Darktide

by Christine Pope

  Brandon shot me a quizzical glance. “All the way there? Even Levi couldn’t manage that.”

  “I know,” Connor said, the small quirk at one side of his mouth seeming to indicate that he was still a little surprised by the whole situation. “But we’ve figured it out. We just got back from a short hop to Newport Beach. That was why we went for a late lunch at the Haunted Hamburger afterward. That kind of effort requires a lot of fuel, apparently.”

  The two of them were staring at us like we’d just sprouted horns. Considering our newfound powers, I supposed we could sprout horns if we wanted to, although what would be the point?

  “Anyway,” I went on, “now that we know where to go, we can drop in there and grab Levi and go. We know it will work, because Levi was able to rescue you without any trouble, which means that Escobar’s null effect doesn’t seem to reach the second floor of the house.”

  “That’s not exactly the case,” Lucinda said. “I mean, he can shrink and expand the area of effect…up to a point. And yes, if he pushes it too far, then it starts to get weaker. It’s still strong enough to fill the whole house, though. The only reason Escobar wasn’t using it when Levi came to rescue me was that he knew I was no threat, that I was back under Matías’ control. There’s a good chance he’ll be using it to keep Levi subdued, though.”

  Well, that little piece of information definitely threw a monkey wrench in things. Then again, Connor and I had already proved we were capable of feats even Levi couldn’t manage. Which meant…what? That Joaquin Escobar’s null powers wouldn’t be strong enough to overcome our combined primus and prima gifts?

  Maybe. That was an awfully big maybe, though.

  From the way Connor’s jaw hardened, it seemed he was still willing to give it a try…and his next words only proved me right. “Even Escobar must have his limits. Keeping Levi’s powers in check isn’t exactly like going up against your ordinary witch or warlock. It’s got to be tiring. And when you add Angela and me into the mix — ”

  “The whole thing will collapse,” Brandon said, then added, “Maybe.”

  Well, “maybe” was still better than a definite no. “It’s also possible that Escobar’s null field will prevent us from even appearing in the house at all. If that happens, then we’ll know we have to try something else.”

  Connor seemed to agree with this notion, because he said, “I hadn’t even thought of it that way, but you’re right. What would happen, though — would we get stopped short of our actual destination, or would we not even be able to teleport at all?”

  “I have no idea,” I replied. “We’re in completely uncharted territory here. My intuition tells me that we’d be able to teleport, only we would get stopped outside in the front yard or whatever, wherever the null field ends.”

  “That sounds awfully dangerous,” Lucinda said. Whatever afterglow she might have had from her afternoon spent with Brandon, it appeared to be gone now. Her face was strained, her big dark eyes haunted. “What happens if you can’t course-correct in time?”

  “That won’t happen,” I told her, hoping I sounded a lot more confident than I felt. “It literally takes Connor and me the blink of an eye to travel in this way. If we did come up against the null field and got dropped in the yard somewhere, we’d immediately send ourselves back home. Escobar’s powerful, but I really don’t think he’d be able to react quickly enough to do anything about it.”

  This response appeared to mollify her a bit, since she didn’t reply. However, from the way her mouth seemed to tighten for a second or two, I could tell she still wasn’t entirely convinced.

  My phone rang from within the pocket of my jeans, where I’d hurriedly stuffed it before I left the house. Luz’s number was on the display. I made a somewhat apologetic gesture toward Lucinda and Connor and Brandon, indicating that I needed to take the call.

  “Hi, Luz,” I said, after I’d dragged the phone from my jeans pocket. “What’s up?”

  Her voice, usually so calm and cool, practically quivered with excitement. “I think I’ve found a way for all three of us to meld our powers.”

  13

  Levi

  This time when he awakened from his faint, or whatever it had been, Levi realized he wasn’t alone. Once again, he was lying on the bed in the comfortable room that was now his prison, but now the wing chair from the alcove had been pulled up next to him, and a young woman sat there, watching him with a quizzical air, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to make of what she was seeing.

  Holding back a groan, he forced himself to a sitting position. His head throbbed, and the edges of his vision seemed fuzzy. That had been quite the blow. The thing was, he hadn’t even seen Joaquin Escobar hit him. Perhaps he hadn’t…not physically, anyway. Levi recalled that Matías had done much the same thing on the demons’ plane, and was slightly annoyed with himself for falling prey to the same ploy.

  But he needed to push that question aside for now. He knew he had better focus on the young woman sitting in the wing chair. Even as he moved, she’d remained quite still, regarding him rather like someone might watch a wild beast in an enclosure at the zoo. While his powers had been taken away, thanks to Escobar’s null gifts, he was still able to sense that she was of witch-kind. However, she did not appear to be a Santiago, was nearly as fair as the McAllisters, with her pale fawn-brown hair and big blue eyes. Probably a few years younger than Hayley, although Levi knew he wasn’t always accurate when it came to calculating human ages.

  “So you’re the famous Levi,” the young woman said, her head tilting to one side. A long lock of hair slid over her shoulder, partially obscuring the embroidered white blouse she wore. At her throat dangled a silver pentacle studded with blue and purple gemstones.

  He was a little surprised by the symbol; most of the witches and warlocks he knew among the McAllisters were more circumspect about advertising their pagan leanings. “And you are?” he asked politely. Since she was here in his room, he assumed she must be present thanks to Joaquin Escobar’s participation, but that didn’t mean he had to be rude.

  “I’m Brooklyn Ludlow,” the young woman — barely more than a girl, really — replied.

  Ludlow. Levi knew they were the other California witch clan, with the family centered around the Bay Area, although they’d spread out to occupy most of the northern half of the state. He did his best to keep his expression noncommittal, but he couldn’t help but be surprised…and concerned. If this Brooklyn really was a Ludlow, then that meant some cooperation must exist between her clan and Joaquin Escobar.

  That couldn’t be a good thing.

  “And may I ask what you’re doing in my room, Brooklyn?”

  She smiled. Her teeth were pretty and white, her rosebud of a mouth brushed with pink gloss. “Oh, Joaquin said I could wait here until you woke up.”

  On a first-name basis? That also wasn’t a good sign. “You’re acquainted with Mr. Escobar?”

  “Well, it’s not like we’re BFFs or anything,” Brooklyn said. “My parents know him, though. He introduced himself after he took over the Santiagos.”

  “And your clan is all right with that?” The girl spoke so casually, Levi was having a hard time reconciling her comments with all the villainous acts he knew Joaquin Escobar had committed.

  She shrugged. “It’s not our place to comment on what happens in other clans. I mean, yeah, Joaquin seems a little old to be the new prima’s consort, but that’s not our business, you know? Anyway, when Joaquin reached out to my mother — ”

  Levi’s head was spinning, and he didn’t think it was only because of the blow he had suffered. Something seemed very off about this conversation. “And your mother is…?”

  “The prima of the Ludlows. Carolyn Ludlow.”

  “Ah.” Levi didn’t want to interrupt any further, because he could tell from the way Brooklyn’s brows had begun to pull together that she hadn’t appreciated being stopped in the middle of her narrative. Still, his mind was racing. This gi
rl’s mother was the prima of the northern California witch clan. Was Brooklyn the prima-in-waiting? She hadn’t yet said so, but possibly she was holding back that information for a time when she could deliver it with the most impact.

  A sigh, followed by, “Anyway, when Joaquin contacted my mother, he just wanted to let her know that he was the consort of the Santiagos’ new prima, and that because Marisol was still mourning her parents, he was going to be running things for a while. It seemed natural enough to us.”

  “Did he tell you how the prima and her consort passed away?”

  “I guess it was a car accident?” Brooklyn shrugged, as if she considered that minor detail inconsequential at best. Then she frowned slightly. “Although it does seem as if you guys have a lot of car accidents down here. Joaquin said the same thing happened to you.”

  “I was in a car accident?”

  “You don’t remember?” A tilt of the head as she gave him a considering look. “Joaquin said you might have a mild concussion, but that doesn’t usually make you lose your memory, does it?”

  Right then Levi felt as if he was in a world where everything had suddenly been turned upside down. Clearly, Escobar had not been at all forthright with this young woman, or her family. That particular insight didn’t precisely make Levi feel any better, although he supposed it was somewhat better to be a dupe rather than a willing accomplice. “I’m not sure,” he said carefully. “But perhaps you could explain what you’re doing here.”

  “Oh.” For the first time, Brooklyn appeared almost uncomfortable. Her gaze slid away from his, and she seemed preoccupied with playing with the silver bangle bracelets she wore on her right arm. “Well, I’m the prima-in-waiting of the Ludlows.”

  He’d guessed as much, but it was good to hear her confirm that fact. “I see.”

  A low chuckle emerged from those pink-glossed lips. “I have a feeling you don’t. See, I’m twenty-one. My birthday’s in two months. You know what that means, right?”

  Unfortunately, he did. It meant that Brooklyn was searching for her consort, just as Zoe had been when she’d been driven to summon him here, certain that she’d never find her ideal man, so she’d have to create him. True, Brooklyn still had some time, wasn’t looking at a deadline only a week or two away. But….

  “Should I assume that you haven’t found your consort yet?”

  “Bingo.” She gave him a humorless smile, an expression strangely at odds with her “girl at the mall” appearance. “So far I haven’t had much luck — and it wasn’t for lack of trying.”

  “It can be difficult,” Levi said carefully. “But you mustn’t give up hope. I know someone who was in your very same situation, and she found her perfect soul mate when she was least expecting to.”

  “That’s what everyone’s been trying to tell me. Easy for them to say, when they’re not the ones having to kiss a bunch of distant cousins you wouldn’t even want to be seen in public with, let alone married to.”

  About all Levi could do was make a sympathetic noise. He very much doubted that Joaquin had sent Brooklyn in here merely to keep him company. But surely the dark warlock couldn’t think that his captive would turn out to be the Ludlow prima-in-waiting’s consort? The odds against such a thing were astronomical.

  Not that it mattered. His heart was already given to Hayley. Even if, by some bizarre chance, he was able to have anything close to a consort bond with Brooklyn, Levi knew he would never follow through. He loved someone else. Simple as that.

  “But then Joaquin told us about you. How you’d been summoned here from another world, how you really didn’t owe allegiance to any particular clan.”

  “That is not true,” Levi protested. “I am a part of the McAllisters now. They are my clan, just as much as if I had been born to them.”

  Brooklyn’s blue eyes narrowed slightly. They weren’t Hayley’s clear turquoise, but more blue-gray, shifting, mercurial. Objectively, Levi could say the Ludlow prima-in-waiting was a lovely young woman, with her heart-shaped face and full little mouth, but she wasn’t Hayley. “You can say that, but it’s not the same. You don’t have their blood, and you know how important that is in witch clans. It’s just chance that you ended up with the McAllisters anyway. You could just as easily have come to be part of the Ludlow clan.”

  That wasn’t precisely true, for of course he’d been brought to this world in Arizona, and so it was only natural that he would go to live with an Arizona witch family. The Ludlows had nothing to do with any of it. He could see what Brooklyn was doing, though. She was trying to make his connection to the McAllisters seem as tenuous as possible.

  “But that’s not what happened,” he said. “At any rate, I don’t see what this has to do with you.”

  “Well, it’s simple enough,” she replied. “I’m not having any luck finding a consort, and though it’s always better to be bonded with a true soul mate, you don’t have to be. I mean, because you’re so powerful, it would be almost as though I had a bonded consort, if I were with you. That’s what I want, Levi. I want you to be my consort.”

  The whole thing was so absurd, he wanted to laugh aloud. However, he knew he would probably pay the price for such misplaced humor. Trying to remain calm — and answer her respectfully, so as not to anger her — he said, “Joaquin Escobar suggested this?”

  “Yes,” Brooklyn said. “He said we could work out an arrangement that would be beneficial to all of us.”

  “I see.” Levi hesitated, knowing that the last thing he wanted to do was upset her, but also realizing that he needed to tell her the truth. “And did Mr. Escobar inform you that I was already involved with someone else, was living with her?”

  That reply only elicited a lift of Brooklyn’s shoulders. “Are you married to her?”

  “Well, no, but — ”

  “Then it doesn’t really matter. Joaquin did tell me that you had someone, but you’d only been together for a few weeks. That’s not much of a roadblock, as far as I’m concerned.” She gave him an arch look and toyed with the pentacle at her throat. “What, don’t you think I’m pretty?”

  Levi cleared his throat. “You are a lovely young woman, Brooklyn.” And I think you’re already very aware of that fact. “That is not what’s at issue here. I am settled in another clan, and in love with a young woman from that clan. Nothing you say or do is going to change any of that.”

  To his surprise, she didn’t frown, or appear angry. No, instead a small smile played on her glossy pink lips, as if she’d been expecting this sort of response. “I kind of thought you’d say something like that. To be honest, I’m not super thrilled about having to get tied down with a consort at all, but you know…tradition, blah, blah. And if I have to go through all that, then I want my consort to be the baddest-ass consort around. It seems like you fit the bill, Levi, so why not go with the flow?”

  He clenched his fingers in the quilt that lay on top of the bed. “I’m not much of one for ‘going with the flow.’ And, as I told you, I’m with someone else.”

  “I don’t care.”

  Right then, he thought it was a good thing that he didn’t have much of a temper. Otherwise, he would have been sorely tempted to lose it, to lash out even though he knew in the end that doing so would certainly not help his cause, or allow him to escape. Even so, he thought perhaps Brooklyn needed to hear a few home truths about the man her family was dealing with. “And what was Joaquin Escobar’s explanation for my presence here? Did he tell you that he kidnapped me? There was no car accident, either — I was unconscious because he struck me with his magic.”

  This time, she did laugh outright, as though these revelations were a source of amusement to her, rather than the consternation he’d expected. Then she reached over and laid a hand on his arm. As much as Levi wanted to pull away, he didn’t, mostly because he didn’t want to get into a tussle with her. “Of course I knew all that. I was just trying to play along, in case you didn’t remember what had happened to you. Anyway, Jo
aquin wanted to be honest with us, said that you would never have come here willingly. But my parents were willing to overlook that little detail, because they wanted to make sure I got the consort I deserved. And as soon as I heard about you, all your powers, I knew I needed you to be mine.”

  He couldn’t help it. This time, he did yank his arm from her grasp, and also pushed himself off the edge of the bed so he could stand upright. The room spun around him, just a little, but he made himself take a deep breath and do his best to focus on the young woman who stood on the other side of the bed, an angry little frown beginning to dig itself into her forehead. “And what does Escobar get out of all this?”

  Crossing her arms, Brooklyn replied, “An alliance with the Ludlows. He makes me happy, makes my parents happy, and we unite the two California clans. Seems like it’s necessary, what with all the trouble you Arizona witches and warlocks have been causing lately.”

  More lies that Escobar had fed her, no doubt. However, Levi doubted he would get very far if he tried to explain the truth of the situation, since it was clear she preferred to subscribe to the dark warlock’s version of reality. “And what makes you think I will go along with any of this?”

  An unpleasant smile. “Oh, it’s simple enough, Levi. You come with me and be my consort — and we’ll leave your precious McAllisters alone. Otherwise….”

  Her words trailed off there, but their meaning was obvious enough. Either he cooperated, or Escobar would retaliate against the McAllisters. Against Hayley, and everyone else he loved.

  How on earth could he ever make that choice?

  14

  Angela

  My fingers clamped down tightly on my phone, even as Connor gave me an expectant look. “What did you find, Luz?”

  “Well, I had an idea to look through my cousin Consuelo’s papers and notes. She was the clan’s expert in dark magic, but also arcane magic, the sorts of spells that have fallen out of use over the years.” A pause, and then Luz added, “She’s the one Escobar’s daughter murdered.”