’ he said, and Daralis blushed.
Luella raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s a terrible thing to say.’
‘My fault,’ said Daralis. ‘I was having a bit of fun when I found out the warlock was dead, and when I sensed his demons were still around I flew here.’
Luella gasped. ‘He’s dead, how?’
‘The ladies here killed him, well sort of.’
‘I can’t wait to hear all about this,’ said Luella, and gave Alex another hug, managing not to squash Thomas. ‘I have so missed you.’
‘I’ve missed you, too, and we’re going to need a long chat.’
‘We will, but I need to get my suitcases from the car first, so I can settle in.’
Alex smiled. ‘You’re moving in for good I hope.’
‘For a while, dear, as it’s such a big house.’
James waved his hand. ‘I’ll get the cases.’
Claire grinned. ‘The boots not locked.’
* * *
James opened the boot and tried pulling one of the cases out, it moved slightly but not by mu
ch, it was heavy.
‘House, is there any way you could make these lighter?’
Yes, try it now, said the spirit.
James pulled the cases out with ease, and walked back inside with one in each hand. ‘Thank you.’
You are welcome.
* * *
James smiled as he walked inside with the cases. ‘Where shall I put them?’
‘I’ll take them up when I show Mother to her room,’ said Alex. ‘Anyway I thought you’d taken George to his office.’
‘No, Michelle did that hour’s ago.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘Round the side of the mansion cleaning the limo.’
‘Were you all in on this?’ said Alex, a little hurt.
Claire walked over and tried picking up one of the cases, which had gone heavy again.
‘You don’t need to do that, I’ll take them up,’ said Alex.
Claire shook her head at James. ‘I was just testing the weight.’
Alex looked down and Shaula was standing there with her arms folded. He picked her up in his other arm. ‘I’d like you to meet my brother, Thomas.’
She smiled. ‘I’m Shaula; would you like to meet the others?’
Thomas grinned. ‘Yes please.’
‘I thought you had lessons,’ said Alex.
‘I do, but I had to go to the toilet,’ said Shaula innocently. He put them down and she led the boy to the library.
Alex picked the bags up, he noticed they were heavy. ‘What have you got in here?’
‘My personal belongings, you can get the rest of my stuff later,’ said Luella.
Alex took the cases upstairs. ‘Let me show you to your room. I did reserve two for you and Thomas.’
‘Are you upset with me?’ said Luella, as they entered her room.
Alex put the cases down. ‘No, why on earth would I be? I feel guilty and a little confused, but I’m used to that now.’
‘Do you want to talk here or downstairs?’
‘Downstairs, I don’t like keeping secrets from my friends, but we might want to talk about a few things, old woman.’
Vesta Mansion: Book One - The Power Inside Page 34