The car had been nothing but a lemon needing one repair after the other. Not one of the many visits to the shop back home had cost less than three-hundred dollars.
“You don’t understand.” She cast her gaze around the office, noting the old furniture and the ancient-looking vending machine that could have been from the nineteen-fifties. She wasn’t sure, but it appeared as though it might even dispense soft drinks in glass bottles. “I think you’re charging too little.”
She bit her lip, hating to tell the man that. She needed her car and every dime she could save, since she no longer had a job and she didn’t expect her husband’s insurance money to last forever. Though to have it purring as though it was brand new, was a dream come true.
“We think she’ll even get better gas mileage.” Ceno wiped his greasy hands on a shop rag he’d pulled from his pocket before jamming it back into his coveralls.
What was it about men and calling inanimate objects by female pronouns?
“It sure sounds as though it might.” Birgit smiled and pulled her wallet from her purse. “Are you sure you only want a hundred-and-fifty dollars for the repair?” she couldn’t shake the feeling she was taking advantage of the men and Karma was a bitch.
“I’m sure, ma’am.” The man grinned. “It’s not often we get to help such a pretty lady.”
“Right.” The man knew how to sweet-talk, that was for sure.
Pulling her bank card from her wallet, she handed it to the man and thanked goodness the repair hadn’t cleaned out her checking account. As it was, she needed to transfer funds over from her savings, soon to cover her hotel in Roswell—if she ever made it there.
“Birgitta, huh? That’s pretty.” Ceno slid the card through the reader and then glanced at it again. “What kind of name is Anderson?”
“Dutch, I think. Though, I’m not sure. It’s my deceased husband’s name.”
The register beeped a few times and the printer hummed before spitting out a receipt and a signature slip.
Ceno pulled the sheets loose and handed them to her with the strangest looking pen she had ever seen. The fat barrel appeared as though it had little hoses running around it, surrounded by springs so tiny, she wasn’t sure they were actually springs.
Something on the barrel of the pen poked her finger, drawing blood. “Ow!” She brought her finger to her mouth. “Do you have another pen,” she asked around her finger.
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s the only one I have in the shop right now.” Picking it up, he pushed something inside and handed it to her. “I’m sorry it poked you, but it should be okay, now.”
Trying not to appear too cautious, Birgit took it from him. Whatever it was on the pen had stuck her deep. The tip of her finger kept bleeding all over. As she held it, her blood ran down into the seams of the barrel. It was almost as though it was soaking up her blood.
She shook her head at the ridiculous thought.
“You might want to get more pens. I don’t think anyone is going to want to use this one with my blood all over it.” She signed the slip as fast as she could and glanced around for a paper towel.
“I’ll take that.” Ceno reached for the pen, but she held it out of his reach.
“It’s got my blood all over it. At least let me wipe it off, first.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He placed a paper towel on the counter. Just set it there and I’ll take it into the back and throw it away. We have more pens at the house. I’ll just call one of my brothers and have them bring them over.” He handed her another paper towel when she set the pen on the counter.
“Thanks.” She wrapped the towel around her finger and applied pressure. “You should do something about that pen.” She frowned down at it, afraid that he wouldn’t throw it away as he said he would.
“Don’t worry. I plan to throw it away just as soon as I can,” he said with a smile. “I’ll make sure one of my brothers brings a new one over, now.” He picked up the pen and turned to walk through the door behind him.
“Wait a minute.” Birgit frowned at the empty corner where he had deposited her bags earlier. “Where’s my luggage?”
“I put it in your car.”
“Oh.” She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. The men had been so kind, she didn’t know what to say. Just leaving as though nothing had happened seemed… wrong. “Thank you so much for your help and your kindness.”
She turned to go, pausing just inside the door. Something told her she should stay in this strange town. In fact, she felt almost compelled to stay. “Are my keys in the car, as well?”
“Yes, ma’am. I figured you would be in a hurry to get back on the road.” He moved to hold the door or her.
“I know this is going to sound like a stupid question,” Birgit said, her cheeks warming. “But I wasn’t paying attention when I drove into town. I was too worried about my car.”
“You weren’t paying attention to what?” He smiled, his blue eyes shining down at her.
“The name of the town. Where am I?”
“Magic, ma’am. This is Magic, New Mexico.”
“Oh!” She gave him the brightest smile she could. “What a wonderful name for a town.” Spinning around, she headed for her car. Magic. She glanced around the little town that, somehow seemed a little bigger now that she’d been here a while. She frowned as she stared across the street. Had that ice cream parlor always been there? “Of course it’s always been there. They didn’t build the place in fifteen minutes, you dummy.”
She smiled as she got into her car. “Magic, huh?”
It fit. The town seemed magical and so did the people who lived there.
Chapter Four
“You charged her how much?” Reno stared at his brothers with disbelief. “I would have charged her at least twice as much.” He wouldn’t have, but they didn’t know that.
“Bullshit.” Xeno said, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth, and narrowing eyes the same shade of amber Deno and their father had. “You never charge women much.”
That much was true, Reno conceded with a sigh. He’d always been a pushover for the weak human women. They were tiny creatures who, in his opinion, had no business working jobs outside the home. They weren’t like Zolon women and, in his opinion, should all be kept inside where they were safe.
Though, to be fair, Zolon women came into their strength after mating. Their bodies drew strength from the bond with their shapeshifting husbands. Would the same be true for human women?
He shoved his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “I would have charged a stranger that much. The people of Magic deserve our loyalty. We should be doing everything in our power to see that no one finds this place and make sure the ones who do, leave and don’t want to come back.”
He stared at his brothers for a moment. “I don’t have to remind you three that we owe the people of this town our lives. We could have died in that crash had no one seen it and pulled us from the wreckage.” The bridge had burned in an electrical fire and they had been lucky the town’s sheriff and fire department had pulled them out before they’d fried.
“We need to make a trip out of town,” he said with a sigh. “As many legends there are of people finding placer gold around here, I’ve yet to find any and we need more of the metal to make and repair circuit boards.” He pulled his sweat-covered shirt over his head and wiped the dirt and perspiration off his face and chest with it before tossing it on his chair.
“I’m not going.” Deno held his hands up. “I got arrested the last time.”
“That’s because you tried to steal it, stupid,” Ceno said with a snort. “You can’t raid the world where you live.”
“Well, excuse the hell out of me for being the youngest and not knowing the rules.” Deno shot him the bird.
“Xeno will go,” Reno declared. “I’ll stay here with Ceno. We’ll watch over Deno and the shop.” He sat down at the table and pulled off his boots. “What’s for lunch?”
“Figures.” Reno curled his lip. Perhaps he wasn’t too hungry, after all.
“Hey, my father brought me up as a raider, not domestic help.”
“Your father brought you up to take care of yourself. That includes cooking, you moron.” Xeno slapped his twin on the back of his head.
“I’ll cook.” Ceno stood. “I don’t know if I can take another one of Deno’s science experiments today.” He moved to the kitchen door. “I’m not sure what it will be, but whatever I decide to make,” he paused to point at Deno. “Will be better than anything that fool would come up with.”
“Fine. Go cook something. I’m starved.” Reno scrubbed his face with his hands. The rest of us need to clean up this pig sty.” He tossed an empty pizza box at Deno like a frisbee. Get your trash picked up.”
“Food’s ready.” Ceno called from the kitchen an hour later.
He walked through the door carrying a large pot that smelled delicious, though Reno would never tell him that.
“What is it?” He strode to the table, leaned over the pan and inhaled deep.
“It’s stew. I made it from the leftover roast we bought from the diner the last time we went there.”
Reno did some mental math and then nodded. “It was only four days ago. At least it won’t be rancid.” He scowled at Deno.
“Hey, how the hell was I to know that chicken is only good for a few days? I thought that green fuzzy stuff was feathers trying to grow back, so I just scraped it off.”
“And gave us all food poisoning in the process.” Reno glared at him. “I’ve never spent so much time in a bathroom in my life.”
It hadn’t taken long for them to realize that, even though their body chemistry was different than humans, they could still suffer from a few human illnesses. According to the medical bay they managed to reverse engineer from their ship and then constructed, they couldn’t get human diseases, but they could suffer from viruses such as the common cold and other discomforts such as food poisoning and hay fever.
Unfortunately for him, they had also discovered that their physiology was a close match to that of the humans on this backward rock. Ceno had started nagging him about finding himself a wife, almost as soon as they’d crashed on Earth.
His stomach rumbled and Reno rested his hand against it. Just the memory of that horrible meal Deno had made was enough to make him queasy.
“Let’s eat. We have work to do.” Reno glanced up at Ceno as he set a glass down in front of him. “Thanks.” He stared at his brother for a moment, wondering what in the universe had gotten into his younger brother. The ass never volunteered for anything and tonight he’d made dinner and delivered a drink with no compulsion or complaints.
Picking up his fork, he scooped up a small bit of the thick stew and tasted it. “Not bad.” He took another bite and then grabbed his glass, downing half the soft drink his brother brought him. “Thanks for the drink.” He stared down at his plate for a minute. “I don’t know what’s on your mind, but I’m not meeting the woman no matter how much you volunteer to help around this place.”
“I didn’t expect you to.” Ceno took his place at the other end of the table and dished out a plate of stew. Setting the spoon down, he licked a drop of gravy off his thumb. “You couldn’t if you wanted to, anyway. She left this afternoon.” He stared down at his plate, his expression unreadable.
“Good.” Reno shoved a larger bite into his mouth, and barely stopped himself from groaning. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had her hidden away in th e kitchen, cooking.”
“Not by a long shot.” Ceno shook his head with a laugh. “She couldn’t leave town fast enough. She was in too much of a hurry to get to Roswell.”
Reno stopped chewing and looked up. “Roswell? What did she want there?” He tried to act nonchalant. A woman who believed in off-worlders just might make a good wife. The memory of his father’s words haunted him as he remembered the story his father told of the night their father and mother met.
Try as he might, he couldn’t forget his father’s directive to search every planet for a mate, while he raided them for their resources. Their own world had little of everything. Trading for goods was out of the question as their barren world had little more to offer than sand, water, and precious few animals. Like it or not, they had been forced to steal almost everything they needed, just to survive.
“Yeah. She planned to go looking for UFOs if the literature on her front seat was any indication. The woman is obsessed with aliens.”
Now, that was interesting. Picking up his glass, he tipped it back and downed most of what was left of it in one long pull.
No! Stop thinking about that. He scowled down into his plate. Someone will come looking for us. Father would never make good on his threat to let us all rot if we failed.
He stared at the remnants of cola in the glass before him, the bubbles in what was left of the fizzing drink, reminding him of the dark of space filled with stars. His body heated and his skin began to itch as he stared at the drink.
Yes, you stubborn ass. Father would let you rot.
Perhaps Ceno was right and he needed to come to terms with the fact that even if his father should find them, he would never take them home in disgrace.
“So,” Ceno said as he took a swallow from the glass in front of him. “How do you feel?”
“How do I…” Reno narrowed his eyes. “What did you put in my food?” He glanced at the unsolicited glass of cola before him. “My drink. What did you do to it?”
“Nothing much.” He shrugged. “I just added a bit from a batch of zidalpham.”
“You didn’t!” Reno stared at the glass, knowing that the testing mixture could make him ill if his beast wasn’t chemically compatible with the woman. “How did you get her blood?” He scowled. “I know she didn’t just give it to you.”
No one would cut themselves open and give their life’s blood to a stranger—even on this backward planet.
He pushed his plate away, reluctant to eat any more. Who knew what else his brother put into the damned food.
“I handed her a pen that I had replicated into a gathering device.” He shrugged and took a bite of his stew. “It stuck her when she took it and then stored her blood as she signed her name on the credit slip.”
Thank the stars that the idiot hadn’t tackled the poor woman and taken her blood by force.
“I don’t know whether to say I’m sorry or glad she won’t be returning.” He slid his chair back and stood. “As much as I’m beginning to believe you three idiots just might be right about it being time for me to find a mate. I can’t imagine how difficult life will be once I have one and you three keep telling me I told you so.”
It would have been interesting to see if his body chemistry also matched with hers. If so, sparks would fly between them as the zidalpham did its job and brought them together.
Once the chemical mixture had been introduced into their blood, there would be no denying their status as the chemically altered blood tied them together, both emotionally and sexually.
Thank the stars she’s gone. He heaved an inner sigh. If she had stayed, he would have a lot of explaining to do.
“She’ll be back.” Ceno grinned. “I’d bet on it.”
Reno stalked over to his brother, and yanked him from his seat, his hand twisted in the front of Ceno’s shirt. “What in the name of Zolon did you do?”
Chapter Five
Birgit reached the intersection where she’d made her mistake and had turned toward Magic, and went straight through.
Glancing down, she checked her gas gauge and frowned. She’d driven over seventy-five miles and the gas gauge hadn’t moved.
“Well, they said I’d get better gas milage.” She patted the dash.
The car might have broken down yet again, but it hadn’t done so until she’d pulled into the parking area of a service station. It was almost a
s though the car had waited to die until she got to an area where she could get help.
“Thanks for taking care of me.”
“You’re welcome.”
Birgit jammed on the brakes, and forced the gearshift into park before coming to a complete stop. The old car skidded to a halt on the edge of the road, throwing gravel everywhere. A dust cloud surrounded her as she released her seatbelt, jumped from the vehicle and peered through her back windows, searching for a stowaway.
“Okay, whoever you are. Get out of my car!” She glanced at her phone sitting on the front passenger seat and bit her lip. “If you don’t get out, I’m calling the police,” she said with a bravado she didn’t feel.
“That’s going to be hard when your phone is on the passenger seat.” The voice seemed to come from the speakers, but how? “Besides, you don’t get a signal out here.”
“Okay. Very funny.” Her temper kicked in as she realized the reason her repairs hadn’t cost a small fortune was because the four brothers had played a prank on her, using her for some entertainment. “Okay, you jerks. I’m on to your sick game. Turn off the microphone and listening device and I won’t press charges.”
Could she press charges for a practical joke?
“They didn’t add a listening device.” The voice paused. “They added two tiny computers, which they hooked into my onboard computer that gives me the ability to speak.” Another pause. “Believe it or not, I’m your car.”
“I don’t believe it.” She bristled. “How stupid do you people think I am?” She glared at her dash.
Thank goodness she’d gotten out of that town. She glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone had followed her. Was that one of the places she’d heard about where people went missing? Had they done this to get her to stop in the middle of nowhere so someone could kidnap her?
She got back into the still-running vehicle, stepped on the brake and put it in gear. With luck, she hadn’t damaged the transmission when she’d jammed it in park while the wheels had still been rolling.
Magic, New Mexico: Bewitching Birgit (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 2