Serpent's Touch_A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy by Tansey Morgan

Author:Tansey Morgan [Morgan, Tansey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Supernal Publishing
Published: 2017-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Allure

From the moment I walked into the dining hall for breakfast, all anyone could talk about was what the hell happened to me last night. I had bruises and scrapes all over, my arm was busted, and I looked like I hadn’t slept a wink. Vik, who had a little first aid training, offered to replace the bandage, and I wasn’t in a position to decline.

“There,” Vik said, as he tightened and clipped the fresh bandage to my arm, “Now, how about you tell us what happened last night. Can you remember anything?”

I had chosen not to say much until the bandage was changed. I figured the pain would be distracting, and it was. “It was dark,” I said, “I didn’t see the thing coming at me until it was right in my face. But I think… it may have had claws.”

“The damage is consistent with some kind of animal bite.”

“Animal or vampire?” Liam put in.

“Right,” Raphael said, “It could have been either. Can you tell us anything more?” He was standing nearby, arms folded, his face dark with concern. Liam, too, was nearby, only he wasn’t looking directly at me. He seemed to be staring deeply out one of the dining hall windows.

I shook my head. “No, one minute I was in bed, lying down, and the next minute I was in the forest. This all started maybe ten minutes after dinner last night.”

“And you just appeared in the forest.”

I nodded.

“Teleportation?” Raphael asked Vik.

“No. I don’t think so,” Vik said. “Magic leaves residue on whatever it touches, and she hasn’t been touched by magic. At least, not that I can see.”

“But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t touched by magic, right?” I asked, “Just because you can’t see it…”

“That’s true, but if that were the case, then whoever did this to you is far more powerful than any of us.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the mansion and grounds are protected by powerful, ancient spells cast by mages long dead. This place was designed to be impenetrable and difficult to detect. I’m more inclined to believe this was an inside job than entertain the idea that a mage powerful enough to break through the mansion’s wards thought to teleport you out into the woods, then attacked you.”

“It wasn’t teleportation,” Liam said, seeming to break out of his trance. He looked over at me. “You walked out of here.”

“Walked?” I asked. “No, I laid down, and then I was in the woods.”

“I’m telling you, you walked. Maybe you don’t remember, but you got up and out of your room, then walked out of the mansion and into the woods. You were seen.”

“Seen? By—oh…” Realization dawned on me. Liam had information I didn’t have, information passed to him, possibly by a ghost. The thought gave me a chill.

“That… changes things,” Vik said.

“How?” Raphael asked. “I admit, I don’t fully understand how the mansion’s defenses work. I simply know that they do. But there’s a big difference between a teleportation spell and some kind of mind-control spell, or even a mind-influencing spell.

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