“That’s a pretty complex security spell,” Trevor muttered as he followed the pattern of the spell outside the house Allie was in.
I had to agree with him, and I was suddenly regretting not having someone who could cast security spells meet us here. I’d never been very good at them, and Trevor was only marginally better than I was.
“Idiots,” Mel muttered from my left.
“I suppose you know how to unravel a complex security spell?” Trevor asked, glaring at her over his shoulder.
“Nope,” she said as she studied the spell, which consisted of tiny threads of magic woven together like a spider web. “I have no clue how to unravel a security spell.”
“Are you telling me that the great Melina Blackwood can’t do everything?” Trevor asked.
“Enough fighting like children,” I snapped. “I’m going to call someone who can unravel this.”
“Or, we could just do this,” Mel said as she tapped a finger on one spot in the spell, which caused it to quite literally shatter.
“Fuck,” I said in awe, because I’d never seen anyone do something like that.
“Show off,” Trevor muttered.
“The real problem is going to be the dampening spell,” she said, sounding worried all of a sudden. Up to this point, she’d been the calm one in the group, insisting there was nothing to worry about. A dampening spell meant none of us could rely on magic in the house, which put us at a severe disadvantage.
Now, I felt the hum of the spell, too. Dampening spells were usually set up in places where one worried that preternatural creatures wouldn’t get along. In this case, I’d guess it only dampened the powers of non-vampires. The problem with dampening spells is that they’re cast by multiple people, making them nearly impossible to remove if you weren’t involved in casting the original spell.
“How could he have convinced one witch, let alone a group of witches, to cast this?” Trevor asked.
“It was probably sorcerers,” I said. Sorcerers were humans who learned to use certain types of magic. Many called themselves witches, even though they had no idea what it meant to be a witch. While most were weak and of no concern to us, there were some who were powerful enough to sell their services in the preternatural community.
We’d called the police, but they were at least half an hour away because they’d insisted on checking SpellBinders first. It seemed they didn’t trust Trevor’s tracking spell.
“I’m going in,” I said. “You two stay out here in case the police show up.”
“I am not letting you go in there alone,” Trevor argued with a snort.
“He’s right,” Mel agreed. “I’ll stay out here while you go in.”
That’s when Trevor let out a sigh of relief. I could tell he’d been afraid Mel would want to go in with us. Trevor walked close to Mel, and before she could react, he snaked a hand around the back of her neck and kissed her. It was just a quick kiss that left her glaring at him.
“Go save my cousin or I’ll castrate both of you,” she warned.
“Ready to do this?” I asked.
“Let’s go save your witch,” Trevor said as we walked through the now unlocked front door.
I recognized the face in the paintings as soon as we entered the front room. “Son of a bitch,” I muttered quietly.
“Told you I didn’t trust that vampire,” Trevor said.