“What kind of future is that? One where all witches and warlocks are under your control? It doesn’t sound very promising to me.”
The pleasant expression Joaquin Escobar had been wearing during this entire exchange didn’t precisely alter, but something in his features shifted, made the faint smile he’d been wearing look more like the grimace of a shark. At the same time, Levi felt a strange pressure on his temples, almost a headache, but not exactly the same. Through his mind drifted a thought that felt alien, as though it had come from someplace outside his head.
You want to give in. You should. You can bring Hayley here to California, get a big house at the beach, leave that shabby shithole you’re living in far behind….
Levi blinked. Never once had he ever thought of Jerome as a “shithole” or anything close to it. He loved the quirky little mountain town. Likewise, while he’d entertained thoughts from time to time of possibly seeing the ocean one day, never had he ever considered living there. How could he? Northern Arizona was his home now.
Then he realized that these thoughts weren’t his. They had come from Joaquin Escobar. Levi had experienced something similar when he battled Escobar’s son on the demons’ plane, but Matías’ attempted mental infiltration hadn’t been quite so subtle. No wonder the dark warlock had been able to subjugate this entire clan — he promised all of them something they’d never thought they wanted, but now believed they couldn’t live without.
In that moment, Levi could only pity them. None of this was their fault. But seeing Escobar’s talent first hand only made Levi’s resolve strengthen that much more. They must all prevail against him, no matter what the cost.
“Sorry, but I’m not much of one for the ocean,” Levi said, making sure he smiled as well. “Or mind games. They might work on these poor people you’ve subjugated, but my brain isn’t set up quite like theirs.”
The dark warlock’s deep-set eyes narrowed briefly. Then he lifted his shoulders. “Apparently not. Too bad for you.”
And he raised his hand. An invisible fist smashed into the center of Levi’s chest, knocking him to the ground. That same fist caught him on the temple as he tried to push himself to his feet. Balance lost, he slammed his temple against the coffee table on his way back down, sending shooting pains all through his head.
Mercifully, the world went black.
10
Lucinda Santiago
It was probably wrong to go out with Brandon and leave Hayley alone at the flat she’d been sharing with Levi. But Hayley insisted she was all right, and that she’d really rather be by herself right now. Brandon had also seemed dubious about leaving — despite his sometimes off-hand manner, he really did care about his sister — and in the end Hayley had to all but push the two of them down the stairs to get rid of them.
Now they were headed toward Sedona in Brandon’s sleek restored Camaro, and Lucinda wasn’t quite sure what to say. She and Brandon had planned this date when everything seemed about as calm and quiet as it could be, as though they’d all hoped that maybe Matías’ death had driven his father into a brooding mourning which didn’t allow room for anything else.
They should have known better.
Lucinda smoothed her skirt over her knees, feeling the faint roughness of the sequins stitched into the fabric against the palms of her hands. Angela had been nice enough to give her some of her clothes, the items she claimed she’d never worn all that much. It was true — this skirt didn’t seem as if it had ever been worn, or the dark purple short-sleeved shirt that went with it. And Connor had told her to get whatever else she needed from the local shops in Jerome and Cottonwood, giving her one of those prepaid Visa cards with a thousand dollars loaded on it.
They’d all been so welcoming, these McAllisters. Lucinda wasn’t sure whether she deserved all this largesse, but she had to admit that it felt good to be someplace where people were kind to her just because that was how they were, and not because they wanted something from her parents. And no more of those sideways, halfway pitying stares, the ones that made people look abruptly away if they guessed she’d noticed what they were doing.
She could almost have relaxed and enjoyed herself, forgotten what Matías had done to her, if it weren’t for the knowledge that Joaquin Escobar had killed her parents, had taken over her clan by treachery.
“You okay over there?” Brandon asked, sending her a sidelong glance before he returned his attention to the road.
“As okay as I can be, I suppose.” She shifted on the black leather seat, looked over at him. What a nice profile he had, forehead, nose, and chin all equally balanced. Once upon a time, she would have said that she preferred darker guys, but she had to admit there was something enticing about the cool blue-gray of Brandon’s eyes, the way the sunlight caught whispers of gold within his light brown hair. “I just feel weird leaving Hayley there, no matter what she said.”
“I know. But she’s got Rachel next door, and the rest of the town to come running if she needs anything. This thing about Levi is awful, but….” He stopped himself there, as if he wasn’t sure whether he should really continue.
“But what?” Lucinda asked, genuinely curious. Although Brandon had seemed mostly resigned to his sister’s relationship with the man who was a little bit more than human, every once in a while his worry about the situation slipped out. She hated to even think it, but maybe he wasn’t quite as upset about Levi being kidnapped as he wanted everyone else to believe.
“But it happened in Tucson, not here. It’s like….” Another pause while Brandon appeared to organize his thoughts. “It’s like Escobar knew he couldn’t pull that kind of crap here in Jerome, so he had to set his trap in de la Paz territory.”
That made some sense. Lucinda had never heard of a prima bonded with a primus before. Actually, to tell the truth, she hadn’t even known that primuses were a thing until she heard about the leader of the McAllister clan joining with the new head of the Wilcox family. Because the extent of their combined powers was still an unknown, it made sense that Joaquin Escobar would do his best to steer clear of them. “I thought the de la Pazes were pretty powerful.”
“As a clan, sure,” Brandon responded. The car’s pace slowed; they were entering the edges of Sedona, which meant the speed limit had just dropped from fifty-five to forty-five. “I don’t claim to be at the center of clan politics — ”
“You?” Lucinda broke in with a grin. She might have been in Jerome for only a few weeks now, but it was impossible to ignore Brandon’s need to fly low and avoid the radar. “And here I thought you were such a mover and shaker.”
He shook his head, but she also noted that she’d made him smile. Just a quick flash of those white teeth, and an even briefer appearance of the lopsided dimple in one cheek, but it was enough. She needed to see smiles like that after everything she’d been through.
“Oh, yeah, Mr. Go-getter, that’s me,” he said. “Anyway, I’m not exactly at the heart of things, but even I’ve gotten the impression that Luz isn’t nearly as strong a prima as her mother Maya. During peacetime that might not be as big a deal, but….”
“But right now it could be a real problem.” Lucinda went silent for a moment, watching the red rocks of Sedona appear, seeming to dwarf the buildings of the town built beneath them. She’d seen pictures, but they couldn’t possibly replace the real thing, all those different shades in the formations, all the various shapes and the shadows they cast. It really was a spectacular place.
However, after the way demons had attacked Levi and Hayley at Red Rock Crossing, there wouldn’t be any wandering around in state parks, far away from any help. Lucinda supposed you could argue it was safe now, since Levi had shut down the demons’ portal to this world, but there was no way Connor and Angela would allow her to take that chance. No, Brandon was going to show her some of the local sights, and they’d drive up Oak Creek Canyon, but only to the Indian Gardens Market and not any further. The little café was enough of a tourist des
tination that there would be plenty of people around.
Safety in numbers….
“Do you think Joaquin will attack the de la Pazes?” she asked. Even inquiring about the dark warlock made her want to shiver, but she told herself she was safe here. Escobar was powerful, but he wasn’t about to create an incident in front of a bunch of tourists. Besides, she doubted he could care less what happened to her now. It was Matías who’d made it his goal in life to torment her. His father had barely acknowledged her existence, once he realized she had no magical talents he could exploit.
“I have no idea.” The traffic around them was getting thicker, and Brandon slowed down even further. Lucinda didn’t mind, because their slow pace made it easier for her to look around. This part of town seemed a little shabby, with off-road rental places interspersed with New Age-y crystal stores and real estate offices and banks, but maybe it got nicer the farther in you went. He went on, “I’m not even going to try to guess what Joaquin Escobar might attempt next. I mean, it’s pretty obvious that he took Levi because he wants to use his powers somehow, but I think he’s going to find out that’s harder than it seems.”
She hoped so. She wanted Escobar’s irresistible force to finally hit an immovable object. The bastard deserved no less. On the other hand, the last thing she wanted was for anything to happen to Levi. Hayley was crazy about him, and he seemed to be crazy about her. They deserved to have their happily-ever-after.
And I, she thought as Brandon looped them through a traffic circle, something she’d never seen before in her life, I suppose I should just be happy that I’m here. Away from California, away from all those people who judged me. Matías is dead, and I might have actually found someone who doesn’t care about my past.
Problem was, she found it awfully hard to be happy with Levi in Joaquin Escobar’s hands, with the uncertainty of what might happen next hanging over all of them.
They inched forward, crawling through traffic as bad as anything she’d seen in Southern California. Now they were in the part of Sedona called uptown, with shops and restaurants crowded together on both sides. The sidewalks were swarming with tourists.
“Is it always this busy?” Lucinda asked.
Brandon cast a quick glance out the window. “I guess so. I don’t really come here very much. Super touristy.”
That was obvious. Lucinda lifted her gaze from the shops up to the hills, to those fantastical formations of rosy-hued stone. No wonder people traveled here from all over the world to see the red rocks. Even so, she couldn’t help but think that the crowds and the souvenir shops somewhat detracted from the natural beauty of the place.
But then they were away from uptown, following the narrow highway as it wound its way up through Oak Creek Canyon and echoed the twists and turns of Oak Creek itself. Trees began to crowd the roadside, freshly and brilliantly green.
“It’s really beautiful,” she said.
“It is,” he agreed. “I think Connor used to come here a lot to paint, but I don’t know if he still does that.”
“I didn’t know he was an artist.”
Brandon shrugged. “I don’t know how much time he has for it anymore. But I think some of the paintings in their house are his.”
Lucinda had only visited the big Victorian that Angela and Connor shared a few times, but she recalled some of the gorgeous landscapes she’d seen in their living room. Plein air style, reminiscent of some of the California impressionists, such as Guy Rose. She knew that, because her father collected art and had several of Rose’s paintings. Would he have ever purchased any of Connor’s works?
Probably not. She doubted that Simón Santiago would have ever wanted to admit that someone in a different clan had that kind of talent.
A pang went through her, and she pulled in a breath, glad that Brandon’s attention was focused on the road so he couldn’t see her face. Ever since Joaquin Escobar had invaded their house and murdered her parents, Lucinda had done what she could to avoid thinking about them, avoid letting herself feel pain over their deaths. If she let that pain in, she didn’t know if she’d ever be free of it.
And the terrible thing about it was, mixed in with the pain was a healthy measure of guilt. She hated that she’d disappointed her father, that her talent wasn’t a strong one…that she hadn’t been strong enough to withstand Matías’ mind-manipulations. Worse, she knew that deep down she’d always resented her mother, had hated the way she was forever wan and weak, deferring to her husband even though she was the prima and should have been the strong one. One could argue that Beatriz Santiago had been managing her own pain ever since the accident that confined her to a wheelchair and had little energy left for anything else, but Lucinda wasn’t sure if she agreed with that particular point of view. After all, she’d seen people on TV participating in the Paralympics, performing incredible athletic feats even though they were amputees, or had lost the use of their limbs due to accident. Not everyone could be a Paralympian, true, but she found herself wondering whether her mother had possessed some kind of fatal flaw, something that had cracked within her the day she fell and which could never be repaired.
Lucinda knew she shouldn’t be thinking such things. One didn’t think ill of the dead — especially those who had expired in such horrible circumstances. It wasn’t right.
Maybe if she and Brandon were closer, she could confess these things to him. Of course, then he might decide she was a horrible person and that he didn’t want to have anything to do with her. God knows she’d thought the same thing about herself on more than one occasion.
The silence in the car was uncomfortable, she knew, but Lucinda wasn’t sure what to say. She’d never been good at small talk, had always been quiet. Of course, her reticence could have had something to do with the way her father always seemed to dominate every situation he was in. It was easier to shrink into the background than try to compete, especially since she couldn’t help wondering what people might be thinking about her, whether they were secretly finding fault because she would never be the next prima. It happened, of course, wasn’t even that unusual for the heir apparent to be a niece or cousin, but all the same, Lucinda had always known that her father had taken the situation as a personal affront.
Right now she was damn glad she wasn’t the prima-in-waiting. Otherwise, she would have suffered her cousin Marisol’s fate, would be a mindless vessel in Joaquin Escobar’s quest to replace the son he’d lost.
“We’re here,” Brandon said, somewhat unnecessarily, since he’d just pulled off the highway and into a gravel parking lot in front of a long, low wooden building.
Lucinda supposed he’d spoken up because the silence had become too uncomfortable even for him. “Oh, good,” she responded. “I was starting to get hungry.”
She really wasn’t all that hungry, but she figured that was a safe reply, and would also help justify the drive out here. It was late for lunch, but they’d planned it that way, to hopefully avoid some of the crowds. Even so, the parking lot was almost full; Brandon had to squeeze his Camaro into the last spot at the far end of the lot, near the enclosure for the cafe’s dumpster. Lucinda hoped no one would need to come out and empty the trash while they were here, because she’d hate to see someone accidentally bump into the vintage car and scratch its perfect black paint.
Brandon smiled, looking somewhat relieved. “They have great food here. And after we eat, we can go down and look at the creek.”
Right — Oak Creek was just on the other side of the narrow two-lane highway. She could hear it now, chattering away as it flowed over its rocky bed. It would be nice to walk along its bank, watch the water flash in the sunlight. She certainly hadn’t had much opportunity to do that sort of thing back in suburban Southern California, where fresh-flowing streams tended to be in short supply.
Lucinda followed Brandon into the cafe/market and went with him up to the counter; apparently you ordered your food cafeteria-style here. The menu wasn’t big, but the brie and
bacon sandwich sounded awesome, so she ordered that and a glass of rosé, hoping that the wine might help her to relax a little. Brandon asked for a Reuben and a local craft beer. She looked around as best she could, eyeing the assortment of local wine and beer for sale in the market section of the building, the homemade desserts and artisanal vinegars, the books on local cuisine. No wonder it was so crowded — not everyone was ordering food, but instead purchasing the components for their meals to take back to their cabins or campsites.
After the two of them were done with ordering their food, they headed out back, to a secluded little eating area surrounded by trees and flowers. Lucinda thought she might have liked to poke around inside a bit more, maybe get a few things to bring back with her to Jerome. However, she had to admit that it was beautiful out here on the patio, with the highway noise hushed to a low murmur and the call of birds all around them. Flowers bloomed in pots and beds, and there was even a little area off to one side where it looked as if the café grew some of its own herbs.
“Here’s to getting away,” Brandon said, raising his glass of beer.
Lucinda lifted her wine glass and clinked it against his. “To getting away.”
Although their surroundings were soothing, and exactly what she would have said she needed, she still couldn’t help feeling guilty for being here at all, for pretending as if everything was normal when it was basically the opposite. Never mind that Hayley had urged her to go out, or that, when it came right down to it, there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot either Lucinda or Brandon could have done to help the situation with Levi. This still felt…wrong.
Brandon glanced around, as if taking the measure of the other people on the patio. There was a family at one of the larger tables off to one side, a couple of kids who looked around nine or ten squabbling over who would get to play with an iPad. Farther away was a man sitting by himself with a laptop, attention so focused on the screen that Lucinda wondered if he had any notion of the beauty surrounding him. Other than that, the patio was empty, the other diners apparently preferring to eat inside.
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