“Look, I appreciate you trying to help. But no. I don’t want you to—oh, my God.” Apparently, the storm had held back until that moment. Rain pelted down onto the vehicle with renewed force and she could barely hear herself think. “Okay. Okay, yeah. Can you drive?”
“I told you I would.”
“Yeah, I can’t see anything in this—what’s that?” The Winnie took a bend in the road and beyond the tall Amazonian hardwood trees lining the narrow, one-lane highway was a large white rectangle. Lily squinted and slowed in case it moved.
“It looks like a van.”
Lily rolled to a stop beside the other vehicle apparently stranded somewhere between Nanchital and Villahermosa. Steam puffed from the white van’s open hood into the heavy rain. A man and a woman both had their heads bent under the hood. The woman gestured wildly at him, clearly furious, and opened her mouth for a huge, lung-shocking breath when she stepped back into the ridiculous amount of rain. Both of them looked up at the huge RV at least twice the size of their plain white van with tinted windows in the back. It was a little dented in a few places but mostly looked well-maintained, except for the engine trouble.
Romeo rolled down his window enough to shout at them. “Necesitan ayuda?”
“Cómo?” The man turned to the woman and rivers of rainwater streaked down their faces and trailed clumps of hair into their eyes. His companion’s long black hair clung to her neck and shoulders beneath her tank top. They held a short inaudible conversation in the rain before the man stepped toward the Winnie’s open window. “You’re American.”
“Yep.” He smiled and nodded at the van. “It looks like there’s something wrong with your engine. Maybe the radiator. If you want, I can take a look.”
“No, gracias.” The man shook his head and lifted his hand for a terse, anxious-looking wave at Lily. She returned the gesture and leaned toward the window to hear better. “I’m sure we have it covered.” As soon as he said it, another huge burst of steam or smoke spewed from the open hood. The woman leapt back and flung out a string of curses in Spanish. Her companion at the window looked briefly at her, then offered Romeo an apologetic smile and shrugged. “This happens all the time. We’ll be fine.”
He tilted his head and studied both the broken-down van and the woman in front of it, who now couldn’t decide if she wanted to pace in frustration or kick the front bumper. Instead, she slapped one hand on her hip and the other against her forehead in an effort to shield her eyes from the rain.
“Are you sure? I think we passed maybe two other people today coming from Córdoba. There was no one behind us or in front of us that I could see. You guys might be here for a while if you don’t get that thing up and runnin’ on your own.” He stuck his thumb over his shoulder. “I have my tools in the back, though. I can take a look. I’m usually good with engines, but if I can’t fix anything for you, we’re happy to drive you both as far as Villahermosa. That would at least get you out of the rain instead of being stuck in the middle of nowhere.” He shrugged and raised an eyebrow to emphasize his win-win offer.
The man frowned and glanced at the woman, who scoffed and jerked her arms out as if she waited for him to do something. He took a deep breath and sighed while the rainwater streamed down his face and over his lips. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah. Muchas gracias.” The man nodded and lowered his arms to his sides, giving up his fight to not accept help from passing strangers in a huge American RV.
“De nada. We’ll pull up ahead of you, okay? Then, I’ll grab my stuff and see what I can do.”
“Yeah. Okay.” He raised his hand in another half-hearted wave before he turned and joined the woman in front of the van again.
Romeo nodded at Lily. “Go ahead. Park as close as you can in front of them.” He rolled his window up and pointed ahead.
Lily turned the wheel and eased the huge RV onto the shoulder. “I didn’t know we have tools in the back.”
“We don’t.” He took a deep breath and turned to look at her. “I smelled magic, Lil.”
She paused. “I definitely wouldn’t have pegged them as witches.”
“I don’t think they are. Which is why I lied about the tools and why I think we should check it out.”
“Do you think some magical’s messing with them? Hexed their car to…what, leave them stranded out here?”
He shook his head and unbuckled his seatbelt. “Maybe. I don’t know. I understand being frustrated that their van broke down, but she seemed a little overly pissed. And he looked scared of something. Most people would’ve said something about not wanting to trouble us or that we should stay out of the rain and head on anyway.” He shifted in his seat, started to stand, and sat again to frown at her. “I can’t shake the feeling that they’re hiding something.”
“Well, I’ll be the first person to tell you to go with your gut.” She turned the engine off and took the keys from the ignition to be safe before she unbuckled her seatbelt and shoved the keys in the back pocket of her jeans. “You’ve trusted mine enough times.”
“Okay.” They stood together and he headed through the RV’s living area. “Can I use that duffel bag under the bed?”
“The one that’s full of books?”
He raised his eyebrows and nodded.
“Why—oh…tools. Yeah, but make sure it’s zipped all the way.”
“Thanks.” When he’d hauled the bag out from under the bed and slung the strap over his shoulder, he nodded at her again and opened the Winnie’s side door into the rain.
The minute she stepped out behind him, she was soaked all the way through. The rain wasn’t exactly cold but there was so much of it that the sheer volume of it was overwhelming. She opened her mouth wide to catch a breath. It’s like breathing in the shower.
They walked along the shoulder flooded with rainwater that streamed down the shallow hill behind them. The rain was so loud, they didn’t hear the couple arguing in front of the van until they’d passed the RV’s rear fender and stopped between the vehicles. The woman yelled so quickly in Spanish that even Romeo couldn’t catch what she said over the rain. She cut off mid-sentence when she saw the strangers standing there, drenched and smiling, and snorted in disgust before she glared at her companion. “Si pasa algo, te culpo.”
Romeo cleared his throat. “All right. Let’s take a look.” He dropped the duffel bag with a thud and stood over it to lean over the exposed engine.
For all Lily knew, he was actually trying to fix their car, too. The man turned to give her another apologetic smile. When the woman saw it, she slapped his shoulder with the back of a hand and started in on him again in rapid Spanish.
“Okay, okay.” He raised his hands in surrender, backed away, and folded his arms. The woman sent Lily another scathing glare and gestured toward the werewolf bent over the hood.
She merely shrugged in the face of the animosity. Yeah, there’s definitely something weird going on.
Her friend ducked his head to avoid hitting it on the lifted hood, straightened, and scratched his head. “Hey, Lily. Come here for a sec.”
“Yep.” Her one word was stolen away by the fierce rush of the storm around them and she stepped forward quickly.
He leaned toward her and pointed at the engine but said only loud enough for her to hear over the rain, “I have no idea what’s going on with their car. But the magic I smell is definitely not from either of them.”
“Well, we didn’t ask if there was anyone with them.”
“I have a feeling they wouldn’t tell us even if we did ask. Follow my lead, okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey.” He nodded at the stranded couple, who’d started walking toward them the minute he lowered his voice. “It looks like what you really need is…oh, maybe four quarts of 15W-40 and probably some extra coolant to be on the safe side.” He didn’t miss a beat with rambling quickly in English as he stepped around the side of the van and headed toward the back. She m
oved with him, close to his side. “I always like to go with Delo with an oil tank that’s giving me the runaround at the last minute. Do you guys have any on you in the back?”
The couple exchanged a confused glance. “Que hace?” the woman asked.
“Yeah, of course you do. I’ll take a quick look—”
“Carlos!” The woman glared at her companion and gestured fiercely at the back of the van with an anxious grimace.
“Oye!” The man jogged a few steps toward them. “I didn’t hear everything you said. Why you gotta be back here to fix the engine, huh?”
The woman glanced nervously from one man to the other, and Lily prepared to cast whatever spell she had to at this point.
“I’m only lookin’ for oil, man.” Romeo smiled. “Come on. Nobody drives around down here without supplies.” He stretched his hand toward the black handle on the van’s back double doors.
“Ni a putas.” The woman lurched toward them, shook her head, and waved both hands. “No. No! No abras esas puertas!”
“What’s going on?” He gazed at each of them in turn while both babbled incoherently at him under the pelting rain. “Wait, what? I can’t…I can’t hear you—”
“Basta!” the woman shouted and shoved him hard in the chest.
He stumbled back. “Woah, hey. I’m only trying to help.”
“You better go,” the man named Carlos shouted.
A bright flash erupted inside the van—bright enough to be seen through the darkly tinted windows—and the vehicle rocked wildly on its tires. Everyone froze to stare at what the couple definitely didn’t want anyone else to see. Romeo met his friend’s gaze, nodded, and reached for the door again. The woman shrieked and attacked him with her fists this time, but Lily clenched her fist around thin air and jerked her arm back. Her spell caught the woman and yanked her back across the asphalt. Her sneakers slid across the flooded surface and her arms flailed in front of her as she tried to break free and keep the couple away from the back doors. Carlos didn’t really do anything but stare at his companion in complete shock, and that gave the werewolf the opportunity to grasp the handle of the double doors and haul them both wide open.
Lily almost lost her grip on the spell when she saw what was inside. “Oh, my God.”
Six
Two kids—maybe ten years old, if that—barefoot and in dirty clothes, huddled together inside the van. The little girl threw her arm around the boy, who rocked constantly with his knees drawn to his chest and his hands clamped over his ears. Although she breathed heavily, the girl glared fiercely at Romeo from the van’s dark interior. She blinked when she realized she was staring at a completely different face she didn’t recognize at all.
“Ayúdanos.” Her voice was small and terrified, but the force of her plea broke through the heavy rain, fueled by desperate courage to ask for help in the first place.
“Están heridos?” he asked. She shook her head and wrapped her other skinny arm around the front of the boy.
“Romeo?” Lily stared at his clenched fists. He’s about to lose it. The woman she held fixed in place with her spell stopped struggling and now stared in horror at the interlopers.
“Okay,” Carlos said and stepped toward the open doors. “Let me tell you—”
Romeo moved with a speed only werewolves could manage. He snatched the front of the man’s shirt in his fist, growled, and pounded him against the inside of the open door. Carlos’ mouth fell open in pain and he clenched his eyes shut. “Tell me what? Why you have two kids in the back of your van, scared out of their minds and asking me to help them? Yeah, go ahead and tell me. And I swear, if it’s not the truth, slamming you against the door is gonna feel like a massage.”
“Sí. Sí.” Carlos nodded vigorously, his hands raised almost to his face in surrender. “Okay. We are only supposed to bring them to Oaxaca.”
The woman struggled again within Lily’s spell and shouted something else in rapid Spanish.
“Why?” he growled.
“I-I don’t know. We only grab the kids and drive them, okay?”
“Carlos!”
“Raquél, cállate!” For the first time, he looked angry when he told his partner to shut it.
He shoved the guy against the door again to redirect his attention. “What happens in Oaxaca?”
“I don’t know. We hand them over, and that’s it, hombre. I swear.”
“If I have to ask you another question, Carlos, you’ll have to spit a few teeth out first to answer.”
“Yeah, okay. I get it. Oye, we get a call. Llamada por teléfono, okay? I don’t know who. They say, ‘Go to this town.’ We go. We grab los niños. We drive them to Oaxaca. Then whoever meets us there takes them, and that’s it.”
“And you get paid.”
“Well, yeah.”
Romeo growled again and shoved the man so hard against the door that he uttered a strangled cry.
“All right.” Lily divided her focus between holding the snarling Raquél in the snare of her magic and stepping toward the van. “Romeo, I don’t think you’ll squeeze anything else out of him.”
“P-por favor,” Carlos stammered. “Don’t squeeze.”
The werewolf glared at him for a few seconds and his jaw muscles rippled as he clenched his teeth and held himself back. “Don’t talk.”
She slipped between Romeo and the other open door and smiled gently at the kids in the van despite an almost overwhelming desire to annihilate these people first. “Hey. Everything’s okay.”
The boy hadn’t stopped rocking with his hands on his ears and his head tucked between his knees. The girl, though, was clearly aware and alert, but her wide eyes flickered toward Romeo in confusion.
With a sigh, he held Carlos pinned to the door with both hands now and turned to look at the kids. He asked a series of questions in Spanish, and the girl replied quickly in very few words. At his last question, she nodded vigorously and looked from him to Lily and hope flared in her eyes. “Por favor.”
“They were kidnapped, Lily.” His voice trembled with restraint. “By these assholes.” He knocked Carlos against the door again and released a spray of rainwater onto everything that was already soaked through. “Yesterday or the day before, she thinks, because they haven’t been out of this van once.”
I should tell him to rip this guy apart. She took a deep breath, released it slowly, and wiped the rain out of her eyes with the hand she didn’t currently use to hold her spell on the woman behind them.
“We have to take them with us,” he added. “The kids. They wanna come with us.”
“Okay.” She nodded her head toward the little girl and stretched her hand out. “Come on. It’s okay.”
The child nodded, then rubbed the boy's arms and turned to him in an attempt to coax him out of his ceaseless rocking. Lily didn’t think the boy could manage it, but he finally lifted his head, sniffed, and crawled after his companion toward the open doors. He didn’t look at Lily when the girl took her hand and accepted help out of the van. His friend had to grab his hand to lead him out, and Romeo said something to the kids in Spanish. With their hands clasped tightly, they both stepped off of the shoulder until they were almost hidden in the huge, tall leaves of the plants beside the highway, the fronds bent low beneath the endless rain.
“I think we’re done,” Romeo growled at Carlos.
“W-what are you—”
“Shut up.” He hauled the man completely off his feet with both hands and launched him into the back of the van like a suitcase before he jabbed a finger at him in a gesture to stay where he was.
Lily looked at Raquél, who seethed at them and obviously waited for the opportunity to lash out. She wouldn’t get it. “You too.” She jerked her closed fist down to her thigh and the prisoner lurched toward the van under the pull of the young witch’s spell.
As she whisked past her captor, she raised a clawed hand for what would have been a vicious slap to whatever she could reach. Lily whipped her
fist in a circle, and the woman spun with a shriek before she toppled onto her miserable partner. She scrambled off him and turned her ire on Carlos, spitting and cursing in Spanish until Lily had enough and swept them both with her memory-wipe spell. The sparkling blue mist cut Raquél’s words off, Carlos coughed, and they both slumped in a heap.
“If I knew how to make that spell go farther than the last twelve hours, I would’ve.” She glanced at Romeo, her lips pressed so tightly together, they began to tremble.
“I know.” He glared at the slumped bodies. “Should we call somebody?”
“Like the cops?” They exchanged a hesitant glance. “Well, yeah, these people need to be locked up. But…honestly, I think getting involved in a criminal case or whatever in Mexico, especially with non-magicals…”
“Yeah, I know.” He sighed. “That’s time on the road we can’t really afford to lose right now.”
She nodded but it felt wrong to smile right now. “Okay. So we leave them— Hey—”
The little girl walked boldly between them and stepped up into the van. The couple exchanged glances, then looked at the little boy still partially hidden behind the huge leaves. He watched his friend and the van with his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
“What’s she—”
The child stepped over the unconscious bodies of her kidnappers and paused long enough to spit. Lily jerked her head back in surprise, and the corner of Romeo’s mouth twitched. She walked all the way to the front and opened the center console. When she retrieved whatever she wanted from that, she closed it again and snatched something else from the depression in the dash between the cupholders. She returned quickly to the open back doors, leapt out, and tossed a cluster of zip-ties held together with a twisted piece of wire onto the rough carpet. She tipped her head back to shoot Romeo a pointed glance and stepped back.
“Yes, ma’am,” he muttered, pulled two strips of plastic from the bundle, and held one out to Lily. When she looked at the little girl, she found only a dauntless persistence in the child’s eyes. Without comment, she took the zip-tie and hopped into the van with Romeo.
Any Witch Way (The Witch Next Door Book 3) Page 4
