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

  Since she didn’t know of a Carlos in either the Phoenix or Tucson branches of the family, Zoe assumed he had to be one of her distant cousins from the southern part of the state. That actually made her feel a little better, since at least Luz wasn’t scraping the bottom of the barrel by trying to make her kiss a guy she’d known since kindergarten.

  But still…Zoe didn’t want to kiss anyone who wasn’t Evan McAllister. The mere thought made her flesh crawl, although she knew she would do what was expected of her. A prima-in-waiting didn’t have any choice.

  So she texted back a short okay, and then went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and smooth her hair, as well as to repair any damage her outburst earlier might have done to her makeup. She wondered if she should change out of her jeans, then decided she was tired and didn’t feel like worrying about it. This Carlos person would just have to deal with her looking a little more casual than usual.

  Because Luz hadn’t really given her a timeline, Zoe decided she’d better wait downstairs. The last thing she needed was Zander being his usual jerk self to the latest in a very long line of candidates. He seemed to find the situation entirely too amusing.

  When she descended the staircase, however, she was relieved to find that he’d disappeared. Probably went up to his own room to play more of his useless video games, once he realized she wasn’t going to hang around and get teased unmercifully.

  The house was immaculate, as usual, and so Zoe didn’t have to worry about tidying up. Just as well, because she had plenty of other matters to keep her worried — having to deal with cousin Carlos, whoever he was…she briefly thought about trying to find him on Facebook and abandoned the idea once she realized she didn’t know for sure if de la Paz was also his last name; stressing because now that she’d met Evan, she didn’t even know if she would have the guts to kiss another candidate; the low-lying fear in the back of her mind that the creature might get brave enough to appear in her own house, although she wouldn’t know why he would do such a thing now when he seemed to be making a habit of cruising around the greater Phoenix area instead.

  And the thing that bothered her the most right now, besides having this latest candidate show up at all, was that Zoe might very well have to meet him alone. Yes, Luz had said she was on her way over, but she hadn’t been terribly specific about her arrival time. Since a prima-in-waiting always lived at home until she met her consort and got married, it was easy enough to make sure that someone was around during these meetings. But Luz wasn’t here yet, and Zoe’s parents were half an hour away at her father’s office in downtown Phoenix. All right, she couldn’t say she was completely alone, since Zander was upstairs in his room. However, Zoe didn’t really consider him an effective chaperone, and although she didn’t have to have someone overseeing her meeting with a prospective consort, one of her parents had always been present before. It felt weird to have a candidate coming over now when both of them were gone.

  At that inopportune moment, the doorbell rang. She sucked in a breath, then ran her hands over her shirt front to help smooth away some of the wrinkles she’d gotten from the seatbelt while riding around in Evan’s car. Then she went to answer the door.

  She didn’t recognize the man standing outside, of course, but she knew he must be Carlos. Older than most of the other candidates, as she’d expected, just because she’d already run through every eligible warlock who was under twenty-five.

  He was attractive enough. Not drop-dead gorgeous like Evan McAllister, but if she’d met Carlos before she’d met Evan, she would have thought he was just fine. Definitely above the median when it came to her consort candidates. No, Luz hadn’t sent her anyone who was downright ugly, but Carlos was tall and well-built and had nice, regular features, the kind of good looks you might see in a TV commercial or in a local television reporter.

  “Hi,” she said, and offered a smile, just because she knew she had to appear pleasant and friendly, even if she really wanted to flee to the garage, climb in her car, and speed off to where Evan was staying at the CopperWynd resort. “I’m Zoe.”

  “Carlos Reyes,” he replied, although he didn’t smile back, only looked her up and down like something displayed in a glass case.

  Uh-oh. Not the sort of response she’d been expecting. A creepy-crawly sensation began somewhere at the base of her neck, although Zoe tried to tell herself that she was already on edge, and so was probably overreacting. Maybe this Carlos Reyes just wasn’t the friendly type. Or maybe he’d been pushed into coming up here to see if he might be her consort, even though he had no real desire to do so. She had to wonder why he was still single. In general, witches and warlocks married fairly young because of their ability to recognize their own soul mates, and so to have someone who was still unattached in their late twenties tended to be unusual, if not entirely unprecedented.

  “Come on in,” she told him, since she couldn’t exactly leave him standing there on the doorstep.

  He entered the foyer and gave it a quick, unsmiling glance. Zoe had no idea what that dispassionate inspection meant. Was he impressed? Turned off by the mini-mansion style of the house?

  Well, when in doubt, forge ahead.

  “So, where did you drive up from?” she asked.

  “Sierra Vista,” he replied, which didn’t tell her much at all. She knew the town was way south of Phoenix, down near the grape-growing areas that supplied so much of Arizona’s wine, but that was the extent of her knowledge when it came to Sierra Vista.

  But since she at least could guess that he’d driven a couple of hours to get here, she ventured, “Do you want some water, or some iced tea?”

  “Water would be great.”

  Thank God. Something to occupy the next minute or so, during which time she prayed fervently that Luz would show up. Yes, Zoe knew she’d have to kiss this unsmiling stranger eventually, but she really, really didn’t want to do it without the prima around.

  She made a show of fetching a glass and filling it partway with ice, then dispensing water so the glass was mostly full. Still wearing a fake smile that she knew she would have hated if she’d been able to see it for herself, she handed it to Carlos. “So, what do you down in Sierra Vista?”

  He shrugged. “Grow grapes. We sell them to a bunch of the wineries around there.”

  As she’d suspected. He didn’t sound very thrilled about it, though. Was he hoping that by becoming her consort, he’d be able to come here to Fountain Hills and live a life of relative luxury?

  She couldn’t tell. Most of the time she could get a read on people by watching their expressions, paying attention to the tone in their voices, but this guy was like a blank wall. Evan was intense, not exactly what she’d call lively, but she could still tell that he cared about things — probably cared too much, which was why his ex had done such a number on him.

  And she knew she shouldn’t be comparing Evan to Carlos. She’d just met Carlos. Some people didn’t let it all hang out on first meetings, even if that meeting did involve kissing someone who was next thing to a stranger.

  “Luz should be here soon,” Zoe said quickly, and something changed in his expression, something she couldn’t really put her finger on but made that creepy sensation return to the base of her neck. “Why don’t we go into the living room?”

  “Sure,” Carlos replied, and followed her as she led him out of the kitchen and around the corner to the living room.

  It was a formal-feeling space, with cream leather couches and glass and bronze tables and light fixtures. Every time Zoe went in there, she worried she might leave a smudge, but she figured Carlos couldn’t do too much harm with just a glass of water, even if he did commit the cardinal sin of setting his glass down on a table without using a coaster. Anyway, she hoped that the uptight vibe of the room would keep him on his best behavior until Luz showed up.

  Shouldn’t she have been here by now? Zoe wondered if she could come up with an excuse to run upstairs and get Zander down here. Her little b
rother was annoying as hell, but better some kind of buffer than none at all. It was a sign of Luz’s desperation that she’d allowed Carlos to come over even though she knew Zoe would be alone, except for her brother’s presence.

  “Um, we can sit down here,” she ventured, but Carlos shook his head.

  “That’s all right,” he said. “I’ve been driving and sitting down for the past couple of hours. Mind if I take a look outside?”

  “No, it’s fine,” she replied. Was that better or worse? At least outside she wouldn’t have to worry about messing up her parents’ living room, but on the other hand, it felt as if they’d be more isolated out there. Would she be able to hear the doorbell from the backyard?

  To cover up her unease, she went over to the sliding glass door and unlocked it, then closed it again once both she and Carlos were outside in order to prevent any of the air conditioning from escaping. After the cool confines of the house, it felt uncomfortably warm outside, although she knew it wasn’t really that hot yet, nothing like how it would be in a few more months and the brutal Phoenix summer really descended.

  At least it wasn’t too bad out on the covered patio, which protected her from the worst of the sun, although Carlos wandered out into the sunshine so he could walk along the edge of the infinity pool. Zoe had to admit it was sort of impressive the way it seemed to just drop off to the edge of the sloped yard, even though she knew it was only an optical illusion.

  He paused down near the end with the spa, then lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked across the pool to the casita she used as her lab. “What’s that?”

  Since he was really too far off for her to have a casual conversation with him, she reluctantly stepped out from the shelter of the patio’s roof and went over to where he stood. “The pool house, but I use it for my workroom.”

  “Workroom?” His dark eyes were intent as he studied her face. Thank God she wasn’t the type to blush easily.

  “My talent is potions,” she explained. Obviously, he didn’t know anything about her. Although, why should he? It wasn’t as if he lived someplace where he would have many interactions with the branches of the clan here in the Phoenix area. Probably he knew her name and that she was the prima-in-waiting, and that was about it. “I sort of took over the pool house so I’d have a place to work.”

  “Ah.” He seemed to mull over that response, then asked, “Can I see it?”

  Zoe didn’t know why the question would make her uncomfortable. Really, she should be happy to show him her workspace, since that would kill some more time and give Luz more of a chance to appear. And she hadn’t minded having Evan in the lab….

  Because it was Evan, she thought. Even though you’d just met him, you knew there was something special about him.

  But she shouldn’t be letting herself think things like that. Mooning over him definitely wouldn’t help her right now.

  “Sure,” she replied, and hoped Carlos hadn’t noticed the way she’d hesitated. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

  She went over to the door to the pool house and laid her hand on the knob so it would unlock itself. Inside, the air was stuffy and hot; since she’d known she wouldn’t be working in here today, she hadn’t bothered to turn on the A/C. The remote for the ductless unit lay on the worktable closest to her, so she picked it up and powered on the air conditioner, even though she wasn’t sure they’d be in here long enough for it to make a difference.

  Carlos stepped inside and looked around, although his expression didn’t betray any particular curiosity. “What kind of potions?” he asked.

  “A little bit of everything,” she replied with a shrug. “Cures for colds, the flu. Draughts for arthritis, to regulate blood sugar levels for clan members with diabetes. Hangover cures,” she added with a grin, hoping maybe he’d finally smile back at her.

  But he didn’t. He just gave a small nod, his attention apparently fixed on the bunches of herbs hanging from the walls. Who knows — he worked in agriculture, if in a sort of specialized branch of it, so maybe he was trying to identify some of the plants. Then he turned toward her, eyebrows raised slightly. “Love potions?”

  Yikes. Was he asking in case he needed one to warm up to her? So far he hadn’t shown any signs of attraction at all. Not that she’d really expected him to drop to his feet and declare himself overwhelmed by her undying beauty, but still….

  “No,” she said. “That sort of thing is off limits. So much can go wrong.” She stopped there, mouth twisting slightly. Too bad she hadn’t heeded her own advice when it came to conjuring that creature. Yes, the spell she’d used wasn’t exactly a love potion, but it did have basically the same desired outcome, when you stopped to think about it. “I think some people still make their own, but if they do, it’s not the sort of thing they advertise, if you know what I mean.”

  “I suppose so.” He didn’t say anything for a moment, just stood there, still watching her with that vaguely unsettling expression on his face.

  Madré de díos, they’d really scraped the bottom of the barrel with this one. Zoe cleared her throat and said, “Well, I guess we’d better go back inside. It’s a lot more comfortable there. I — ”

  She’d been about to say, I’m sure Luz must have gotten here by now, but the words didn’t have a chance to escape her lips, because Carlos grabbed one of her hands and propelled her toward him, and then his mouth descended on hers.

  By that point she’d kissed so many guys that she was more or less inured to the process. She’d known Carlos couldn’t be the one, so she figured she’d let him kiss her and get it over with. His behavior was abrupt and more than odd, but oh, well.

  To her dismay, however, when she went to pull away from him, his grip on her wrist only tightened. His tongue was probing her mouth, and she wanted to gag. She managed to tear away for a second or two, just long enough to gasp, “Let go of me!”

  But he didn’t. He grabbed her with his other hand, and he kissed her again, forcing her mouth open. Did this pendejo have any idea what kind of trouble he was going to be in, manhandling his clan’s future prima like that?

  Obviously, he didn’t care. As disgusted as she was, Zoe really didn’t want to resort to the kind of force that might hurt him permanently, but she didn’t think she had much choice. Physically, she was no match for him, but she had her own powers, and she knew she was going to have to use them.

  Even as she felt the prima energy begin to boil within her, however, a horrible shrieking noise assaulted her ears. As if he’d emerged from a tear in the world, the creature was there, mouth open wide with rage as he screamed at her attacker. Carlos’ eyes widened in sudden fear at the unholy apparition, but he didn’t have any time for more of a reaction than that, because the creature took Carlos by the shoulders and hurled him away from Zoe with such force that he hit the door to the pool house and actually knocked it down, then went sprawling onto his back on the gravel walkway outside.

  That apparently wasn’t enough for the creature, though. As Zoe watched, paralyzed in horror, he picked up Carlos and threw him another three yards or so, far enough away that he landed on the concrete swimming pool surround. Moaning and gasping, he tried to push himself up onto his hands and knees so he could try to get away, but the creature was having none of it. He grabbed the hapless man by the neck and then dragged him to the pool before thrusting his head under the water. At once Carlos began to struggle, thrashing away in the creature’s iron grip.

  At last Zoe recovered herself enough to cry out, “No, don’t. Please, don’t!”

  The creature lifted Carlos’ dripping face from the water. As her would-be consort choked and gasped, the creature said simply, in its deep, raspy voice, “Why?”

  “Because — because he didn’t really hurt me. I’m all right. Please…let him go.”

  No response at first. The creature maintained its grip on the back of Carlos’ neck and stared at her with its head tilted slightly, apparently ignoring the str
uggles of the man he held. “But he could have hurt you.”

  Scary how much its speech had progressed. One part of Zoe’s mind didn’t want to accept that she was standing here and having a conversation with the thing she had summoned. Seeing it in broad daylight like this was also somewhat shocking, because she could clearly tell how far its transformation had progressed. The mouth was still slightly twisted, and one eye sat just a bit higher than the other, but otherwise, it had advanced much further toward the ideal man she’d thought she was conjuring.

  Zoe didn’t quite know what she should think about that.

  “But he didn’t hurt me,” she said quietly. “Thank you — thank you for protecting me. But I don’t want you to hurt him. Let him go, and then he’ll go home and leave me alone. Isn’t that right, Carlos?” she added, fixing him with what she hoped was the sort of glare that would convince him he needed to let this whole thing go.

  “R-right,” he gasped, although behind the fear in his eyes, she could see thwarted fury at being overpowered like this.

  “If you wish,” the creature said, letting go of Carlos so suddenly that he almost pitched head first into the pool, and only caught himself at the last minute by grabbing on to one of the pavers that surrounded it.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  Zoe whirled away from the creature at the sharp sound of her aunt’s voice. Luz was hurrying from the house toward the swimming pool, her usually elegant and serene features now showing a combination of shock and worry.

  “I — ” What the hell could she possibly say to explain the situation?

  And the creature was no help, because it saw Luz striding toward it like an avenging angel, and clearly decided it was time to flee. Before she could get too close — and presumably use her own powers to try to dispel the thing — it disappeared, leaving a gasping Carlos by the side of the pool. He pushed himself up to a standing position. Livid bruises were already beginning to appear on the warm brown skin of his throat.