CHAPTER 48

"I can't...make this..." Lily was focused intently on her wounded arm, her face scrunched up. Smoke rose from the edges of her ruined skin. "It isn't healing!"

"What does that mean?" Beth asked.

Sofia frowned and looked outside. "I don't know," she said.

The front door banged open, and Sulyvahn stumbled inside, his head cradled in his arms. He tripped and fell, spilling black smoke from his neck all over the floor.

"Suly!" Beth went to his side as Sofia closed the door.

"Blasted wretch an' all his shoutin," Suly mumbled. "Wasn' in me right mind, couldna hardly move."

Beth helped him to the couch, and then returned to the window. Murray was frozen in place still, his mouth wide open as he shouted. The cylinder was visible now, sending a beacon of light into the sky.

What sort of trouble were they in now? It didn't seem society-related, so what could it be? Beth paced in front of the window, pausing only to watch Eulalie use her webs to bandage Lily's arm. The Arachne moved quickly, her fingers deftly winding gossamer strands around Lily's ruined flesh. The finished product was an elbow-length glove that shimmered in the light as Lily tilted her arm from side to side.

"I'm afraid that's the best I can do," Eulalie said.

"At least it doesn't hurt, thank you." Lily squeezed her fingers experimentally. "I sure hope the boys down at the docks like their handies with some glove action."

"Oh, however will they manage?" Eulalie offered with a smile. "But at least we're safe inside, right?"

The power fluttered, then went out. The dim light of day through the front window was the sole illumination as Murray continued to scream in the front yard.

An early dinner had come and gone, and Beth sat in the living room, her eyes fixed on the man in her front yard. Murray was still out there, and every few minutes, someone would crack a window to see if he was still screaming.

Not only was the sound disorienting, but an ominous fact had been revealed later. While the house was closed up, his scream couldn't be heard, but the outside world still could. A disoriented bird had bumped into the glass, and Tink had braved the outside world to go rescue it. A strong breeze could be heard rustling the bushes, but the noise from Murray only penetrated the home when the door or a window was open.

Ratu, through her crystal ball, theorized that the sound's disorienting effect couldn't penetrate the home's exterior due to the geas. The sound didn't carry through the crystal ball either, even when Beth took it outside for a minute with ear plugs in. Without being able to hear it, the naga had little to offer in terms of advice.

With no ideas, the household was busy making preparations for whatever siege was coming their way. Sulyvahn had gone through the greenhouse to coordinate with the centaurs, and Sofia had retreated to the Library in hopes of finding information. Eulalie had gone with her, ecstatic to see such a place.

Cecilia hovered by the window, her hands held over her chest. On occasion, she would flicker and vanish, only to reappear minutes later.

The front door opened and Lily came in. She was wearing Mike's face, and carrying Kisa on her back. When she set the cat girl down, Kisa made a retching noise. "If you cough up a hairball, you'd better clean it up yourself," Lily warned.

"Eat dicks," Kisa hissed, then wandered off toward the kitchen.

"Success?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, we totally pretended to turn our magic sundial which apparently doesn't give two shits about what's happening out there." Lily flopped down on the couch, her body reverting to normal. Her arm was still wrapped in spider silk, the wound reeking of sulfur. "You know, he's giving our resident screamer a run for her money."

Cecilia chuckled, but said nothing.

"Any word from Romeo yet?" Lily shifted uncomfortably on the couch, trying to find somewhere to rest her arm.

Beth picked up her phone and turned it on. "He still hasn't read any of the texts I sent him," she said. She gave it a moment, then turned it off. With no way to charge it, she was only checking every half an hour.

"We might need to find a different way to do it," Lily said, then looked over at Cecilia. "How about you, dream girl? I know you were popping in and out of his head while you were in fairy land."

"Tis true," Cecilia admitted. "But it often took me a long time to connect. I am happy to try, though."

"Get on it then." Lily flopped back on the couch, then looked at Beth. "While I was out there, I tried to get a good look at the edge of the yard."

"And?"

"Nothing. No people, no traffic. It was almost as if—" Lily turned her head toward the office as Death stepped out of it.

"I say," he announced while rubbing the top of his skull. His hood had been pulled down and he was wearing a giant pair of earmuffs. "That racket is even louder here than it was in the Library."

"Excuse me?" Beth stood. "You can hear that?"

"Of course, I can." Death fiddled with his earmuffs. "I was in one of the deeper sections of the Library when I discovered this amazing book about a man named Waldo. It was demanded of me that I find him, and so I got caught up in his many adventures when I heard that ghastly sound."

"And you didn't think to investigate?" Lily's voice had an edge to it.

"Oh, I did. I wandered through the Library for hours, but couldn't pinpoint its source." Death approached the window and placed his fingers on the glass. "Ah, I see. So, there's our culprit."

"His name is Murray," Beth explained. "He started doing that and we don't know why."

"Well perhaps I can persuade him to stop." Death stuck a hand in his robe and withdrew a long staff that unfolded into his scythe. The edge gleamed wickedly as he gave it a test swing.