“Hello, Clove,” I welcomed her.
She cooed in response, then dropped something in my lap from her long talons. I glanced down at it, curious, then froze at the sight of blood on my blouse and skirt.
“Oh,” I breathed, my eyes widening.
“It seems your familiar brought you a present,” Zeph said, his amusement palpable.
“What the hell is it?” Ella asked, clearly horrified by the dead, uh, thing in my lap. It was definitely an animal of some kind, but it seemed to be a cross between a rodent and a bird.
Zeph reached over to pick up the item by its long, wiry tail and held up the grotesque sight before us. “It’s a stonepecker,” he marveled, his tone suggesting we should be impressed.
“A what?” Ella gaped at it. “It looks like a possum mated with a… a…” She squinted at the sharp-looking beak. “A woodpecker?”
Zeph considered and nodded slowly. “I can see the resemblance, yeah. They’re a bit of a nuisance, yet incredibly powerful. And they’re known to absorb enchantments from whatever rock or stone they choose to destroy by pecking, hence the name stonepecker.”
He set the dead little guy on the coffee table, then glanced at Clove. She’d perched on the back of the recliner chair and was busy preening her feathers.
“Seems someone’s been playing in the LethaForest,” he mused.
“The LethaForest?” I repeated.
He nodded. “Stonepeckers are nearly extinct as a result of them being a nuisance to Midnight Fae housing structures. Their ability to absorb enchantments also enables them to be used for nefarious purposes, such as circumventing wards or runes.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding.
Zeph brought his ankle up to rest on his opposite knee and stared thoughtfully at the animal, his brow furrowing. “Many important Midnight Fae establishments are protected by wards. You’ve seen the Academy walls; they’re riddled with protection charms.”
“The snake vines,” I said, nodding.
“And many others,” he replied, his expression darkening. “They’re controlled by a variety of spelled runes to ward off any evil intentions. But if a stonepecker were to peck at some of the surrounding walls, it could absorb the magic, which could then be used by a Midnight Fae to create a counterspell.”
“A counterspell,” I repeated. “Like to dismantle the protection spells?”
He nodded, his focus still on the stonepecker. “Yes. It would essentially create a safe portal for the fae to enter and exit through. It may also allow the fae to craft a shield of sorts to deflect any and all counterattacks that may be incurred after harming someone or something inside of the protected structure.”
“Such as blowing up a building and writing Alqisian in flames above the destruction,” I suggested, following his train of thought.
“Yeah. Just like that.” He looked at Clove, then at me. “Your familiar just brought us evidence.”
“That can’t be good,” Ella interjected. “I mean, especially after Aflora sang about…” She trailed off, her hands twisting in her lap.
“I didn’t do this,” I promised.
“Oh, I know you didn’t,” she replied without missing a beat. “I’m just…” She cleared her throat and looked past me at Zeph. “Is someone setting her up?”
My eyes widened as I glanced back at Zeph.
His expression turned grim. “That’s certainly what it seems like. Why else—”
“We have a problem,” Shade announced as he materialized across the room. He started toward us, then paused at the sight on the table. “Why the fuck is there a dead stonepecker in the living room?” Then his gaze widened. “Oh, shit. You need to dispose of that. Right fucking now. Before the Warrior Bloods arrive.”
“She didn’t do it!” Ella blurted out, jumping up to her feet in a defensive stance. “She was with us the whole damn time. I will go in front of those Council idiots myself if I have to. And fuck their male chauvinist bullshit; I will bang down their damn doors and scream at the top of my lungs.”
Shade blinked at her, then glanced at me and Zeph. “What is she going on about?”
“Clove brought the stonepecker to Aflora,” Zeph explained, gesturing at the blood residue on my uniform. “We believe someone is trying to set her up for this.”
Shade huffed a laugh. “Close, but no. The attack has Elite magic all over it, and my father is blaming Kols.”