“It’s okay,” he responded. Of course it really wasn’t, but none of them had time to sit down and mourn. “We’re actually here about something else. Can we come in?”
“Of course.”
Arthur stepped out of the way so Rafe, Miranda, and Cat could enter. The foyer was small, leading to a modest living room to one side and a dining room on the other. A little ways down was a family room, open to the kitchen.
It was to the family room that Arthur led them. Sitting on one of the couches there was his wife Casey, pretty and with startlingly red hair, which always made her stand out at Castillo gatherings. She was also hugely pregnant, and Rafe belatedly recalled that she was due just about any day now.
Good, he thought. If she goes into labor, she’ll be safely in the hospital, away from all this mess.
Then again, Simon had attacked Marco while he was in intensive care at St. Vincent’s, so maybe the hospital wasn’t all that safe a place.
No, Casey probably wasn’t a target. Simon had only gone after Marco because he’d been about to reveal where Miranda was hidden. He’d have no reason to attack Casey specifically. They were only here at Arthur and Casey’s house because all the Castillos could be at risk.
“I’m so sorry about your mother,” Casey said. She shifted on the couch, one hand against her distended belly. “And I’m sorry I can’t get up, but — ”
“But these days it basically takes a crane,” Arthur finished for her, a smile touching his lips despite the gloomy reason for their visitors being there. Despite his sorrow at his prima’s passing, it was clear that he was thrilled about his and Casey’s soon-to-be addition to the family.
“No worries,” Rafe said. “Actually, we’re here because we want to lay a spell of protection on the house.”
From the way Arthur nodded grimly, it seemed clear enough that he’d gotten sufficient information about Genoveva’s passing to know why such a precaution was necessary. “Thanks, Rafe. I didn’t know you or Cat did that kind of thing.”
“We don’t,” Cat said quickly, as if she wanted to make sure that Miranda would get all the credit here. “Miranda is going to do it.”
A flash of surprise passed over Arthur’s face before he did his best to conceal his shock. Rafe couldn’t really blame him; most people in the clan still had no idea that his fiancée possessed any kind of magical powers at all, let alone ones so strong that they put the Castillos’ resources to shame. Also, it was entirely possible that most of the people in the clan still thought Miranda was missing. Word traveled fast, but today had just been one shock after another.
“Oh, okay,” Arthur said. He glanced over at Miranda. “Is there anything we need to do?”
“No,” she replied, giving him a reassuring smile. “You won’t even know the spell is active. But it will be doing its job invisibly.”
“How long will it last?” Casey asked.
A slight frown pulled at Miranda’s brows. “I don’t know for sure, but I think indefinitely. So far, when I’ve cast a spell, it just keeps working until I consciously shut it off.”
Well, that piece of information was useful. Privately, Rafe had worried a bit about how much maintenance Miranda would have to perform to keep all these spells going at the same time, but it sounded as if that wouldn’t be an issue. The amount of energy it required might still be a concern, though. He’d have to ask her about that once they were safely back in the privacy of Cat’s Mercedes. All these spells of protection wouldn’t do much good if they completely drained her to the point where she couldn’t function.
“Nice,” Arthur said. “Then, um…I guess just do what you need to do.”
Miranda nodded, then shut her eyes, lashes thick, dark crescents against the fair skin of her cheeks. She stood there in the center of the room for a moment, giving no sign that she was doing anything except breathing slowly and deeply.
Rafe felt it, though. Maybe not even consciously, not quite, but something seemed to stir along the periphery of his senses, a trace of energy so faint, he doubted he would even be able to explain how he’d managed to feel it at all. That energy had a warmth to it, a sort of reassuring glow, and it seemed to surround them all, moving up and out so it encased the entire house.
After a long moment, Miranda opened her eyes. “There,” she said. “I think that should do it. Even so, if you see or hear or even feel something that doesn’t seem right, you need to reach out to one of us.”
“I had to get a new phone,” Rafe put in hastily. “Let me give you the number.”
He had to call it up from the information screen of the phone he’d just bought, because of course he didn’t have his new number memorized yet. Arthur entered the information into his own phone, then put it back in his pocket.
“Anything else?” he asked. “I mean, I already took time off work next week because that’s when Casey is due, but — ”
“No,” Rafe replied. He glanced over at Miranda, and she gave a tiny, somehow helpless lift of her shoulders. Obviously, she didn’t have any more idea of what to expect than he did. “Just — keep on with your regular life. Louisa’s in charge of the clan now, but I don’t think she’d tell you anything different.”
“Do you know when the funeral is going to be?” Casey asked in her soft, light voice. “With my due date so close, we might not be able to make it, but — ”
“No funeral,” he cut in, then hated himself for how harsh he sounded. Casey’s eyes widened, and Arthur began, sounding puzzled,
“No funeral? Why not?”
“Because we’re not sure it’s safe. Don’t worry — my sisters and I will be able to say goodbye to her. But we’re trying to avoid a big clan thing.”
Sad comprehension dawned in Arthur’s dark eyes. “Sorry, man. That’s rough. I get it, though.”
“Thanks.” Since they’d done what they’d come here for — and because Rafe didn’t think he could take much more of the sympathetic looks both Arthur and Casey kept giving him — he went on, “We need to get to the next house. Like Miranda said, if anything feels off to you, let me know. I think you’ll be fine, but….”
“Better safe than sorry. I get it.” Arthur laid a hand on Rafe’s shoulder, but briefly, just enough to show he was there for him. “Take care of yourself — and you, too, Cat. And thanks, Miranda.”
Cat offered him a quick flash of a smile but didn’t say anything, while Miranda also smiled, looking almost embarrassed to be thanked for something she wasn’t sure would be all that effective. Something about Cat’s expression seemed even more strained than it had been a few minutes ago, but Rafe couldn’t think of what might have set his sister off. This house was way too new to be haunted; he knew for a fact that Arthur and Casey were its first and only occupants, since they’d bought it from the developer.
Well, he’d ask her what was going on once they got back in the car.
After making their goodbyes, the three of them went outside and climbed into the SUV. Cat rattled off the address for their cousin Trey, who lived in a condo less than a half mile from Arthur and Casey’s place. They’d barely turned the corner out of the cul-de-sac before Rafe asked, “What’s going on, Cat? You look like — ” He broke off there, since he’d been about to say “you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” which in her case was entirely possible.
“No ghosts,” she said, still wearing that tight little smile, one that was more of a grimace than anything else. “Just…something feels weird.”
“What kind of weird?” Miranda asked from the back seat. Her tone was sharp with worry…not that Rafe could blame her.
“It’s hard to explain.” Cat’s hands rested on the steering wheel, although it was the vehicle that was doing the driving. Her fingers tightened against the leather. “It’s sort of like…like when we were at the hospital with Marco. This weird kind of pressure.”
Cold inched its way down Rafe’s spine. He recalled how Cat had experienced some kind of strange sensation while they we
re at St. Vincent’s, but had felt better once she was outside. “You felt it at Arthur and Casey’s house?”
“No,” she replied immediately. “Now it’s as though I can feel it everywhere. The air seems heavier somehow. It almost feels as though something’s pressing down on my temples, like I’m about to get a migraine or something.”
“You don’t get headaches,” Rafe pointed out.
“I know. But that’s what it feels like.”
Rafe glanced into the back seat so he could gauge Miranda’s expression. She looked concerned, but also puzzled. “You don’t feel it?” he asked.
“No.”
Well, that was a relief…or was it?
“My magic’s strong,” Miranda said, “but I never said it lets me do anything and everything. Cat’s ability to see and talk to ghosts probably makes her sensitive to vibrations the rest of us can’t feel.”
“That’s great,” Cat said. “Except I don’t have any idea what this is supposed to mean. It feels like a thunderstorm coming on.”
Rafe didn’t like that description. They were well past the monsoon season of thunder and lightning, which meant his sister was talking about an entirely different kind of storm. But since there didn’t seem to be much they could do about it, he said, “I guess tell us if anything changes. In the meantime, though….”
Cat nodded, even the tight smile she’d been wearing now gone. “In the meantime, we have work to do.”
4
Connection
Miranda
In all, we went to six houses on Santa Fe’s south side. At every one of them, we were met with the same sympathy for Rafe and Cat…and some rather furtive speculative glances sent in my direction. I couldn’t even blame Rafe’s cousins for looking at me that way, because not even a week earlier, I’d disappeared into thin air right in front of hundreds of Castillos, teleporting myself away from that botched wedding ceremony. The Goddess only knew what kind of gossip had been circulating, and we didn’t have time to go into lengthy explanations.
At every house, I cast the same spell of protection, and every time I did it, I hoped I was actually doing some good and not wasting all our time. True, Rafe and I hadn’t been attacked when we were at his house, and there hadn’t been an assault on the Castillo prima’s home, either, at least not after I got there. But were the spells really that effective, or was Simon only biding his time, waiting to see where he should strike next? I didn’t have any way of knowing for sure.
But everyone seemed grateful for what we were doing, and maybe that was almost as important as the spell itself…that we were offering some hope. At least Genoveva’s powers had passed smoothly to Louisa; Simon hadn’t been able to interfere with that ages-old process. Her ability as a clan leader was as yet untested, but what I’d seen so far seemed encouraging. She hadn’t allowed grief to overwhelm her, had done a good job of coping with the situation.
I was worried about Rafe, though. He’d seemed calm enough as we went from house to house, had been friendly with everyone, and thankful for their words of condolence, but each time someone told him they were sorry, I could see the way he tensed up, as if he was being wound tighter and tighter. I worried that sooner or later he was going to give way, that at last the dam would have to burst.
About all I could do was hope the breakdown would wait until we were alone.
At last we were done, though. As Cat pointed her car northward toward the hacienda, Rafe called Louisa to let her know we’d taken care of all the Castillos on the south side. From what I was able to overhear, it sounded as though our little protection operation had gone smoothly in the other parts of Santa Fe as well, and that now the clan was about as safe as we could all make it.
“Do you want to come to the house, or should I take you home?” Cat asked as she turned onto Paseo de Peralta.
Rafe hesitated. I could tell he wanted more than anything to go back to his own place and decompress, but family loyalty appeared to win out. “I can come to the house if you need me to.”
“It’s okay.” She was facing straight forward, so from my position in the back seat, I couldn’t really see her expression. “Dad texted me while we were at Trey’s house — and he said José had stayed the whole time, and that Aunt Rosa was going to come over to be with him, too. And I’ll be there. He won’t be alone.” A pause, and she added, “You’ve been separated from Miranda for days. I don’t think anyone’s going to hold it against you if you go home and have some downtime together.”
She sounded reasonable, but I hoped she was right. Family could be a strange thing, and I could see how some people might resent Rafe for not spending this time with his father. I certainly didn’t want to be blamed for keeping him away from his family at such a terrible time.
“Maybe,” he said, and he sounded as dubious as I felt. “What about you? Still getting that thundery feeling?”
“No,” she replied. “I mean, it was there for a while, but as we were driving from Trey’s condo over to David and Lily’s place, it went away.”
“What do you think it means?”
A nervous laugh. “I have no idea. I guess I’m hoping that it doesn’t mean anything at all.”
That was probably a vain hope. I hadn’t been at the hospital with Cat and Rafe when they’d gone to visit Marco — before Simon killed him outright to keep him from talking — and so I had no idea whether I might have experienced that terrible, thundery sensation if I’d been there to experience it for myself. Certainly today I hadn’t felt anything, which seemed to indicate it was something my own witchy senses couldn’t detect. But just because I couldn’t feel it didn’t mean it wasn’t important.
Rafe seemed to be thinking about the same thing. “Maybe it would be better if we stayed together.”
Cat made an impatient noise. “I’m fine, Rafe. Besides, weren’t we all saying earlier that it was better not to be together, that it was better to make Simon have to spread his resources?”
“That was just a guess,” I said. “I don’t know for sure.”
“None of us knows anything for sure,” Cat replied. “But Louisa agreed with you, and since she’s the prima now, I guess we need to do as she says. You’ve already cast a spell of protection on the house, so it’ll be safe there. If Simon knows as much about us as you seem to think he does, then he’s going to know that my gifts don’t present any kind of threat, and neither do Dad’s. There’s no point in coming after us.”
Well, except psychological warfare, I thought, but I didn’t say anything out loud. It would definitely throw the clan off even further for Cat and her father to be attacked. Right then, I wouldn’t put anything past Simon.
At the same time, I didn’t want to go back to that big, gloomy house. I wanted to go with Rafe to his place, which still didn’t feel like home but at least was his own, someplace where we could be alone to truly reconnect. I felt my need for him growing, and wanted him to hold me.
Actually, I wanted a lot more than that, wanted his kisses and his touch to erase every taint of Simon’s assault on me, but I knew I couldn’t ask for more than what Rafe was willing to give. He’d lost his mother today, under the worst possible circumstances. I couldn’t expect him to be intimate when dealing with that kind of pain.
He glanced back at me, and all I could do was give a helpless shrug. This was his decision to make; I didn’t want to force him one way or another.
A gust of a breath, and then he said, “I guess just take us home, then. We’ll only be a couple of minutes away. But you call me the second something doesn’t feel right.”
“I will,” Cat replied immediately. “I really don’t think you have anything to worry about, though.”
“Maybe.”
They both fell silent after that, and I sat quietly in the back seat, watching as the tall old trees and older adobe houses passed by outside the car windows. We looped around downtown, then turned onto the street where Rafe’s house was located. The sun had dropped low enoug
h that I couldn’t see it anymore, only a warm orange flush on the western horizon, and a shiver went over me.
Even though I would be with Rafe, I feared the approaching night. Black magic was strongest in the dark hours.
What are you up to, Simon? I thought as Cat pulled up into the driveway. Are you just biding your time, waiting to see what the Castillos are going to do, or do you already have some terrible plan in the works?
There was no answer. He and I weren’t connected at all, even though he’d wanted us to be. In his black and shriveled heart, he’d imagined us as some sort of unholy prima and primus, a dark echo of my parents’ joining, only he’d wanted us to use our powers to control others, to subjugate those he saw as less worthy.
Thank the Goddess Rafe had gotten there in time. I still didn’t want to know what would have happened if —
My mind shied away from that horrible thought. I was safe for now. Simon hadn’t gotten what he wanted.
Of course, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try again.
Cat turned off the engine. “Do you mind if I don’t get out? This day has been — ” She stopped herself there. “What I meant was, I’m exhausted.”
“It’s fine,” Rafe said hastily. “Just let Miranda and me get her stuff out of the back, and then you can go on home.”
“‘Home,’” she repeated, then shook her head. “It’s going to feel so strange now that Mom is gone.”
“I know.” He reached over and touched Cat on the arm. “You sure you don’t want us to go back there with you?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll be fine.”
A long pause, during which I sat without moving, worried that he was going to press the issue. But then he seemed to realize it was worse for him to keep insisting, because he said, “All right. Just call if — ”
“If there’s anything weird,” Cat broke in. “I know. Now get going.”
The Witches of Canyon Road, Books 1-3 Page 54