Strange Magic (The Witches of Cleopatra Hill Book 9) Read online

  “Well, unless you’re a Wilcox, I guess.”

  A grim-sounding chuckle. “Maybe. No, that’s not being fair. They have a man in charge, true, but now that Damon Wilcox has been gone for a couple of years, a lot of things have changed with them. I haven’t met that many of their clan, but the ones I have met seem like decent enough people. But even Damon Wilcox at least understood that women had their own power, or he wouldn’t have tried to kidnap Angela. Or had a female cousin as his confidant for so many years.”

  Zoe could only nod. She’d heard the stories, of course, but her clan never had that much to do with the Wilcoxes, out of both necessity and choice. Even now that Damon, a dark warlock if she’d ever heard of one, was gone, there still wasn’t that much intermingling going on between that clan and the de la Pazes. Reaching out to the Wilcoxes to see if one of their men would be a fit consort for her had been pretty much an act of desperation.

  She could tell Evan really didn’t want to talk about the confrontation, so she decided to let it go for now. She did have one more question, though.

  “Do you think that guy learned his lesson?”

  Evan’s mouth twisted. “Guys like that never learn their lesson.”

  Luz Trujillo’s house looked serene and elegant, with its carefully arranged native plants and palm trees in the front yard. Evan pulled up in front and parked the car, then turned off the engine. As he’d been forced to admit to Zoe, his right hand did feel a little stiff, but not enough that it should get in his way. Even if it had hurt more than it did, he still wouldn’t have complained unless it was outright broken. He really didn’t want to be forced to explain to the de la Paz healer how he’d punched some redneck in the mouth because he was being disrespectful to her clan’s prima-in-waiting.

  Zoe climbed out of the car and Evan followed, glad she was taking the lead. He still felt off-balance from that encounter at the ATV staging area, jangly and not quite himself.

  Then again, one could say he’d felt pretty much that way ever since the moment he met Zoe Sandoval.

  She rang the doorbell and waited. He stood slightly behind her, not too close, his expression studiously neutral. Luz Trujillo had already been giving him the side-eye, so he didn’t see the point in providing her with any more ammunition when it came to her niece.

  The door opened. Luz Trujillo looked out at both of them, her expression far more pleasant than the last time he’d seen her. That might have even been a trace of a smile on her mouth as she said, “Hello, Zoe, Evan. Come on in.”

  They followed her inside, Zoe shooting him a slightly mystified glance over her shoulder as they did so. Clearly, she wasn’t quite sure what was going on with her aunt’s change of attitude, either.

  As they walked, Luz continued, “I brought some water into the library for you. Are you hungry, though? It’s past lunchtime.”

  That whole mess with the redneck had pretty much killed Evan’s appetite. He gave a half-hearted lift of his shoulders, and Zoe said quickly, “We ate breakfast pretty late, so I think we’re good for now.”

  “All right, but just let me know if you need anything.”

  She let them into the library, which was a longish room with bookcases lining the wall and a large light fixture made of wrought iron hanging directly over the round table at the center of the space. Off to one side stood a well-worn leather chair and matching ottoman, and next to it another, smaller chair that didn’t quite match, seeming to indicate to Evan that it had been brought in here from somewhere else in the house.

  The water Luz had mentioned sat on a tray on the circular table. It did look good, because the bottle of water he’d had in the car had been drunk hours ago.

  Zoe said, “Thanks for this, Aunt Luz. I’ll let you know if we need anything else.”

  Her words were friendly, but they were also a dismissal. Luz didn’t seem offended, though, but only nodded and went back out into the hallway. Evan could hear the sound of the high-heeled sandals she wore clacking on the tile floors until it eventually faded away.

  He also couldn’t help noticing how she’d left the door standing open.

  Zoe had obviously seen it, too; her eyes flicked there and then back to him, and she shrugged. “Well, we’d better get to work. I figured we could start with going back to the spell I used.”

  She went over to one of the bookcases and extended a hand. One of the books there came loose from the shelf and floated down into her outstretched fingers, and Evan had to keep himself from shaking his head in disbelief. Yes, he was from a witch family, same as Zoe, but McAllister talents tended to be subtler ones, the sort of thing you wouldn’t notice unless you were really looking for it.

  He made sure he kept his expression impassive as Zoe set the book down on the table and then began leafing through it. She went almost all the way to the back before she spread the book open a little wider and pointed to the right-hand page.

  As he’d seen before, the handwriting was ornate, almost calligraphy, with a fancy drop capital on the first line. Now, though, he noticed that the leaves in the intricate pattern bordering the spell had been drawn as hearts. Pretty. Really, the whole thing looked very innocuous, like something you’d see on a wedding invitation, but Evan knew better.

  “So you know how to speak Latin?” he asked.

  “No,” she replied. “And it’s not like knowing some Spanish helped me any. I had to get one of those language learning courses on my phone to figure out the pronunciation. But now I wonder if that’s part of where I screwed up, like I said something wrong and that’s why the spell didn’t work the way it was supposed to.”

  Evan supposed that was possible. His clan’s spells were a lot more freeform, and so when they went wrong, it was usually more due to intention than because a certain usage wasn’t rigidly adhered to. And maybe that was the real problem here. Maybe Zoe had thought she was focusing all of her energy on conjuring the perfect consort, but some part of her had been conflicted, leading to the emergence of the disfigured creature he’d seen instead of the ideal man she wanted.

  However, bringing up that hypothesis could be tricky. He’d done his best to avoid talking about her consort search, mostly because the topic was already a sore one with her, and frankly, he didn’t like to think about it all that much, either. The last thing he wanted to do was admit to any kind of jealousy, since it was stupid to feel that way about kisses she’d exchanged with men before she’d even met him, but there it was. He did feel jealous, even though he knew he didn’t have a chance in hell with her.

  But they weren’t going to solve this problem by being cautious. If there were hard questions to be asked, then dammit, he’d ask them.

  “How about we sit down?” he suggested, and although the request clearly surprised her, from the way her eyebrows lifted, she didn’t protest.

  “Sure. Want some water?”

  That sounded great. He nodded, and she poured him some water from the pitcher Luz had left for them. After he’d taken the glass from Zoe, he went over to the less comfortable-looking of the two chairs and sat down. His choice elicited another raised eyebrow, since the big leather chair would have fit his frame better. But apparently she decided not to protest, because she went to the other chair and sat without comment, her water glass held in both her hands.

  He drank, because his mouth suddenly felt dry. Zoe followed suit, her dark eyes curious as she waited for him to speak.

  Well, he might as well get to it. “I was just thinking about that spell…what you said about possibly mispronouncing something in it.”

  “Do you think that’s how we’ll fix it? By getting it exactly right?”

  She sounded hopeful. He really didn’t want to dash those hopes, but he also didn’t want to lead her on. “Not exactly.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I mean that what we put into a spell is just as important as the spell itself. I’m starting to wonder if that’s where the real problem lies.”

  H
is comment made her brows pull together, and she set her water glass down on the small table that separated the two chairs. “So, what…you’re saying I screwed it up on purpose?”

  “No,” he replied quickly. Damn it, he’d been afraid she might react this way. “Sort of the opposite, actually. More like…consciously you wanted the spell to work, but underneath there was some part of you that didn’t. And because those two parts of your mind and spirit weren’t in alignment, something went wrong.”

  She didn’t like that explanation at all. Her entire body stiffened, and her big dark eyes narrowed as she considered the implications of what he had just told her. “I did want it,” she said, the words clear and cutting. “I would never have tried something so crazy if I hadn’t wanted it very badly.”

  Oh, boy. Evan resisted the urge to run an exasperated hand through his hair. “I know you thought you wanted it,” he said carefully. “I’m not disputing that at all. But…this was a very powerful spell, one that would require every ounce of your being — mind, body, and spirit — to make it work correctly. Have you ever done anything like this before?”

  Her gaze wouldn’t quite meet his. “Of course not. No one in my clan’s done anything like this for — well, for longer than I can remember. Back in the day we used to be more adventurous, I guess, but with the way things are now, people watching, using cell phone cameras, everything being filmed…it’s just not safe. We’re witches, but we use the smallest part of our talents, the little gifts that help us get along from day to day but won’t attract much attention. I’m guessing everyone in their various clans does more or less the same thing.”

  “We do,” Evan said, in the hope that she’d think he was sympathetic. Well, he was. Hiding their particular talents wasn’t necessarily fun, but definitely a better alternative than having their magical natures exposed to the world. “It’s just how it is.”

  “Right. So yeah, it wasn’t as if I could ask anyone for help. I read the books here, heard what Aunt Luz had to say about the responsibility of a prima, of bonding with the power that lives within me.” Zoe put a hand to her chest, as if indicating that was the place where the prima gifts dwelled. “I thought about it for a long time. And I decided that I’d be letting down my clan more by not having a consort than by trying to use magic that’s forbidden. If it worked, it would have been fine, right?”

  “The end justifies the means?”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing, but yes.”

  And in her case, he supposed the end result would have justified whatever methods she’d used to achieve it. If she really had succeeded, she would have had a consort and ensured that her powers would reach their full potential. Evan still couldn’t quite figure out how anyone could have a meaningful relationship with a being that had been conjured out of nowhere and had no past, no history, nothing to shape its personality. However, he hesitated to press Zoe on that one point. She’d shown a lot poise and resourcefulness so far in his dealings with her, but she was still very inexperienced when it came to relationships. How could she be anything else? The whole point was to keep the prima-in-waiting cloistered and away from any male temptations.

  “Okay,” he said, choosing his words with care, even though he didn’t know if the world’s most diplomatic response would be enough here. “I understand what you’re saying, Zoe, but I’ve had to come in and fix a lot of spells gone wrong. In just about every case, it was because the person casting the spell didn’t have their energy and intentions focused enough. So that’s why I had to ask you about it.”

  For a long moment, she didn’t say anything. She reached over and retrieved her glass of water, took a sip. With the glass cradled once more between her hands, she gazed down into it as if she could use the still waters within as a scrying mirror to help her find the missing creature. When she looked up, the worry in those big eyes with their frame of sooty lashes was almost overwhelming.

  “I know,” she said quietly. “And maybe that is where I messed up. I wanted to deny it, but…I just don’t know. I was so scared. I was standing there” — she pointed toward the table in the center of the room where the spell book lay open — “and for the longest time I just looked at the book and the spell, not sure I could really go through with it. I almost did put the spell book back and leave. But then I thought about how my birthday was less than two weeks away, and how my consort was nowhere to be found, and what would happen if he never showed up…how I’d probably be forced to marry one of my cousins and how I’d never develop all my powers. And so I went ahead and said the spell.”

  She looked so stricken that once again Evan had to put aside the urge to go over and wrap his arms around her, hold her close and tell her everything would be okay…even if that would be nothing more than a comforting lie. He knew he couldn’t do such a thing, though.

  Somehow he managed to remain in his seat and meet her gaze, praying the whole time that she wouldn’t be able to see anything of the conflict within him. “Well, what you just told me now seems to prove what I was worried about. You thought you were resolved, but some part of you wasn’t ready to do this, knew it was wrong. And a spell that powerful has to be committed to completely. It’s not your fault,” he hastened to add, as her dark eyes began to snap. “You couldn’t have known, because no one in your clan had used any magic like this in your lifetime. The things your aunt has been teaching you wouldn’t have been enough to prevent it from happening.”

  Those words seemed to mollify her; she relaxed against the back of her chair and sipped again at her water. “So…if you think that’s really the issue, then what can we do now to fix it?”

  Good question. He rose from his seat and went back over to the table so he could stare down at the spell again.

  Ab umbra ad lucem,

  Ad diem ac noctem,

  De somnium est re,

  Id quod dico

  His mind stumbled over the Latin, picking its way through the unfamiliar words. He didn’t try speaking them aloud; what he really wanted to do was stare at them, imprint them on his mind, so his own talent could begin to pick away at the Latin phrases and begin to formulate a counter-spell.

  A soft waft of perfume, and he realized Zoe was standing very close to him, gazing down at the page as well. She’d never stood this close before, and he could feel himself go still, forcing himself not to react. It would be all too easy to turn slightly, to bend down and touch his lips to hers, run his hands over the long, loose curls in her glossy dark hair.

  She said, “It’s kind of crazy that something so simple could cause so much trouble.”

  “I know,” he said, the words coming out way too strained. He cleared his throat. “Magic isn’t always predictable. That’s why it’s magic and not science. But I think I’m starting to get an idea of how to fix this.”

  “But we need the creature.”

  “Yes.” That sounded crazy, but it was the truth. Without the monster she’d summoned right in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to use a counter-spell to get rid of it.

  Zoe sighed. Trying to act casual, Evan moved away from her and went over to the nearest bookcase so he could inspect the volumes there. He had to hope she’d think he was only looking for another book of magic that might help him in creating a counter-spell. But no way could he keep standing that close to her, even with the door open, presumably to ensure that nothing except research happened in the library.

  For that matter, how did he know Luz hadn’t been eavesdropping on his and Zoe’s entire exchange? No, that didn’t seem like her style. Anyway, with those high-heeled sandals she’d been wearing, Evan would have heard her coming back down the hall.

  In a way, he would have welcomed a chaperone. Then maybe he wouldn’t have been such a mess around Zoe.

  She came over to him, but he noticed how she stopped a few paces away, a much more respectable distance than the one she’d put between the two of them just a few moments earlier. “Looking for something in particular?
”

  “I’m not sure,” he said, thinking quickly. “I think I’m getting an idea of where to go, but without the creature around, that’s not going to help us much. So I guess I was looking for a book that might have a summoning spell in it.”

  “That would be back in the same grimoire,” she replied, looking over her shoulder to the spell book on the tabletop. “But do you really think summoning it is such a good idea?”

  No, he really didn’t. He couldn’t think of anything else to do, though. The creature had led them on a wild goose chase the day and night before, but today it seemed to be lying low, for whatever reason. Maybe they really had hurt it during that last encounter.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But we need to try something. Otherwise — ”

  He broke off there, because this time he did hear a pair of high heels clacking down the hallway toward them, moving fast.

  Zoe heard it, too, and turned toward the open doorway. In the next instant, Luz appeared there, looking worried and slightly out of breath.

  “Jack just called me,” she said. “There’s been a sighting in downtown Scottsdale, and all hell is breaking loose.”

  12

  Once again Zoe found herself in the passenger seat of Evan’s car as they drove toward the latest catastrophe. This time, though, her Aunt Luz was following them in her silver Lexus. Zoe would have preferred that she and Evan handle this on their own, but she knew there was no way to prevent the clan’s prima from coming along to help with damage control.

  Jack hadn’t said much, only that calls had been coming into dispatch about some kind of deformed-looking man appearing out of nowhere and aggressively approaching young women who had long dark hair. So it sounded as if Evan’s first guess had maybe been right, that the creature was trying to get to Zoe and kept going after the wrong targets.