When the Roses Bloom Again by TheBlack'sResurgence

Chapter 50

An Eye for an Eye

Fox had always been a light sleeper. Growing up in Wisconsin and living adjacent to a lumber yard should have conditioned her to slumber through almost anything, but she had never gotten used to the sound of sawing and falling trees early in the morning.

Becoming a Hit-Wizard had only made it more difficult for her to sleep peacefully. The slightest disturbance would wake her.

As Jennifer Dale, a girl who lived on a Dairy Farm, she'd had little to worry about in the ways of danger. The worst she had to be aware of was the milking machinery malfunctioning or a cow getting loose.

As a Hit-Wizard, however, her life was under threat much of the time, and with what the world found itself embroiled in currently, she had never been at such risk.

That was why she woke from the uncharacteristic rustling of the bushes outside her home.

There was no summer breeze to be felt so something or someone was out there.

Listening carefully, it was impossible to miss the almost inaudible clicking of the lock on her front door, and the lack of response from her wards spoke more than an alert ever could.

Whoever was here knew how to get past magical defences.

Wasting no more time, she rolled off her bed, cushioning her fall with a wave of her wand before tapping one of the floorboards beneath, revealing a spot she had created for herself just for emergencies like this.

Shuffling her way in, the floorboards returned to where they had been, concealing her from view.

She hadn't been dubbed 'Fox' without reason.

It had been Ghost that had given her the moniker. As temperamental as she could be, Fox was as cunning as they came, her wits and brilliance when needed having saved her and teammates from harm several times throughout her career.

She was certainly not one to take chances, not even in her own home.

Ghost and some of the others had said she was beyond paranoid, but it seemed her caution was paying off.

Although she would not be heard nor likely found in her den, it didn't prevent her holding her breath at the sound of approaching footsteps nor wincing when her bedroom door creaked open.

Silence followed for a few moments before voices speaking in a tongue she didn't understand were heard, six of them the language likely to be Asian in origins.

Fox remained still, listening as the voices became angry when they couldn't find her, and they left as suddenly as they arrived, even going to the trouble of locking the front door behind them.

That meant they would be back.

She didn't know how, but her safety had been compromised, and there was only one thing for it.

When such a thing happened, there were regulations in place that were to be followed, and without preamble, she did so.

Making sure the men had indeed left, she gathered all her personal items and packed them into a trunk, activating her portkey when she was certain nothing that could be linked to her had been left behind.