Cat stopped typing. “I’m coming.”
“No,” Rafe said, his voice flat.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” she retorted.
“Maybe not, but Miranda is the new prima, and she can.”
Great. The last thing I wanted was to get in the middle of an argument between brother and sister. As I looked at them, at the rebellious spark in Cat’s eyes and the angry set to Rafe’s jaw, I realized that Cat should come along. Her talent for speaking with otherworldly creatures could come in handy — now that she knew to be on her guard, she might be able to reach out and help to at least partially block Simon’s control of his demons.
“Cat comes along,” I said. At once Cat grinned, and Rafe treated me to a fearsome scowl.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously,” I told him. I really didn’t want to get into an argument with my new husband, and so I laid a hand on his arm and looked up at him with imploring eyes. “She might be able to talk to the demons…control them. Or at least distract them enough that they’re not as much of a threat.”
For a long moment, Rafe didn’t reply. He just stood there, staring down at me, until at last I saw his expression soften a bit. “Okay,” he said. “I don’t like it, but…okay.”
“Anyone else?” I asked.
A silence, and Louisa gave a helpless shrug. “It’s much the same in our clan as it is in most others. Possibly we possessed more warlike talents long ago, but over the years, those gifts have sort of disappeared, their places taken by magical skills that are more useful now.”
“It’s all right,” I said. “That’s still five of us against one of him.”
Cat still looked thrilled that she was being included. “And you’re more like four or five people on your own anyway.”
I had to hope she was right. The prima energy burned within me, and I prayed it wasn’t giving me false confidence when it came to assessing my ability to take on Simon Escobar. I still didn’t know exactly what everyone expected me to do. Despite his horrible crimes, deep down I wanted this to end with him fleeing. As long as he knew he couldn’t prevail here, he’d never come back. That should be good enough…shouldn’t it?
But then I thought of what his father had done to the Santiagos, what Simon had wanted to do to the Castillos. He’d never believe it was enough to live quietly, concealing his warlock powers. Forever an outcast, he wanted to take a clan for his own, and he didn’t care who stood in his path.
And I knew then that this could only end one way.
17
Showdown
Tony appeared at the house about fifteen minutes after Cat had texted him. His expression was much more subdued than it had been when we’d met at the Halloween party at his house, and he looked different, too. Then again, I supposed the change in his appearance shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise — he was wearing an untucked flannel shirt and jeans, and his hair wasn’t slicked back. Gone was the fake pencil mustache he’d sported as part of his Gomez Addams costume. As I thanked him for coming over, I realized he had been present at the wedding, too, as one of Rafe’s groomsmen, but honestly, that afternoon had been such a hideous blur that I’d erased huge chunks of it from my memory.
“Just the five of us, huh?” he asked as he looked at the assembled group.
“Five of you with unique talents,” Louisa said. “It should be enough.”
I didn’t know exactly what Cat had texted to him, but it seemed that she’d explained the situation, since Tony didn’t bother to ask why Louisa would be hanging back here at the house rather than coming with us. Her talent for tracking down where and what kind of magic had been used in a particular place was handy, but in this case, it wouldn’t help much. We already knew where Simon was hiding…and we also knew exactly what kind of magic he planned to use.
Or at least I could guess. He’d call his demons, of course, and would probably use fire and wind and anything else to strike out at us. The real question was whether I would be strong enough to protect everyone, while at the same time giving them the freedom to utilize their own particular skills to help neutralize our mutual enemy.
“We’ll go in one car,” I said. “We can all squeeze in your Wrangler, right?” And I looked up at Rafe.
He gave a small lift of his shoulders. “It’ll be tight, but sure. Why my car, though?”
“Because it’s not automated like a newer one would be,” I replied. “I’m not saying that Simon might not try to interfere with it in some way, but it might be harder for him to take control of a vehicle that doesn’t have a self-driving mechanism.”
“Makes sense.” He glanced around the room at everyone. “I don’t see much point in waiting. Are we all ready to go?”
I knew I wasn’t. Every muscle in my body was tense, bracing for our final confrontation. Unfortunately, there was no way past this battle. We had to go through it, had to face Simon Escobar once and for all.
Tony was the first to respond. “Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. But if we all survive this, you owe me a beer.”
“Just one?” Rafe quipped.
“Okay, a six-pack.”
“I’d like in on that, too,” Oscar said.
Rafe grinned. “Done.”
Louisa didn’t look entirely thrilled by this exchange, but she didn’t say anything. Maybe she knew — as I did — that they were all just doing their version of whistling in the dark.
“Cider for me,” Cat put in. “But let’s go do this thing. The sooner we kick Simon’s ass, the sooner we can all head out for happy hour.”
Her remark elicited a round of chuckles, which I assumed was her reason for making it in the first place. But it served another purpose — it got us all moving toward the door, Oscar pausing so he could give Louisa a kiss before he went out. Her expression was almost preternaturally calm, and I guessed that she was exerting every ounce of will she possessed to conceal her fear for him…and her frustration that she couldn’t come along.
Right then, I would have given a lot to be in her position.
However, fate had decreed that I needed to be the leader of this little expedition. Oscar and Tony and Cat all piled into the back seat, with Cat squeezed in the middle because she was the shortest. I took shotgun, and Rafe got behind the wheel. A pause while he put the address of our destination in the nav system, and then we were backing out of the driveway and headed toward the main road.
No one said anything as he pulled onto the 599 and pointed the Jeep south toward La Cienega. Even the ebullient Tony seemed subdued; I caught a glimpse of him staring out the window, his mouth pressed into a flat line. That seemed wrong, since he had one of those quirky, mobile mouths that always appeared to be on the verge of laughter.
There was no laughter about him now, that was for sure.
Far sooner than I would have liked, we turned off toward La Cienega, right before the 599 would have connected with the interstate. Almost at once, our surroundings grew rural, with rolling hills on either side, and homesteads tucked far back from the road. As we drove, the landscape grew golden, trees in their autumn finery clustering on either side of the road so thickly that it felt as though we were traveling through a tunnel decorated in copper and gilt.
Following the nav’s commands, Rafe turned down an even narrower road, one that was still paved but so full of potholes, it might as well not be. He slowed so the Wrangler moved along at barely ten miles an hour. “The turnoff for Los Gatos Lane is coming up in a few hundred feet,” he said. “What’s the plan?”
The truth was, I really didn’t have a plan. If Simon had any kind of wards set up to guard his property, he would know we were there almost immediately. Coming in slowly wouldn’t help at all.
“I’ll cast a spell of protection around your car,” I replied. “After that, you might as well go in as fast as you can. Everyone else, just be ready.”
“Ready for what, exactly?” Oscar asked.
“Whatever Simon might throw a
t us,” I said. “I don’t know what that could be, since he has so many different magical skills. Demons for sure, but after that…?” I let the words trail off and gave a helpless shrug. “Just don’t let yourself get rattled, and be ready to use your own magic against him. Okay?”
Everyone in the back seat mumbled an “okay,” although none of them looked exactly thrilled. I couldn’t really blame them, because I was less than thrilled to be here myself. But, as Rafe had pointed out earlier, we couldn’t allow a rabid dog to linger in our territory. He had to be put out of his misery, for all our sakes.
I imagined the bubble of protection encasing Rafe’s dusty Jeep Wrangler, making it so no magical attacks could get through, no assault by demons would have any effect. This was simple enough, since we were all together in a confined space. I didn’t know what would happen once we had to get out and move individually. Should I cast protection spells on everyone? Could I? Theoretically, I supposed I should be able to manage such a thing, since I’d protected so many individual Castillo families here in Santa Fe, but I’d never had to test my talents under such stress.
You’ll do it because you have to, I told myself as Rafe turned down Los Gatos Lane and we began to bump our way along the badly rutted road. Everyone here is precious. You can’t allow any of them to get hurt.
Easier said than done, though.
Trees lined the little lane, crowding on both sides. The effect was extremely claustrophobic. Then again, they helped to create something of a barrier. Any demons diving at us would have a hard time getting a clear shot.
I hoped.
We emerged into a wide gravel area. To one side was the detached garage; to the other was the house. Everything appeared dead still, with no signs of life at all.
Rafe stopped near the garage and turned off the engine before he glanced over at me. “Is he even here?”
I gave a helpless shrug. “It doesn’t look like it, but — ”
My sentence was cut off there, because in the next second, the earth seemed to heave under us, shaking the Jeep like a toy instead of the sturdy off-road vehicle it actually was. I’d never been in an earthquake, but this felt like some kind of 8.5 monster, the kind of temblor that shook buildings off their foundations, collapsed bridges, and exploded gas mains. Cat let out a little shriek as the vehicle started to tip to one side.
“Hold on!” Rafe shouted.
I clung to the “Jesus handle” on the roof, my stomach turning over as the Wrangler capsized, falling onto the driver’s side. The seat belts held us all more or less in place, but it was going to be hell trying to get out of there.
“Everyone okay?” I asked once the shaking had subsided.
“Think so,” Tony replied from the back seat. He sounded mildly freaked out, and I couldn’t really blame him. Yes, I’d expected Simon to attack almost as soon as we appeared, but still —
And I realized then how vulnerable we would all be as we tried to climb out of the upended Jeep. I could teleport myself out, but….
You can get all of them out, I realized suddenly. Just imagine everyone standing out there in that open area, ready to fight.
Almost as soon as that image passed through my mind, there was a blink!, and all five of us were free of the vehicle, taking up defensive postures next to one another. I thought I heard Cat gasp, but I didn’t have time to pay much attention, because Simon had emerged from the front door of the house and began walking calmly toward us. He looked very ordinary — it wasn’t as though he’d put on his black robes for this confrontation, was only wearing his usual jeans and a long-sleeved dark gray T-shirt.
When he was about six feet or so away, he stopped and regarded our little group, one eyebrow raised at an ironic angle. “This is the best the Castillo clan could gather to fight me?”
“It’s all we needed,” I retorted. “No need to drag everyone into this, not when we can easily beat you.”
For a moment, he didn’t respond. He only stood there, staring at me, and his eyes narrowed slightly. I lifted my chin and met that black gaze, doing my best to forget how I had once laughed into those eyes, had thought I might possibly have a future with this man. He was very good at deception, this Simon Escobar.
I had to remember that.
When he spoke, his tone was almost musing. “There’s something different about you, Miranda. You look almost lit up from within.”
“That’s just happiness at being reunited with Rafe.”
That barb got its hooks in him. His nostrils flared, and he glanced away for a second to look over at Rafe, who stood a few paces from me, his stance making it clear that he was ready to attack at only a second’s notice.
Then Simon shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
I felt him reach for me, his magic moving in my direction and then recoiling almost immediately, like someone touching a surface they realized was far too hot. Again his eyes narrowed.
“How did you do it?”
“Do what?” I asked sweetly.
“Take the prima powers into yourself. I can feel them. Your magic was strong before, but now — ”
“But now it’s enough to defeat you.”
For just a second, I sensed his confusion, a flicker of sudden fear. He hadn’t been counting on this particular wrinkle, I could tell that much. The realization relieved me a little, because it told me that even Simon Escobar couldn’t guess at our every move.
Almost immediately, though, he took a step backward, and the blue skies overhead darkened. I glanced up and saw a horde of demons appear from nowhere, their terrible shapes blocking out the sunlight. How many? Fifty, a hundred?
It didn’t matter.
The bubble of protection shimmered into existence, shielding all of us. A few seconds later, the first of the demons plowed into it and rebounded, shrieking in pain. So it hurt them to come in contact with the shield.
Good.
Simon’s lips curled in a snarl. His hands moved in that same pushing gesture I’d seen him use before, back at the house in Tesuque. Something hugely heavy plowed into the bubble, and I could almost feel the way it began to cave in, collapsing before the insane force Simon had directed at it.
Shit. I focused, visualizing the invisible shield repairing itself, regaining its structural integrity. As I did so, I pushed back against Simon, directing more energy toward him in the hope that it might knock him off his feet, or at least off balance.
He did stumble backward a pace or two before regaining his footing. “Nice trick,” he said. Perspiration gleamed on his forehead, even though the day itself was cool enough. “It won’t be enough, though.”
“Oh — really?” I panted. Even with the prima energy buoying me up, this was harder than I’d thought it would be. I honestly didn’t know how long I’d be able to maintain the protection spell while also mounting any kind of an assault against Simon.
“Really,” he responded. At the same time, he raised one foot and stomped it into the ground.
A shockwave exploded outward from him, one as fierce and violent as the blast from an explosion. It shredded my bubble of protection and kept going, knocking all of the Castillos off their feet. I heard Cat cry out but couldn’t allow myself to look back and see what was happening to her, because as soon as the shield was gone, the demons dove toward us once again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tony push himself to his feet. His dark hair was disheveled, and dirt had smudged his face, but he stood straight and tall, hands raised.
The winds came shrieking from nowhere, a gale-force blast that brought tears to my eyes and whipped my loose hair around my face. Dead leaves scattered everywhere, rose up in their own mini-tornadoes. I lifted a hand to protect my face from the debris, and saw that the wind had caught many of the demons, hurling them this way and that as their leathery wings beat at the violent air.
At the same time, a wall of flame came from nowhere, rising up from the gravel ground and burning between Simon and me. I risked
a quick glance to my right and caught a glimpse of Oscar standing a few feet away, his hands outstretched. Sweat dripped down his face, which was taut with effort, high cheekbones standing out as he clenched his jaw.
How long would he be able to hold that wall of flame?
A few seconds later, that question was rendered moot, because out of nowhere rain began to fall on all of us, soaking our clothes and hair, smothering the fire and calming the winds Tony had summoned. Oscar swore, even as Simon stepped toward us, dark eyes gleaming in triumph.
“Nice display,” he said. “But it’s pretty obvious that you just can’t beat me, no matter what you try.” He paused, his lip curled in contempt. “Miranda, you know what you have to do.”
“No,” I replied. “I’m not going down that road again.”
“I think you need to.” He came closer, gaze lingering on my thin, rain-soaked sweater, which now left basically nothing to the imagination. “In order to save them, that is.”
Revulsion rose in me. I opened my mouth to speak, but Rafe was there next to me, furious gaze fixed on Simon’s face.
“What did you just say to my wife?”
At once, Simon’s fists curled in anger. “Your what?”
“His wife,” I said. “We got married this afternoon.”
A pause, and then Simon replied, “It doesn’t matter. Marriages end every day. Especially,” he added, “those caused by a spouse’s death.”
His hand went out, and before I could call another shield to protect my husband, he’d gone flying backward, traveling at least twenty feet before he hit the ground with a terrible thud.
“No!” The same syllable left both my and Cat’s lips at the same time, and she hurried over to him, bending down in the gravel to see how badly wounded he was.
“Stop it!” I cried. “I’ll never go with you, Simon, because I don’t love you. Nothing you do here will change that. Even” — I pulled in a gasp of a breath and forced myself to say the words — “even if you kill Rafe, that won’t make me yours. I’m sorry for you — ”
The Witches of Canyon Road, Books 1-3 Page 73