by Suz deMello
A sudden wind swirled around her, whipping her long red skirt into a fiery froth. She reached into her basket and threw a glittering handful of metal fragments onto the ground, onto Dexter and into the alcove that Sinister had recently vacated. “Iron for strength and lead to ground. Spirit of Matter, hear me now!”
Her voice echoed and boomed off the buildings. Summer lightning cracked through the dry and empty sky.
“Spirit of Stillness, hear my need!” She tossed a handful of gravel. In his recess, Dexter flinched.
“Spirit of Coldness, obey me!” Handfuls of ice chips from a plastic bag. They melted with contact from her energized fingers. A thin, chill rain began to fall.
“Spirit of Darkness, hear my plea!” As Elena threw several chicken bones on the ground and into the knights’ alcoves, she heard a steady clumping on the sidewalk approaching the Masonic Temple. The rattle and scrape of metal increased in volume as her spell gathered strength.
“Spirit of Sleep, guide my purpose!” She flung inky ashes from her cauldron, covering all. Sir Dexter slumbered in his niche.
Sinister approached.
In appearance he did not differ greatly from Dexter, except that his mailed hands were covered with a sticky red substance. Blood, she guessed, but she didn’t allow fear to overtake her. A terrified cat was crouching on his shoulder.
She faced Sinister. She gripped her topaz in one hand and raised her other palm high. Yowling, the cat leapt from its perch and fled into the night.
A phalanx of five police cars screeched to a halt and a flood of black-clad officers spilled out. One of them was Ben, who took in the scene with an expression of disbelief that shifted rapidly into anger when he saw Gina and Tom cowering behind Elena.
Tom had seen that look on his father’s face before. Dad was royally pissed off… Who would be his target? He shrank behind Elena’s commanding figure.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Ben snarled.
“I’m cleaning up my daughter’s mess,” Elena said crisply. “Stay out of the way, Ben.”
“You know this broad, McCulloch?” one of the other cops asked.
Ben squirmed. “Yeah, she, uh, takes care of my son.”
Tom winced with embarrassment and the other cops laughed derisively as Elena speared Ben with a glance that could have cut steel.
Sinister turned and swept one mailed arm across the nearest cop’s throat, lifting the officer off his feet. Flung across the sidewalk, he hit the hood of a car with a sickening crunch. Ben drew his gun and fired. Shots pinged off Sinister’s breastplate and ricocheted dangerously.
Elena’s free hand shot out and the gun dropped out of Ben’s hand. Bullets fell to the ground as the shots dissipated. “I said stay out of my way, Ben McCulloch!”
“The hell you say!”
Elena stepped between the rogue knight and Tom’s father. “Get thee gone.” Her voice was a low growl as she confronted Sinister. She tossed one last substance onto him, then ripped the topaz from around her neck, breaking the chain. She thrust it at Sinister. Power flowed from the gem. Golden rays spurted from between her fingers and arced toward him. He was thrown violently backward and up into his niche. He melted into the stone.
The night was suddenly still. The rain and lightning stopped. The wind died down. Elena unclenched her fingers and dropped the topaz into her pocket. Tom could see the gem’s residual glow through her skirt’s thin cloth. She sighed and said, “Okay, kids, show’s over. Into the car with you.” She seemed diminished, tired. She ignored Tom’s dad as though he were just another blank spot on the sidewalk.
Dad stepped between them and Elena’s car. “I’m taking Tom home.”
“Suit yourself,” Elena said, sounding indifferent. “Aren’t you on duty?”
“Er, yes, but I’m not sure that you’re a suitable monitor for my son.”
Her mouth firmed. “I told you what I am. Nothing has changed.”
After a tense pause, Elena turned and ushered Gina into the Caddy. Doors slammed. Elena and Gina drove off into the night and, Tom felt, out of their lives.
“What’s gonna happen now?” Gina asked nervously.
Elena sighed again and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. This was one of those difficult parental moments. She wished that Gina’s father were still around and that Ben McCullough hadn’t broken her heart. She collected her wits, reminding herself of what—and who—was truly important in her life. Gina.
“I can’t decide whether to ground you until you’re eighteen or teach you the craft.”
“I choose door number two.”
“It’s not your choice.”
“What about Ben?”
She hardened her heart. “Ben’s an asshole. Don’t repeat that and never use that word.” At a red light, she turned to her child, spearing her with a firm glance for emphasis.
“Why didn’t he tell the other cops that you’re into each other?”
Her mouth tightened. “He’s embarrassed by me because I don’t wear a suit and work in an office.”
“Sheez. Who’d want to do that?”
She accelerated away from the intersection. “A lot of people do, but not me, and apparently not you.”
“That’s ’cause we’re gypsies and witches.” Her daughter sounded proud and the pain around Elena’s heart eased a little. She told herself that maybe she wouldn’t have Ben McCulloch, but there were other men around. There always were. Though heartsore, she promised herself that she’d heal, just as she’d healed after Gina’s father had died.
She had the greatest kid in the world, and Gina made up for everything.
“That’s right, honey,” Elena said. “And if some stupid ol’ cop can’t accept it, that’s the breaks.”
* * * * *
There was a knock on the door the next morning at ten, and Elena answered it. Tom stood there, hands nervously twisting in the hem of his T-shirt.
“I’m sorry about last night,” he said. “Dad can really be a jerk sometimes.”
“Thank you, but you don’t have to apologize for your father. And you probably shouldn’t be here.” Leaving him, she went inside to find her cell phone. She was still furious and hurt about Ben’s conduct, but wouldn’t come between father and son.
She called Ben with sharp little stabs of her fingertips. When he answered with a growled “McCulloch,” she said, “Ben, your son is over here. He’s quite welcome, but—”
“Thanks for your call.” Ben sounded gruff. “Send him home right away, okay?”
Asshole, she thought and said, “Yes, sir!” without bothering to disguise the contempt in her voice. She hung up on him and told Tom, who’d followed her in, “Sorry, but your father wants you home right away.”
“So what?” Tom asked. “He treated you like shi—Er, sorry, but he’s off the wall.”
Uh-oh. Adolescent rebellion starting early. “I won’t help you disobey your father. You have to leave.” She walked to the door and held it open. “Of course, if you happen to bump into Gina at, um, Vic’s eating ice cream, I don’t have anything to say about it if I don’t know about it, right?” She smiled at him. She didn’t see why her daughter had to suffer by the loss of her friend just because his father was a jerk.
His brow cleared. “Okay!”
Elena handed Gina enough money for both kids to get a treat, and as Gina followed Tom out she turned and winked at her mother.
When the phone rang again, it was, to her everlasting surprise, another cop.
Chapter Two
The sheriff’s department Labor Day picnic was a big deal. Everyone—officers and their families—met at a local park to drink beer, eat barbecue and play softball. This year the crowd would include Elena and Gina as guests of Jake Redding, Ben McCulloch’s former partner.
When he’d phoned, he explained that he’d been present when Elena had defeated the knight and was very curious and interested in the phenomenon. There had been no repercussions, since none of the
officers present had wanted to admit that witchcraft had defeated a magical statue that had mysteriously been brought to life. And they hadn’t wanted to endanger their reputations or their status in the department by repeating an unbelievable tale. The injuries and property destruction had been pinned on gang bangers who’d gotten away.
At noon on Labor Day, Elena opened the door in response to Jake’s knock to see the handsome blond officer in long khaki shorts and a blue T-shirt that was snug enough to show off a lean, muscular torso. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she and Gina had dressed appropriately—they also were in shorts and T-shirts, in response to the hot weather.
She noticed he treated them with respect, opening the door of his Mustang convertible for her and making sure she and Gina were comfortable. A big change from Ben, who had never even taken her on a date. Their liaisons had consisted of drinking iced tea in her kitchen before riotous sex. Even so, she didn’t regret anything she’d done with Ben. The sex had been first rate, and she missed him in her bed.
She wondered if Jake had Ben’s bedroom skills. If so, maybe she’d keep him around for a while. She wouldn’t decide that all cops were jerks just because Ben McCulloch had come close to breaking her heart when he’d denied their relationship.
At Land Park, rows of tables were set up on the grass, with one long table placed at an angle, laden with food. A keg sat at one end, surrounded by a group of loud, guffawing officers. Further away, kids climbed on playground toys, and as soon as the car stopped, Gina jumped out and made a beeline for the other kids. Elena figured she was looking for Tom.
“Well, here we are,” Jake said, unlocking his seat belt. He leaned over and unlatched hers. Inhaling, she breathed in a whiff of his lime-scented aftershave. She reached for her door, but he leaped out of his side of the car to let her out before she could open it. He grabbed and pulled at the same time she pushed, and he stumbled back, losing his balance. The heavy door kept him on his feet.
They both laughed. “Thank you, Jake.” Elena swung her long, bare legs to the right, set her sandaled feet firmly on the ground and stood, thinking that if the same incident had happened with Ben, the moment would have been awkward. Jake was clearly relaxed around women, and she wondered how many flocked to his golden good looks, chiseled body and easy charm.
She wasn’t sure she liked the thought of sharing her man. Ben, for all his faults, had made it clear she was the only woman in his life.
“Can I get you a beer?” he asked.
“Sure.” She nodded at a group of women beneath a tree. “I’ll see you over there.”
Ben had watched Jake arrive with Elena. Anger curled a tight fist in his chest as he realized he didn’t like seeing his woman with another man.
His woman. From where had that freaky thought sprung? After he’d denied Elena in front of a bunch of his colleagues, he felt sure that she’d never take him back, and he’d thought he was reconciled to that. Now he knew he’d been lying to himself. It’s just because you didn’t expect to see her here, he told himself. You are not attached to that weirdo.
Even if she banged like a madwoman, looked like a model and intrigued him more than anyone he’d ever met.
She was a witch…for real. He didn’t know how he’d deal with that, or her, or whether he’d get the chance.
But he didn’t want the chance, did he?
Or did he?
Ben shoved his messy thinking to the back of his mind as Jake approached, took two big plastic cups and headed toward the keg, where Ben stood with a bunch of other cops. “Hey, Redding, who’s the broad?” one asked. “Didn’t I see her with McCulloch the other night?”
“Watch your mouth. She’s not a broad.” Ben’s temper surprised him.
Jake pushed through the group surrounding the keg. “No, she’s not.” He began to fill the cups, shooting a glare at Ben. “But she’s with me.”
“Hot,” another said.
Ben looked over the heads of the men to regard the women. Elena stood talking and laughing with them, and as he watched she pushed her mass of long, curly black hair away from her face and down her back. “Yeah, she’s hot all right.”
“Polly was cute, but this woman’s not much like Polly,” Jake said.
Ben turned. “No, she’s not like Polly. She’s not much like anyone else. She’s…Elena.” She didn’t have to be like Polly for him to want her, need her, respect her…even to love her, or at least let time go by and see what could happen between them.
The two men walked toward Elena. “I’m lucky you dumped her.”
“Yeah, and I’m stupid.” Scared was more like it. Ben didn’t like scared. He confronted fear every day on his job. He didn’t do scared, and he wouldn’t do it now.
“Your loss, my gain.”
Banishing fear, Ben shot him a narrow-eyed glance. “Not for long.”
“Hey, what does that mean?” Jake sounded resentful, and Ben hoped he wouldn’t have to tangle seriously with his former partner. But he would to get Elena back.
As they approached the group of women, Ben could see that Elena and another chick were sitting on the grass, and cards were spread between them. Elena, fondling her topaz with one hand, was explaining, “This card here, the Queen of Pentacles, represents you. This card, the Prince of Swords, is your husband. Tell me something. You make more money than he does and he can’t handle it, right?”
“Yeah,” the other woman said, sounding astounded. “How did you know that?”
A smug smile flitted across Elena’s face. “Tricks of the trade, a little intuition and a lot of experience reading the cards.”
“What should I do about it?”
“Make love a lot and let him be on top. Try bondage.” She winked.
The woman laughed, and Ben said, “So is my favorite witch giving advice?” He handed her a beer so he could wag a finger at her. “Better watch it. I might have to arrest you.” He leaned closer, trying not to fixate on her breasts, but they were nicely cradled by a snug T-shirt in hip, retro tie-dye. “Handcuff you.”
“Ooh, bondage.” Elena batted her eyelashes at him. “I might just let you.”
“Are you a real witch?” the woman asked.
“She’s for real, all right.” Ben hoped this show of public support would get him back into Elena’s good graces.
“How cool. Do you give tarot readings? Can I tell my friends?”
“Sure,” Elena said. The woman left, presumably to spread the word to her buddies.
“How’s it going?” Jake asked. “You havin’ a good time?”
“Yeah.” Elena collected her cards and stuck them in a pocket, then stood and dusted grass bits off her butt.
Jake’s eyes tracked the movement as though he were planning to put her in cuffs. Ben punched him lightly on the arm. “Watch yourself, bud.”
Elena asked, “Why so possessive? The other night you basically threw me to the wolves.”
“Take off, Redding,” Ben told Jake.
“If he gives you any trouble, let me know,” Jake said to Elena. Laughing, he walked away to join the rest of the cops.
Elena watched him go with astounded eyes. “What the hell is this, some kind of set-up?”
“No, no set-up.” Ben sighed and gathered his courage, hoping she wouldn’t blow him off, or worse, curse him into dust. He managed to look her in the eyes. “I hope you’re not going to hold a grudge. I was an asshole. I apologize. Okay?”
She set her fists on her hips and regarded him for a long moment during which he tried to avoid the vision of himself crumbling onto the ground.
“I guess,” she finally said. “I bet you think your changed attitude is gonna get you laid.”
“Well, duh.”
They both laughed and Ben felt better. Surely she wouldn’t be laughing if she still held a grudge.
“You are such a jerk,” she said.
“Yeah, but you like me anyhow.”
She sighed. “I know.”
&nbs
p; “Am I forgiven?” He caught her hand and tugged her toward him. “I really am sorry, you know. For everything. For rejecting you that night, for calling you phony… Everything.”
Elena eyed him. “I don’t know whether to believe in this new humility.”
“I’m for real, I swear. What do I have to do to convince you?”
She folded her arms across her breasts. Lucky breasts. She played with her topaz and considered.
He waited tensely, figuring that as long as golden flames didn’t shoot out of the magic stone, he was all right.
Jake returned and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. “Everything okay?”
Elena eyed Jake, then Ben, and smiled flirtatiously. There was a hint of ferocity in that grin, Ben thought. She said, “I just figured out what you can do to convince me.”
Ben’s mouth dropped open and he struggled to recapture his composure. He’d thought he was halfway to convincing her that he wasn’t such a bad guy after all, and partway to weaseling his way back into her bed. But if he’d correctly guessed what she wanted…
“No way,” he said.
She shrugged. “Then I guess you don’t want me back badly enough.”
“What are you two talking about?” Jake asked.
She grinned and slid a palm down his chest while taking Ben’s hand. “This is what I’m talking about.”
Jake’s eyes rounded. “Cool!”
“Cool? Cool? What’s cool about it?” Ben demanded.
“Haven’t you ever done a threesome?” Jake asked. “It’s incredible. Of course, it’s better with two chicks—”
“Better for whom?” Elena asked.
“Are you telling me you’ve done this before?” Ben asked her. He felt as though his world had shifted off its axis too many times. First Elena was a real witch, and now…
“No, but I’ve always wanted to,” she said. “The opportunity just hasn’t, uh, arisen.” She glanced down at Jake’s crotch, where a tent had sprung up.
He tugged at his shorts. “It has now, as far as I’m concerned. What’s wrong, McCulloch, you scared?”
