Mystic Caravan 11 - Freaky Mage

by Amanda M. Lee

  “This is weird,” I noted, joining her.

  “Yeah.” She looked entranced. “Do you feel that?”

  “What?”

  “That ... darkness.”

  I studied her a moment, confused. “Is a storm coming?”

  “Not the weather.” She was calm. “I’m talking about ... that.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed, sending a pulse of magic through me. The act caught me by surprise, until I focused on what she was doing.

  She was right. There was a darkness and it wasn’t coming from the clouds or trees. It was coming from the land itself. “What is that?” I was breathless.

  “I don’t know.” She cocked her head and turned to survey the open expanse behind us. “I’ve never been to a place like this, a park that was once a cemetery. When I was in college, there was a sphinx. He’d been killing girls and burying them in the woods off campus.

  “The second I crossed onto that land, his burial ground, I felt something evil,” she continued. “I feel that right now, at this moment.”

  “I haven’t dealt with many sphinx,” I admitted. “Is that what we’re dealing with now?”

  “I can’t say for sure either way. The one we killed carved runes too.”

  “The same as those we found on that girl?”

  “I don’t remember. I didn’t bother to etch it into my mind back then. All I knew at the time was that he was evil and needed to be stopped.”

  “Is that what you feel now?”

  “I definitely think what we’re dealing with is abject evil, and I won’t stop until we end it. Still ... I don’t know what it is. I hear a light pounding in the back of my mind. It might be a heartbeat ... and it might be war drums.”

  I was momentarily frazzled by her words. “Well, that’s a cheery thought,” I said finally.

  She managed a smile. “This is nowhere near over. I don’t know how to find the answers we need right now.”

  “I don’t either. I need to think.”

  “You and me both.”

  11

  Eleven

  Zoe walked back to the fairgrounds with me, our conversation easy and light. When we arrived, we walked straight into mayhem.

  “You’re not hotter than me!”

  Luke stood in the middle of the kitchen area, hands on hips, glaring at Kade.

  “What’s this?” Zoe asked. She looked caught somewhere between amusement and worry.

  “It’s just Luke.” Weariness settled over me like a cloak. “He has ... issues.”

  Zoe didn’t look bothered at the prospect of potential mayhem. “I like him.”

  “You like loud people?”

  “Yup.”

  “Then he’s right up your alley.” I moved around Zoe and positioned myself between Kade and Luke, glancing between them. “Do I even want to know what you two are fighting about?”

  “You only texted twice,” Kade replied, his tone accusatory. “You said you would text frequently.”

  “That was frequently. It’s fine. I ran into Zoe.”

  “Oh, well ... .” Kade shifted his gaze to the blonde and offered a genuine smile. “I’m glad for that.”

  It took everything I had not to roll my eyes. His crush, while harmless, was also grating. “Yes, she babysat me without incident.”

  “What are you two fighting about?” Zoe asked as she headed for the iced tea on the counter. “I want to know so I can pick sides.”

  “Kade thinks he’s hotter than me,” Luke answered. “By the way, your offspring is clearly blind. She’s been ranking all of us according to hotness this morning. She ranked me fourth.”

  Zoe’s lips quirked. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Fourth!” He barked out the word.

  I did the math in my head. “She likes Cole best,” I mused, talking more to myself than him. “Kade must be second.”

  “Actually, I’m third,” Kade corrected. “She’s all over Seth like you wouldn’t believe. She keeps saying, ‘Here, kitty, kitty,’ and purring.” He flicked his eyes to Zoe. “By the way, I think your husband is losing it. He says he’s sending her to a convent.”

  Zoe smirked. “He’s been threatening her with that since she was eleven and started ranking superheroes for hotness.”

  I was curious. “Who does she think the hottest superhero is?”

  “Aquaman. Personally, I find that appalling. DC is totally lagging. Thor is the hottest, and I say that as a person who doesn’t like blonds.” She grinned at Luke. “That could be your problem. Much like her mother, Sami prefers dark-haired men. Her absolute favorite is a tan vampire with long hair. Have you considered a color change?”

  That was blasphemy to Luke. “I’m hot the way I am.”

  “I’m sure you are.” Zoe shifted her eyes to the aisle, her grin widening when she caught sight of Aric. “How’s life?”

  “Your daughter is the worst,” Aric replied, stopping next to her. He tapped her chin to get her to look up and then kissed her. “I still maintain we should’ve gotten a cat instead of a kid.”

  “I heard that!” Sami’s voice was shrill and I had to crane my neck to find her between the tents. When I finally did, I wasn’t surprised to see her with Cole and Nellie, both of whom seemed besotted with her. It wasn’t often we had kids hanging with us, especially one this ... forceful. That seemed to be the right word for her.

  “That’s good,” Aric shot back. “I wasn’t whispering.” He looked serious when he turned back to his wife. “It’s been a good ride. You should know, if it was just you, I would never leave. I can’t deal with that kid a moment longer.”

  Zoe elbowed him and regarded Sami with a flat smile. “Why are you torturing your father?”

  “Because it’s easy and I like a job that I don’t have to apply myself to finish,” Sami replied, not missing a beat.

  “I don’t know, Aric. That’s a really good answer.” Zoe snickered when he glared at her. “What do you want? She’s fourteen. She loves boys. That’s normal for her age.”

  “We should’ve had a boy.” Aric growled. “Boys don’t cause problems like this.”

  “Really?” Zoe’s tone was dry. “Are you telling me fourteen-year-old boys aren’t walking hormones?”

  “Of course they are, but it’s the job of the parents of the girls to worry. If you have a boy, they can just run around willy-nilly and it’s fine.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s the way it works.” Zoe motioned for Sami to join her. “Have you really been ranking the men?”

  Sami nodded. “Cole is winning.”

  Cole winked at her. “That’s as it should be.”

  “Nellie has the best personality,” Sami added. “He’s Miss Congeniality. He’s fine with it.”

  “I am,” Nellie agreed. “I’ve never understood the beefcake mentality. Who wants to be ogled that way?”

  “You wear evening gowns to picnics,” I reminded him. “Clearly you like attention. It’s just a different type of attention.”

  “Whatever.” Nellie waved off my comment. “I really like this kid. I want to keep her. Aric and I have been haggling. Right now, we’re stuck on visitation. He says he doesn’t want any, but I think it’s best for the kid that she still gets to see her parents.”

  “Can I stay?” Sami was all sparkling eyes and curved lips as she implored her mother. “I would fit right in. The circus sounds fun.”

  “Who is going to take care of Trouble?” Zoe asked.

  “You can send him to me.”

  “Who is Trouble?” I asked, confused.

  “Her dog. He’s with her grandparents right now. They’re joined at the hip when they’re home. No matter what she says, she’s not going anywhere without that dog.”

  “He’s the best dog ever,” Sami enthused. “He never gets into mischief.”

  “Tell that to my shoes,” Zoe grumbled.

  Aric slung an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “I know you’re trying to torture us with the possibility of
leaving, Sami, but it won’t work. We’re counting down the days until we can get Naked Sundays back. Four years.” He mock shook his fist at the sky. “It will happen again, and it will be awesome.”

  “Omigod!” Sami stomped her foot. “You’re not supposed to say things like that in public. It’s gauche.”

  Zoe’s forehead wrinkled. “Who taught you that word?”

  “Who do you think?”

  “Your grandmother.”

  “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!”

  “She’s gets that sarcasm from you too,” Aric groused. “Seriously, how much am I supposed to take?”

  “If you didn’t make yourself such an easy mark, she wouldn’t do it,” Zoe pointed out. “I am sort of curious, though. Sami, is Cole your favorite because you saw him shirtless?”

  Sami nodded. “It was a revelation.”

  “You need to stop letting her read books that include things like that,” Aric hissed. “She’s too young for romance novels.”

  “She can read whatever she wants,” Zoe countered. “Get over it. As for the ranking system, there’s only one way to solve this. The rest of you are going to have to take your shirts off too.”

  It was a joke, but Luke immediately started stripping off. “Gladly. I’ll show you who is hot.”

  Despite her annoyance with her mother’s interference in her game, Sami’s interest was keen when she got a gander at Luke’s muscles. “Wow.” She was breathless. “That is ... wow.”

  Luke bobbed his head and preened. “I told you.” He lifted his arms and flexed. “I’m the king of the circus.”

  “Don’t fall for that, Sami,” Cole intoned. “He has ideal lighting. Remember, you saw me in the throes of battle. That’s much hotter.”

  “Shut it!” Luke extended a finger toward his boyfriend. “You can’t influence the judge.”

  Sami laughed. Obviously there was little more she loved than being the center of attention.

  Kade, apparently tiring of the conversation, decided to redirect. “Did you guys find anything?”

  “We found various tombstones with runes but nothing that can help us, at least for now,” I replied. “I’m thinking of trying something different.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like talking to the mother of the girl we returned last night.”

  Zoe jerked her head to me. “Do you think that’s wise? That place will probably be crawling with cops.”

  “I don’t plan to approach her when the cops are around. I can glamour. I figured I would pretend to be a reporter.”

  Zoe didn’t look convinced. “It seems risky.”

  “I don’t know what else to do.”

  “Yeah.” She scrubbed her cheek. “I can go with you.”

  Aric shook his head. “No way. It’s your turn to watch the kid. She’s giving me an ulcer.”

  “I can go with you,” Cole offered. “I might be able to sneak in and talk to the cops. The one we talked to yesterday wasn’t much help. Those on the scene would have more information.”

  I hesitated and then nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

  “Just be careful,” Kade said. “If you draw too much suspicion ... .”

  He didn’t have to finish the sentence. We both knew what would happen if we garnered the wrong kind of attention.

  “I’ve got it,” I reassured him. “You need to start working on your hunk game. If you lose to Cole and Luke, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Cole snickered as Sami beamed at him.

  “You can take your shirt off too,” Sami offered Kade. “You won’t hear me complain.”

  “Ugh.” Aric growled. “Shoot me now.”

  SETH PROVIDED US WITH THE ADDRESS to the house, and sure enough, it was crawling with cops.

  We watched from a block down, finding a bench under a tree and settling there to gauge the reaction of law enforcement.

  “What do you think?” I asked after a few minutes.

  “I think this is the biggest thing to happen to their investigation since it started,” Cole replied. “The body found yesterday would’ve sent them running in one direction. Heather coming home changes things drastically.”

  “She won’t be able to tell them anything. I made sure of that.”

  “It doesn’t matter. They’ll shift the focus because now it seems possible the other missing girls are still alive. Yesterday, the body indicated they were likely all dead. Now that’s changed.”

  “Yeah.” I exhaled heavily. “I don’t know what to make of any of it.”

  “I don’t either. Obviously those guys in the robes are sacrificing the girls for something. It has to be magic-based.”

  “I would agree. That spell I was hit with, while not particularly strong, could be made stronger if they get their hands on more magic.”

  “Which has to be the goal. I can’t think of any other reason to do what they’re doing.”

  “We need to know what’s going on in that house. I’m not keen on glamouring us and walking through the front door. The cops will be super vigilant.”

  Cole craned his neck and looked up and down the street. “Maybe we don’t have to talk to the mother.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He inclined his head toward a figure walking down the opposite side of the street. The woman had a dog on a leash. “This is an older neighborhood. The people here likely know one another. Even if they’re not friendly, I bet they’re all up in each other’s business.”

  I nodded in understanding. “Right. It’s a convenient time for that woman to be walking the dog. It gives her a reason to gawk.”

  “You read my mind.”

  We remained on the bench, Cole taking my hand in his. We wanted to look like a couple perusing the neighborhood for no other reason than we might move there. The woman — her name was Myrtle, something I picked up from her stray thoughts as she approached — didn’t seem bothered by our presence. She was much more interested in standing at the corner watching the police activity while her dog crapped on an unsuspecting neighbor’s lawn.

  I sensed my opening.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.

  Myrtle gave me a sidelong look. “Do you live here?”

  I shook my head. “No, but we’re considering it.” I inclined my head toward a house three doors down with a “for sale” sign in the front yard. “We love the neighborhood and are considering an offer, but this is making us rethink things.”

  “Oh, don’t do that.” The woman drifted closer and looked us over. She apparently liked what she saw because she broke out in a huge grin and introduced herself. “Are you newlyweds?”

  “We’re engaged,” I corrected, frowning when her gaze immediately went to my naked ring finger. “This one thought I had dainty fingers when he bought the ring so it’s in getting re-sized.” I jerked my thumb toward Cole.

  “Her fingers seem tiny to me,” Cole offered amiably.

  Myrtle laughed. “It’s always hard when it comes to things like that.”

  “Yes, but I really want to wear my ring,” I said.

  “Two days,” Cole supplied. “You’ll have it in two days. Then you can show the world exactly how much I love you.”

  “Oh, you’re cute.” Myrtle’s smile was wide. “I think you’ll like this neighborhood. It’s great for kids. Are you going to have kids?”

  Cole bobbed his head. “Of course. We’ll wait until after we’ve been married a year or so. There are things about the house we want to change, get everything perfect, and then we’ll add some little ones.”

  For some reason, the conversation made me uncomfortable.

  “A boy and a girl,” Myrtle said knowingly.

  “We can’t really control that, but it would be nice,” Cole agreed. “Luke and Samantha. I can just picture them right now.”

  It took everything I had not to burst out laughing. The idea of raising Luke and Sami was enough to put me off kids forever.

  “Lovely
names,” Myrtle said. “As for this ... well ... don’t let it bother you.” She was back to looking at the house. “That’s Fred and Frieda’s house. Their daughter went missing a couple weeks ago. I heard she came back.”

  “She went missing?” I worked overtime to keep my tone even. “That’s terrible. Did she run away?”

  “That’s what I assumed, but then a few other girls went missing. They all looked alike and the news people were drawing comparisons between them. I was starting to think there might be some sort of serial killer involved ... but then Heather came back.”

  “That’s good, right?” Cole pressed. “That means she wasn’t hurt.”

  “She wasn’t hurt, but she couldn’t remember anything that happened to her. Katie Pearson lives next door, and she heard Freida screaming last night when Heather walked through the door. She went over there and got to hear everything. I was already in bed. That’s what I get for being an early riser.”

  I flicked a quick look to Cole and found him smiling. Just as we’d hoped, Myrtle was an information smorgasbord. “Do they know what happened to her?”

  “No, but she swears she would never run away. I don’t know what to think.” Myrtle made a tsking sound and shook her head. “About a week ago, I took a casserole over to Frieda. I wanted to make sure she was okay.

  “I’ve never really liked her — she wears shirts that show off her cleavage and she’s too old for that — but nobody deserves to lose a daughter,” she continued. “She was a mess when I was there, crying and carrying on. I asked if she thought Heather was dead. That probably seems crass, but I didn’t know what else to think. She said it was fine, that Heather was just visiting with friends over the Rainbow Bridge and would be back. Apparently she was right.”

  The Rainbow Bridge? I wrinkled my nose. “Isn’t the Rainbow Bridge where pets go when they die?”

  “That’s what I thought. When I brought it up to Frieda, she said it was where girls went when they needed to get themselves together. I tried getting more information from her, but she’s always been scattered.

  “My father used to say that some people were absent when they handed out brains. I always thought Frieda was that way. Oh, she’s nice enough, but she’s an idiot. I thought maybe that was why Heather ran away. Now I’m not so sure she ran away.”