Possibly sensing her hesitation, Levi continued, “We’ve already held them back once tonight. We’ll do it again, if we must. However, I’m hoping that they were damaged enough by the tornado that they don’t have the strength to continue their pursuit.”
“Would it hurt them?” Brandon asked. He was hunched slightly over the steering wheel, fingers still wrapped around it in a death grip. His eyes never left the road. “I mean, they’re demons.”
“Yes, but they still have corporeal bodies. They’re not made of mist and smoke. They can be hurt, they can be killed.” Very gently, Levi untangled his fingers from Hayley’s. They’d already gone about ten miles; maybe he thought that was far enough. “This is not their world. They are very strong, but even if they’re only wounded, they’ll have to make their way back to their master, so his magic can revive them.”
When Brandon spoke again, his voice had a hint of accusation in it. “You seem to know a lot about demons.”
In the soft glow of the dashboard lights, Hayley could see Levi’s shoulders lift. “That’s because I also come from outside this world. I can’t say I understand everything about how they work, but — ”
“Wait a second,” Brandon cut in. “What do you mean, you’re from outside this world?”
Levi’s face almost preternaturally calm, as though he’d known this moment was coming and had already prepared for it. “I was summoned here by Zoe Sandoval, the prima-in-waiting of the de la Paz clan. That little venture didn’t go quite as planned, and that’s why I ended up living with the McAllisters.”
For the first time, Brandon shifted in his seat so he could cast an accusatory glance over at his sister in the back. “Did you know about this?”
“Yes,” she replied. No point in trying to cover it up. Actually, she was glad that the truth had come out — she didn’t like lying to Brandon, but at the same time, the story of his origin had been Levi’s secret to tell.
“You might have mentioned it at dinner last night.”
Oh, hell. Hayley sat up as straight as the uncomfortable seat back and her seatbelt would allow, and replied, “I didn’t think it was my place to say anything.”
Her brother went silent for a moment, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. In the passenger seat, Levi wisely remained quiet, as though he knew this was something that needed to be worked out between the two siblings, and for him to interrupt now would only cause more problems.
At last Brandon said, “You look human.”
“I am human.”
“I thought you just said — ”
“I was brought here by magic, true. But this body I inhabit — that’s just as human as yours. A DNA analysis wouldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.”
This reply seemed to stymie Brandon, because he lapsed into another silence. Hayley forced herself to keep quiet as well, because she could tell her brother was trying to work through the problem, trying to figure out if he had grounds for any other protests. A sign for someplace called Centennial flashed past.
“Does everyone else know?”
“Yes,” Levi said. “I’ve lived with the McAllisters for a year and a half now. They were told when I came to live in my apartment, a place that used to be Evan McAllister’s. It seemed only fair.”
“But no one bothered to say anything to me. Why — because they still look on us Payson McAllisters as outsiders?”
Now her brother sounded angry, and Hayley couldn’t help but tense. Brandon didn’t often lose his cool, but when he did — watch out.
“I don’t think that was it at all,” Levi replied. His tone was still calm, but again, he didn’t usually sound anything but unruffled. “More that they thought it was up to me to tell you, and frankly, we didn’t have enough interactions that it seemed necessary for me to take you into my confidence.”
“Yeah, well, once you started playing kissy-face with my sister, it might have been time to tell me the truth.”
“Brandon!” Hayley burst out, so loudly that beside her, Lucinda stirred for a second or two before once again lapsing into her spell-inflicted sleep.
“No, he’s right,” Levi said. “I should have been honest. I’ve done my best to study your behavior and interactions during the time I’ve been here, but every once in a while, some nuance of human behavior gets past me.”
“I thought you said you were human,” Brandon said accusingly, still with that edge to his voice.
“Physically, I am. But human psychology is very complex, and I’ve only been here for eighteen months, after all.”
Hayley felt compelled to speak up. “I really don’t think this is something we need to be worrying about right now. Or did you forget that we might have demons chasing us?”
“I didn’t forget,” her brother replied. “But I haven’t seen a trace of them. Have you?”
This last question was directed at Levi, the ironic inflection seeming to indicate that he didn’t think much of Levi’s demon-detecting abilities. While Hayley would have liked to defend him, she had to admit he didn’t appear to be very good at noticing that they were about to be attacked by demons. Both at Red Rock Crossing and at the gas station in Quartzsite, he’d only been able to react once the otherworldly creatures were almost upon him. Still better than nothing, because at least he seemed more than capable of driving them off, if not destroying them utterly, but it would have been even better if he somehow had the talent to be aware that they were approaching.
“Since they haven’t attacked, I’d have to say that they seem to have been defeated for now.” Levi turned his head so he could stare out at the dark landscape flashing by. Far up ahead was a pale orange-ish glow, one that seemed to indicate they were approaching the western edge of Phoenix’s sprawling suburbs. Seeing it, Hayley couldn’t help but be a little relieved. Yes, the demons had attacked at a lighted gas station, but wouldn’t they have to be a little more careful once they were someplace where they would be surrounded by people, even in the middle of the night?
She didn’t know. There was so much she didn’t know.
Problem was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out, either.
Brandon didn’t seem inclined to continue the conversation, but kept his gaze fixed on the road as the hour grew later and the miles they’d traveled increased. They drove through Buckeye and Goodyear, hung at left at the 101 Loop so they wouldn’t have to go all the way into downtown Phoenix. More suburbs — Peoria and Glendale and Arrowhead Ranch. Then at last they were northbound on I-17, and Hayley felt herself relax slightly. Not because they still didn’t have a lot of open country to drive through, but at least she recognized the freeway now.
It was around two-thirty when Brandon got off the interstate in Camp Verde. This was completely familiar territory; if they’d turned right, they would have been heading east, toward Payson and the ponderosa forests that surrounded her home. But instead the Camaro made a left, going west toward Cottonwood and then Jerome. By that point, Hayley’s eyelids felt as if they were made of lead, but she did what she could to keep them open. She’d gotten a few hours of sleep earlier, and that should be enough to tide her over until she could crawl into a real bed.
When they made the first turn on the road leading up to Jerome, she let out a breath. Yes, she knew the wards wouldn’t really do anything to hold back demons. But they hadn’t attacked so far, and surely that meant they must have given up, that the tornado Levi had summoned to fight them had wounded them badly, or maybe killed them outright. Anyway, even if the demons had been waiting until this moment to attack, they would have badly miscalculated, because at least here would be dozens of McAllister witches and warlocks to join in the fight.
However, that didn’t happen. They crawled along through Jerome’s dark streets, Brandon not driving much more than the posted twenty-five miles an hour because the road was so narrow and twisty. After they went around the curve that would have led off into Jerome’s state park, Levi pulled out his phone and typed out a
quick message, although Hayley couldn’t see what it was.
“Who’re you texting?” she asked.
“Rachel. She knew we would be coming in late, but I told her to sleep, that I’d contact her when we were five minutes away.”
Right. Levi had said that Angela’s aunt would take Lucinda in. That little detail had completely slipped Hayley’s mind, thanks to her worrying about the demons. She glanced over at the sleeping witch, who still seemed to be pretty much out of it. “Are you going to wake her up?”
“When we get there,” Levi replied. “I don’t know how much of a fight she’s going to put up, so I thought it better to let her sleep until the very last minute.”
Considering the way Lucinda had struggled and squirmed and claimed that “her boyfriend” was going to get them, Hayley couldn’t argue with that strategy. She hoped that Levi would be proved right, and that the hours of sleep might have helped to start detoxing her a little from Matías’ influence. Still, better safe than sorry.
Rachel’s apartment occupied the two stories above her store, which was only one shop down from the building where both Levi’s and Brandon’s flats were located. However, instead of going around back to park, Brandon pulled up directly in front of Rachel’s store. At this time of night, they didn’t have to worry about competing with tourists for parking spaces.
And there was Rachel, hurrying out the front door, wavy reddish hair falling over her shoulders, a floral shawl pulled over the nightgown she wore. Behind her was a large, burly bear of a man. Her husband? Hayley thought that must be who he was, even though neither Levi nor Brandon had mentioned him. His size reassured her; if Lucinda really flipped out, it could only help to have someone who looked like the warlock equivalent of a linebacker around to help wrestle her upstairs.
Hayley undid her seatbelt and waited for Levi to get out so she could extricate herself from the back seat. It might have been fine for short hops, but spending nearly fifteen hours bent like a pretzel in the back of a Camaro had done some nasty things to her spine.
Rachel gave her a smile, clearly recognizing her even though they hadn’t really met before now. “And Lucinda’s still back there?”
“Yes,” Levi said. “I’ll get her out.”
He went around to the driver’s side of the car, opened the door, and pushed the front seat as far forward as he could. Then he bent and slid his arms under Lucinda’s still-limp form, and carefully pulled her out. Her long dark hair spilled like black silk over him as he carried her over to the sidewalk.
“I can carry her upstairs,” said the big warlock, the one who must have been Rachel’s husband. “Maybe it’s better not to wake her until we get her in bed.”
“An even better idea,” Levi replied. “I’ll go up with you, and release the spell once she’s settled.” He seemed to hesitate then, while his eyes sought Hayley’s. “Thank you for your help, Hayley,” he said quietly. “We can talk in the morning.”
That was it? She wanted to protest, then realized that it probably wouldn’t be a very good idea for all of them to squeeze into the room where Lucinda would be staying. That would definitely be enough to make her freak out. “All right,” she said, all too aware of Rachel’s curious gaze, as though she guessed something was going on, even if she didn’t have all the details. It killed her to have to walk away without getting even a good night kiss on the cheek, but this wasn’t the time to act entitled and needy. “I’ll text you when I get up.” She transferred her attention to her brother. “Come on, Brandon — it’s past the witching hour. Time to go to bed.”
“I have to move the car first.”
Right. Well, there was no need for her to go with him; all she had to do was walk next door and let herself in the front entrance of their building. “Okay. Then I’ll see you upstairs.”
Hayley gave a half-hearted wave at the assembly, saw Levi hand Lucinda over to Rachel’s husband. Then she went on down to her building and slipped in the front door, and began to resolutely walk up the two flights of stairs to the flat. Goddess, what a long day.
And she had no idea what the next one would bring.
11
Even at nearly three-thirty in the morning, the room was a cheerful space, its walls painted a warm turquoise color, a coverlet in shades of turquoise and terra-cotta and cream on the bed. Levi watched as Tobias took Lucinda over to that bed and laid her down carefully, pulling the sheets and blankets over her. Since she still only wore a T-shirt and panties, it wasn’t as though they needed to worry about getting her dressed for sleep.
Ah, sleep. Levi was tempted to allow the spell to remain in effect until the morning, but the Santiago witch had already been under for more than seven hours. It wouldn’t be good to have that unnatural sleep completely destroy her body’s regular rhythms, although he feared a restless night lay ahead for Rachel and Tobias. But they’d offered to take Lucinda, even knowing that it would require some time for her to come back to herself.
“I’m going to lift the spell now,” Levi said. “She may become violent — she was when we took her. I’m hoping she’s past that now, though.”
“It’s all right,” Tobias replied. He’d stayed near the bed, as though he knew that having to restrain the young woman was a distinct possibility.
Levi reached out to touch Lucinda’s mind, to carefully remove the heavy darkness he’d draped over her consciousness. He’d called it a spell, because that was easy shorthand, but in truth her forced sleep had been due only to the pressure of his will on hers. Time to take away that pressure, to let her swim back up into the light.
For a few seconds, she didn’t move. Then her eyelids fluttered open, and she blinked at her unfamiliar surroundings, her eyes wide and dark and frightened.
“What — ?” The word came out in a harsh rasp, and she swallowed. “Where am I? What am I doing here?”
Rachel stepped forward. She did present a slightly more reassuring image than Tobias did. “I’m Rachel McAllister. This is my husband Tobias, and this is Levi.”
As Rachel gestured toward Levi, Lucinda’s eyes narrowed. “You — you were the one who took me!”
“Yes,” he said quietly. “The Escobars were holding you hostage. You don’t remember?”
“I — ” The angry glint left Lucinda’s dark eyes, which were really quite extraordinary, large and ringed with heavy black lashes to match her hair. “I don’t know. I was with Matías…wasn’t I?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Levi replied, but he stopped himself there. The poor woman would learn the truth soon enough, once the fog of the dark warlock’s influence had left her mind. Better to leave things vague for now, so she could come to realization in her own time.
“You’re safe now,” Rachel said quickly, as if she wanted to make sure to insert herself in the conversation before Levi could mention anything that might agitate their guest. “It’s probably best if you sleep some more.”
“Sleep,” Lucinda repeated, and then gave a weak nod. “I do feel very tired.”
“Well, it’s late,” Rachel said, her tone brisk. “So go to sleep, Lucinda, and then I’ll make us all breakfast in the morning.”
“Best breakfast in the Verde Valley,” Tobias put in, and Lucinda managed a wan smile.
“That sounds good.” Her eyes shut, and a certain tension seemed to go out of her body. Levi had worried that she wouldn’t be inclined to sleep any longer, but it seemed she still craved real slumber, the kind that would help restore her to herself.
Rachel nodded, apparently satisfied that her new charge would sleep for a while now. A tilt of her head toward the door seemed to indicate that she thought they should all leave Lucinda alone. Levi didn’t argue, but only went out into the hallway, and waited there as Tobias and Rachel also emerged, Rachel pulling the door nearly closed, but not quite.
“Thank you for taking her in,” Levi said, making sure that he kept his voice pitched low. Yes, it seemed as though it would take more than a murmured co
nversation to keep Lucinda awake, but he thought he might as well be careful.
“We’re happy to,” Rachel replied. She glanced over at her husband. “Tobias, I’ll see Levi out. You might as well get back to bed.”
These words were offered as a suggestion, but the firmness of her tone seemed to indicate that she wouldn’t brook any arguments. Tobias shrugged. “’Night, Levi.”
“Good night,” he replied, then watched as Tobias headed down the hallway to what must have been the bedroom he shared with Rachel.
She tilted her head toward the staircase, and the two of them went down to the next level of the apartment, where the kitchen, living room, and dining room were located. Clearly, Rachel McAllister was not the sort to subscribe to a minimalist style in decorating, because it seemed as if every square inch of surface area was covered in crystals of various shapes, sizes and colors, or plants in brightly colored ceramic pots, or figurines of a bewildering variety of gods and goddesses. Levi had been here before, of course, but every time he entered her apartment, he wondered how she could function in all this clutter.
At the head of the stairs that led down to the ground floor and to Rachel’s shop, she paused and tilted an eyebrow at him. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on with you and Hayley?”
Levi stared down at her, wishing that she wasn’t quite so adept at picking up on subtle cues, subtexts he thought must be hidden. Ever since he’d come to Jerome, Rachel McAllister had taken it on herself to guide him along in this new life, and he would be always grateful for her assistance. Now, though, he had to think it might have been easier if she didn’t feel entitled to explanations about his personal life, like a sort of honorary aunt.
“There isn’t much to tell,” he said. “We’ve become friendly.”
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