He spoke so calmly of spells and gateways between worlds, as if he was merely talking about the commonplace activities they’d used to fill their afternoon. Hayley’s fingers closed on the armrest built into the passenger-side door, feeling a little reassured by the sturdy plastic beneath her hand. At least it felt real, whereas it seemed as if the rest of the world had been tilted on its axis. She’d just seen Levi destroy a pair of demons. Demons. All right, buried in some of their clan’s teachings were rumors of other worlds, of the beings that inhabited them, but she’d never really believed in any of that. Even after hearing about what the Escobars had done in Phoenix, of the beings they’d supposedly summoned to do their dirty work, she still hadn’t quite believed. Not like this, not in her gut.
She had to believe now, because she’d seen those demons with her own eyes.
“But you’re — you’re not a demon, are you?” Goddess, it felt crazy to even ask the question. And yet she knew he couldn’t be human, even though he looked like a man.
“No. I still don’t know exactly what I am. A being of one of those other planes, someone whose consciousness was shaped in another world. When I was brought here, I didn’t look the way I do now. I was a monster.”
He spoke calmly, as if he was talking about someone other than himself. Hayley found it hard not to stare at him, to analyze every feature, every limb, as though attempting to discover something that might give a hint of those monstrous origins. She saw nothing, though, except an extremely handsome man.
“What happened?”
“I changed. The process took a few days. I would say the damage had been done, but even if I’d appeared to Zoe as I am now, she still wouldn’t have taken me as her consort. She would have kissed me, and known her summoning had been to no avail.”
“Did that upset you?”
Voice still calm, he said, “Some. After all, I’d been brought here to be her consort, and without that, I had no purpose. But fate decreed that Evan should be her soul mate, and I’m not one to argue with the universe. Besides, I’ve enjoyed the life I’ve made for myself in Jerome. The McAllisters know what I am, and yet they’ve still accepted me, taken me in. They allowed me to become part of their world.” His expression was almost too neutral as he spoke, as if he didn’t quite want to reveal how important that acceptance had been to him.
A quiet life in a sheltered place, as far as she’d been able to tell. And yet he’d known exactly what to do to fight those demons.
“The demons….” she began, then stopped, mostly because she didn’t know which question to ask first.
“It’s troubling,” he said. “We’ll need to go talk to Angela and Connor. Do you think you can do that?”
“Of course,” Hayley replied. Yes, she was feeling rattled, but not so much that she couldn’t go with Levi to the prima and primus and do her best to give an accurate recounting of what had just occurred. She wasn’t a child, after all.
“Good. Because I want to hear what they have to say about how those demons were able to locate you. I can’t quite figure it out. Sedona is neutral territory, unwarded, but even so, I’m surprised at how quickly they pounced. They seemed to know exactly where to go.”
That was for sure. And it wasn’t even as though they’d been lurking in the woods in demon form, waiting for their prey to arrive. No, they’d managed to make themselves look like normal people. How did that even work? Were there demons everywhere, wearing the faces of regular humans? The thought made Hayley’s stomach clench, and she did her best to push it away. If she allowed herself to dwell on that notion, then she’d end up jumping at every shadow.
“If this was a spy movie, I’d say they’d bugged my phone or something so they could listen in to everything I was saying.” Hayley made herself shrug, although she was feeling anything but nonchalant at the moment. “But we’re not talking about spies, are we?”
“No.” Levi’s fingers tapped on the steering wheel as he turned right on Mingus Mountain Road, cutting away from the highway and down to the heart of Cottonwood. “Also, the trip to Sedona was a spur-of-the-moment decision. It certainly wasn’t anything we had planned.”
That was for sure. It wasn’t even as if they’d discussed going to Red Rock Crossing when they were still out wandering around the shops in Old Town, someplace where they conceivably could have been overheard. No, that discussion had taken place right here, in the cab of Levi’s truck. The flesh on the back of Hayley’s neck crawled. Did that mean these demons could hear everything she said, no matter where she might be?
To distract herself, she asked, “Does Brandon know?”
Levi gave her a quick puzzled look. “Does Brandon know what?”
“Does he know about you? That you’re not really a McAllister?”
“No. At least, I haven’t told him, and I don’t think anyone else had any reason to mention it to him.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t quite sure whether she should be angry with Levi — and, by extension — the Jerome McAllisters — or relieved that at least in this case, her preoccupied brother hadn’t let an extremely important piece of information slide right by.
“That bothers you?”
“I’m not sure.” She reached up and adjusted the sun visor; even though it had looked like it was about to set for at least the last fifteen minutes, the sun was doing a damn good job of continuing to blast right into her eyes. Sunglasses only went so far. “It just seems like it’s something you might have wanted to tell him, since you’re neighbors and everything.”
“We live next door to one another, but we don’t have much of an opportunity to speak to each other. Your brother isn’t home much. I truly didn’t think that my origins were an issue. And I didn’t stop to think that you — ” Levi stopped there, obviously pretending to be occupied with turning right onto Main Street instead of finishing the thought.
Maybe she should have left it alone, but Hayley had never been particularly good at that sort of thing. Besides, despite everything that had happened, everything she’d just learned about him, she couldn’t deny that she still felt some sort of draw toward Levi. And that was probably even crazier than realizing she’d just been in a fight with a couple of demons. “You didn’t stop to think that I what?”
He kept his attention focused forward. The streets were beginning to be more crowded now that they were approaching Old Town Cottonwood, but she didn’t think that was the real reason. “I suppose I didn’t stop to think that the sister Brandon had coming to stay with him might be someone I was interested in, and that the truth would have to come out.”
There — he’d said it. She hadn’t wanted to read too much into things, because all day he could have just been acting polite, helping out by showing the newcomer around, and yet she’d still thought — had hoped — that maybe he was attracted to her in the same way she was attracted to him.
Her heart was beating away like crazy, but she did her best to sound neutral as she asked, “You’re interested in me?”
This time he did turn his head slightly. Those clear, sky-colored eyes met hers. “I thought it was obvious.”
“Well….” Since she wasn’t quite sure how to respond without sounding conceited, she settled for lifting her shoulders and giving a nervous chuckle. “To be honest, I don’t know what to think. I mean, you just told me you’re a being from another dimension. But you’re interested in a human woman?”
“Of course I am.” He shifted slightly in his seat, as though suddenly nervous. “That is, wherever I came from, I am human now, too. Scientists and doctors could run all sorts of tests on me and discover nothing out of the ordinary — except that I happen to have identical DNA to a man called William Levy.”
“Who’s William Levy?”
“An actor,” Levi replied. “From Mexico.”
Hayley couldn’t help but shake her head at that response. “You don’t look Hispanic.”
“No. But he is a star in Mexico, in something they call telenov
elas.”
Soap operas. Mexican soap operas. And Zoe Sandoval had seen William Levy in one of them, or come across his image on the internet, and decided he was the perfect template for her ideal man. Well, Hayley couldn’t exactly argue with her choice. Whatever the inspiration, Levi was insanely good-looking.
“Anyway,” he went on, “my spirit might have come from someplace else, but this body is as human as yours is.”
And a gorgeous body it was. Hayley knew she should be focusing on more important things than Levi’s looks, but she couldn’t help being relieved by his words. Physically, he was human. It wasn’t as though he was going to turn into a monster when the sun went down, or something like that.
Even so, she couldn’t exactly ignore how he’d driven off those demons. No ordinary human could have done something like that. So the spirit within, whatever it was that gave a witch or warlock their power, also gave Levi his own extraordinary set of talents.
Since she realized she was staring over at him, she forced herself to look away, out the windshield. By that point, they were past Old Town Cottonwood, approaching the curve that would take them up into Clarkdale and then the lonely, winding highway which led into Jerome. Thinking of that road, of the stretches that didn’t have any houses or even streets branching away from it, she couldn’t help but shiver slightly. What if more demons were lurking up there?
“Do you know where the wards are set?” she asked abruptly. She knew about them because they were part of the reason her parents had thought she would be safe here, that the McAllisters would know if the Escobars tried to make a move.
Levi didn’t show any reaction to this sudden change of subject. Maybe he was relieved they’d moved on from talking about his relative humanity…or relieved that she wasn’t going to question him too closely about his supposed “interest” in her. “The one on this side of town is right at the first switchback, by the abandoned gas station.”
Good. That meant they were almost there. Of course, those wards had been set to let the people in Jerome know whether any enemy witches or warlocks were in the vicinity. Could they do much to drive off demons, or any other ungodly creatures the Escobars might want to send their way?
Levi seemed to understand her unspoken question, because he said, “The wards won’t do a lot. Maybe warn the elders. That’s about it.”
“Can they fight off demons?”
Levi lifted one hand from the wheel and ran it through his hair. Usually he didn’t seem so distracted, which meant her question must have troubled him. “No. That’s not where their skills lie. I don’t think anyone in Jerome has that kind of ability, except maybe Connor and Angela…and me, of course.” He didn’t say it in a boastful way, his tone instead matter-of-fact. And Hayley couldn’t argue with him on that point, because she’d seen what he’d done. “Still,” he continued, “I can’t help but think there’s safety in numbers. Those demons didn’t go after you when you were here in town, or even in Cottonwood. No, they waited until you were in an isolated place, with no one around.”
“No one except you,” she pointed out. “And that turned out to be all the situation needed.”
“You and me, actually,” he said, and this time he almost smiled. “I don’t think I could have destroyed them without your help. Driven them off…maybe.”
Never had she been more glad of the talent she possessed. In the past, she’d only used it for small things, realizing from an early age how destructive it could be, if employed the wrong way. But as soon as her gift made contact with Levi’s raw power, it was like flipping the switch and sending a burst of nitrous oxide to give a sudden energy boost to an engine…to use terminology her brother would approve of. No wonder those demons had been blasted down into dust.
The truck went around the first switchback and began to climb into town, and Hayley couldn’t help letting out a small sigh of relief. Maybe Levi was right, and the wards couldn’t really do anything to hold back demons, but even so, passing the spot where they were located was like passing a psychological barrier. She felt better, even if it didn’t mean much.
A few cars passed them going down the hill, probably the last tourists clearing out as the stores began to close. She checked the clock on the dashboard. Six forty-two. Around time to start thinking about dinner, maybe, and yet she couldn’t recall a time in her life when she’d had less of an appetite.
They drove down Main Street and passed the building where both Levi’s and Brandon’s flats were located, heading farther up the hill. After making a second loop, Levi turned off onto a steep residential street lined with perfectly restored Victorian houses. He parked in front of the biggest of these.
“I probably should have called first,” he said as he turned off the engine. “But there are some things better said in person.”
Hayley nodded. “Once they hear what we have to say, I’m sure they won’t mind, even if we’re interrupting their dinner.”
What the twins might think about that, she wasn’t as sure. She knew that Angela and Connor had two small children, but Hayley wasn’t certain of their ages. Four? Five? Not an age where kids enjoyed having a meal disrupted, but there wasn’t much they could do about it now.
She followed Levi up the front walk, then stood next to him as he rang the doorbell. A long pause, and then the door opened.
Hayley had never seen Connor Wilcox before this, because of course the Wilcoxes were still the enemy with a capital “E” the last time she’d visited Jerome, some eleven years earlier. He was very handsome, his greenish-gray eyes a striking contrast to his sooty hair. Looking at his visitors in some puzzlement, he said, “Levi? What’s up?”
“Something…happened this afternoon,” Levi replied. Although he appeared unruffled enough, a certain tension underlaid his tone. “Hayley and I were hoping we could talk to you and Angela.”
Immediately Connor’s gaze flicked toward Hayley. “Oh, right — you just got here from Payson yesterday, didn’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes. I’m staying with my brother Brandon, in one of the flats above the kaleidoscope store.”
“Well, come in. Luckily, we eat early around here. Angela was just trying to get the twins to watch some TV so we could have a little quiet time.” A quick flash of a rueful grin. “Judging by the expressions on your faces, I have a feeling that’s not going to happen.”
“We’re really sorry to interrupt — ” Levi began, but Connor shook his head.
“It’s okay. Kind of goes with the territory when you’re the head of a clan. Why don’t you two go ahead into the living room, and I’ll go get Angela.”
“Sure,” Levi and Hayley said, almost in unison, and Connor gave them a half-smile as he headed down the hallway toward the back of the house, presumably in search of his wife.
The living room was a large space with leather sofas, a carved juniper coffee table, and what looked like oils from local artists hanging on the walls, since the scenes they depicted appeared to be from around the Verde Valley, or over in Sedona or even Flagstaff. It all looked very clean and neat, and Hayley wondered how Angela managed it with a pair of four-year-olds. Well, the house was fairly large; maybe she adopted the same philosophy as Hayley’s mother, who’d always maintained that it was all right if your own room was a mess, and who didn’t care too much about the TV room, but who would raise holy hell if that mess managed to creep into the living or dining rooms, or whatever else she deemed the “company” areas of a house.
From down the hallway came the sound of high-pitched kids’ voices, and a woman speaking in what sounded like a reply, although Hayley couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. Then what was clearly some kind of cartoon, complete with a soundtrack of bizarre noises and loopy music.
That seemed to be enough to keep the twins occupied, because a moment later, Connor reappeared with Angela. Her expression appeared somewhat frazzled, although she smiled as soon as she saw Levi and Hayley.
“Hi,” she said. “C
onnor made it sound as if it was important.”
The last word ended on a slight rising note, as though she wasn’t entirely certain that the subject of their visit merited this kind of an interruption. Hayley found herself studying the prima’s face without trying to be obvious about it. She’d only seen Angela at a distance, and that had been back when she was a high school girl of sixteen, not the young woman in her late twenties that she was now. The wavy dark hair was the same, and she was still slender and not overly tall, but now she was beautiful where she’d only been pretty before, as though the years had sculpted away all the adolescent awkwardness and left the beauty the Goddess intended behind.
“It is important,” Levi said. “Hayley and I went to Sedona earlier this afternoon, to Red Rock Crossing. A pair of demons attacked us there.”
“What?” Angela appeared genuinely shocked, one hand going to her throat even as she glanced over at her husband, who seemed to have gone completely still, his eyes fixed on Levi’s face. “Demons?”
“Two of them. They looked like regular people at first, a man and a woman, but…they weren’t.”
“Levi destroyed them before they could do anything to us, though,” Hayley said. “It was kind of spectacular.”
“Because of Hayley’s help,” he put in quickly. “Her power strengthened mine, and yes, because of that, I was able to reduce them to dust. Still, it was an encounter I would have preferred to have avoided.”
“I can imagine,” Connor said, his tone dry. “How did they even find you?”
“Well, that’s why Hayley and I wanted to talk to you. We hoped you might be able to offer some insights.”
Angela looked pale, but she seemed to recover herself, saying, “Please, sit down. Maybe I should get you some water, or — ”
What Hayley really wanted at that point was a drink, but she thought it would be rude to ask. Besides, maybe after she and Levi had had this talk with the prima and primus, they could go get some more wine, find a quiet corner in a bar or restaurant so they could talk.
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