Lone Star Magic

by Karen Whiddon

  From somewhere outside, Carly screamed his name. He could hear the dog’s frantic barks.

  No time to think, Alrick brought his hand down hard across the stallion’s hindquarters.

  Instead of lunging forward, TM struck back with his hooves. Twisting, Alrick dodged the kick. “Stubborn animal – you’ll get us both killed.”

  TM reared, as though he believed Alrick was the threat, not the fire.

  “Damnation.” Alrick used his fistful of mane to vault himself on to TM’s back. Digging his heels into the terrified horse’s side, he held on a TM rushed blindly forward.

  Carly, he had to get to Carly. Make sure she was safe.

  Running in bucking jumps, they made it to the open door.

  Fresh air. The heavy smoke poured out of the barn.

  Eyes stinging, Alrick slid off TM, dodging another furious kick. “You and I will settle this later,” he promised the young horse. Ears flat against his head, TM lifted his lip. Alrick ignored him. Right now, he had to find Carly.

  He ran.

  * * *

  The water from her garden hose wasn’t nearly enough. But it was all she had. Looking over her shoulder at the burning barn, Carly yelled again for Alrick to bring TM out. The barn roof looked like it was about to collapse any second, with Alrick and TM inside.

  Kayo paced frantically, barking encouragement.

  Then TM emerged from the thick, black smoke. But Alrick… Carly stared – Alrick rode TM out! TM wasn’t even what horse people called “green broke”. He’d never even had a blanket on his back, never mind a rider.

  As she watched, TM bucked. Like a burr to wool, Alrick hung on. Then, in one fluid motion, he slid to the ground. Kayo stopped barking and ran to him.

  Continuing to spray the roof, she felt a spurt of satisfaction as she managed to extinguish one hot spot. Only to see another blaze to life. She fought a losing battle. As she thought this, the roof collapsed.

  Alrick came running.

  As he did, another bolt of lightning snaked down from the cloudless sky, striking the roof of her house.

  Flame erupted, catching hold of the dry wood and feeding hungrily. She turned the hose on her roof.

  “The Warlord.” Alrick shouted. He said something else, in a language she didn’t understand and gestured with his hand, several motions, too quick for her to follow.

  Suddenly, something blocked the sun. She looked up. A huge dark cloud had formed in the previously cloudless sky – directly over her house. The kind of cloud that should have accompanied the thunder and lightning earlier.

  Rain poured down on her roof. The kind of rain that caused flash floods, the type of rain that came with a Category Four hurricane to the coast. Only over her house and barn. Nowhere else. Dousing the fire.

  Dry, she stood and stared as Alrick, gave her a triumphant grin. His brown eyes glowed. She glanced at TM, who’d stopped his prancing and watched also, and at Kayo, who sat near Alrick’s feet, his coat gleaming in the sun.

  In the sun. There were no other clouds anywhere in the brilliant blue sky.

  As she realized this, the shadowy cloud blew apart. One moment, torrents of water rained from it, the next it was utterly, totally gone. Vanished, as if she’d only imagined it. The morning sun again beamed bright. Her house still stood, the roof slightly charred, no doubt waterlogged, but mostly intact.

  Alrick grinned. “There. The weather’s reaction to his magic worked against the warlord. I was about to try and call the rain when the storm appeared. At least it saved your home.”

  “Magic?” Again she raised her face to the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face. “Magic had nothing to do with that. That was the rain from the same storm that sent the lightning.”

  His gaze narrowed. “The storm was the weather, reacting to the magic.”

  He really was crazy. Great. Maybe she’d better humor him. “Ah, magic. Right. Magic caused the rain.”

  He gave a slow nod. “Yes, lucky for you. The water kept the inferno from engulfing your dwelling.”

  “Taking this one step further,” she crossed her arms. “I didn’t have any problems with weather until you appeared. Was it your magic that brought the thunder and lightning that destroyed my barn?”

  “No.”

  “Strange coincidence, isn’t it?”

  Alrick sighed. “No coincidence. The lightning fire was the Warlord’s second attempt to kill you. I was about to bring rain to counteract his spell, but the weather beat me to it..”

  “Ok, supposing I believe you, which I don’t. Tell me how. How would you go about bringing rain?”

  His gaze traveled over her, his expression thoughtful. “A simple spell,” he said at last. “Where I’m from, such a spell would be nothing.”

  “A spell. You’re telling me you can do magic.”

  “Yes, of course I can.” Arrogance crept into his tone. “Unfortunately, my magic – any magic use – here is bound by limitations. So much magic used so close together can wreak havoc with the weather in your world.”

  “Limitations? Magic? Messing with the weather? What the hell are you talking about?” She felt like she slurred her words, as though she’d had a couple shots of tequila or something. Shock, she must be in shock.

  “Where are your brothers?” Alrick glanced at the road as if he expected them to appear at any moment.

  She sighed, one long, brutal shiver went through her. “I don’t have any brothers!”

  His grin told her he had known. “Or high school workers either?”

  “No.” She rubbed her arms.

  “Are you cold?”

  “I’m stunned. Look Alrick, I think you’d better explain. Since you showed up, I’ve had a fireball spinning over my garden and now a freak storm and lightning strikes my barn. Then a custom made rain cloud lets loose on my house. What’s going on? I don’t want to hear any more of your weird lies.”

  “Lies?” He shook his head. “I’m not the one who claimed to have siblings. I don’t lie. I can’t lie.”

  Cannot lie. She sighed. “Do you have a cherry tree you wanna chop down too?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Of course you don’t. Ok, fine, whatever.”

  “I’m staying.”

  Exhaustion again claimed her. Or shock. Or something. She’d been feeling like that a lot lately. Ever since Liam died…

  “You can stay.” She’d probably regret this later. “For now. But not in my house. Since I don’t have a barn anymore, there’s nowhere for you to sleep.”

  “I can sleep outside. I often do.”

  “Great.” Turning on her heel, she set off for the back door, wobbling slightly. Alrick fell into step beside her, taking her arm to steady her.

  “Are you all right?”

  Though she let him hold her elbow, she shot him a glare. “I’m fine. And Alrick?”

  “Yes?”

  “Your story? I want you to tell me all of it – why you think someone wants to kill me and where on earth you came from. And, whenever you get around to telling me your little story, you can also explain why you talk like some character in a badly-written play.”

  Though Alrick hadn’t a clue what Carly found so odd about his manner of speaking, he did know once he told her he’d traveled across the veil that separated their worlds to save her, she’d immediately send him packing. Yet he truly could not lie. While the Fae truly found it impossible to speak a falsehood, most of their trickery and tomfoolery was based on simply omitting part of the truth. This was what he decided to do with Carly Roberts. He’d give her as little as he could get away with. Tell her only the pieces of reality with which he felt she could deal.

  Once they were inside her home, she shook off his arm. “It smells horrible in here.”

  “Smoke. At least only one small part of your roof is damaged. I will repair that in a few minutes.”

  “Oh, so you’re handy too?”

  “Handy?”

  “Ne
ver mind.” She grimaced. “I guess you can always use your magic to fix the roof.”

  Though he knew she mocked him, Alrick answered in all seriousness. “I will not risk using magic on such a simple task. I will use my hands and back to do the work.”

  “Right.” Carly sighed. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “Wine?”

  “Wine! It’s just past nine o’clock in the morning. I was thinking more like lemonade or tea.”

  From the way she peered suspiciously up at him, Alrick knew he’d made another blunder. Since spirits rarely affected the Fae, in Rune he drank wine with all his meals.

  “I’ll have whatever you’re having,” he said.

  She shook her head. “Come on.”

  Once they were settled in comfortable wooden chairs around her table, Carly handed Alrick a glass vessel full of ice and some indefinable, yellow liquid.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s lemonade. I make it myself.”

  “Lemonade.” He held it up to the light, noticing the even perfection of the painted colors.

  “Do you like the glass?” She grinned. “I got those for a wedding gift from my neighbor Frieda.”

  “I see. Lemonade.” The name felt odd on his tongue. “You drink the juice of lemons?” At her nod, he grimaced. Though their worlds existed side by side, some things were very different.

  He took a cautious sip. Both sweet and sour, the drink tasted unlike any he’d ever sampled. He liked it. He thought. “Very good. My thanks.”

  Setting her glass down, she leaned her elbows on the table. “You’re welcome. Now start talking. Tell me where you came from and why you’re here.”

  Alrick straightened his shoulders, carefully placing his glass on the table. “I have traveled a great distance to reach you,” he began.

  “From another country?”

  “Yes.”

  “I knew it! You’re not from anywhere in the US, are you?”

  So far, so good. “No, I am not.”

  “North America?”

  Since he had no idea where on earth that might be, he felt safe in answering. “No.”

  “Not Central America or South America either, I’ll bet. Asia’s out. And you don’t look like you’re from a middle- Eastern country, like Saudi. So you must be from Europe.”

  “England, France, Germany, Wales? No. Though I’ve traveled there.”

  She narrowed her emerald eyes. “Russia then.”

  When he didn’t answer, not at all certain where this Russia might be, knowing only the place couldn’t be too pleasant, or the Fae would have visited it, she took his silence for confirmation.

  “That’s it. You’re from Russia. So that explains your accent.”

  Speaking carefully, he looked her straight in the face. “I am from Rune.”

  “Rune.” Resting her chin in her hands, she gave him a half-hearted nod. “Is that near Siberia?”

  “No.” Best to change the subject. “We need to talk about protection. The Warlord wants to kill you, and each time he fails, he will grow angrier.”

  “Let him. He can stand in line with the others. There seems to be no end to the people around here that are angry with me.”

  “You have human enemies?”

  She stared at him like he’d sprouted horns. “Why do you say that as though you’re not human?”

  Patience. “I am Fae.”

  “I am Fae,” she repeated. “As though that explains it all. Do you really mean faeries?”

  He had to smile at her tone. She said the word as though she found it distasteful. “Yes, faeries.”

  “Is this Warlord person Fae also?”

  “No. Yes. I don’t know. All I know is that he is a wizard. Tell me of your enemies.”

  She looked down at her hands. “I don’t know that I’d call them enemies. A lot of people thought I should sell when Liam died. I’m an outsider and a city girl and they don’t think I can run this ranch.”

  “Do they threaten you?”

  Raising her head, she frowned. “No. Not really. They aren’t friendly, and won’t help me, but I don’t think any of them would actually hurt me. They just want me to sell.”

  Alrick relaxed. Bad enough he had to keep her safe from the powerful Warlord with limited magic. He’d hate to find out she had human enemies as well. “Why don’t you sell?”

  Her smile faltered. “I might have to, one of these days. But this ranch was Liam’s dream. I owe it to him to try and make it work.”

  “Liam’s dream? Not yours?” Though the question was so personal asking it bordered on rudeness, Carly didn’t seem to mind.

  “No, not mine.” She gave a short bark of humorless laughter. “This place belonged to Liam’s parents. I’m a city girl, through and through. No Name Ranch was the only thing we ever disagreed on. We met in Austin while we were in school. Once we graduated, we married. We lived near campus.”

  Her wistful expression made Alrick’s chest ache.

  “We only moved out here when Liam’s parents were killed in a plane crash.”

  Since the Mage had told him few details of Carly’s life, Alrick welcomed any information. When fighting an unseen threat, he never knew what knowledge might help him.

  “What about your husband?” He kept his voice soft. “What happened to Liam?”

  She looked stricken. “After we’d lived here a year, I couldn’t stand it. I told him it was either me or the ranch. Because we’d used up all our savings trying to keep this place running, he took a second job, driving trucks. There was an accident.” Swallowing, she appeared to blink back tears. “Liam died trying to make enough money so we could buy a place in town.”

  How her face softened, how her green eyes glowed as she spoke of the man she’d loved. Alrick felt an uncomfortable twinge – he’d never loved or been loved like that.

  To cover his confusion, he frowned. “But if he was working so you wouldn’t have to live here—.”

  “The least I can do is try. If I’d have been willing to try before, Liam wouldn’t have died.”

  Now he understood. “You are doing penance.”

  Her chin came up, anger chasing away her sorrow. “I—. Penance,” she repeated, her anger seeming to leave her as suddenly as it’d come. “I never thought of it like that. Though I guess you’re right. Since it’s my fault Liam died, yes, I suppose that’s what I’m doing. Paying penance.”

  He watched her, trying to understand a woman who would think like a soldier. “Is there anything you wouldn’t do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “To save your ranch. And yourself.”

  She regarded him soberly, her eyes dark. “I wouldn’t kill, even for food.”

  “I find that difficult to believe. If you were starving-.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t like blood.” Pushing herself up from the table, she went to stand by the window. The sunlight touched her hair, making the copper color appear to blaze. He’d known many women, but Alrick had never met one quite like Carly. Though her stature was slight, she was fiercely independent. Determined to make her husband’s dream a reality in order to honor his memory.

  Foolhardy, but noble.

  He studied her, letting his gaze room over her petite figure. This human woman, who claimed she couldn’t hurt another living being, would be Rune’s savior, one day. Stranger things had happened. As long as he could protect her from the Warlord. While both he and his enemy had magic, the Warlord was more powerful. They both had the same limitations, though he supposed the Warlord cared nothing about those.

  “I’ve grown to like the place,” Carly said. “Yeah, it’s lonely sometimes, but that would be the same no matter where I lived.”

  “You need to learn how to farm.”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “No I don’t. This is not a farm, it’s a ranch. I don’t farm for anything here except hay.”

  “If you don’
t farm, how do you earn your living?”

  Again her gaze skittered away. “I have some money left from Liam’s life insurance, not much. There were a lot of medical bills after the accident. That’s what I’ve been living on so far.”

  “I see. But what about the future?”

  “We were hoping to raise horses. TM is descended from a line of champions.”

  “You can live off that? Raising horses?”

  “No, not at first. But it could be quite profitable, if I could afford to hire someone to show TM. If he wins a few championships, I can put him out for stud. His services would be worth a lot then. And his foals.”

  Again much of what she said seemed incomprehensible. While he kept a stable full of choice mares at home, he had no idea what she meant by show TM? Did humans have competitions for horses? “Do your people not recognize a good horse when they see it?”

  “That’s just it. No one can see TM if I can’t show him.”

  Now he understood. Partly. “Why don’t you breed him yourself?”

  She looked down. “We’d planned on it. We were saving to buy a really good brood mare. But then Liam had the accident and the medical bills took most of my money.”

  Alrick thought of his own horses, back in Rune.

  She bit her lip, turning to stare out the window. “I can see TM. He’s so beautiful. He was Liam’s pride and joy. I’m glad you saved him.”

  “He’s not all power and muscle, that one. He’s got a keen sense of intelligence as well.” Good breeding stock, and one he’d welcome for his mares.

  “I saw the way you rode him from the barn.” She looked at him, her expression thoughtful. “I’m surprised he let you do that.”

  “He was so terrified of the fire, he didn’t notice.”

  With a slight shake of her head, she indicated her disbelief. “Oh, he noticed. Do you plan to break him?”

  The word was jarring enough to make Alrick blink. “Break him?”

  She waved her hand. “You know, teach him to be ridden. He’s three, so it’s time.”

  “And he’s never had a man upon his back?”

  “No. Not even a blanket, or a sack of grain.”