Never Look Back

by Sheri WhiteFeather

  Why was she twining her hair again? Was that a clue? Or a diversion? Something to make Allie less focused on Rory? "How interesting. I wasn't aware of his roots. What about Fallon's family?"

  "They're just average people. Nothing special."

  Which meant what? That she was primed for being a groupie? For craving something more?

  Yvonne's smile returned. "Am I confusing you, Allie-cat?"

  The nickname from her youth made her shudder. "Yes."

  "Good." Yvonne hung up the phone and blew her daughter a kiss, ending the session and signaling the guard that she was ready to go back to her cell.

  And gloat about the game.

  * * *

  Kyle, Joyce, Daniel and Derek gathered in Allie's living room. Raven was there, too. He hadn't shifted back to a bird. He was still human, and he was still Allie's lover. For the past two nights, they'd spent restless hours in each other's arms, touching and kissing.

  And now Allie was aware that Raven and Daniel were in the same room. She couldn't tell what was going through their minds. All she knew was that they'd spoken politely to each other when they'd been introduced.

  Joyce started the meeting. "Kyle found something significant on Lagarto."

  All eyes turned to the detective's husband.

  Allie shifted on the couch, waiting for Kyle to share his information. Daniel, who sat on a tapestry-printed chair, caught her gaze, then returned his attention to Kyle. Raven brushed his hand across Allie's thigh in a gesture of fleeting affection.

  "Lagarto stayed in Oklahoma instead of going to the Mescalero Reservation," Kyle said. "His descendants are part of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe. Now all we have to do is find them."

  "How many people are in that Nation?" Daniel asked.

  "In 1998, they had four hundred and twenty-five members. That's the most current figure I could find. Most of them live on land allotments in Oklahoma."

  Allie asked the next question. "Is the Lagarto family still there?"

  "I think so, but you know how private most Indians are. They don't like it when strangers start poking around, even other Indians." Kyle leaned against the counter that separated the living room from the kitchen. With his holey jeans and knee-high moccasins, he looked like a renegade. "No one will tell me for sure."

  "It's a start." Daniel stood up and stretched his legs. His jeans were crisply laundered. "You found out more than the rest of us did."

  When Daniel turned toward Allie and Raven, the men locked gazes. But only for a second. In the old way, prolonged eye contact was considered disrespectful, and Daniel and Raven were behaving like traditional Indians.

  "What happened with your mom today?" Joyce asked.

  Allie snapped out of the Raven-Daniel mode. "Yvonne admitted that it's either Rory or Fallon who's helping her." Turning to Derek, she said, "Can you put a binding spell on both of them?"

  His expression went sour. Up until now, he'd been quiet, listening to the conversation. "That wouldn't be fair to the witch who's innocent."

  "So we're supposed to sit around and wait for the guilty one to blast us with some evil magic?"

  "Nothing has happened yet," he argued.

  "But it could," she snapped back. "Raven keeps feeling the battle inside him."

  Derek stole a glance at the shape-shifter. "Fine. But I'm going to unbind the innocent witch when this is over."

  "Do whatever you think is right." Exhausted, Allie sighed. "But for now, you need to stop Rory and Fallon from being a threat."

  He agreed, and the meeting ended with everyone going home. Daniel said goodbye to Allie, and Raven walked him to the door, where they exchanged some private words. Allie assumed that Raven was thanking Daniel for trying to comfort Vanessa's ghost. Their voices were hushed, as though they were speaking softly of the dead.

  Later that night Raven shifted back to a bird and retreated to his nest. As Allie got ready for bed, the phone rang.

  Derek's frantic voice came over the line. He'd tried to bind Rory and Fallon, but the spells hadn't worked. Someone had tampered with his magic instead. Derek was powerless.

  Yvonne's groupie was one step ahead of them.

  And probably closing in on the prize.

  * * *

  A week later, Kyle located Lagarto's descendants. Allie took over from there and scheduled a trip to Oklahoma. Daniel wanted to go with her, so here they were on a misty afternoon in the Sooner state.

  Rain drizzled from the sky, spitting intermittent drops on the windshield. Daniel drove the rental car, and Allie glanced at the scenery. Farms and ranches dotted the terrain, and she wondered what it would be like to live in the midst of unspoiled land.

  "I'm not used to places like this," she said.

  "Me, neither. I like it, though."

  "Me, too."

  Thirty minutes later, they headed into town and turned onto Main Street. She noticed a Laundromat, a hair salon and a quaint little antique store.

  Daniel stopped the car at a crosswalk, and a trio of teenagers stepped off the curb. "What's the Indian population here?"

  "About fifty percent, I think."

  He slanted her a smile. "Then we fit right in."

  She knew he was kidding. A loft-loving artist and a Warrior Society activist didn't belong in a sleepy Oklahoma town. Los Angeles had been bred into their bones.

  "There's the diner." He parked the sedan.

  Allie checked her watch. They were early. "We should sit here for a few minutes."

  "That's fine."

  Silence encumbered them, and she realized that was part of their L.A. upbringing, too. They were used to noise, to people talking.

  She glanced at the front of the diner, where a rustic bench and a tall metal ashtray sat. The only member of the Lagarto family willing to discuss the amulet was the shaman's great-great-granddaughter, a young woman who worked as a waitress. But she'd refused to give them any information over the phone. She'd insisted on seeing them face-to-face.

  Daniel turned to look at Allie, and she spotted a glare in his glasses. The sun was bursting through the mist.

  "Are you worried about Raven?" he asked.

  "Kyle and Joyce are keeping an eye on him." Her lover kept shifting between bird and man. Bringing him to Oklahoma would have been difficult.

  "Fort Sill isn't that far from here."

  She sighed. "It's strange, isn't it? Knowing Raven and Vanessa lived in this area all those years ago."

  "Have you seen her since that night?" he asked, lowering the visor, cutting the glare.

  "No." But Vanessa's ghost remained in Allie's thoughts and in Raven's heart. She suspected that Daniel wasn't able to let her go, either. Vanessa consumed them all.

  And so did the amulet.

  He skimmed her knee, barely touching her. "We should go inside."

  She nodded, wishing he didn't affect her, wishing life wasn't so complicated. She wanted to kiss Daniel, to explore the soft, sweet attraction between them. But by the same dizzying token, she still needed Raven.

  Allie, the dreamer, the romantic, was having polygamous thoughts.

  They entered the diner, a ma-and-pa establishment with vinyl booths, a fried-food aroma and pie-cases with fruit-filled desserts.

  Allie approached the counter and asked the girl behind the cash register for Carmen Lagarto.

  "I'm her," the young woman said, tilting her name tag so it could be seen.

  Carmen had dark brown hair twisted into a messy bun, a flat-boned face and a pear-shaped body. Her uniform was blue, and her eyebrows were plucked too thin. She looked about nineteen, maybe twenty.

  Allie introduced herself and Daniel, and Carmen told them that she had to clock out and would be back in a second.

  When she returned, she was wearing a fresh coat of lipstick, a springy shade of peach that softened her features.

  "Let's go outside," Carmen said.

  They proceeded to the bench, where they sat in a row. The sun was still playing games with
the rain, making the weather as unpredictable as Allie's I'm-falling-for-two-men emotions.

  Carmen glanced at the ashtray and wrinkled her nose. "I hope you guys aren't smokers."

  "We're not," Daniel responded. He had to lean over to see the off-duty waitress. Allie sat between them.

  "I already talked to the man from the Witchcraft Museum," Carmen said. "Rory Bramwell."

  Allie exchanged a worried look with Daniel. "He was here?"

  "He came to see me about three weeks ago. My family was upset that I'd agreed to talk to him. They won't go near witches."

  "But you will?"

  She readjusted the pins in her hair. "Apache witches are bad, but Rory isn't Apache. Besides, I've been curious about the amulet all of my life." She lowered her hands, satisfied with her hair. "I was told about it when I was young, with a warning that it was dangerous. That if strangers ever asked me about it, I should ignore them. That they could be witches."

  "Do you believe any of that is true?"

  "Yes, but Lagarto kept it safe because he was trying to help Raven and Vanessa, and that's what I'm trying to do, too. Rory told me their names. My family just called them the warrior and his wife. They don't speak the names of the dead. Or of those who've been cursed."

  Allie's voice jackknifed. "Do you know where the necklace is?"

  "No. But I can tell you how Lagarto hid it from the witches." Carmen squinted. "But first I want to know why you're looking for it. Rory told me his story, now I want to hear yours. I want to be sure I can trust you."

  "I'm not a witch," Allie said. "But I'm related to the witches who cursed Raven."

  Carmen's squint vanished, her eyes going wide. "Oh, my God. You're the woman Lagarto told Vanessa about. You're her."

  Everything went still. Including Allie's heart. Daniel reacted, too. Sucking in a stunned breath.

  They waited, motionless, soundless, for Carmen to sweep them back in time.

  To the day Lagarto had predicted the future.

  * * *

  Vanessa waited for Lagarto, her heart pounding with anxiety, with fear, with hope. She stood behind a hay shed, hidden from view. The bales were stacked a mile high, the grassy scent mingling with the pungent smell of horses, cattle and manure.

  She'd agreed to meet Lagarto late in the day, but not so late that the sun would disappear. Being in the dark was too dangerous. The owls, the witches, came out at night.

  She fisted the amulet and pressed the engraved side against her palm. She'd stolen the necklace from Sorrel's house, taking back what was rightfully hers. Zinna's daughter had been bragging for days, spouting off about how she and her mother had cursed Raven.

  Footsteps sounded, and she spun around, her cotton dress swishing from the motion. She saw Lagarto, and the shaman's presence brought tears to her eyes.

  He was a short man, built like a little bull, with lines that mapped his face. His graying hair was covered with a Western hat. He and his family helped raise the cattle that grazed nearby.

  He cupped his weathered hands, and she dropped the amulet into them. His power came from Bear, from the one who "knows." Lagarto was sought after for his prophecies.

  Vanessa waited, barely able to breathe. He said a prayer, creating his own quiet ceremony. She knew he was trying to locate Raven.

  When he shook his head, her heart dropped.

  "Your husband won't be coming home," he said. "A hundred years will pass. Just as the witches claimed."

  Vanessa didn't say anything. It would be rude for her to ask a question, to interrupt him. So she remained quiet.

  Inside, she was dying. How could she survive without her husband?

  He fingered the amulet, tracing the wings of the bird. "A woman from the future will try to break the curse. She will try to use the amulet as a talisman." He lifted the brim of his hat, a frown marring his brow. "She is a relation to the witch, but she uses her power in a good way. She and Raven…"

  He stopped speaking, and Vanessa's limbs went weak. She backed against the hay shed for support. The look in Lagarto's eyes was much too telling. In a hundred years, Raven would return to being a man. And this woman, the relative of the witch, would become his lover.

  "I understand," she said.

  "Others will try to help, too." He fingered the engraving again. "I don't know if they will succeed, if your husband's soul will be saved."

  Zinna could prevail, Vanessa thought.

  "Will you keep the amulet safe?" she implored, her words quavering. She wanted to believe that Raven could be saved, that he could continue his life in another century, even if he was with another woman, even if envisioning him with someone else was ripping her apart. "Will you hide it?"

  "Yes, of course." Lagarto's voice was kind, gentle. He promised to bless the amulet, then seal it inside of a gourd rattle, to keep it away from the witches, to make it available for the future, just in case it could be used as a talisman.

  She paid the shaman for his service and returned to her empty house, bursting into tears. No matter what the future held, Raven wasn't coming home. Her husband was gone.

  For Vanessa, there was nothing left.

  Nothing to live for.

  Chapter 14

  A lump tightened Allie's throat. She felt like a thief, as though she'd stolen Vanessa's husband.

  Yet it was destiny. An ancient prediction.

  But somehow that didn't help. She felt horribly sad for Raven's wife, for a woman—a ghost—she'd come to care about.

  Allie stood up, needing to stretch her legs, to pull herself together. Daniel remained seated. He glanced at her, and she took a deep breath.

  "I wish Lagarto's prophecy had been more positive," she said, her words as unsteady as her heart. "That he would have predicted me breaking the curse."

  "Me, too." Daniel watched her through concerned eyes. "But at least he found a clever way to hide the amulet. Now we know it's a gourd rattle we should be searching for."

  Carmen spoke up. "Lagarto died in 1916. Normally, all of his possessions would have been burned, but he'd told his wife not to destroy the rattle after he was gone."

  Daniel made a puzzled face. "Then your family should still have it."

  "Yes, we should. But we don't. It was sold to white traders. Lagarto's wife didn't want to keep the rattle after he was gone. She knew the amulet was inside, and she was afraid of it."

  "Because it had been used as a witchcraft tool?" Daniel asked.

  Carmen nodded. "Lagarto fell apart after Vanessa died. He blamed himself for her suicide. He kept saying that he shouldn't have told her about his prophecy."

  "I can understand how he felt," Allie said. "But he did what he thought was right at the time. Vanessa came to him for answers, to find out what was in store for Raven."

  "That's true. But he stopped using his power after that. He stopped making predictions."

  Allie resumed her seat. "So his wife thought the amulet had ruined him? And that it wasn't worth the risk?"

  "She knew the witch who'd cursed Raven would try to get it back," Carmen responded, as the sun faded and the weather turned misty once again. "Lagarto had told her as much." The waitress frowned. "I hope I didn't supply the enemy with information. Rory said he didn't believe in the curse, so I assumed he wasn't a threat. And since he isn't an Apache witch, I figured that his story was true. That he just wanted to put the amulet in a museum."

  "It's possible that his story is true," Allie said. "But the witch helping Zinna isn't Apache. So we can't be sure."

  "Rory could be the bad guy?" Carmen's shoulders slumped. "Maybe I should have stayed out of this. Maybe my family was right."

  Allie touched the other woman's hand. "You're helping me and Daniel and everyone else who's trying to save Raven. What you told us was invaluable."

  "Really? Oh, thank goodness." She studied Allie, looking closely at her. "What's he like?"

  He. She knew Carmen meant Raven. "He's a good man."

  "Does he miss
his wife?"

  "Yes, very much." Allie fought the tears Vanessa had cried.

  The young waitress sighed. "But I'll bet he's attached to you, too."

  Allie didn't respond. Instead she thanked Carmen for her help and asked her to keep quiet, to not tell anyone else about the amulet.

  Carmen agreed, and they parted ways. Allie walked away with Daniel by her side.

  On the plane ride home, she turned toward him. She wanted to lean her head on his shoulder, to close her eyes, to relax, but she feared getting too close to him.

  "I assume Raven told you how much he appreciates what you did for Vanessa," she said. "That you tried to soothe her."

  "Yes, he did." He stuffed his empty peanut package into the drink he'd just finished and closed the tray in front of him. "I'm honored by the way he feels."

  She watched him hand the cup to the flight attendant who came down the aisle. "He was envious of you before that."

  Daniel seemed surprised. "How could someone like him be envious of someone like me?"

  "Because he saw what was happening." She spoke honestly, giving him a piece of herself, the part that was divided between two men. "He knows I'm attracted to you."

  "Are you still his lover?" he asked.

  "Yes."

  He kept his distance. "Then it doesn't matter."

  That wasn't true, Allie thought. It mattered more than it should.

  She looked into Daniel's eyes, into those strangely alluring glasses, and the plane hit a pocket of turbulence.

  But that wasn't the only rough spot they had to endure. When they arrived at the loft, Raven was still a raven, and Kyle and Joyce had some bad news.

  An announcement had come in Allie's mail, inviting her and a guest to a black-tie party on Friday night at the Witchcraft Museum.

  For the debut of its latest acquisition.

  An Apache amulet called The Vanessa.

  * * *

  On the day of the party, Allie took a long, hot bath, scented with botanical extracts and brimming with bubbles. Raven, who was in his human form, sat on the edge of the tub.

  "I'm going to pull you in," she said, teasing him, trying to lift his spirits.