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[color=c4df9b]"Hey, Ezra. Any idea on what these people could regard as stolen property amongst our father's collection? Sounds like he pissed off a lot of people in life, huh,"[/color] said Alexander. 

Ezra, annoyed but maintaining his composure due to Raymond calling him by that embarrassing nickname, turned and placed an arm over the back of the shoulder so he could get a better look at Alexander. As he turned, his Masterpiece spell on himself finished and the signs of stress evaporated from his skin. Had James pissed off a lot of people in his life? Undoubtedly. Ezra imagined that a fair number of them would be their mothers, especially considering how close some of his half-siblings were in age. Seriously, had dad been picking up women at the diaper parties? Ezra gripped the bridge of his nose: his dad’s game was the last thing he ever wanted to think about.

[color=darkgray]“I would take the things people who dress up in robes and animal masks say with a grain of salt, Alexander,”[/color] said Ezra, still rubbing the bridge of his nose. Was some of the things James owned stolen? Maybe, but Ezra didn’t know about them if that was the case. He couldn’t see his dad dressing up in a black jumpsuit and dipping beneath security lasers to nab a hot commodity like some kind of cat burglar, but it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine a scenario where James had inadvertently purchased a stolen art piece from a less-than-legal dealer.  More likely, Morgana was either a “rah-rah the rich all stole from the poor” type to justify being a criminal or she had just been lying.

Thankfully, as Ezra spoke Raymond had stopped tearing up the house and Oscar used his magic to douse the flames in water—only for Raymond to take the opportunity to glide across the floor after the creeps. Ezra sat up in his chair, let out an exasperated sigh, and sunk back down. What was going to be a bigger headache: dealing with a repairman in the house all week, or coming up with a convincing enough lie as to how all of this damage had happened in the first place?  He began making a mental list of who he’d have to call as Tuyen approached him.

[color=MediumOrchid]“ I take it you haven’t seen these invaders before?”[/color] she asked. Oh, had it been obvious that his family was prepared to be attacked by a bunch of creepy cultists and their oversized hell dogs? Ezra scoffed and folded his arms, not even dignifying the question with a response. [color=MediumOrchid] “Do you have any idea what they might be after? Anywhere they might go within this manor?”[/color]

[color=darkgray]“Maybe there’s some spare cash or jewelry laying around, but everything really of any value is either in the bank or in a stock portfolio,”[/color] said Ezra. He rubbed his chin and squinted as he thought of what else they might possibly be after. [color=darkgray]“Actually, there is James’ artifact collection.  Most of it looks like junk, really, but a few of the items might be valuable. There’s a gallery past the ballroom, near the study. If you think it is safe, Arabelle can show...”[/color] 

He really wouldn’t have sent their maid out into the mansion while there were maniacs running amok, but delegating a relatively small task to her was basically a habit at this point. Ezra glanced around to find the woman, standing so he could get a view through the hole in the wall. As far as he could tell, both Arabelle and Junior were missing. He let out a hmph and looked down at Tuyen, [color=darkgray]“I can show you where it is.”[/color]