Chapter Twelve: On Butterfly Wings
~ Marie ~
The pack member in charge of lunch frowned as she entered. She hadn’t seen Peter lately. Maybe she should look for him and see if anything new has happened. Marie walked up to the man.
“Have you seen—?”
“Here.” The man shoved the food at her and she had to quickly step back or the food would’ve ended up on her chest. The pack member walked away without a backwards glance and left out the front door. She’d have to find him on her own if she was going to talk to him. Marie ate the food before she cleaned the plate with magic and left it on the table. She should continue her investigation. There wasn’t much time left before the wedding. There were no magic signals that she could sense but it could just mean nothing had activated yet. The large building in the back caught her attention. She still hadn’t gone there to look. With most of the wolves out, now might be a good time to look around. Marie walked up to the large door at the front and reached for the handle. The door was heavier than she thought. It took a while before she was able to get it open enough to squeeze herself through.
“Hello?” No one answered her as she let the door close shut behind her. She looked around but didn’t see anyone. Lockers lined the wall to her right and left. Straight ahead looked like a living room with several sofas and bean bags. Marie stretched her senses out. No magic. Since the pack was using this place regularly, the sorcerer probably put something in here. Marie frowned as she walked further in. She should’ve come in here sooner. Once she spoke to Peter, maybe he’d let her place a spell in here. Just in case the spell hadn’t been activated yet, she looked behind sofas and under the bean bags but didn’t find anything. Where would someone put a pouch of herbs and not have it be found?
With a werewolves’ sense of smell, they should be able to smell any herb based magic. Hiding wouldn’t work on them so the pouch would need to be put somewhere that it wouldn’t be weird to smell it. She looked into the nearest room but it only contained several showers. That wouldn’t work for dried herbs. She looked into the next room. Restrooms. Marie went upstairs and looked around. Up here were several beds lined up, side by side. The beds themselves all looked the same with the same colored blanket covering them and a trunk on one side. From here, she could see that nothing was underneath any of the beds. One of the mind controlled wolves could have the herbs in their trunk but unless she knew that there was one in a trunk for sure, she couldn’t go searching through them. Marie ended her search early and headed back downstairs.
Someone leaned against the railing as she descended the stairs.
“You should be careful about going into places like this alone.” Jesse had his arms crossed as he turned to look at her. It didn’t look like anyone else had come in with him. There was no back door that she knew of.
Marie looked him over. It had been a while since she’d seen him. He didn’t look injured. Not that she’d know if he had been. With his regeneration, he would’ve healed already. She stopped next to him as a thought occurred to her. Maybe he could help her again.
“Have you smelled anything similar to what you smelled in the forest? Flowers or herbs?” He blinked before looking up at the ceiling with a sigh. Jesse looked back at her with a wry smile before he nodded.
“I was told they were put there in order to freshen up the linens.” He stopped in front of a closet next to the showers. Jesse opened it and inside she could see several shelves filled to the brim with towels. He reached between a set of towels near the bottom. Jesse moved his arm back and forth as he searched. He stopped and pulled his arm back. His hand came out holding a pouch similar to the one Adrian had found. She took it from him and opened it up. This was indeed the same. It even had the same talisman inside.
“Was this the only one?” He put his hands in his pockets as he tilted his head to the side and looked at her.
“Is something going on?” Saying she was investigating wouldn’t help her here. That would serve as proof and she didn’t need someone else butting in on her investigation.
“I’m here to prevent anything from happening.” Jesse smiled before he nodded.
“Still you should leave before your three admirers come back.” Those three. Well, if that was all the pouches in here then there was no need for her to remain. Marie nodded. Jesse followed her outside but stopped just a few feet from the door. He told her bye before transforming and heading into the forest. She scanned her surroundings for a moment before she headed back to the room.
Inside the room, she went over to the table. She sat down before she opened the pouch and destroyed the talisman. With the talisman gone, she could take her time looking the pouch over. Marie poured the rest of the contents out and pulled one of the books over. She went through several pages before she found something that looked close to what she had. Marie checked the flowers against the picture. This was it. Lilacs. The talisman looked like it had the same spell as the one Adrian had. More spying then. Marie swept the flowers into her hand and threw them in the trash. Without the talisman, they were harmless. Marie examined the pouch. She could always use it for something else. It was put to one side before she grabbed the notebook.
Dispelling the protections on the notebook was slow going since the spells on the pages weren’t exactly the same. Some of the pages had booby traps hidden like simple sleep spells or ones that would cause minor damage but the most problematic part of the spells was the self-destruct function. If she wasn’t careful, the notebook would go up in flames. The sorcerer had been overly cautious about security so there was no chance of her brute forcing any of the spells.
She leaned back with a sigh. That had taken up too much time and she only had three new pages to show for it. Marie didn’t understand why the sorcerer had gone to so much trouble to lock the pages in the notebook since just one page was enough to sentence them to some very harsh punishments. If the wolves or any of the others within the book got a hold of the sorcerer first, it was unlikely for them to escape with their life. Marie shook her head. While that would stop the sorcerer from committing further crimes it wouldn’t solve where the people they’d sold had gone. The sorcerer probably kept that info to themselves.
Marie stood up and stretched. It was almost time for the wedding. She should start getting ready since she didn’t know when she’d be leaving. Marie grabbed her clothes and headed into the bathroom to take a shower.
*~*~*~*~*
She turned her body a little. Marie checked each side to side as she looked in the mirror. This should be good enough. Marie made sure to smooth out any wrinkles and clean up any dirt using magic. Her hair was left alone since she didn’t know anything about hair styles. She checked her watch again. There was still some time left. Marie looked at the door then at the table. She went right back to the notebook. No sense in wasting time she could be using to work.
A knock at the door interrupted her reading. She checked her watch. It was already four-thirty. Another page had been done in the time she’d been waiting. Marie went to the door and opened it. There was no one standing there. She looked around but didn’t see anyone in the clearing either. Marie turned to close the door when something fell to the floor. Marie picked up the piece of paper and turned it over. The paper had a hastily scrawled map drawn with a pen. Some of the ink had smudged but it looked like this was supposed to be a map to the church. So she was supposed to walk? Since she wasn’t sure how long it would take her to walk there, she might as well start now. At least the directions wouldn’t be a problem. It looked like all she needed to do was walk straight. Marie tucked the map into her pocket and shut the door behind her.
Ten minutes later and she was glad she had worn flat shoes. There were too many rocks and roots for her to avoid. Several times she’d almost fallen. Her face and arms had a collection of scratches from all her near misses. She wasn’t sure how much farther until she reached her destination but she hoped it wasn’t that far away. At this rate, she might miss the wedding.
“Shouldn’t you be at the church?” Marie turned. Jesse hopped over a fallen log before stopping next to her.
“I’m walking there.” He had his hands in his pockets as he shifted his weight.
“Walking? Why didn’t they drive you there?” She shrugged. Jesse looked away as he shook his head. He followed as Marie continued walking. “Is this your first time with shifters?”
“No.”
“Is this your second time with werewolves then?” What was he getting at?
“No.” He stopped in front of her. His agitation was clear from the set of his jaw and the stiff way he stood.
“You can’t let any of them continue to harass you. I don’t know how the other pack treated you but if you don’t…” He kicked at a rock before looking back at her. “If you don’t fight back, at least a little, they will only get worse.”
“This is my first time with werewolves.” Jesse opened his mouth to say something before shutting it. “And unless someone attacks first or commits a crime, I’m not going to attack.” He exhaled in frustration as he ran his hands over his head, pushing his bangs away from his face.
“I won’t be able to protect you every time.”
“I’m not asking you to.” She really didn’t understand why any of the wolves thought she was weak. None of the books she read hinted as to why they believed she needed their protection. “If I needed protection, I wouldn’t be a Guardian.” He blinked and just stared at her before exhaling. His exhale turned into a chuckle before he nodded and got out of her way. They continued walking for a bit in silence before he spoke up.
“So what were the other shifters you met?”
“Lions.”
“Really?” His question didn’t seem directed at her but she nodded anyway. Wolves had the largest numbers out of all the shifters. The rarest shifters were the crows. Lions, on the other hand, were more common but their numbers weren’t anywhere near the wolves. “Do you know that vampire?” He’d seen Adrian too?
“He’s my escort.” She didn’t like having to use it yet again but she’d already used it. Might as well keep using it until she left. Jesse was quiet after that. He stayed with her all the way until she reached the edge of the forest. The church was about fifty feet from where they stood.
“This is where I leave you.” Jesse smiled at her but a moment later it faded. “Just... be careful.” With that, he turned and walked back into the forest. Marie watched him shift before she turned away.
The church had a flurry of activity going on. People were getting seated while several members of the wedding party moved back and forth. Marie went into the church and stood in the back. It looked like everyone had already been seated. None of the seats in the back were unoccupied.
Marie went into one of the back corners and quickly wrote out a protection spell before she filled it with magic. She made sure to cover every part of the church. It was a temporary spell and would fade with time so it should be fine to use without asking for permission. She could always dispel it if anyone had a problem. Marie turned around and noticed someone waving at her from the front. It was Peter. She walked over to him, expecting him to ask her whether she had found anything more but instead he gestured to the seat next to him. Marie wanted to refuse. She had no place in their wedding but with the rest of the church full, she didn’t have a choice. Marie sat down next to him and waited. It was a good thing she’d cleaned and healed herself before coming in.
The ceremony started soon after that. This was the first wedding she had ever attended so she had nothing to compare it to but it was nice. As soon as the bride and groom kissed, the church erupted into cheers and applause. It took awhile for the excitement to fade. Once it had faded to a bit, everyone was directed to head next door while the wedding party stayed behind to take pictures.
Peter caught her as she was leaving the building.
“Anything?”
“I’m putting protections on the church and hall, just in case.” He nodded and some of the tension left his body. They called his name from the front of the church and he went to see what they wanted. Marie made her way to the hall. People were checking the board at the front to see where they would sit. She waited for her turn. When the area was empty, she walked up and looked for her name. Marie’s table was located against the left wall halfway between the door and the stage. There were only two chairs at her table. She frowned at the board. It was unlikely he would miss this. Marie turned her attention away from the chart and went to the nearest wall. She started her protection spell when a voice called out to her. Marie pulled the magic back and looked for the source of the voice. A woman in a wheelchair headed her way and stopped a few feet away from her. The woman bowed her head for a moment before looking up at her.
“Greetings, Guardian. My name is Claire.” The woman smiled at her. “I was wondering if I could have a bit of your time.” Marie nodded and followed Claire to a room off to the right side. It wasn’t unusual for someone else to request her help while on a case. Since she didn’t travel her territory often, when people saw her they usually took that chance to ask for help. Marie listened to the other woman's problem and gave her possible solutions. Claire’s brow furrowed as she listened to her choices. In the end, she asked if she could have time to consider her options. Marie agreed and left the room. Claire promised to come to a decision tonight but with a problem like this Marie wouldn’t be surprised if she needed even more time. Marie gave Claire her information so she could get in contact with her later if need be.
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