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

  He raised an eyebrow at that remark. “Zoe, you have to go home sometime.”

  “Why? Because that’s what I’m supposed to do?”

  “They just want to make sure you’re safe — ”

  “Why can’t I be safe here?” she asked. “I could get a room, and we could run out and shop for a few things that I’d need, and then I wouldn’t have to go home at all.”

  “I doubt that would go over very well.”

  God, was everyone against her? Deep down, she knew Evan was only trying to be the voice of reason, since he obviously thought she’d gone off the deep end, or at least was about to. But really, how would she be any safer at home than she was here? Neither of her parents was skilled at defensive magic, and Zander would be of no help, either. At least here in the hotel she’d be surrounded by people — not that that had stopped the creature from appearing in the middle of Scottsdale. Even so, she liked the idea of taking a room here, of asserting her independence. That way, it would be a lot harder for Luz to try to force any more horrible candidates for consort on her. Because although her aunt might let it go for now so Zoe could have a chance to recover, she knew that sooner or later — well, sooner, since she now had only a week before she turned twenty-two and lost her chance at receiving the full strength of her powers — Luz would find someone else to try. She had to. It was her responsibility to make sure that the line of de la Paz primas remained unbroken.

  “Maybe not,” Zoe said defiantly. One thing she definitely wouldn’t tell Evan was how much she’d love to share his room. But she knew he would never agree to such a thing, even on the pretext of feeling safer with him around. However, just staying in the hotel with him was better than being confined to her room back at home. “Right now, I don’t really care. How much help have they really given me? I mean, the creature probably wouldn’t have even shown up this afternoon if my aunt hadn’t sent that horrible Carlos guy over to meet me.”

  Evan didn’t say anything at first, probably because he couldn’t argue with that comment. “Okay,” he said. “I can tell your mind is made up. So let’s finish our drinks, and then see if there are even any rooms available. The hotel might be full.”

  That particular possibility hadn’t occurred to her. Yes, it was Saturday, but spring break was still a few weeks off. It couldn’t be that busy, could it?

  So she nodded and said, “Sounds like a plan,” then swigged the rest of her chardonnay. Evan was a bit more measured about finishing off his beer, but only a few minutes later she laid down a twenty and a five to cover the drinks and the tip, and slid out of the booth so she could go to the front desk, her companion trailing reluctantly behind her.

  It turned out that the hotel did have some empty rooms, including the one right next to Evan’s, since she made sure to ask whether that particular room was available. He shot her a sideways look at that request but didn’t argue. If he was going to be her bodyguard, so to speak, then he needed to be close by. Anyway, although the rooms were adjoining, the doors that connected them were kept locked at all times.

  Not that witches and warlocks had too much of a problem with door locks.

  Zoe scooped up her key card, beaming. This was all falling into place perfectly. Now she could go with Evan to the mall, do some shopping, and afterward they could have dinner, maybe go to that movie he’d mentioned on the phone to Luz. A nice, normal evening out together. That was what Zoe craved more than anything else after the tumult of the day. She had to stop and remind herself that the incident with the redneck out at the ATV staging area had only taken place that morning. It felt like a hundred years ago.

  Should she go up to check on the room? No, what was the point? She didn’t even have any luggage, no personal belongings at all except her purse. They should go out, get their errands done, and then…

  …well, then she’d just see what happened. Because she knew for sure that one item she intended to pick up was something sexy to sleep in….

  16

  This was crazy. He should have taken Zoe home, or at least convinced her to drive there under her own power. Instead, he was following her around Scottsdale Fashion Square as she bought what seemed like enough clothes and toiletries to last her a month at the CopperWynd resort, instead of just a few days.

  He didn’t protest, however. He knew better than that. Zoe was set on this course of action, and about all he could do was stay out of the way and promise himself that if something did go sideways, he’d be there to make sure the damage wasn’t permanent.

  At least there were restaurants and a movie theater here, so they shouldn’t have to venture out to complete their evening’s entertainment. Evan hoped that would be enough to satisfy Zoe; she had a rebellious glint in her eyes that seemed to indicate she wouldn’t like being told it probably wasn’t the greatest idea for them to be wandering all over Scottsdale just because she was pissed off at her aunt.

  It probably wasn’t so brilliant for the two of them to be here at all — what if the creature decided to drop in unexpectedly? — but Evan knew there was only so much he could do. While Zoe was in the lingerie department at Macy’s, he made sure to stay safely away over in the accessories section, and then pulled out his phone and sent a text, not to Luz, who he guessed might go nuclear if she learned of Zoe’s plans, but to Jack Sandoval. Zoe had said Jack was her favorite uncle, and maybe he’d be a little more understanding when it came to her current state of mind. But at least that way Jack could pass on the word, and Evan could stay safely out of the brouhaha that was sure to ensue. Maybe that was a coward’s strategy. Right then, he didn’t much care. The day’s events had combined to make him feel vaguely shell-shocked, and if he could avoid any more de la Paz drama, all the better.

  After Zoe had declared she was done shopping and they’d stowed all her loot in the Barracuda’s trunk, they went to the theater to check on movies and times. In these doldrums before spring break, there wasn’t much to choose from, but Evan was relieved to see that she was far more interested in the spy thriller on tap rather than a silly-looking romantic comedy. He would have sat through that if she insisted, true, simply because at this point he was ready to do just about anything that would keep her happy. Luckily, though, she didn’t seem inclined to put him through that particular ordeal.

  The movie didn’t start until seven forty-five, so they decided to go ahead and have an early dinner. By that point, the tapas he’d consumed at Sofrita had long worn off, and he was hungry. Zoe, too, by the way she suggested appetizers first before they moved on to the main course.

  To his surprise, she didn’t order anything to drink except water. “I think it’s all starting to catch up with me,” she said after the waiter took their order and departed. “If I have another glass of wine now, I’ll probably pass out asleep in the movie. So just water for me.”

  He was glad of that evidence of her level-headedness. Before they’d sat down, he’d already decided he wouldn’t have a drink, either, but it was nice that they were reinforcing one another’s choices. Even though he knew she probably wouldn’t like the news, he thought he’d better tell her he’d been in contact with her family. Keeping secrets just wasn’t his thing.

  “I let your uncle know what we were doing,” Evan said as he reached for his water.

  Zoe’s eyes flashed with surprise for just a second, and then she gave a resigned shrug. “Well, I suppose you had to,” she replied. “And actually, good call on reaching out to him. He can usually talk Aunt Luz down off a ledge.”

  That was the opinion Evan had begun to form as well, but it was good to hear that Zoe agreed with his decision. “So we probably won’t see your prima showing up to stalk us?”

  “Hopefully not.” Zoe lifted her own water glass, but she didn’t drink. Instead, because they were sitting at a sort of conversation area with low couches and a cocktail table rather than in a booth, she set the glass on her knee and cradled it in her hands. “Really, I probably shouldn’t be so down on my au
nt. She’s doing her best. This is the first time that a prima-in-waiting in my clan has had such a hard time finding a consort. So that has her stressed out. And then this latest thing….” She didn’t mention the monster; she didn’t have to. “Anyway, I guess I need to remind myself that she hasn’t been prima all that long, either. That’s got to be a tough gig.”

  Evan had no doubt of that. Was Zoe thinking of the day when all this responsibility would fall into her lap? Probably. But that day would be decades off, unless some other calamity befell the de la Paz clan. “It can be hard. My cousin Angela handles it pretty well, but then, her situation is kind of unique, since she and Connor do everything together. Usually a prima has to go it more on her own, even though she has a consort to bounce ideas off. Or at least, that’s how it seemed with my Great-Aunt Ruby. Her husband died when I was really young, but she always seemed to be fully in charge even when he was around.”

  Her expression thoughtful and a little sad, Zoe added, “That’s got to be the worst, though — being bonded that closely with someone, and then having them gone. I mean, in my abuela’s case, she was probably more relieved than anything else, but hers wasn’t exactly a typical situation.”

  “Great-Aunt Ruby’s situation wasn’t typical, either, I guess.” The conversation had taken a melancholy turn, but Evan wasn’t about to deflect. These things needed to be discussed, along with more cheerful matters. “I think she hung on a lot longer than she would have because she didn’t want to leave us without a prima who was of age. Angela didn’t have a consort yet when Ruby died, but at least she was twenty-one and starting to come into her powers anyway. At that point, I suppose Ruby hoped the universe would take care of it.”

  “And it did, just not in a way she could have imagined.” To his surprise, Zoe shot him an impish little grin. “I mean, Connor Wilcox is hot.”

  That comment annoyed Evan, although he had a feeling Zoe had said it partly to see how he would react. Anyway, it wasn’t as if he could argue the relative merits of Connor’s hotness, not when he’d seen plenty of girls in his own clan get a little dreamy-eyed when Angela’s consort walked down the street. Yes, Connor was more than taken, but, as a former girlfriend had once remarked when Evan was irritated by the way she’d eyeballed a couple of good-looking guys on the street, just because you look in the bakery window doesn’t mean you’re going to go in and buy a cake.

  “So I’ve heard,” he said dryly, and drank some more of his water. At the same time, he hoped the waiter wouldn’t take too long with their appetizer.

  Zoe seemed to realize she’d scored a point, because she settled back against the sofa cushions and said, “Anyway, I think Jack will be able to smooth things over. It’s not like I’ve taken off for the Bahamas or something. I’m five minutes away in a hotel with plenty of people staying in it. If anything happens….” She stopped there, clearly uncertain as to how she should finish that particular sentence. If the creature did show up, there would be a hell of a lot of witnesses to its appearance.

  Assuming, of course, that its appearance remained distorted. It seemed to be changing quickly now. For all Evan knew, the thing could show up looking exactly like Zoe’s telenovela star, and instead of scaring the crap out of a bunch of people, the creature might have the women in the hotel lining up to get its autograph.

  If they even recognized him. That crowd at the CopperWynd looked pretty white bread. Evan was fairly sure none of them had ever watched a telenovela.

  “I doubt anything will happen,” Evan said, more to reassure her than because he was actually certain of that fact. “We’re just going to have a quiet night here, and then we’ll go back and go to sleep. There’s nothing going on that should arouse its protective instincts.”

  “Maybe,” Zoe allowed. “But that wouldn’t stop it from showing up someplace else. After all, it’s appeared in places miles away from where I was.”

  “True. But if that happens, we’ll sense it, or maybe your uncle will call to sound the alarm. Either way, I think the odds of a disturbance at our hotel are pretty low.”

  Right then the waiter showed up with their bacon-wrapped dates, so conversation on all sensitive subjects had to wait until he took off again, but not before he promised that their entrees would be out in another fifteen minutes or so. They both reached for the plate on the low table and snagged a date.

  The savory little appetizer practically melted in his mouth. Evan had never had bacon-wrapped dates before, although he’d heard Angela mention them…with some sadness, because the little tapas place in Flagstaff where she and Connor used to get them had since closed down.

  Evan reached for another, and Zoe grinned at him.

  “I told you they were good.”

  “No kidding. I’m going to have to start lobbying for one of the restaurants in Cottonwood or Jerome to start carrying these.”

  For some reason, her smile seemed a little muted after that remark. Disappointed that he was thinking about going home?

  Don’t flatter yourself, he thought.

  But….

  “They really should,” she said, her tone too casual. “They go great with wine. Wine’s a big thing up by you, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “Lots of wineries in the area. Maybe some of the wine-tasting rooms could have them as appetizers.”

  “They’re time-consuming to make. My mom makes them sometimes for family parties — immediate family,” she added quickly. “If she was trying to make them for a clan get-together, she’d be stuffing dates for a week.”

  Her comment conjured an amusing mental image, and he chuckled slightly. “I suppose so. I hadn’t thought about that particular angle.”

  “Well, you’d think about it a lot more if you ever got drafted for kitchen duty.” She tilted her head to the side slightly as she gazed across the table at him. “You don’t talk about your family that much.”

  “I guess it never came up,” he replied with a shrug. “You already know about the McAllisters, anyway. My parents are still up in Jerome, in a two-bedroom cottage that’s small but has some of the best views in town. I’m an only child. Not much else to tell.”

  “Really? No brothers or sisters?”

  “It’s not that strange. Down here in the Phoenix area, you guys have a lot of room to spread out. But Jerome is tiny. Yeah, we’re down in Cottonwood and the rest of the Verde Valley, and as far as east as Payson, but we’re still careful about family size. Usually people have one or two kids. Every once in a while you’ll get more, but it’s not common.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” She picked up another date and bit it in half. How she managed to do that without having the feta cheese inside squeeze out all over the place, or mess up the soft coral-colored lip gloss she wore, Evan had no idea. A different kind of magic, he supposed.

  But since staring at her mouth could create all sorts of problems, he went ahead and got another date for himself, and popped it in his mouth. Now there was only one left, but he wouldn’t take it. Zoe should have it.

  “Go ahead,” she said. “They’re rich. Two’s enough for me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” she said, dark eyes dancing. “If I really wanted it, I would have taken it.”

  He couldn’t argue with that. One thing he’d been able to determine about Zoe…when she wanted something, she went for it.

  So where did that leave him?

  Dinner was good. Friendly, casual, but Zoe was okay with that. The day had been tense enough. It was nice to see Evan slowly relaxing through the meal. Afterward, they had plenty of time to take a leisurely walk to the theater and still get decent seats. Since they were full from their meal, they didn’t bother to get anything to eat, although Evan did buy them a couple bottles of water.

  Sitting next to him was…well, she could have wished that an armrest didn’t separate them, but it still felt wonderful to be this close, especially since before this they’d always sat across from e
ach other at restaurants, and he’d always done what he could to keep her at arm’s length. It was probably her imagination, but she almost fancied she could feel the warmth of his body next to her in the cool, air-conditioned space.

  Even for a Saturday night, the theater wasn’t that crowded. Other moviegoers filtered in until about half the seats had been occupied, which meant she wouldn’t have to worry about being stuffed in like a sardine and having people in their row tripping over her and Evan as they went out to go to the bathroom or get more popcorn.

  What would he do if she brushed her leg against his? No, that would be way too obvious. She’d have to sit here without moving around too much, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

  At least he’d agreed to being here at all, and that was something.

  The theater darkened, and she felt Evan shift in the seat next to hers, settling himself in. His long legs stretched out in front of him, and she had to keep herself from staring at the muscles of his thighs as they strained against his Levi’s.

  Like you don’t have a million other things to be thinking about, she scolded herself, but that wasn’t enough to keep her from catching one last glimpse before the trailers started and she had to at least pretend to be paying attention.

  The movie was, as she’d expected, kind of lackluster. However, it served its purpose of using up a few hours, and she relaxed as time went on and she didn’t get a twinge from the monster, or a sudden flare of heat from the black tourmaline she’d put back in her jeans pocket. Neither had the creature appeared in the theater, bursting through the screen before it went on to terrorize the audience.

  No, the whole experience had been entirely uneventful. They stayed through the credits; Zoe didn’t know if that was because Evan wanted to kill time any way he knew how, or because he was just the kind of person to stay until the bitter end. She generally liked to stay, since so many movies had little “Easter egg” scenes at the end, although they didn’t get that payoff here. The screen went dark, and it was time to get up and head out to the parking lot.