Wil stood there, shocked.

Did you hear me? Isom made eye contact, growling lowly as the wizard in his jaws whimpered and went limp. He was the oldest of the three spies, and he looked and smelled terrified. Wil almost felt bad for what he went through, but the wampus cat repeated the pertinent fact. They work for your friend Thomas.

“Yeah, I heard you,” Wil muttered, glaring at the wizard.

“What did he say?” Darlene asked, looking back and forth between Isom and the people on the street watching. “And what’re we going to do about this?”

“Might let Isom eat him,” Wil muttered.

“Please…please don’t…” the wizard said. His monocle was on the ground and broken. “I’ll do whatever you want, please…”

Wil turned to Darlene, all the night’s joy lost. “Isom said that this bastard here, and the other two, are working for Thomas. Sure makes tonight’s speech make more sense, now that I think about it.”

Darlene said nothing, but her face turned a bright red. She pointed right at the wizard’s face and said, “if you want to get out of this, you’re going to answer every single question we’ve got. We’ve got half a mind to let you get eaten, and then to turn Isom on the others!”

Isom rumbled with approval. His prey whimpered and trembled. That was enough for Wil. “Let him go, Isom. If he tries anything, you can take him down. But no eating him until I say so.”

Although he didn’t say anything, the wampus cat projected supreme disappointment and irritation. But he did as he was told and carefully extracted his teeth. The wizard’s neck was covered in saliva and welts where Isom's fangs had dug into his flesh. Wil offered him a hand. The wizard took it and let himself get pulled up.

Wil led them inside, but a mental command had Isom sit at the front door and guard them from any possible intrusion from either the man’s allies or any of the bystanders. Certainly one of them had contacted the sheriff. That meant they only had so much time to get offers before he was arrested and out of their reach.

“So, before we start, you realize this was stupid, right?” Wil asked as they went to the kitchen. He got water from the sink and let it accumulate in the air, held aloft by magic. Water wasn’t his specialty, but he could handle a few gallons.

“Profoundly stupid,” Darlene added. “And not just coming here tonight, but trying to spy on us at all. We didn’t want any trouble, but you’re in for it now.”

The wizard nodded, still trembling. “My name is Mark. I’ll cooperate, I promise. Please don’t hurt me!”

“As long as I get some answers, I won’t.” Wil said. He then directed the water to crash into Mark and soak him to the bone before he turned off the sink. “That’s for the pee smell,” he added.

Mark nearly crashed to the ground again, but he held himself up with the wall. He dripped and looked more miserable than before, but it was hard to feel too much sympathy. Darlene took pity on him and directed him into one kitchen chair, while she took the other. Wil turned on the light and paced.

“How long have you been working for Thomas?” Wil asked.

Mark’s eyes darted between the two of them. “We don’t, strictly speaking, work for Thomas.”

“Ferrovani,” Darlene said. “Thomas is still working for Ferrovani, isn’t he?”

A sour pang went through Wil, a mix between embarrassment, anger, and hurt. It only got worse when Mark nodded. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” Wil said. “Thomas was up front about why he was interested in me, right from the start. He saw I was lonely and trapped, and he made himself my friend. Even when I knew it was possible, I…”

Darlene took over for him. “How many times have you or your associates tried to break into either here or Bram’s house?”

“This was the first time we’ve made a real attempt,” Mark answered. Every so often he swallowed hard and looked to Wil with fear in his eyes. “Before now, we’ve looked from afar and probed your defenses a bit. Nothing that would trigger your alarms or trip your wards, just enough to see what you’ve got. We wondered why it wasn’t more protected. I guess we don’t have to wonder anymore.”

Wil went into the cabinet and got himself a glass and the whiskey. He hadn’t drank much with dinner, not enough to impair his ability to drive, but now he needed a drink. He poured himself two fingers, and then after a second poured a second glass for Mark. He wasn’t fighting them yet.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Th-thanks,” Mark said, taking a sip and wincing.

“Tell me how it was went,” said Wil. “Tell me all the ways my friend Thomas is betraying me.”

Mark gripped his glass tighter. “Every week or two, he’d show up with copies of your notes and give them to us. We’d study them and practice with the leyline out back. It was mostly boring, until you cracked it. As soon as you cracked it, we got the notes and got to skip ahead to working on things that Cloverton wants.”

“Like weapons,” said Darlene. She looked as angry as Wil felt, but they both managed to keep it together. “So you had everything you needed. Why break into the house at all? You could’ve kept going as you were and we wouldn’t have done anything to you. No worse than a nightmare or two,” she added, eyeing Wil.

“That’s…that’s why,” Mark said. He shrank in his seat and took another desperate sip of whiskey, as if afraid Wil would take it away if he didn’t like what he heard. “After you hurt McGinnis and destroyed our weapons, we were all a little sore. And McGinnis is a dumbass, but he’s insidious and good at getting people angry. So we thought we’d…”

“You thought you’d break into my house, take anything that might help with your experiments, and make it clear that I wasn’t safe in order to get under my skin,” Wil finished for him. “How’s that working out for you?”

Mark finished his whiskey and coughed. “Not well. You’re not going to hurt me, right?”

“Of course not,” Darlene scoffed. But then she saw the look on Wil’s face and fell silent. Mark followed her gaze and he paled.

“I don’t know about that,” said Wil. “I could do horrible things to you, and there’s nothing anyone would be able to do to fix it. I’m one of Calipan’s best mind mages. I could trap you inside your worst memory and slow down your perception of time. I could remove your ability to understand language, cutting you off from the rest of the world forever.”

Darlene gaped at him, and her reaction made Markus tremble worse. “I, uh, would greatly appreciate it if you didn’t do any of those. Please.”

“Well, that depends, now doesn’t it?” Wil smiled pleasantly. “When the sheriff comes by, are you going to confess everything?”

“Yes, yes, I will confess anything you want!”

Darlene understood then, but it was clear she didn’t approve. Her glare bore into Wil, but he ignored it in favor of staring Mark down.

“Wise. I don’t want to have to do any of that, but something happened recently. You’ve heard about what happened to Hugo?”

Mark nodded.

“I don’t tolerate any attacks on me or Harper Valley anymore. Confess, and at the first available opportunity, you’re going to get the hell out of my town and never return, or I will do any number of horrible things to you. Am I understood?”

Mark nodded with more enthusiasm.

“Excellent,” said Wil. “Go out the front door and sit next to Isom. He’s going to keep an eye on you until the sheriff arrives.”

The spy paled at the suggestion, but he nodded and slinked away from the table and out the front door. Wil got an impression of malicious joy from Isom, and for once he didn’t dissuade the cat from his little pleasures.

As soon as he was gone, Darlene turned on him. “What the hell was that, Wil? Where did those threats come from?”

“He invaded our house,” Wil said. His voice was rough, and he realized he was holding back tears of rage and frustration. “He and the others. It’s not enough to try to steal our work, but they invaded our home. They’re making weapons based on our research, and my supposed friend is responsible for all of it.”

Darlene braced herself on the table and chair and fought to stand. She staggered over to him and hugged him. Wil clung to her and helped keep her steady, even as he began shaking.

“I know that,” she said gently. “And I’m mad too. I know what this means to you Wil. They deserve to get their asses kicked for all of it. Thomas especially. Weapons? He looked you in the eye and promised no weapons, and he was lying the entire time. We’ll get them, Wil, but we’ll do it the right way. We don’t need to hurt anyone. I’m…a bit scared. For you, not of you. You’re not the type to want to hurt others.”

“I didn’t used to be,” Wil whispered. “Ever since Hugo, I…when we’re working, things are fine, but I get angrier than I used to. I don’t want to be pushed around, or let bastards like him push other people around. I hate being this way, but how people hurt others more.”

Darlene squeezed him. “I know. But you’re strong, Wil. How many times have you told me that the strong have a responsibility to watch themselves and not hurt anyone weaker than them. You’re better than this.”

“I want to be, at least. You’re right. And…” Wil pulled away. He wore a sad smile. “I wouldn’t have done it to him. Not really. But for the moment, I wanted him to think that I would. If he confesses, then it worked. But I’ll stop with the nightmare thing.”

“Thank you.”

Isom sent a mental warning several seconds in advance. Wil went to the front door and opened it right as the sheriff went to knock. Sheriff Harrington was a strong, good natured man in his mid thirties who wore a big hat.

“Master McKenzie,” he grunted. “It looks like there’s been a little trouble here.”

Wil nodded. “There has, Sheriff. My house was broken into by three rival wizards, and my pet defended my property. I wish to press charges, and our friend here has promised a full confession and to co-operate with you.”

Sheriff Harrington looked at a cringing, soaked Mark. “Alright then. I hate to take up your time after what’s been a trying night, but I’m going to have to ask some questions of you and Ms. Johnson first.”

Darlene joined Wil at the front door. “We’re happy to help, Sheriff. Anything to make sure our home is safe again.”

Wil saw his future for the next few days. This was what his father needed to act, so maybe they’d finally be rid of their problem once and for all. He wasn’t looking forward to having to confront Thomas.