Chapter 22

We said nothing on the drive home, for which I was thankful.  Killian had learned enough about me to recognize when I wasn’t in the mood for talking.

I spent my ride home fretting over the overuse of the magic box and the possible depletion of its magic.  I’d reminded him about it just as he’d placed me in the car and he quickly went back into the house to fetch it for me.  He was a good man and an even better friend.

Nora was just getting up when we entered the kitchen. 

“What the devil?” she said with a shocked expression that quickly erased all signs of sleep from her face. “Esmerelda, you look exhausted.  Where have you two been?”

I looked, questioningly, at Killian and then back at her. “You didn’t tell Killian that I was gone?”

“Gone?  Gone where?” she asked.  “When?”

“I was ripped from my bed in the middle of th