He deposited a serving dish on the cart and swung around to look at me. "I still have the Call."
Shrugging, I said, "So?"
"My Calling is tied to you. As long as I have this push, it is unlikely that we will have uneventful lives. It is unlikely that these adventures will end with the Wapiti."
"How do you know that? This could be the last thing." That sounded more like wishful thinking than reality.
He shook his head. "With warnings of demons yet to come, Varro's medallions around our necks, family conflicts, and police cases? Life shall be interesting for some time."
I sagged against a counter. I'd been doing a really good job of avoiding putting everything together until he said it like that. Sylvia's warning of additional demons had seemed more like fearmongering than truth, but she hadn't lied about anything else. And as much as I wanted Varro's necklaces to be trinkets, I knew better. The clans were their own problem, one I didn't have an answer for yet. With a little luck, the police would take care of them for me—but I wouldn't bet on it.
"After…" Unable to find the right words, I waved my hand in the air. "I keep hoping life will go back to the way it was, with nothing more than simple police cases. But that's not going to happen, is it? If I were an elf, I'd have a Calling, but I'm a witch so I have the stupid Ieldra mark. No matter what I hope, the craziness of the world is locked on to me… us."
"We are never given more than we can handle."
"Maybe, maybe not." I snorted. "If I'm going to be stuck with demons and witches, at least I have a crotchety elf who's looking out for me."
"No more than you have done for me." Elron kissed the back of my hand. "Chin up."
"Thank you," I said.
"Hmm?"
"For having my back, being there when I need you, and wanting to be in my life."
"Is that not what a"—he said the word slowly—"boyfriend does?"
"It's what good partners do, be they boyfriends, girlfriends, or just friends." As I said that he froze, and I hurried through the rest. "But I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend."
Elron relaxed and smiled. "I know I have said that my Calling draws me to you, but it does not define my feelings. Calling or no, I want to be with you."
"I never doubted that." And I hadn't. The Calling could've accounted for some of his actions, but it couldn't make him care, watch over me, or seek me out when he was sad. Those were his feelings.
"Michelle, I love you."
I didn't hesitate to reply. "I love you too." There were many types of love, but we'd moved past the love of friends into something deeper and more romantic. This was a love I intended to nurture, to keep strong for years to come.
The moment was broken by a knock on the door. Elron stepped back. "Come in."
Landa came in. "Are you finished with the cart?"
"Yes, breakfast was delicious," I said.
"My pleasure, child." She rolled the cart out of the apartment, and the door swung shut behind her.
"What time did Rodriguez say you could retrieve your vehicle?"
I checked the clock. "They'll be open."
"I can drive you into town. I have to go to the university today, so it is not an inconvenience," Elron said.
"That would be nice, thank you." Maybe I could reclaim the rest of the stuff from my car. My purse, phone, dress for the wedding, and the kit I usually took to cases were all in there. I pushed away from the counter. "When do you want to get going?"
"We can leave whenever you want. All I have to do is grab a bag from my apartment and I will be ready."
"Let's get going now. I can't do anything useful here, and I want to get my car back." I had serious doubts that my car would be exactly as I'd been forced to leave it. There had to be something they'd considered evidence. Something small and inconsequential would be preferred, since I could replace floor mats and the like without much trouble.
"Meet me at the front door." Elron let himself out.
I filled a travel mug with tea and a large bottle with water, then ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and braid my hair. On the way out, I had to stop myself from checking for keys or my purse. Even my sunglasses had been in the car.
Elron was downstairs, a messenger bag hanging off one shoulder and two small canvas bags in his hand. He gave me one of them, and we headed outside. Peeking inside, I found a variety of snack food and a sandwich. I stuck the bottle of water in the bag and slid into his car.
It was a quiet ride into town. Elron wished me good luck when he dropped me off. I gave him an uncertain smile and thanked him. He drove off slowly, as if he thought I would call him back at any moment.
As grateful as I was to everyone who'd helped me, I was getting tired of saying thank you all the time. I was starting to sound like a broken record.
I went inside but didn't get a chance to talk to the man behind desk because Rodriguez came out of the back room, a stack of papers in his hand.
When he saw me, he smiled and raised his hand in a greeting. "Michelle, I thought you'd be in today."
"I've got to get my car back. Can't help people with magical emergencies without transportation."
Rodriguez looked at the guy at the desk. "I've got this one." The man nodded, and Rodriguez looked at me. "Come on. You've got a lot of paperwork."
Giving a resigned sigh, I followed him into a small room with a table barely large enough for the three chairs that surrounded it and a cup of pens in the center. I took a seat next to Rodriguez.
He handed me my phone. "You can catch up on messages while I get the paperwork."
I nodded and he left the room. After checking my messages—which included ten from my parents, two from Elron, and several from Tiffany and Amber—I called Amber and left a message telling her that I was home safe and wanted to get together. Tiffany's phone also went straight to voice mail, so I did the same thing.
Rodriguez came back in with two chubby files. "I'm sorry about this, but the paperwork is mandatory."
I shrugged. It wasn't like it was a surprise.
"Bad news first. I found evidence that one of your tires was tampered with, giving you a flat."
I had a feeling I knew where this was going, and it wasn't in a positive direction.
"Bottom line, we had to keep the one wheel: tire, rim, everything. The rest of the car is fine, as are your belongings. When you leave here today, you'll have your purse, magical supplies, dress, and phone."
"My car is a tripod?" I skipped right over all the good news. My car wasn't a three-wheeler; it needed all four wheels to run, and my spare was a little donut that was only good for forty miles. I'd barely make it through the day with that thing.
"Deep breath, Michelle. It's not as bad as it sounds."
"Then how bad is it?" If there was good news about my car, this would be the time to share.
"I know you need the car, so I called my cousin. He works at a scrapyard and found an identical wheel and a lightly used tire, so we put them on your car."
"Rodriguez, you didn't have to do that. Thank you." He'd made sure that I would have a useable car today, rather than spending several hours getting it towed to a shop and repaired.
"I know, but I wanted to. You've had a rough few weeks, and you've always been there when we needed you, so it only seemed fair that we return the favor." His cheeks were turning pink.
"I'll send a card or something. That was really nice."
"Keep that in mind as you go through the paperwork." He slid the first sheet over. "Initial here, print your name there, and sign at the bottom."
I took the pen from him, and we went through a stack of paper that was larger than what I'd had to sign when I bought the car. When we were done, he handed me the key and led me around the side of the building. There it was, sitting on four wheels and missing the thick coat of dust that had covered it last time I'd seen it.
"You washed it too?"
"Something between washed and collected evidence."
I gave him a hug. "You do your momma proud."
Rodriguez groaned. "Don't let the other guys hear you saying that. Off you go. I'll call you when I hear back from the local police."
Smiling, I thanked him again and hurried to my car. Sure enough, all my stuff was inside. I checked my phone again before I hit the road and found messages from Amber and Tiffany. They wanted to meet for a late lunch at the cafe. After checking the clock, I returned the messages and solidified the plan. It would be nice to see them, and I had plenty of time to run home and empty out my car before lunch.
I turned onto the road. The new tire was a little bit noisier than my old one, but it held air, and that's what mattered. While I was cruising down the road, I debated what protections I could put on my car to prevent another abduction.
It wasn't as simple as blocking a specific spell or creating a power threshold. With enough witches, they could counter any spells I was able to cast. And if they could counter the spell, then I was looking at it the wrong way. What I needed to do was put a spell on the car they would manipulate, and have their work trigger a second spell. The second spell could backlash against them and warn me of their actions. That might be as good as it got. Next time I had a few minutes to spare, I'd do the spells.
Nearing the driveway to the lodge, I slowed down. There was a plain cardboard box leaning against a tree. The mailbox was closer to the house, and any other delivery service would have gone to the door, so that box shouldn't have been there.
Double-checking the rearview to make sure no one was behind me, I slowed down to a crawl. While it was possible that the package was innocent, enough things had happened lately that suspicion was second nature. Plus it felt wrong.
Scanning the road and tree line, I checked for people or anything else that caught my eye. When I didn't see anything, I stopped the car several feet from the driveway, debating what I should do next. Calling Rodriguez over a box seemed like an overreaction, but opening it didn't seem smart either. Since I couldn't sit in the road debating the problem much longer, I decided that the best thing I could do was get to the lodge and tell Landa about it.
I swung out wide, wanting to give the box plenty of room. My car bumped off the pavement and onto the gravel. I crept along, trying to avoid throwing any gravel at the box. Then it happened—a sturdy piece of rock took flight and hit the box squarely on the side.
The top popped open and a puff of smoke emerged. As slow as I was going, I had to slam on the brakes to avoid the brick wall that appeared in front of me. I shifted into reverse and had my foot on the gas, ready to back out of the driveway and make my getaway, when another brick wall appeared behind me.
That was it; I bailed out of the car, darting into the brush on the side of the driveway. Safely behind a tree, wand out, I watched as my car was boxed in by magical brick walls. At least I wasn't trapped in there with it.
I stretched out my senses. Someone had to be here, because no one would go to the effort of constructing a spell like that without leaving a person or two to ensure success. There—there was a witch on the other side of my car. With two brick walls between us, I couldn't see her, but I could sense she was there. A second witch was close, but the amount of power in the air from the wall spells was masking her position. The residual magic could be blocking my ability to sense other things too, but I couldn't worry about that now.
Looking around, I couldn't see her, but she was getting closer so I had to figure out my next move. Staying put didn't seem like a good choice. I didn't have much cover and I was near the car, which was the first place they'd look when they realized I wasn't inside their spell. Although moving wasn't a great option either. I could change position only to run into one of them, or it was also possible that one or both of them already knew where I was and was coming for me. I would be able to tell if they were casting a spell, but they would know the same about me.
That made it seem like they had all the advantages, but this was my home ground. These woods and this earth cared about me and had helped me in the past, and now there was an elf living here who had encouraged their affection and given them incentive to be more opinionated than the average forest.
A spell came at me, and I had enough time to panic but not enough time to deflect it. I really hoped it didn't hurt.
The spell never hit. Varro's medallion warmed up and ate it. I mean, that's what it looked like from this angle. One instant there was a spell, and the next the medallion felt energized and the spell was gone.
I didn't stop to ponder the sequence of events but darted for another tree. There would be plenty of time to test the medallion later, though after all the tests I'd run on it I wasn't expecting to learn anything but what it wanted to reveal.
Behind me I heard a curse and a thud. Swinging around, I found the brunette, whose name I still didn't know, on her hands and knees. In a matter of seconds, I had her wrapped in magical bonds that nullified her power. One down, one to go.
I'd had enough of being hunted through the woods, so I pictured the other witch sending a beam of purple light into the air and willed the spell into being. A shaft of purple light cut through the canopy about fifty feet away, and I readied my next spell as I headed over.
My strategy was different this time because I wanted to question this witch. What were they trying to do? Why make an attempt near my house? If this was an abduction, it was poorly planned, and that seemed wrong. I kept scanning the area, trying to find additional witches, but any reinforcements were well hidden. Under my feet the ground vibrated. I had backup coming. Any witches hiding in the bushes would get the surprise of their lives when they had to fight Ty.
I got a mostly clear view of the other witch—I didn't recognize her—and popped her into one of my superspecial containment spells. Having done two power-hungry spells in short order, I hoped there weren't any more surprises because I would be short on magic.
Ty skidded to a stop, and I walked into the driveway to greet him. "Hey, boy, does Landa know what's happening?"
He nodded.
"Is she calling the police?"
He nodded again.
"Good. Keep watch. I'm not sure I found all of them."
Ty snorted and went to look at the other side of the driveway.
I was scanning the area, trying to figure out why I still felt uneasy. Maybe it was being attacked outside my home, but I couldn't relax. After two visual and magical searches, I shrugged it off and approached my car. Each of those walls was an independent spell, so I was going to have to unmake all of them before I could get to my car.
It was a good thing I'd stopped the car when I did. Magic might have created the walls, but they would've reacted just like brick if I'd hit them. If memory served, my insurance didn't cover damage from magical attacks. When things settled down, I needed to see if I could put aside some money in case something happened to my car. At this rate, I'd be lucky if it survived the week.
A stick cracked behind me, Ty roared, and I turned to see three witches closing in on me. Sure enough, the magic had been masking them, which seemed like a waste of power to me, but I wasn't the one casting those spells. I risked a glance over my shoulder and found three more. These people weren't giving up.
I flicked my wand at the three closest to me, hitting them with enough force to knock them over. As I darted around the brick wall, I directed another spell at the witches coming at me from behind. That bought me enough time to make it into the tree line.
One of the witches must've deflected the spell, because he was hot on my heels. Ty stepped between us, absorbing a spell that was meant for me. While the witch was distracted, I sank his feet into the ground. The earth cheerfully followed my direction, not stopping until the man was hip deep. In a different area it wouldn't be difficult to escape the spell, but this was my turf.
The rest of the witches would be making their move any time now, so I pictured invisible barriers on each side of the car and forced them into existence. The
expenditure sucked the air out of my chest, and I leaned against a tree, trying to find energy reserves.
My cheek tingled, then every part of me that was in contact with the tree tingled, and a wave of energy poured into me. In a second I went from hoping I could cast another spell to feeling like I'd just woken up from a good night's sleep. Gasping, I broke the connection.
"Thank you," I whispered, patting the tree. It pulsed against my hand.
One of the witches came around the car at a run, hit the invisible barrier, and ended up a couple of feet back, moaning. The guy behind her slowed and approached the wall with a hand out. He stopped a safe distance from it and started feeling for an edge.
Oh, no, I wasn't having any of that. I sent a jolt of energy through the wall. It zapped him hard enough that he jerked back with some salty language.
On the other side, the three witches had linked hands and were working on a complex spell. Ty knocked them apart, and the backlash of the interrupted spell sent two of them tumbling to the ground.
The barrier went down, and the third one bolted past Ty, sending a stun in my general direction. I reflected it, and he wasn't fast enough to save him from a numb foot. His run turned into a shuffle as he hobbled forward.
The guy in the ground set fire to the bushes around me.
"Gebo." I doused myself and the area in water before gifting him with a gag and binding his arms to his body. He'd have trouble casting like that.
The guy shuffling toward me raised his wand, and I wrapped a compulsion spell around my voice. "Leave here and bother me no more."
He paused. I wasn't sure if it was going to work, but I didn't have time to watch him. The two battling Ty weren't having much luck. They kept casting spells, but they weren't having the desired effect. Meanwhile, Ty was doing a good job at scaring them and keeping them away from me.
The remaining two witches had dismantled their wall, and I looked over just in time to see a spell coming my direction. I scrambled out of the way as a large branch fell from the tree. The pine needles brushed against my legs as I avoided being squished.
A Witch's Concern (A Witch's Path Book 4) Page 8
