“In which case, I will leave you to your hunt,” the Lord of Chaos said. “I have my own search to attend to. Good luck.”
Then he disappeared, leaving all of them to stare at one another for a moment.
Cat was the first to speak. “What did he mean by ‘his own search’?” she asked, expression puzzled.
“Simon summoned him here,” Miranda told her. “I guess the demon lord needs him to send him back. However, since Simon is sulking over the way the demon who was supposed to be his servant rebelled against him, he’s not going to be much use in that. So the Lord of Chaos is going to go elsewhere to look for help.”
“That’s kind of sad, actually,” Cat said. She hesitated there for a moment, looking at the spot where the demon had materialized just a few moments earlier. “To be trapped here through no fault of his own.”
Rafe thought that was just like his sister — feeling pity for some demonic creature who’d probably never pitied anything or anyone in his life. “Well, he looks like he can take care of himself,” he remarked. “I think the more immediate concern is dealing with Escobar.”
A rustle came from the bed as Louisa began to cautiously slide out from beneath the covers. Rafe looked at her in some alarm.
“Are you sure you should be getting up?”
“I’m fine,” she replied, although he noticed the way she put one hand on the edge of the bed to steady herself before she straightened all the way. “Maybe a little shaky, but that’s not enough to keep me from doing what I need to do. My laptop’s in the study — let me go get it, and then Miranda can look at some satellite maps of La Cienega and see if she can narrow down where Simon’s house is.”
“Okay,” he said reluctantly. It didn’t seem right to let Louisa go wandering around the house after she’d been in a coma for more than a day, but he could tell she needed to do this, needed to feel as though she was contributing in some way.
She went out, and Miranda turned back to Rafe and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him close. It felt so good to have her this near, to look down at her beautiful face and realize that a miracle had somehow brought her back to him.
All right, technically, it was a demon lord who’d brought her here, but a Lord of Chaos seemed pretty miraculous all on his own.
“You’re okay?” he murmured, while Cat got her phone and appeared to be typing out another text message, probably to their father to let him know about Louisa’s recovery.
“I’m fine,” Miranda said. She paused for a few seconds, obviously thinking something through. “Simon didn’t — he didn’t do anything to me, if that’s what you’re worried about. I think the main reason he wanted me there was to tap into my power so the summoning spell would be strong enough.”
“I guess it was.” Rafe thought again of the demon lord, of the strange way he’d offered his help, had reached out to Cat to pass along what he knew. “If the spell was that strong, though, I’m surprised our demon lord is still a free agent.”
“Well, I might have done a little something to sabotage the spell,” Miranda admitted, her full mouth quirking a bit at the corners. “Then again, that was mostly because of some advice the Lord of Chaos gave me.”
“You two were plotting right in front of Simon?”
“Yes, but here.” She touched her index finger to her temple. “I guess that’s a talent he has — communicating telepathically. Anyway, he gave me a suggestion, and it worked. I guess he was grateful enough that when Simon tried to summon him back — without my help that time — he decided to steal me away, since that was the thing that would piss Simon off the most.”
Rafe couldn’t really argue with this explanation, because it was probably right. And Cat said the demon lord had communicated with her the same way, mind to mind. He recalled the way the Lord of Chaos had looked at his sister and thought he didn’t like it very much, although he tried to tell himself he was reading way too much into the situation. More likely, the demon had focused on Cat for a moment because this was the first time he’d talked to her in person rather than reaching out via telepathy.
The phone in Rafe’s pocket rang, and he murmured an apology to Miranda as he pulled it out. Looking down at the screen, he saw that the call was coming from Lorena Castillo.
Lorena. Jesus, he’d almost forgotten about her errand to go speak with the Montoya clan in San Antonio and find out whether they’d be able to provide any assistance. “Lorena?”
“Hi, Rafe,” she said. Her voice sounded tired, but he didn’t know for sure whether that was just her natural intonation, or whether she’d really worn herself out getting to San Antonio from Clovis. Since it was now only a little past three, she’d made very good time. “I just met with Lupita Montoya, the prima.”
“And?”
A little sigh before Lorena replied, “They send their apologies, but they don’t think it’s a good idea to interfere right now.”
“It’s not interfering if we’re asking for their help,” he said quickly, although, judging by the defeat he heard in Lorena’s voice, he had the impression he was already arguing a lost cause.
“I know. I tried to say something along those lines, but Lupita told me that the risk was too great and that it was better for her people to stay in their own territory and defend it — if the situation comes to that.”
“Well, shit,” he said, as Miranda looked up at him in concern. “I was really hoping they’d help out.”
“I know.” A pause, and then Lorena asked, “What do you want me to do now?”
“Come home,” he replied. “There isn’t much else you can do.”
Sure, there was the Calhoun clan, whose territory was far southeast Texas and part of western Louisiana, but their lands didn’t even adjoin those of the Castillos. They would have even less reason to help than the Montoyas. For just the briefest moment, Rafe considered having Lorena try to call Miranda’s parents in Arizona, but he pushed that thought aside. He’d already asked enough of his cousin’s wife. The last thing he wanted was to get her phone blown up while she was five hundred miles from home in an unknown city and state.
“Okay,” Lorena said. “I’m going to grab something to eat, and then I’ll get back on the road.”
“I’m sorry I sent you on a wild goose chase.”
“It’s okay. We had to try. Take care, Rafe.”
She hung up then, and he shoved his phone back in his pocket as Miranda gazed up at him, big green eyes filled with concern.
“What’s going on?”
“Not that much,” he said. “We sent a civilian wife of one of our clan members over in Clovis to talk to the Montoyas in San Antonio, see if they would be willing to help us. But it sounds as though Lupita, their prima, is set on being as isolationist as possible…and I can’t even say if that’s a bad thing. Maybe they’re right to stay out of something that isn’t their fight.”
“We can do this,” Miranda said, giving him another of those brief hugs. “I’ve got Simon’s number now, and he’s already partly failed because he can’t count on having a big, bad demon lord to do his dirty work for him. We’ll be okay.”
Rafe wanted to believe her. After all, she’d survived this latest round with Simon, had even managed to thwart one of his terrible plans. Problem was, that meant he would come after them with everything he had, once he’d recovered from this latest setback.
Cat had been standing off to one side, texting on her phone. Now she came closer, phone still in her hand. “Dad says there still isn’t any change with Malena, but of course he was relieved to hear about Louisa.” She hesitated for a few seconds, then asked, “Are the Montoyas really bailing on us?”
All Rafe could do was lift his shoulders. “I don’t know if you can really call it ‘bailing,’ since they were never exactly with us in the first place, but yeah — it looks like we’re on our own.”
Her mouth twisted. “Great.”
Louisa came in then, laptop tucked under her arm. “What wa
s that about the Montoyas?”
“They’re not going to help,” Rafe said tersely. “Which means that we need to find Simon Escobar as quickly as we can.”
“Well, let’s see what Miranda can do.” Louisa set the laptop on the bed, opened it up, then placed her thumb against the scanner to unlock the device. Working efficiently for someone who’d just been in a coma for more than a day, she opened the browser and then navigated to a map of the La Cienega area, switching over to satellite view once she’d gotten the object of their search more or less centered in the screen. “What can you tell me about the property?”
“It definitely backed up to the creek,” Miranda replied. “And as far as I could tell, the lot the house was built on had to be around four or five acres, maybe a little more. No fences, but there were rows of trees on either side that I think marked the property boundaries. The house itself was two stories, which I guess is a little unusual for Santa Fe, right?” As Louisa nodded, Miranda went on, “It was pueblo style, though, with at least one chimney. I didn’t get to see the whole house, though — just the kitchen and family room, and the room upstairs where I slept.”
Even though Miranda had assured him nothing had happened between her and Simon, Rafe still couldn’t keep himself from feeling relieved at those words. It sounded as though Simon had put her in a secondary bedroom. Why, he wasn’t exactly sure. Maybe the dark warlock had been more focused on using Miranda’s powers for his demon summoning, and had figured he could get around to the fun stuff after he had the Lord of Chaos in his back pocket. It was definitely good to know that none of those plans had panned out.
Louisa was using the touchpad on her laptop to maneuver around, looking for a property that matched Miranda’s description. She paused for a moment. “What about this one?”
Rafe peered over both their shoulders to look at the place in question, an expansive piece of land with a sprawling house on it and several outbuildings. Although trees crowded around on all sides, it did look as though it backed up to Cienega Creek.
Expression thoughtful, Miranda stared down at the screen for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. I know you can’t see property lines on something like this, but I got the feeling that the piece of land Simon’s house was built on was longer and narrower than this one, which looks almost square, judging by where the trees are and where the road curves past the house. Also, I don’t remember seeing any sheds, or whatever those little buildings are, and I did get a chance to walk around the yard a bit.”
Disappointed flitted over Louisa’s face, but she only nodded and went back to moving around the map, following the line of the creek, since it was the most easily distinguishable landmark in the area. On the other side of Miranda, Cat, too, was looking down at the screen, although probably just because she wanted to be involved in some way and not because she had anything terribly meaningful to contribute to the conversation.
“Oh, wait!” Miranda said suddenly. “Scan back to the right a little bit.”
Louisa obliged, and Miranda stood there for a long moment, arms crossed as she studied the satellite image that now filled the screen.
“I’m pretty sure that’s it,” she said. “It’s the right orientation, and the house looks like it’s the right size, too.”
“Fourteen Los Gatos Lane,” Louisa read off the screen. “That’s easy to remember.” But instead of looking pleased, she straightened up and took a step back from where the laptop sat on the bed. Her gaze moved to Miranda and became even more brooding, as if she wrestled with an idea she didn’t want to acknowledge, even though she knew she had to.
“What’s the matter?” Rafe asked. He didn’t like seeing that expression on his sister’s face, mostly because he knew it meant she was about to bring up a topic none of them wanted to hear.
At first she didn’t answer, only stood there, this time not seeming to look at anything or anyone in particular. When she spoke, her voice wavered a bit. “You’re going to have us go up against Simon Escobar.”
“Yes,” he replied, wondering why she would be questioning something so obvious. If a rabid dog moved onto your property, you didn’t debate what to do with it. You got a gun and you put it out of its misery. Or, he supposed, you called animal control, but there was no “animal control” the Castillos could bring in to handle their particular problem. They had to take care of this one themselves. “We don’t have much of a choice, do we?”
“I guess not,” she replied.
“We’re going to need as many people in your clan with defensive capabilities as we can gather quickly,” Miranda put in. Unlike Louisa, she didn’t appear listless or conflicted, but rather charged up and ready to go after Simon Escobar so they could put an end to all this and get on with their lives. “He has to know that the Lord of Chaos brought me to you…or at least, he can probably guess, since he must realize that pissing off a demon lord is a good way to get him to do the exact opposite of what you were hoping for by summoning him in the first place. And that means we need to strike fast, before he has a chance to try something else to increase his strength and improve his chances.”
“You see?” Louisa said, this time speaking directly to Rafe. The two of them might have been the only people in the room. “Miranda knows what we need to do, and she has the strength to back up her plans. I don’t think I’m capable of that. I’m not some warrior witch.”
“No one expects you to be — ” Rafe began, but Louisa held up a hand, stopping him.
“That’s exactly what a prima needs to be if she’s going to lead her clan effectively. And that’s why” — she stopped, as though attempting to gather herself, then drew in a deep breath, obviously steeling herself for what she needed to say next — “that’s why Miranda should take over from me as prima.”
16
Changing of the Guard
Miranda
About all I could do was stare at Louisa, aghast. What in the world was she trying to say? I couldn’t be the Castillo prima — I hadn’t been born to it. Hell, less than two weeks ago, I hadn’t known I even possessed any real magic.
Judging by their stunned silence, it seemed clear enough that Rafe and Cat were thinking just about the same thing.
“I know it sounds crazy —” Louisa began, and Rafe cut in,
“Yes, because it is crazy. Miranda’s a powerful witch, but she’s not our prima. She — ”
“She’s the most powerful witch I’ve ever seen,” his sister cut in. “Definitely more powerful than anyone else in our clan. And Simon Escobar is probably the worst threat we’ve ever had to deal with. You really want me leading you in a fight against someone like that? I couldn’t even face a few of his demons without falling over in a coma.”
“Louisa,” I said carefully, “I know you’re trying to do what’s best for your clan, but this can’t work. I mean, everything else aside, I’m not even a Castillo.”
“You will be,” she said, her gaze moving from me to Rafe, “if you two get married today.”
“Today?” Rafe and I demanded in a single shocked voice.
Our combined response only made Louisa give a rueful chuckle. “You see? You two were meant to be together. Your getting married was only a matter of when, not if.”
I glanced up at Rafe. His jaw was set, his warm brown eyes hot with emotion. Yes, Louisa was right about us knowing that we were going to get married soon, but like this?
“You can’t get married like you’re ordering a pizza or something,” he said.
“Yes, you can,” she responded, unruffled. Now that she’d stated her worst and gotten it over with, she sounded more relaxed, more like the Louisa I had first met. “The courthouse doesn’t close until four-thirty. You can go over there right now and get it taken care of. They’ll waive the blood test if you submit it within thirty days of getting your license.”
“You seem to know a lot about it,” Rafe commented. Now his arms were crossed, tension radiating from every inch of his body.
> Louisa smiled. “You think I didn’t help Mom arrange a few quickie courthouse marriages for those Castillos who couldn’t keep their hands off each other and weren’t responsible about birth control?”
“I never heard about anything like that,” Cat put in, sounding offended that she’d been left out of the loop.
“Exactly,” Louisa told her. “That was sort of the whole point. Anyway, if you two get married, then Miranda is officially a Castillo, and I can make her prima.”
“You can’t just ‘make’ someone prima,” I argued. “The gift is only passed down — ” And then I stopped myself, because everyone standing in that room knew how you became prima — the former prima had to die. That was how it had always been, since we witch clans first began keeping any kind of records.
“I know that,” Louisa said. Her tone was firm, her expression calm but resolute. In that moment, she looked very much like her mother. “And no, I don’t plan to commit suicide in order for Miranda to take over, so you can all wipe that look off your faces. There is another way, something I read about in one of our former prima’s journals. She lived in the early 1800s, and apparently she had some kind of terrible cancer that their healer couldn’t cure. This prima worried about what would happen to her clan as she became more and more ill and began to waste away — back then, the world was a less civilized place, and the threat from other clans was much greater than it is now. She came up with a way to pass her gifts on to her daughter, who was young, only nineteen and so two years away from finding her consort. And that was what she did — her daughter became prima and took over the clan, even though the mother lingered for another few months after that.” Louisa stopped there and looked around at all of us, dark eyes glittering. “I know what I need to do. And you know what you have to do.”
For a long, terrible space of time, none of us said anything. Worry — yes, and a good measure of guilt — were both churning away inside me. And beneath all that was a sort of horrible understanding, one that had just begun to awaken in me.
The Witches of Canyon Road, Books 1-3 Page 71