House of Stone by R L King

Author:R L King [King, R L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Magespace Press
Published: 2019-06-04T22:00:00+00:00

24

“You should try to sleep,” Verity said.

“Wouldn’t do any good. I’ve never felt less like sleeping.” Stone stood in front of one of the tall windows at the front of the London house, looking out over the street. It was still early, but a steady stream of traffic drove by in the light morning rain. They’re going to work, he thought with some wonder. They’ve got their briefcases and their cups of coffee, and all they’ve got to worry about is sales reports and unpleasant customers. Not walking skeletons trying to rip them to pieces.

They’d adjourned here shortly after dawn had turned the skeletons to dust. They stopped only long enough to collect the manacles, and for Jason and Verity to run back inside the main house and retrieve their bags, along with clothes for Stone and Ian. Nothing or no one bothered them when they did so; the echoes still apparently still had no issue with anyone not related to Stone. Stone had thought—hoped—that perhaps the skeletons’ destruction would mean the end to the echoes as well, but as soon as he put one foot past the house’s threshold, the aura went red again and the screams began anew.

“I was tempted to go down into the basement and see if those brick alcoves had been broken open,” Verity said when she returned. “I didn’t, though. We can look later.”

“I think those manacles were a fairly good indication,” Stone told her.

They could have left earlier, as soon as they’d all gotten dressed, but Stone had to convince a reluctant Aubrey to leave as well. “Go visit your sister, or your nephew,” he told the caretaker. “I know nothing’s gone after you so far, but I don’t want you alone here with all this madness going on.”

“But sir—” Aubrey had protested.

Stone knew where he was coming from. Aubrey considered the estate as much his home as it was Stone’s, and a large part of his self-image had always been tied up in his ability to look after it, protect it from threats, and contribute to its sense of quiet peace. To be driven away from it, especially when it was in such a state, would be to admit defeat—something the old man was no better at than Stone was.

Still, he insisted. “Aubrey, no argument. I’ve got a lot to be getting on with here, and I don’t want to be worrying about what’s happening to you while I do it. I hope it won’t be for long—we need to get this sorted before those things settle in and decide they like the place.”

“Yes, sir,” he’d said with a loud, long-suffering sigh. “I’ll pack a bag and leave this morning.”

“Give me your word, Aubrey. And ring me when you arrive.”

“I promise, sir.”

Stone didn’t say anything about it, but when he looked at the old man with magical sight, he spotted the obvious signs of relief in his aura. He was loyal, but he was also terrified of the supernatural unknown.

Jason didn’t even complain when they entered the portal.

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