by Dana Davis
Bridgette raised her brows. Scarlet didn’t apologize very often. When she did, she meant it.
Her cousin knew that and offered a tiny smile to the medium. “It’s okay, Scarlet. I don’t blame you. I’m pretty much inscrutable right now, even to myself.”
And to me some of the time too, damnit. But Bridgette didn’t voice that thought. Why couldn’t Daisy have become a telepathic witch like me, instead of a medium?
Daisy, oblivious to Bridgette’s thoughts, rubbed at her nose. “Let’s finish this maze. I don’t know if I’ll get anything here but I don’t want to leave any stone unturned.” She held up the petroglyph rock and smiled, followed by a flinch. “Sorry. Bad joke. It sounded funnier in my head.”
They rounded curves, hit dead-ends, backtracked and continued on. Every once in a while, the corn was so dead Bridgette could see through the entire maze. One time, she even caught a glimpse of the metal entrance building as it shimmered in the sunlight. No wonder its half-price now.
As she rounded the next curve, a step behind Daisy and Scarlet, she saw another dead-end. The corn ahead of them rustled. Bridgette thought it was a wind gust, until the crystal amulet around her neck grew warm. Before she could say anything, something dark slammed into her thoughts. The air left her lungs from the intensity and she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t warn Daisy or Scarlet. Couldn’t cast a spell. She staggered with the weight in her mind, unable to think.
He rushed out of the corn, an ax in his hands, and headed straight for her like something from a horror movie.
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* * * *
Chapter 24
Closer
Bridgette couldn’t move with the crushing weight in her mind and she watched in frozen fear as the man with the ax advanced on her. She recognized him as the guy from the entrance but the look in his eyes made her shiver, despite the fact that her amulet grew hotter against her chest.
Nothing human about that look.
He shoved Daisy, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. Her eyes were open but she looked stunned, like she’d hit her head on something. Scarlet pulled a pink spray tube from her purse and started to aim it at the man, but he swatted her away like a gnat and she fell into the corn.
The dark mass in Bridgette’s head threatened to make her pass out. She hadn’t felt this inefficient since the incident with Liam all those years ago. With effort that left her sweaty and trembling, she pushed through the dark mass in her head and began plugging her mental wall.
The man raised the ax above his head like some madman in a horror movie, intent on splitting her head in two, sending renewed terror through her.
Finally, the last thread in her mental wall closed, shutting out the heavy thoughts. Through panting breaths, she managed to utter a trussing spell mere seconds before the ax met her flesh. The man, frozen and no longer able to keep his balance, toppled. Right in Daisy’s direction.
“Daisy!” Bridgette screamed. Her cousin got her wits and scrambled out of the way. The man landed on her leg, though, trapping her on the ground. “Fuck.” Bridgette staggered to her cousin’s side. “Daisy? Daisy, you okay?”
“Yeah. You?”
“I’m good.”
“Then get him off me.”
Bridgette pried the ax from the trussed man and rolled him onto his back. Not an easy task, given his stocky build and the trembling in her limbs. She helped her cousin to her feet. “You sure you’re okay? Looked like you hit your head.”
Daisy rubbed at the back of her head. “Now I know where that ‘seeing stars’ saying comes from but don’t think there’s any permanent damage. You can do a healing in a minute if you want.” She began brushing dirt and debris from her clothes. “Are you sure you’re okay, Bridge? I saw him come for you with that ax.”
So did I. “He didn’t get me.” He came fucking close, though. “He pushed Scarlet.”
She turned to go check on Scarlet, when the medium trekked out of the corn, cursing in Spanish and holding the pink vial in her left hand. She lowered her arm when she saw the man on the ground.
“Planning to perfume the idiot?”
“What?” Scarlet glanced at the spray tube. “No. Pepper spray.”
Daisy closed the gap. “You’re not left-handed, Scarlet. Are you hurt?”
Scarlet glared at the trussed man. “Fucker nearly broke my wrist.”
“You sure it’s not broken?” Bridgette said.
Scarlet shoved the pepper spray into her jeans’ pocket, flexed the fingers on her right hand, balling them into a fist, then slowly rotated her wrist back and forth. “Don’t think so.”
The man on the ground looked up at Bridgette with terror in his eyes now. She didn’t feel that heavy presence any longer, just the rapid thoughts of a frightened and confused man. “Uh, Scarlet? I think it’s gone.”
Scarlet caught her gaze and took a step closer to the prone man. “Yeah, you’re right.” “I don’t see it anywhere, either.”
Daisy’s thoughts found Bridgette immediately. Well, that’s just great. It got away. Again, damnit. Now we have a terrified mortal with a trussing spell on him. How the hell are we going to explain this? Does he even remember coming out here?
“No, he doesn’t,” Bridgette said.
“Great.” Daisy pointed to her hands. “Oh, and you might want to lose that.”
She glanced down at the ax. “We need to figure out what to do about him first.” She took several steps away from the prone man. Daisy and Scarlet followed her. “We can’t keep trussing him forever.”
“Can you two erase his memory?” Scarlet said as she dusted off her jeans. She seemed nonplussed about Bridgette’s telepathic abilities and the secret one-way conversation with Daisy. Her long-sleeved, tan blouse was covered in dirt smears and she tried in vain to brush them away.
Bridgette sniffed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Hey, I don’t know everything about your – you know. Especially you, Bridgette.”
Daisy shook her head. “She can’t do anything like that. And neither can I. It doesn’t work that way.”
Bridgette thought of something else and leaned close to her cousin. “What about a haze spell?” Won’t take his memories but it will leave him susceptible to suggestions. It didn’t always work, though. Sometimes, a mortal mind could recover from a spell like that in a few hours. Other times, the person never got a clear picture of what really happened. Mortals were more susceptible to tampering than paranormals but that was no guarantee the spell would work.
Daisy adjusted her sunglasses. “Worth a shot. I can’t think of anything else, short of telling him the truth about us. And we can’t do that.”
Fucking right about that. He’s a mortal. A paranormal would’ve recognized he was under a spell by now and Bridgette would’ve heard it in the man’s thoughts. Funny how I can hear others when they’re trussed but not when that spell is cast on me. “Okay. Can you handle the haze spell?”
Daisy shook her head. “I haven’t done one since college. How about we switch?”
“Sure.” While her cousin had scruples about not tampering with people unless it was an emergency, Bridgette had used haze spells more recently. Probably more than she should have, considering the number of men she’d had relationships with over the years. That spell came in handy during a break up or a one-night-stand when the man didn’t want to leave. She’d tried one on Simon after she found out what he was, but it didn’t stick more than a few minutes. “What’ll we tell him?”
Daisy thought a moment. “How about nothing? Let’s see what he says first.”
I must be losing my edge not to think of that first. “Good idea.”
She rubbed at her head and winced.
“Here.” Bridgette uttered a healing spell for her cousin. Her skin tingled with slight static until it was over. “How’s that?”
“Better, thanks.”
“Hold on.” She marched into the stalks and hid the ax where no one wou
ld find it until the corn was good and dead, or plowed under, or whatever the hell they did with it.
Bridgette’s trussing spell was already wearing off when Daisy cast hers on the guy, so she uttered a haze spell. When she finished, Daisy released her trussing and they helped the confused man to his feet. Doing this took only a couple of minutes.
The man reached down to pick up something in the dirt where he’d been lying. “What am I doing out here?”
“Sorry we ran into you, sir,” Daisy said. “You okay?”
Bridgette leaned close to her cousin. “So much for letting him come up with a good idea.” That’s when she saw what he had picked up. “You came here to give that to her.” Now, let’s see if that haze spell works and he believes the shit we tell him.
The man studied the rock in his hand. “This is yours?”
“Yes, thank you.” Daisy smiled and took it from him. “Sorry I ran into you like that. I didn’t see you coming and you startled me. Did you hit your head?”
She’s getting really good at lying. Bridgette didn’t know whether to be proud or worried about that little fact.
“I don’t think so,” the man said. “I ran into you?”
Daisy smiled again. “Well, I think I ran into you, but we both ended up on the ground. Thanks for finding my rock.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“You sure you’re okay, um…”
“Mike.”
“I’m Daisy. Nice to meet you. These are my cousins, Bridgette and Scarlet.”
Bridgette gave her a warning look. Why don’t you give him our fucking addresses and social security numbers while you’re at it? But he didn’t seem interested in doing them harm. He wasn’t an enemy, just a confused mortal in the wrong place at the wrong time. Does Daisy know that or is she just trusting her instincts? Maybe she’s getting help from the other side. I can’t see shit when it comes to ghosts, except for dead family. And she didn’t see Daisy’s Gran or Uncle Ian here anyplace. She hadn’t seen either of those spooks since Daisy got back from the afterlife.
Mike’s gaze took in Bridgette and Scarlet then moved to the petroglyph rock in Daisy’s hand. “That symbol. That’s what gave us the idea for this maze.”
Daisy’s eyes widened in fake surprise. “Really?” Good idea for the haze spell, Bridge. I think he’s buying it.
Bridgette offered a tiny nod. The man’s thoughts were still confused but he was trying very hard to accept what they’d told him. In fact, it seemed fairly easy for him, once he put his mind to it. Mortals.
“Yep. My son hikes a lot. He came across one of those symbols out by Saguaro Lake and took pictures of it. He said it’s ancient.”
Okay, time to just go with it. He’s starting to believe everything now. “That’s what we’ve heard, Mike. My cousin here is fascinated by that symbol.” He knows something else. Take the bait. Come on, focus your thoughts, guy. That’s it.
The man smiled for the first time since trying to hack Bridgette with the ax. “Well then, when you ladies are done here, stop by the front and I’ll show you a picture. My son printed one out and gave it to me. He wrote the location on the back too.”
Daisy’s eyes lit. “Thank you, Mike. We will.”
“Oh, one other thing. You ladies ever heard of the Hohokam Indians?”
“Yes, of course.” Anyone who’d gone to school in Arizona knew about that ancient tribe.
Mike offered a proud look this time. “Well, this was once Hohokam land. I had some archaeologists out here a while back and they found artifacts just beyond the maze. Not much, just a few pottery shards. That’s what they called them. Most looked like dirty rocks to me.” He chuckled. “Ain’t that a kick? Ancient Indians. Right on my very land here.”
“That’s amazing,” Bridgette said, taking her cue from Daisy’s enthusiasm. She wondered if Paul Manny had ever been on a dig out here. It still made her angry that he’d practically tossed them out of the museum. I’d like to plant a nice boot print on his half-Pima ass.
When Mike glanced at Daisy again, she smiled, and Bridgette took that opportunity to snoop some more. The man believed them about how he got out here, but he couldn’t remember most of it and thought he might’ve hit his head when he fell. Only his head didn’t hurt, just his elbow and knee where he’d tipped over when Bridgette put a trussing spell on him. He was a proud man. Farmer stock. Didn’t like to admit when he was injured.
“You sure you’re okay?” Bridgette said, feigning concern again. A little voice in her head scolded her for not being truly worried about the man. Now I grow a conscience? It’s not like he’s really hurt. And Daisy’s showing enough concern for the both of us.
“Oh sure. I’m a tough old boy. Well, enjoy the rest of the maze.” Mike smiled and walked in the direction of the maze entrance. He disappeared around a curve, becoming just a rustle of movement, his thoughts fading as he got farther away. At least he’d forgotten about the ax.
Bridgette shook her head. “That was too fucking close.”
“Lot of good these protection amulets did,” Scarlet muttered as she studied the crystal that hung on a chain around her neck. “I didn’t feel anything until he was practically on top of us.”
Bridgette raised a brow at the cranky medium and fingered the crystal through her own blouse. “They’re not spelled for a possessed, ax-wielding dude in particular.”
Scarlet crossed her arms. “Did you just say dude?”
“Sue me. I spent time in SoCal.” A memory of tanned surfer boys filled her head and she smiled. A really fond memory.
Daisy seemed to ignore her as she scooped up her purse she’d dropped when the hitchhiker attacked. “At least we know the amulets will warn us. Next time, maybe we’ll have time to react.” Panicked thoughts slammed into Bridgette. “Shit. If it had enough strength to take over that man, that means it fed recently. It means someone else is dead.”
Bridgette sucked in a quick breath to clear the nausea she felt from Daisy’s panic. “It’s not your fault, Daisy. Now quit being a fucking martyr and let’s find this hitchhiker so you guys can kick its sorry ass back to the ethereal.” She wasn’t angry, but being short with her cousin was sometimes the best way to keep Daisy from wallowing. It was tiring to use her telepathy for long stretches, so with the hitchhiker no longer a threat just now, she plugged her mental wall. “Not that I’m condoning it, Scarlet, but why didn’t the hitchhiker just suck the life from Mike and be done with it? Why use these mortals to attack us if it drains him?”
“Getting you and me out of the way is a double bonus for him. Daisy loses our protection and he gets high off the kill.”
“Shit,” Daisy said. “Maybe you guys shouldn’t be around me right now.”
Bridgette huffed. “Yeah, like that’ll happen.” All the more reason for us to stay close to you. She raised a palm when Daisy started to protest. “No use arguing. We stick together. All of us.”
“Fine.” Daisy looked ill. “Scarlet, what about Noah?”
“A hitchhiker can’t use Noah as a host, remember? He’s got paranormal blood so that bond would be permanent.”
“Yeah, but he can attack him using a nearby mortal.”
“The hitchhiker’s attached to you, remember? I seriously doubt he can find Noah unless he’s with you. In fact, I’d make a bet on that. But why don’t you give him a heads-up if it’ll make you feel better.”
Daisy called her husband, seeming much calmer after talking to him, and Bridgette wanted nothing more than to get out of this idiotic corn. They finished the maze without another incident, which didn’t take long since they were near the end of it anyway.
Bridgette wanted food. And had a slight headache from using her telepathy so much today, which made her cranky. Not to mention the post adrenaline rush fatigue. “Well, that was a fucking useless waste of an hour,” she uttered, once they started for the metal building at the entrance.
Daisy shook her head. “Maybe not. Maybe we were supposed to come
here so that Mike guy could see my rock and tell us where his son hiked.”
Bridgette eyed her cousin. “I think I like you better as a martyr than an optimist. I don’t like perky people.” Her jabs diffused some of the tension and got a snicker from Daisy and Scarlet.
When they reached the entrance, Mike was sitting on his folding chair, exactly where they’d found him when they arrived. This time, his eyes were closed and his chin rested on his chest.
A shiver raced up Bridgette’s spine. “Shit.” The son of a bitch killed him after all. The looks on the other women’s faces mirrored her thoughts. She started to open her senses as Daisy reached out a hand to the man’s shoulder.
Mike’s head came up and his eyes flew open, sending Bridgette’s heart into a gallop. Daisy made a startled noise and Scarlet sucked in a quick breath.
“Oh, you ladies done?” He let out a vicious yawn. “Sorry. Must’ve fallen asleep. You want to see the picture, right?”
Daisy leaned toward Bridgette as they followed the man to the door of the metal building. “I thought he was dead.”
“No shit.”
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Chapter 25
Them Bones
Local authorities had found another body in Scottsdale, aneurysm supposedly, making Daisy frantic to put a stop to the killings. She told Starlet to begin training her more vigorously on medium stuff she wouldn’t normally learn for several weeks. Of course, she wasn’t some eager adolescent, but she needed to learn as fast as possible, in hopes it would give her some advantage over the hitchhiker.
Maybe if I become enough of a bad-ass medium, that nasty will quit being attracted to me and stay away from me and my family until we can trap it.
“You’re not concentrating, Daisy.”
She blinked and looked over at Scarlet, who stood next to her in the master bedroom. Hey, you’re the one who insisted she teach you as quickly as possible. If you don’t get a handle on these powers, we all might be screwed. The medium was shorter than Daisy but there was nothing small about her powers. If I have to learn this crap, Scarlet’s the one I want teaching me.