Charmed & Dangerous

by Havens, Candace

  In his office we didn’t find anything that looked like it had been disturbed. A small groan from behind the closed door made us turn and investigate. Azir’s executive assistant, Maridad, lay on the floor with a huge gash on her head.

  I yelled:

  He who disappears I seek

  Open ears and eyes for me

  Find him now, so mote it be.

  A flash of light and I saw the sheik in the stairwell, two floors below. I barked orders to the guards. How the hell had the kidnappers found their way past all the staff and security?

  The two guards who had come with me took the stairs and I ran for the elevator to head the bad guys off at the pass.

  As I moved I realized that damn skinny warlock at the bazaar had been sent to spy on me. To make certain I was out of the way so they could kidnap Azir. I reached the second floor and ran for the stairwell.

  I heard them before I saw them and prepared to do battle. With my feet apart and arms raised I waited. Two huge men around six feet five inches and about six hundred pounds between them rounded the corner carrying the sheik. One at his head, the other at his feet.

  “Put him down!” I screamed.

  The pair didn’t look like they had the IQ of a squirrel between them so I said it again. “Put him down!”

  I heard the footsteps of the other guards coming and so did the bad guys. Afraid they’d drop the sheik and cause him further injury, I threw my right hand out to stop any action they might take with a stunning blow. The men were frozen like stone. With my left I levitated the sheik and put him down on the steps beside me.

  My energy lagged. Doing two spells at once drains me fast. They started to move so I threw both hands out and pinned the two giants into the wall. The guards came just as my power was about to give out completely. My knees were shaking and I was afraid I might soon end up in a pile on the floor, much like the sheik.

  The authorities were called and the two lugs taken into custody. I hear they do nasty things to bad guys in prison here. Good.

  The sheik woke up on the way to the hospital. He said his head hurt from the blow but his private physician released him an hour and a half after we got there.

  “My assistant, Maridad, and I thought they were guards with one of the officials,” Azir told me in the car as we returned to his home. “Before we could move they pulled guns and ordered Maridad into the bathroom. She resisted, but they shoved her in. If I didn’t go with the other one they threatened to kill her. Just as we stepped into the stairwell he must have hit me with the gun.

  “Once again I owe my life to you, Bronwyn. It’s quite disconcerting being saved all the time by such a beautiful woman.” He leaned his head back against the plush leather seat and closed his eyes.

  “Hey, now stop with the compliments. That crap goes straight to my head.” Flipped my hair back Farrah Fawcett–style to prove my point. “It’s my job to protect you and those goons weren’t going to get away with my sheik.”

  That made him laugh. But his joy didn’t last long when I explained that his cousin had been involved in the attempt.

  “In less than twenty-four hours I can resolve this problem for you.” I shifted in my seat so I could touch his arm. I wanted to make sure he listened. “I don’t mind protecting you, but it’s difficult when I know the threat and can’t extinguish it.”

  “I appreciate your candor, but we need a few more days to find out who else might be involved. Have you discovered anything by reading the minds of those living in the castle?”

  “No, but I know that someone within those walls spies for your cousin. How else would he know your every move?”

  “I’ve had enemies for years but it’s difficult for me to believe that someone in my home might wish me harm.” He sounded truly disappointed by the news and I felt sorry for him.

  His mood lightened considerably when we walked through the front door and his mother ran to hug him. Dressed in the traditional chador with jeans underneath, she looked more like an older sister than his mom.

  Her straight black hair fell down her back and the same long lashes Azir has framed liquid brown eyes. Easy to see where his good looks came from. Except that she was short, five foot at the most, with a round belly and hips.

  Azir, on the other hand, is more than six foot with a chest, abs, and ass you could bounce quarters off. Um, not that I’ve noticed or anything. But give me some change and I could have a whole lot of fun with the sheik.

  “My dear son, I worried so much for you.”

  “Mother, I’m all right. I am.” He gathered her in his arms and pulled her to his chest.

  Dressed in button-fly low-riding jeans and cowboy boots, topped with a white cotton shirt tied at the waist, the woman I assumed was his sister came down the hall to her brother.

  “Why do you let this continue?” she admonished him harshly, her voice filled with disgust. “You know what you must do!” A tear slid down her cheek, softening the hardened edge of her words, and her brother hugged her to his chest.

  “Soon, Shera, soon.”

  “He could have killed you. How many times are you going to let him try?” she cried between sobs.

  “He can’t kill me, because I have a grand protector.” He moved the two women to his side and pointed to me. The look of incredulity on their faces was priceless.

  They stared at me, then back at him. Then looked at me again.

  “Hi, I’m Bronwyn.” I extended a hand and walked toward the small group.

  “This is my mother, Kazamar Alhid Azir, and my sister, Shera Alhid Azir.” The sheik smiled. Both women grabbed my hand in a sturdy grip.

  “This is Bronwyn, a very powerful witch who has blessed our home with her presence. I trust both of you will do whatever necessary to make her feel welcome and comfortable.” He raised an eyebrow to accentuate his point.

  “Oh, don’t be such a bully. If she is your friend we will treat her with kindness, but we would do so no matter what because she has saved your life more than once,” his mother chided. “Bronwyn, you are welcome in our home, and please let me know if there is anything you need. I trust you will dine with us tonight.”

  Food. I never did get my burger. I nodded in acceptance.

  “Shera and I have brought back two freezers’ worth of beef and plan on sirloin strips tonight.” She smiled as if she could read my mind.

  Hot damn! Meat! “I wouldn’t miss it.”

  I excused myself to set up shop in my suite. Along with a bedroom that would fit two small homes, the sheik had given me another room to work in. I found a computer, and several shelves already stocked with the ingredients I needed to build charms.

  But before I do anything else I need to rest. My strength lags and I have a feeling I’m going to need all of my powers over the next few weeks.

  Hopefully, I can get a zombielike nap in before dinner.

  11 P.M.

  Witch’s assistants: 2

  Dinner was nothing short of a hoot. Azir’s mother and sister are quite the storytellers.

  “We were in London and Mother had to try on a pair of these—”

  “Shera, if you tell that story I’ll tell them what happened in Rome,” Kazamar warned. The young girl appeared to think about it for a moment, then shrugged and went on with the tale.

  “We were in this hot trendy clothing shop where they only have these small screens for you to change behind and they’re set up in the middle of the store.” Shera laughed so hard she almost couldn’t go on.

  “Mother had picked up a pair of pants and they were too small.”

  “They were sized incorrectly, I tell you. I wear a size 10 and that’s what the tag said,” Kazamar, who was clearly a size 14, stated firmly.

  “Anyway”—the young girl waved her mother’s comments away—“she took forever and then I saw her hopping up and down behind the screen trying to get these pants on. She tripped on the leg and knocked not only her screen down, but also four others surrounding shoppe
rs trying on clothes. Naked people ran screaming all over the store. She just stood a minute. Then put on her own clothes and walked out of the store like nothing had happened.”

  “Well, there’s no reason to make a scene.” Kazamar laughed. “It was funny though.”

  “So what did my sister do in Rome?” Azir joined in the fun.

  “Well, it’s not so much what she did, but what happened to her. Twice. We were throwing coins into a fountain and pigeons pooped on her head. Not one or two but a whole flock. She was covered in waste and cried all the way back to the hotel.” Kazamar tried not to smile. Azir laughed harder than I’d ever seen him.

  “I wasn’t upset about the poop—that’s supposed to be a lucky sign. I cried because they ruined my brand-new Carolina Herrera sweater,” Shera explained.

  The younger woman shook her head. “Then we were on a train, minding our own business, and this man opened the door of our car and flashed us. Wiggling it around so proud. Mother looked up from her paper and told him, ‘Really you should put that away. It’s absolutely nothing worth showing off in public.’ I could have died, I laughed so hard.”

  The stories continued until just a few minutes ago. Before I left the dining hall both women made me promise that they could help make some of the charms tomorrow. It should be an interesting day.

  Sat for a few minutes and did a locator spell on the cousin. Don’t know if he’s doing drugs or just delusional but I had to pull out of his brain. Psychotic pictures of bodies bathed in blood and ripped limbs.

  He had better watch out or those pictures in his head will be his death sentence.

  Ten

  Thursday, 10 A.M.

  Dubai

  Witches with boy-stealing friends: 1

  S imone called. She and Dr. Sam had dinner with Caleb and Kira. Everything sounded so cozy when she described their quaint night out at the Italian restaurant.

  I have no right to be jealous. Just slept with the man; it’s not like he has given any indication of some kind of future. See, I never do this. I don’t have boyfriends for this reason. Men are for sex only. Men are for sex only. Men are for sex only. My new mantra.

  “I’m telling you that Dr. Sam is a cutie. I can see why you like him so much,” Simone went on and on. “Never been so well taken care of in my life. And he’s got a great bedside manner.”

  Now what in the hell did she mean by that? “So, I guess you’re feeling better.”

  “Yeah, baby. Not quite one hundred percent but I’m getting there. Oh, good gossip for you. Looks to me like Kira and Caleb are on the way to the heavy duty. They couldn’t keep their hands off of one another. I got hot just watching them.” Simone has such a way with words.

  “Oh wow, you’ve got another call, hold on.” She clicked off and then came back on the line. “Hey, Bron, that’s Sam. He says to tell you hi. Gotta go. He’s picking me up and we’re gonna head down to some rodeo. Can you imagine it? Me at a rodeo? Ride ’em cowboy!”

  We hung up and I sat on the bed. Tried to call Kira to get her opinion of the situation but she wasn’t at the library or at home. Probably making out with Caleb in a car somewhere.

  Won’t be long before Sam and Simone are headed that way. Great. Now I have images of Simone with her legs wrapped around Sam. Argh! That’s it. No more men. Well, except for sex. Mind-blowing, house-shaking, bone-melting sex. Like I had with Sam that night when we did it on the stairs and the…No. Not going there.

  Time to get to work on those charms. Better see if the packages have arrived. Now there’s someone you can count on. FedEx.

  4 P.M.

  May not have started out great but it’s been one hell of a productive day. Kazamar and Shera turned themselves into a two-woman assembly line. Makes me laugh to think these two wealthy and powerful women sat on the floor making bell charms, but that’s just the kind of people they are.

  They were intensely interested in the process of what it took to make the charms and why each piece was so important. Touching each ingredient as if it were precious gold, their wide brown eyes hung on every word.

  “Centuries ago they used tassels and fringes dipped in lavender oil to protect homes. They thought the swaying of the ornaments would confuse the evil spirits,” I explained to them as we set out each of the pieces for the charms. “I still use lavender but have found the adding of a bell more effective in warning against trouble.”

  The mother and daughter turned to each other and raised eyebrows.

  “They’ve been used through the centuries in different kind of spells and warriors tied bells to their horses’ blankets.”

  “Yes, this something we know from my husband’s tribe. They too sew the bells to the blanket. How does it work in the shelters?” Kazamar rang one of the bells again.

  “The ring not only alerts those inside to danger, but activates a general spell I have surrounding each of the shelters, to keep the evil from entering the building. Think of it as an early warning for trouble ahead.”

  “How can you have such power?” Kazamar sat on the floor in front of the ribbons used to tie the tiny purple flowers to the bell. “I don’t understand how you can protect so much all of the time, without draining yourself.”

  Shera nodded in agreement with her mother.

  “It sounds complicated, but isn’t. Most of what I use is earth magic, something that already exists. I sort of call it into action. That’s why I use so many flowers, plants, and herbs in my potions.”

  “I noticed you spent at least an hour in the garden last night.” Shera positioned herself on a cushion next to her mother. “Do you need to be near the plants?”

  The workroom had a perfectly good table with chairs, but they preferred to sit on the floor to work.

  “Being in nature does help rejuvenate me and I feel like I’m more a part of the earth when I’m near it. If you ever come to Texas I’ll show you my conservatory. It’s filled to the brim with plants and herbs from all over the world.”

  I moved everything from the counter to the floor.

  “Anyway, when I use earth magic it actually makes me stronger and the energy grows. I know it sounds a little strange and out there, but it works for me. On the other hand when I have to do blood magic, or in extreme cases dark magic, it drains me fast. Sometimes it takes a few days or weeks to renew my strength.”

  “The dark and blood magic sound so scary. Aren’t you afraid?” Shera looked up at me, curious to know more. “Do you use it often?”

  “No, I don’t use either very much. When I’m doing big jobs such as this, I like to keep it simple. The lavender and mulberry wrapped with a ribbon tied to a bell is all it takes. Then I invoke a protection spell from my Book of Shadows and we’re done.

  “Speaking of which, you don’t have to help me. I appreciate it, but I feel terrible taking you away from your own work.”

  Kazamar frowned. “I can think of no better duty than protecting those women. We are happy to be of service and are grateful for your help. This foundation means everything to me.”

  Remembering the story about Azir’s aunt, I realized making these charms had become symbolic for this mother and daughter. I showed them how to make two of the charms and they toiled away. For the first half hour we worked in a comfortable silence but it wasn’t long before the conversation flowed.

  They asked about my home in Sweet and the other witches that I knew. I questioned them about their family and got the inside scoop on the sheik when he was younger. It came as no surprise to learn that he’d given his mother more than one headache.

  “He’s never been one to follow what others were doing,” Kazamar told me while she tied the lavender to the bells. “In preparatory school his friends all wanted to study math and science. As did he, but he also took classes in creative writing, sociology, and psychology. Every holiday he’d come home and analyze a different family member. He’s fascinated by human behavior and why we do the things we do.”

  “Sounds to me li
ke he should have been a psychologist rather than a businessman.” I rose to get more ribbon for Shera.

  “He could have been,” she told me. “He has a doctorate in psychology and an MBA. He says the two go together when it comes to his job.”

  Sometimes I hate that the more I learn about the man the more fascinating he becomes. Lost in my own world, Shera caught me off guard with her question. “So, do you have a boyfriend in Texas?”

  Had to think about that one.

  “Shera, that’s too personal. You know better.” Kazamar shook her finger as if scolding an errant child.

  We worked for a few minutes in silence and Kazamar paused. “So do you?”

  I laughed so hard I slid off my red cushion. “Truthfully? I’m interested in someone, but it’s too soon to know where that’s going. And I think he may be interested in a friend of mine.”

  “Oh, that is most unfortunate. I’m sorry we brought it up.” Kazamar touched my arm in a way of apologizing.

  “To have such simple minds, men can be so complicated.” Shera shifted on her pillow. “Before I decided to go to graduate school I thought I might marry a friend of Kahab’s.”

  “Kahab?”

  “Do you not know? That is my brother’s first name. The family goes back and forth but he prefers Azir,” Shera explained.

  I tucked that bit of info away. “So what happened?”

  “My fiancé didn’t want me to work or continue with my schooling, which is very important to me. He’s somewhat progressive like my brother, but his family is traditional and he bowed to their pressure.

  “My family encouraged me to go with my heart and I decided I could not marry a man who would not let me pursue my dreams. It hurt because I loved him with my soul. On sad nights I still do.” She pushed her hair back and gathered the black thickness in a band to make a ponytail.

  I moved to find more ribbon and returned with another stack. “I saw several women working at Duban. Isn’t it acceptable for a woman to have a family and work here?”