by S. E. Smith
She decided in the end it would be best to separate the two males until she could figure out what the hell was going on. Since she didn’t want to take a chance on Theo getting hurt, she decided to keep the one putting off the bad mojo where she could see him. Maybe if she got some rest, she could figure out why they were at her house.
“He isn’t really a rabbit,” Lacey said again. “I just turned him into one… he’ll change back in a few hours. I just need you to keep him here until he does, then you can release him.”
Theo leaned back against the lone desk in the small office that contained two jail cells, one filing cabinet, the desk and a bathroom. Magic didn’t get a lot of criminal activity. Those that broke the law were almost always strangers to the town.
The only local resident that had spent any time in the jail lately, was Jerry Jenkins. Jerry liked to run through town once a month in the buff when one of his distant ancestors came to visit him. Jerry ignored the fact that no one else could see the ghostly figure but him. Theo had finally quit arresting Jerry after his ancestor unlocked the door in front of him. Now, everyone in town just got the unpleasant pleasure of seeing a bare-assed Jerry if they happened to be in town on the third Thursday of each month around noon.
“Should I even bother asking why you turned him into a rabbit in the first place?” Theo asked as he glared at the sleeping rabbit nestled in Lacey’s arms. “If he was bothering you or trespassing, you should have called me, Lacey. You know I would have come out immediately.”
Lacey smiled at the concerned tone in Theo’s voice. Theo had been the one to come out to Touch of Magic after Sean’s accident. He had just moved to town a few weeks before. He had held her as she wept uncontrollably as her aunt and sisters repaired the damage she had wrought in her grief. It was the one and only time that Lacey had used her magic to destroy anything. Fortunately, none of the animals, Theo or her aunt and siblings had been injured.
“I know, Theo,” Lacey replied quietly. “I… I had a bad night, and well…”
Theo watched as Lacey ducked her head until her hair fell forward to shield her face. He heard the whispered hesitancy in her voice. She was holding something back. He could hear it in her voice. She was telling him the truth about having a bad night, though. That was one of the things he discovered about himself since he moved to Magic and took the position as their sheriff.
For years, hell, his whole life he had always known when someone was lying to him. He thought it was because he was such a damn good detective, but since he moved to Magic he knew it was more than that. He had never known his birth parents, but he suspected they would have fit in with the other residents of Magic.
This town was the craziest place on the planet, but for the first time in his life he felt like he was where he was meant to be; Streakers, ghosts, witches, fairies, trolls, shape-shifters, and all. Magic, New Mexico had everything and more.
“I’ll take him,” Theo said gruffly. “When he turns back, I’ll take him to his vehicle and make sure he leaves town.”
Lacey raised her head, her fingers brushing in a gentle, soothing rhythm through the brilliant white hair of the rabbit nestled against her chest. For a moment, her fingers stilled as a wave of loss and loneliness washed through her as she remembered the vivid, icy blue eyes of the man. With a long sigh, she carefully handed the sleeping form over to Theo, who had straightened and held out his arms.
“Thank you, Theo,” Lacey whispered. “I couldn’t understand him, so he isn’t from around here.”
“Don’t fret about it, Lacey,” Theo said as he held the fluffy white creature away from his uniform. “There are some gestures that are universally understood and a badge and the tone behind ‘Get out’ is one of them.”
A hint of a smile danced around the corner of Lacey’s mouth at the exasperation in Theo’s tone. She could sense the questions burning a hole through him. Some questions were better not asked. She didn’t know why, but she knew deep down that she needed to put as much distance as possible between herself and the blue-eyed stranger. Hopefully, Theo would be able to convince the man that everything that had happened had just been a delusion.
“Oh, I didn’t wipe his memory,” Lacey added as she opened the door to the office.
“Don’t worry about it,” Theo commented as he dropped the sleeping form on the bed in one of the cells. “I’ll convince him that it was the result of too much liquor.”
“Thanks again, Theo,” Lacey called out as she stepped outside and into the mid-morning sun.
“No problem, Lacey,” Theo muttered as he locked the cell door with a shake of his head. “It isn’t like this is the first time this has happened.”
He glanced up and watched as Lacey climbed into the dark blue Jeep Wrangler parked out front. He ran his hand over the back of his neck.
Something was going on. That little itch at the back of his neck always started when something big was about to happen. He wondered what in the hell it was going to be this time. He hoped it wasn’t any more ghosts. Those were one thing he was more than happy to do without.
“Hell, I’d rather fight with a pile of aliens, than with one vengeful apparition,” he muttered turning away from the window. “Thank God that isn’t likely to happen in my lifetime.”
Chapter 6
Frost rolled onto his back and blinked several times up at the sterile white ceiling as he tried to clear the fog in his brain. Lifting his right hand up, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his fingers. A sound to his right had him stiffening. He warily turned his head. The rounded figure of a woman with vivid purple hair and matching eyes stared back at him with a huge grin. He was so focused on the bizarre image it took a moment for the metal bars to sink in.
Rolling, he sat up on the edge of the bed. A low moan escaped him as his pounding head protested the move. He felt like he had drunk one tanker too many of potent Trayvan liquor. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees until the spinning stopped.
“You must have really made Lacey mad for her to spell you for so long,” the woman stated as she came up to peer at him through the bars. “You’re a good looker, too.”
Frost slowly raised his head and stared back at the woman. He would have shaken his head if he hadn’t been afraid he would pass out again. He opened his mouth several times before he was finally able to push out the words caught in his throat.
“Where am I and how can I understand you?” Frost asked in a rough, husky voice. “And who are you?”
“You’re in Magic, New Mexico,” Topper replied with a mischievous grin. “Well, technically you are in jail in Magic, New Mexico. You can understand me because I used a translation spell on you. That is why your head might hurt a little bit. It is the most incredible spell, but the side effect is a pounding headache as your brain works to decipher everything. It’ll pass in a few hours. You might feel like you need to…”
The words died on Topper’s lips as the man sitting on the bed suddenly paled. With a snap of her fingers, a metal pail appeared just in time to catch the contents of his stomach. She grimaced after he was finally reduced to dry-heaves. With another snap, the pail disappeared.
“Who are you?” The male demanded in a hoarse voice.
“Mm,” Topper hummed, rubbing her purple hair. “Oh, I’m Topper, Lacey’s aunt. Lacey is the one you are here for. At least, I hope you are. Sean seems pretty confident that the spell is what brought you here.”
Frost rose from the bed on shaky, but determined, legs. He stumbled forward and gripped the bars as the older woman named Topper stepped back as she realized that he towered menacingly over her. He wrapped his fingers around the bars until they were as white as his face was a few moments before.
“Where is the other female?” Frost demanded in a raw, dry voice. “She shrunk Taar and turned me into something furry. What else can she do?”
“Oh, you are a big one too!” Topper exclaimed as she eyed him with de
light. “Most women like tall men. Though, Sean wasn’t very tall and Lacey loved him. I don’t think Lacey will mind, though. She sees the beauty inside of a person.”
Frost shook his head, ignoring the pounding in his temples. Nothing the woman was saying made any sense even if he could understand the words coming out of her mouth. He growled in frustration. Where was the other female? More importantly, where was Taar?
“Answer me!” He demanded. “And who is this Sean you keep talking about?”
“I… oh, dear,” Topper muttered crossly as she turned her head when a set of headlights lit up the semi-dark room. “Theo is back. I’ve got to go. Ta-ta for now.”
Frost reached through the bars to grab the front of the woman’s brightly colored tunic, but she faded before his eyes and he was left grabbing at empty air. With a loud curse, he banged his fist against the metal bars as the door leading into the room opened. His lips pulled back in another curse as he found himself staring in shock at another large male… one that not only carried a badge on his chest, but the telltale mark of a Glacian in his icy blue eyes.
*.*.*
Lacey pulled into the rounded driveway in front of her modest home and groaned. Both of her sisters were standing on the front porch, their hands on their hips. She grimaced as she saw Samantha’s tight, worried face and Joanna’s anxious one. Both expressions seemed to have become a permanent fixture on their faces since Sean’s death.
“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t died, you know,” Lacey muttered under her breath.
The faintest hint of a cool breeze and the light movement of her hair was the only sign that let her know that Sean was with her. She had been having a one-sided argument with him all the way to Theo’s and half the way back as she tried to explain WHY she had taken the other male to Theo and dropped him off.
“It’s not happening!” She whispered in a furious voice as she opened the door to her Jeep. “I don’t care that you think I should move on. I’m happy the way I am.”
“Lacey!” Joanna cried out as she ran down the steps. “What happened?”
“What is it? The horses and mule warned us that something bad happened. Poor Ginger is beside herself and your house is a mess,” Samantha added anxiously. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m alright. I sent the horses and mule to the pasture. They were scared to death and now I know why. At least I think I do,” Lacey said, reaching over and grabbing the container off the passenger seat. She turned and held it up with a sigh. “Houston, I think we might have a little problem.”
Both women gaped at the tiny creature that was snarling and scraping at the sides. They nodded and stepped aside as Lacey slammed the door to the Jeep before following her as she walked up the steps to her house. The only thing she had time to fix before she took the other male to Theo was the front door.
With a wave of her hand, it flew open. As she stepped inside, a flash of golden fur rushed past her, Sam and Joanna. Little Bit had escaped from the barn again.
Lacey walked over and set the container down on the small side table next to Alfred, who was suddenly twice the size of the creature who had eaten him earlier. With a tired sigh, she turned and collapsed on the couch, folding her arms across her stomach as she let her eyes roam over her destroyed living room. She was too tired to fix the mess right now. Sam must have felt her fatigue because she whispered to Joanna and within minutes, her house was back to its usual pristine shape.
Lacey turned her gaze to stare at the creature as it paced back and forth in the container. The negative energy it was putting out was enough to power the farm as far as she was concerned. There was no way she was letting it out. She felt like a fool for thinking the twins had created something like this. Hell, Larry was a sweetheart of a lizard. He would never have tried to kill her, even if he was the size of a small car.
“So, what is that?” Sam asked with a look of distaste. “It looks… pretty gross.”
“Lacey, I hate to tell you this, but it is really putting off some bad karma,” Joanna said with a wince as the creature ran his sharp, but tiny claws, against the thick plastic. “I also think a double insulated bowl would be safer.”
With a slight wiggle of her nose, Joanna added the layer. Lacey glanced at her younger sister and smiled her thanks. Joanna was the quiet, more cautious sister out of the three of them. Turning her attention back to Sam, she struggled for a few seconds on how to phrase what she was thinking without her sisters thinking she was crazy. She opened her mouth, but a brilliant flash had her snapping it shut as Topper suddenly appeared next to the doorway to the kitchen.
“Well, I have to say that my premonition was right on target again,” Topper announced with a happy clap of her hands. “Where is the little bugger?”
“I think you mean alien,” Lacey suggested drily. “And, how did you know he was little now?”
“I thought you were in Bermuda,” Sam muttered before turning to stare at Lacey in disbelief. “You mean like in out-of-this world alien? Or that it just looks like an alien?”
“I was,” Topper replied, ignoring Lacey’s suspicious look as she picked up the small container and shaking it. “Nasty little piece, isn’t he?”
“She was,” Joanna said at the same time as Topper. “And I think Lacey meant the out-of-this-world kind.”
Lacey leaned her head back against the couch cushion. Her eyebrow rose as Topper snapped her fingers. A huge magnifying glass with a long oak handle suddenly appeared. She turned her gaze to Sam and Joanna, who came to stand closer so they could see the details of the creature Lacey had captured.
“Translate universal,” Topper muttered with a tap on the lid.
The creature inside roared in outrage as he fell to his knees, grabbing his head as the spell took hold. She almost wished she hadn’t put the three holes in the top of the lid for ventilation. Perhaps it would have been better to just suffocate the thing. The problem was she didn’t have it in her to kill another living being.
“I am going to kill each of you,” the creature threatened as he struggled to his feet. “I’ll drain your blood and snap your bones as I pull the flesh from them.”
“Wow, someone has delusions of grandeur,” Joanna whispered.
“Especially considering we could make fish food out of him,” Sam replied, peering through the container. “So, what are you?”
“I am Taar, female,” the male replied. “My name will be the one on your lips as I pull you apart.”
Sam’s lips twitched at the threat. It might have been a little more intimidating if the creature wasn’t slightly larger than a stick of gum. She glanced at Lacey, who laid her head back again with a roll of her eyes.
“How long will the spell last?” Sam asked.
“Until I release him,” Lacey murmured, closing her eyes. “There was another one as well.”
“Another…. Where is he?” Joanna asked, nervously looking around.
“Oh, not like him, Joanna dear. Just another alien. That one is a law man like Theo,” Topper replied, setting the container back down on the table and fanned herself. “He’s a looker! Sean sent him to Lacey.”
Lacey’s eyes popped open and she glared at her aunt. Fury burned in the soft brown depths. She was so not going there. She was done with love. It hurt far too much.
“No, he did not. Sean is gone! There is no way he could have sent him,” Lacey retorted hotly, pushing up off the couch. “Besides, how do you know that the other alien didn’t look like him? And just to clarify, he wasn’t all that good looking. He was… he was too tall and… big!”
“Lacey,” Sam started to say, pausing as tears began to glitter in her younger sister’s eyes.
“NO!” Lacey interrupted impatiently, wiping at her eyes. “I just want everyone to leave me in peace. I don’t need anyone else. I have the animals here at the shelter and that is all I need. I don’t want another man in my life. I don’t need another man; h
uman, alien, or anything else.”
*.*.*
Lacey turned sharply on her heel and headed for the kitchen. She needed a cup of hot tea, a slice of toast and peace and quiet. The last thing she needed was her matchmaking aunt and the spirit of her husband working together. Sean and Topper had always been close, but this was ridiculous.
Grabbing the kettle off the stove top, she walked over to the sink and turned the water on to fill it. She gazed out the large window over the sink. The rugged landscape was dotted with a scattering of Juniper trees and Sage brush. The red-striped hills in the distance disguised the maze of canyons that had been cut through the soil from the torrent of rivers that developed during the rainy season. It was hard to believe from the dry air that the desert environment could come alive with brilliant wildflowers with just a touch of rain.
Glancing down to check the level in the silver kettle, she dropped it into the sink as the sunlight flickered through the window and onto her left arm. Curving patterns in a shimmer of pale blues and silver danced along her skin. Her hand trembled as she reached over to trace it. More patterns glittered as the sun caught the back of her right hand.
Lacey raised both hands so that the sun could touch them. She ignored the water as it overflowed the top of the kettle. Her eyes were enthralled by the dancing shapes moving over her skin.
“What is it?” Sam asked from behind her. “Are you okay?”
“Do you see them?” Lacey breathed, turning her hands and watching as more patterns swirled and turned. “What is it?”
“See what?” Sam asked in concern. She walked over and turned the water off. A puzzled frown crossed her face as she stared at the back of Lacey’s hands. “What do you see, Lacey?”
“Can’t you see them, Sam? The patterns… there are strange markings on my hands and arms. They… it is almost like they are alive,” Lacey whispered, turning her hands and watching as a design, almost like a snowflake, appeared in the palm of her hand. “They are beautiful.”