Will of the Witch [Legacy, BK 2 - Completed]

Chapter 13.1

Avery shook her head as we walked in. "It feels empty here."

I had to agree with her. The house had that stillness to it, and for the life of me, I couldn't hear anything. I shut the door behind us, on edge and anxious. It felt like I'd eaten a rock.

Dad flipped a light switch, and the lights came on without an issue. "Power still works."

Avery started going through and flipping on lights, until the whole first floor was lit. I trailed along behind her, but I couldn't find a single thing that seemed out of place. The formal dining room had a couple file boxes stacked against one wall. Papers spread across the table top looked like bills and invoices, some tax papers.

I glanced at the papers quickly, not wanting to be nosy, but they didn't seem to be a clue. Lyssa's farm wasn't doing great, but it wasn't failing or behind on bills yet, either.

The kitchen was clean. There was food in the fridge, and except for a bit of mold on the bread on the counter, nothing was expired or out of place again.

"Anything?" Dad asked, coming in from the living room.

"No," Avery said. "If she was going to leave, would she leave a note or something?"

"What about upstairs?" I asked.

He didn't answer, but headed straight for the stairs. I climbed after him, hoping that we would find something, anything. The not knowing was the worst.

Nothing seemed out of place in the hallway. I glanced at Dad. He nodded at me and we split up.

Dad turned left, Avery and I went right. The door just to the right of the painting opened to a bathroom, but there were two more doors on our side of the hallway.

"This is so weird, Ez. It's too quiet. Where'd she go?"

I shrugged and pushed the first door open to find a guest bedroom. It was mostly bare except for the bed with a nice bedspread and matching curtains. No pictures or dresser. Just a mirror on the wall and a small corner table.

Avery and I backed out of the guest room and moved on to the next room. Avery pushed the door open this time. But on the other side we found a small office. It was neat and organized like the rest of the house. The top of the desk showed little disorganization, some papers piled on the corner of the desk, a notebook open to a few handwritten notes, the computer was showing a screensaver of ribbons.

Avery walked over to the desk and flipped through some of the notebook, shaking her head. "There's nothing here. Just symbols and notes in a code I don't recognize."

"Take the notebook. Maybe Dad can figure out some of it."

She nodded. As we stepped back into the hall, Dad called for us. We walked down to where he stood in a room that had to be Lyssa's.

It was ransacked. Clothes everywhere, stuff knocked off the dresser. The comforter from the bed was dragged across the floor.

But there wasn't a body.

No blood.

"What do you think happened here?" Dad asked.

I was sure he already had an idea, but he'd been helping me and Avery learn the ropes with being Heads of the Families. Nowadays, that meant being part detective sometimes too.

"She put up a fight," Avery said, walking further into the room. She paused by the bed, looking down at the tossed sheets. "I think she was asleep when she was taken."

"Taken?" I asked, but I got the feeling she was right. With all the signs of struggle here in her room. "The doors were all locked downstairs, nothing looked broken. How did they get in and get her out?"

Avery looked up at us. "Wait, what's on the wall behind the door?"

Dad and I turned at the same time and behind the door, was a bloody handprint that was all too familiar.

I cursed. I was all too familiar with it.

"That about covers it," Dad said, wiping a hand down his face.

Avery came up behind me. "Well, at least we know who took her."

"No, but why would Nathan take Lyssa?" I stepped forward, moving the door a little to get a better look at the hand print that was exactly the same as the one Nathan left on the wall of his basement after our fight. After he'd killed Poe.

"Maybe the same reason why he took Thea. And Liam."

Dad's eyes grew serious. "Thea is a Manser, Liam a Stanwood, Lyssa an Amerson. It's like he's trying to have one of each of the families under his control."

"And I already know he's looking for a Reinhardt." Running a hand through my hair, I was having trouble understanding. Why would Nathan need any of us, let alone one from each of the Families?

"What do we do now?" Avery asked, turning to look at the rumpled remains of Lyssa's room.

"We meet back with the others," I said, stalling. "And see what they've found out. Then we'll figure out what to do next."

I glanced at my father, and he nodded.

"Let's make sure everything is locked up tight here, then we can go."

Avery followed Dad out of the room, but I stood there a moment, focusing on Nathan's hand print. It was only a matter of time before we came face to face again, and this time, I wasn't going to let him get the better of me.