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He rolled his eyes. “The other ones whose home was burglarized. This is William Highcrest and Mary Loomer.” At their introduction, they each bowed their heads to Ben and me.
Ben stepped forward and offered them his hand and a smile. “It’s a pleasure to have you in my home.”
William shook the hand, but Ben grasped Mary’s offered fingers and planted a light kiss on them. The young girl blushed, but the ice was shattered.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Mary told him as she pressed her kissed hand against her chest.
“So what are you doing here this late, Lew?” I asked our guests.
He nodded at his companions. “I told them about you believing what I had told you, and they wanted to know if they could help, so we’ve been staying over at my house all day waiting for you to get back.”
Ben looked over each of the kids. “You all accepted Darren’s advice and set a card beside a magical object?” They all nodded. He held out his hand. “May I see one of those cards?”
“I have mine,” Mary spoke up as she reached into the small purse attached by a string to her arm. She drew out a card from a stack and held it out to him.
Ben took it and studied the picture a moment before he held it out to me. The face showed a fairy with beautiful wings and a whimsical look on her face floating in a green forest. “Hold this in your left hand.”
I blinked at him. “My-oh.” The hand with the ribbon. The ribbon with the powerful magic to obscure my real form.
I took the card and held it tight in my fingers. The kids crowded about me with their eyes glued to the card. Even Tully stood in the wings with a slight touch of curiosity on his usually stoic face.
After a long moment of waiting, the fairy picture twitched. I let out a gasp as the creature fluttered out of the card and into the air. The creature flitted down the hall to the rear door and opened it, all without making a noise. The fairy then flitted back and sank into the card, and the picture reverted to its two-dimensional state.
The deed was done in less than half a minute.
Ben pursed his lips as he took the card from my hand and studied the face. “Just as I thought. There is latent magic in these cards that is activated once close enough to a source from which it draws enough power to summon the tiny spirits trapped within the paper.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
A little colordrained from my face. “There are spirits trapped in there?”
He nodded. “Yes. They’re not ghosts, but fae. Their magic is weak, but one doesn’t need much to pop out of a card and open a door.”
“But she acted kind of funny for a fae,” Lew spoke up as he cupped his chin in one hand. “She just floated to the door and back to the card. I’ve seen them around the union. They have more, well, more fun than that.”
“She may be under a spell herself,” Ben guessed.
Mary drew out her deck of cards with its myriad of creatures and her face fell as she inspected them. “What about all the other animals? Are they fae, too?”
“In disguise, no doubt, but yes,” Ben confirmed.
Mary bowed her head and bit her lip as she looked over her deck. “I don’t want to keep them captured like that. . .”
“How can we get them out?” William asked us.
Ben shook his head. “I’m not sure myself, but the one who crafted them would be able to tell us.”
I snorted. “That definitely wasn’t Darren. He can barely play the game.”
Ben nodded. “I agree. Someone else crafts the cards and he sells them. Now we must find his silent partner.”
“We can do that!” Lew offered as he puffed out his chest. “We can watch Darren’s shop! He has to get a delivery sometime!”
Mary gave him a scolding look. “But what if he goes somewhere to get the cards?”
“Then we’ll follow him,” Lew insisted.
Ben pursed his lips. “This isn’t a game, lad. Whoever is his delivery man may very well be the thief bold enough to enter your homes and steal away your valuables. Such a man may turn desperate once exposed, and he may not hesitate to deal with threats to himself.”
