by Lori Drake
“What the hell, man? Where were you this morning, and how did you—”
He cut me off with an upheld hand and gazed intently out the windshield. A slow grin formed on his face. “Gotcha.”
I followed the direction of his gaze, observing the familiar witch from the cafe—wearing his usual credit union polo—as he approached a nearby car from the direction of the building. “Okay, I know what you’re thinking, but—”
“He was the only witch in the whole building.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s—”
Dan gunned the accelerator like a race car driver. But he didn’t pull out until the witch did, following him out of the parking lot and into midday traffic. I hurriedly put my seat belt on, then busted out my phone to thumb through my contacts.
“What are you doing?” Dan asked.
“Calling Escobar.”
He snatched the phone from my hand and, I kid you not, threw it out the window.
“What the fuck?” I twisted in my seat, craning my neck to try and see where it landed. “Seriously?”
“We don’t need him,” Dan said, changing lanes. “He’ll just get in the way.”
“We’re not cops, Dan! What are we going to do, roll up and declare a citizen’s arrest? We don’t even know that he’s the witch we’re looking for.”
“If he is, he’s dangerous.”
“I know, which is why we shouldn’t be going in on our own!”
“I can do this. I need to do this.” His hands tightened on the wheel, jaw set stubbornly. He looked over at me, a little too long for my taste, considering we were in a moving automobile he was supposed to be driving. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”
“You can start by keeping your eyes on the road.”
“Sorry.” He put his attention back where it belonged. We turned left two blocks later, still in casual pursuit.
I folded my arms, watching the road. “You know, this is basically kidnapping, right?”
“Gonna press charges?” he asked, with a quiet snicker.
“I’m keeping my options open.”
“You’re cute when you sulk.”
“I’ve got a taser in my purse.”
Longest. Ten. Minute. Drive. Ever.
Chapter 30
The witch pulled his gold sedan into a driveway on a residential street. It was a nice area, the sort where parents don’t worry too much about letting their kids play outside without supervision. Well, at least as much as any modern helicopter parent allows.
The property was circled by a low stone wall with a metal fence sprouting from it, except for the gap where the driveway cut through the yard to the garage. The house beyond was adobe, squat and brown, but featured large windows and several chimneys.
Dan parked on the curb opposite the house. The car had barely stopped before he opened the door and jumped out. He hadn’t even turned it off.
“Hey!” I reached over to kill the ignition. “Where are you going?”
“Gotta get inside before he closes the door!” Dan took off across the narrow road. This time I saw the glow of magic around him as he briefly drew on his gift to cast a spell. I even saw the threads of the spell start to come together before they twisted sideways and vanished right along with him. How was he doing that? I hadn’t even had the presence of mind to ask him how he’d broken his binding while we were driving, much less how he made a spell—and himself—invisible.
“Idiot!” I slammed my palm against the dash in frustration, then leaned over to snatch the keys from the ignition. Throwing open the door—and nearly losing it to a passing car that laid on the horn—I got out and slammed it before stuffing the keys in my pocket and making my way across the street in Dan’s wake. By the time I got to the front door, it was long since closed.
“Well, did you make it?” I asked the air, uncertain if my brother was still outside. When I got no answer, I leaned on the doorbell. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
The witch answered the door within seconds. He couldn’t have gotten very far into the house before I rang the bell. I put on my most friendly and apologetic smile.
“I’m so sorry to bother you. I just saw you get home and, well, my car won’t start. Can I borrow your phone?” I jerked a thumb over my shoulder in the direction of my little Toyota sitting across the street, hoping this guy was as unfamiliar with his neighbors as I was mine.
He hesitated but opened the door wider. “Sure, yeah.” He was an older gentleman, clean-cut but with deep lines in his face like he’d spent too long carrying too many burdens. Stepping back, he held the door open for me, and I moved inside. There weren’t any wards in the doorway, which struck me as odd. Most witches have some sort of protection spells on their home, fire retardants and the like, but for whatever reason, there was nothing here, not even the tiniest trickle of power.
“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” I glanced around but didn’t see any sign of Dan. Or much else, beyond a meticulously tidy living room.
The witch fished his cell phone out of his pocket and offered it to me. “No landline, sorry.”
“Who has one of those anymore, right?” I tried to take the phone from him, but he tightened his hold and held on, squinting at me.
“Have we met?”
“No,” I answered a little too quickly. “I mean, I don’t think so. I, uh, get that a lot. One of those faces I guess.”
He didn’t appear to be buying my nervous laughter but released his grip on the phone. I stared at it a moment, dumbly. Now what? I didn’t know Escobar’s number off the top of my head. 9-1-1 seemed premature. So I dialed the only number I knew by heart: Matt’s.
He picked up after a few rings. The sound of his voice was more comforting than it should have been, given my current predicament.
“Hi, I need to arrange a tow,” I said, turning away so I didn’t have to look at the witch directly while I lied through my teeth.
“Em? Is that you? What’s going on? Where are you?” He sounded concerned, and rightly so. More rightly than he knew.
“Yeah, it won’t start. I’m on, uh,” I glanced over my shoulder at the witch. “Sorry, what street are we on?”
“Ocotillo Street. 321.”
I turned back and repeated the address for Matt.
“Why don’t you just call a service? Is something wrong?” Poor Matt. I was going to owe him big time after this little caper.
“Uh-huh, yeah. Escobar. E-s-c-o-b-a-r. Emily. Just send a truck. I’ll be waiting with the car. Red Toyota. Make it fast, will you? It’s freezing out there.”
“Em, look out!” I heard Dan’s sudden warning from somewhere behind me a moment before pain exploded behind my eyes. Also, in the back of my head. The phone slipped from my fingers as I went down. I hit the carpet and lay there dazed for a moment. I could hear Matt’s panicked voice calling out my name through the phone, which lay a few feet away.
Apparently, it’s not as easy to knock someone out by hitting them on the back of the head as movies would have us believe. The strike had hurt like hell, though, and dazed me for a few seconds. Say what you will about my little brother, but he wasn’t about to stand idly by while some stranger rolled me up in a rug or something. I heard a startled grunt and a noisy thud while I held my head, my concerns about the witch’s innocence quickly melting away.
“Matt! Call the cops,” I groaned, hoping he’d hear me. I couldn’t hear him calling anymore over the rush of blood in my ears and the sounds of crashing in the room. Maybe he was one step ahead and had already hung up. A girl can dream.
When I managed to lift my head to look around, I saw that the orderly room had dissolved into chaos in a remarkably short time. There was a scorch mark on one wall and overturned furniture, coasters, and remotes strewn everywhere. Dan, now visible, had taken refuge behind an armchair, while the couch shielded the older witch. Both glowed brightly as they worked their will, weaving together spell and counterspell, slinging them back and forth
like gunslingers firing from cover. An unnatural wind whipped through the room, blowing in my face and raising the hairs on the back of my neck. This was going nowhere fast, and someone was going to get hurt—probably me.
Pushing myself up onto my hands and knees, I swallowed a sudden wave of nausea and crawled for my purse, which had somehow ended up under the coffee table. I had one thought in mind—well, aside from wanting to puke and curl up in a ball, preferably not in the puke—and that was to get the pepper spray out of my purse and end this little stand-off.
A sudden blur of movement drew my eyes from the prize. I looked up in time to see Dan rocket across the room. He vaulted over the couch and bowled the surprised witch over, resorting to fisticuffs to settle the dispute. Dan had the edge, being the younger and fitter of the two. The witch took several solid blows to the face before he managed to get his fingers around my brother’s neck. A magical glow sprang to life around him, and I knew Dan was in trouble even before they rolled over with the other witch in the dominant position. Dan had gone completely limp, lying there staring upward as power flared around him and magic began to flow, visibly, from him toward the chest of his assailant.
It was just like the night I’d witnessed Gabriel being attacked, but the magic serpent didn’t have a long distance to travel this time. The asshole was sucking out my brother’s mojo right in front of my eyes.
“No!” I cried, changing course and scrambling toward them. The witch shifted his grip, keeping one hand on Dan’s neck. I didn’t see the other one coming. He backhanded me as soon as I got close enough, and I saw stars again, falling on my back on the thin carpet. I knew I didn’t have much time, but I’d fallen close enough that I could grab Dan’s limp hand and reach out in desperation for that yet-unfamiliar ability the last week’s events had stirred. I felt the tingle almost immediately, and Dan’s magic started to flow into me. It was like stepping into a cool stream. As it washed over me it brought with it a strange sort of alertness and clarity. I pressed the other hand against the rug, and I could feel the magic spreading across the floor from my fingertips.
It took a moment for the witch to realize what was going on. The flow of magic between him and Dan slowed, even as the glow around Dan grew brighter. Whatever spell he was trying to work, I was stronger. What’s more, I was starting to feel stronger, too. I sat up, gripping Dan’s hand tightly and wearing a mighty glare. The witch stopped what he was doing, and the glow instantly winked out around Dan as he slipped unconscious like an overindulgent prom date.
Unfortunately, my clarity slipped away as quickly as Dan’s magic, the last of it flowing through me and leaving me feeling thick-headed and drained. I didn’t have the reflexes to jerk away quickly enough when the witch lunged for me, but I fought him nonetheless. He managed to catch my wrists and pin them against the carpet. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t seem to get a knee placed where it was discouraging enough.
Magic flared around him again, and it felt like a fist plunged into my chest as the spell he’d used on Dan and the others was turned on me. I think I screamed. I’m really not sure. All I know is that there wasn’t anything in there for it to grab until, suddenly, there was.
If bleeding off Dan’s magic had been like dipping my toes in a cool stream, this was like standing in front of a goddamn fire hose. My vision sharpened as power flowed through me and into the witch, whose eyes widened, their whites glowing as the amount of energy he was channeling suddenly increased dramatically. The glowing aura around him flared brighter too, like a star going supernova.
What was it Suzi had said? Something about a man with silver hair and lightning in his eyes? I vowed to take her dream visions more seriously next time. If I survived for there to be a next time, anyway.
I closed my eyes against the brightness, and the last thing I remember hearing was his laughter.
Chapter 31
I woke in an unfamiliar room with an ache in my head and a mouth so dry it felt like a whole colony of dust bunnies had taken up residence while I was out. I was lying somewhere soft, at least. When I groaned and lifted a hand to my head, Dan was suddenly at my side, his concerned face hovering over the edge of the bed.
“Em? Are you okay?” There was no concealing the worry in his voice.
Annoyance flared. He’d gotten me into this mess, after all. “Asshole.” I pushed myself up a bit gingerly and scooted back so I could lean against the wall. I was sitting on a twin bed in what looked like more of a spare bedroom than a cell. One works with what one has, I suppose. It was a largely windowless room, with just two squat windows high on one wall, both of which were reinforced with magical wards. All four walls glowed with mystical sigils too, warded against eavesdropping. Or—in our case—to keep anyone from hearing us screaming for help. “How long was I out?”
“Couple of hours.” He sat on the edge of the bed. I studied him for a long moment while I took stock of my injuries. My head hurt, my face hurt, and my wrists were a little bruised. Otherwise, I felt okay. Tired. Rode hard and put away wet, Matt might say.
“Damn, I’d expect Matt to have the cavalry here by now.”
“It might’ve been, if he’d given you the right address. I don’t know what the house number is, but we’re not on Ocotillo Street.”
Groaning, I shook my head slowly. “How’d he know I wasn’t on the level?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a terrible liar? Also, I think he recognized you or something.”
I eyed him from my end of the bed. “How long were you out?”
He shrugged, raking his fingers through his pale hair. “Forty-five minutes or so.”
“So you’ve been awake long enough to have plenty of time to think about how stupid this was?” I folded my arms, then lifted one hand to pinch the bridge of my nose—which was, incidentally, pretty much the only part of my face that didn’t hurt.
Dan smirked, shifting to lean on a hand planted beside him on the bed. “It was a pretty good idea until you decided to party crash.”
“Riiight. Sneaking into the bad guy’s house by yourself, unarmed, without telling anyone what you were doing…”
“Hey! You knew. You were supposed to be my backup in case something went sideways.” He had a point, but I wasn’t about to let logic get in my way at that juncture.
“What if I hadn’t been at the bank? Then what?” I glared at him pointedly.
He shifted uncomfortably where he sat. “I dunno. But I was just going to take a look around and sneak back out again.”
I didn’t believe him, but I let it go. For the moment. Sort of. “This is so typical of you. You don’t think. You just hare off on whatever whim suits you without a care for how that affects anyone around you.”
Dan rolled his eyes, ending up gazing across the room rather than looking at me. “Whatever. Think what you want.”
“I know what kind of man you are.” I eyed him from my position at the head of the bed. “The sort that won’t take responsibility for anything. The sort that walks away from his kid before it’s even born.”
He tensed but didn’t answer. Well, good. He had it coming, and I was going to give it to him.
“How much do you think Mom paid her, to get her to go away? Do you think it’s enough to set them up for life? Do you think it’ll make up for growing up without a father, wondering what kind of sack of shit just walks away and doesn’t give a crap?” My head throbbed harder, probably in response to my rising blood pressure.
Dan kept staring across the room, enduring my verbal onslaught with a stubborn set to his jaw. He didn’t answer, so I leaned over and gave his shoulder a shove with one hand.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he said, still not looking my way. His voice sounded wooden. Hollow. That should’ve told me something, but I was too fired up to pick up on it.
“Of course you had a choice. There’s always a choice.” I shoved him again.
He turned his head, finally looking at me again. Our eyes met. Wh
at I saw in them gave me pause.
“They didn’t give me a choice.” His voice was thick with anger. No. Anguish.
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t even know about the baby before it was ‘taken care of.’ No one asked me what I wanted or gave me the opportunity to do the right thing, alright? So back the fuck off.”
He looked away again, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes while I sat there staring at him with slowly dawning horror, jaw hanging open. It’s not that I didn’t know my mother was a piece of work, but I hadn’t seen that coming. Not by a long shot. I didn’t know what to say. What do you say in the face of something like that?
Dan was quiet for a long moment, but his hands fell away to rest on his knees, and he sat there staring at the floor with a haggard expression that looked so foreign on his face.
Pushing off of the wall, I scooted over to sit beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist, then lay my head on his shoulder. “Christ, Dan. Why didn’t you just tell me that to start with?”
“I didn’t want to talk about it. It was easier to let you think what you wanted to think.” He sighed. “But I can’t do it anymore. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m not a monster, Em. I swear. If Mom hadn’t thrown me out, I would’ve left anyway. I hate her.”
I felt awful, and not just because of my budding concussion and bruised face. He was my little brother, and our mother had treated him even more roughly than she’d ever treated me. What’s worse, I could see shades of her in myself and my reactions since his arrival. I wanted to take it all back, but what was done was done.
“I’m sorry.” It felt lame, but it was all I had.
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I’m the worst sister ever.”
“Well, to be fair, you haven’t had a lot of practice,” he said, shades of the old Dan returning as the vulnerable stranger shrank back into his flippant shell.
Smirking, I squeezed him again before withdrawing to sit once more with my back to the wall. “I’m guessing you’re bound again?”