Strange Magic (The Witches of Cleopatra Hill Book 9)

by Christine Pope

  Relief, and a certain measure of excitement, went through her. “It’s a pretty amazing car. What is it?”

  “A ’70 Plymouth Barracuda,” he replied, clearly proud of his ride. “My father and I restored it together. It looked like it was headed for the scrap heap before we started working on it.”

  Zoe didn’t know much about cars, except the new fast ones that a lot of her cousins liked to drive, but she had to admit that it was pretty cool that he had done a lot of work on the car. It meant he wasn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and get dirty.

  And then she had to stop her brain from continuing that particular line of thought, because her mind immediately went to an image of how he might look bent over the engine, grease streaking his bare arms, maybe his shirt hiking up to reveal the hard, flat stomach underneath.

  No, she told herself. Just that one word, but for the moment, it was enough. If she didn’t stay focused, she feared the worst might happen…or the best, depending on how you looked at it.

  “Okay,” she said briskly. “Let’s go catch a monster.”

  4

  Andrea and Luis Sandoval didn’t look thrilled about their daughter taking off with him in the Barracuda, but neither did they try to stop her. And that, Evan thought, was probably about as good as it was going to get.

  Not that they had anything to worry about. He’d already vowed to himself that he would be a perfect gentleman, no matter how drop-dead gorgeous their daughter had turned out to be.

  It was hard not to stare, though, as she went around to the passenger side of the car, her long jet-dark hair shimmering in the breeze. And that little silver chain around her ankle was distracting as hell.

  Didn’t you use to like blondes?

  If asked that question a few years ago, then yes, he probably would have said he preferred blonde women. Kelly was blonde, bright-haired and blue-eyed, the perfect girl-next-door cheerleader type. Zoe couldn’t have been more her opposite, and yet….

  And yet he knew he shouldn’t be paying any attention to the prima-in-waiting, except to help her with this seemingly impossible quest and then get the hell out of Phoenix before things got any weirder.

  She climbed into the passenger seat and looked around with some interest. The inside of the car felt blazingly hot, so Evan turned on the air conditioning to full blast.

  “It came with A/C?” she asked, as if surprised that something as antediluvian as a vehicle built in 1970 would have such creature comforts.

  “No,” he said as he pulled away from the curb and pointed the car in the direction they’d come from. That weird tingle or twitch or whatever you wanted to call it felt a little stronger now that he knew where to look for it. He definitely needed to head south. “It’s an aftermarket system. I installed it a couple of years ago.”

  “Oh.” For a few seconds she didn’t say anything. Then she shifted in her seat so she was half turned toward him, and he caught a faint drift of something sweet-smelling. Perfume, or maybe just what she used in her hair?

  He swallowed and kept his eyes on the road. “What’s south of here?”

  Zoe looked vaguely startled by the question. “Well…a lot of things. I mean, technically we’re north of Scottsdale here in Fountain Hills, so there’s Scottsdale, and then Tempe and Mesa and Chandler and Gilbert. Phoenix is big, you know.”

  Yeah, he’d known that intellectually, but he hadn’t really processed the idea of its vastness until he’d started driving around on its streets. It would be so easy to get lost here. Of course the car didn’t have a nav system, and he’d never bothered with GPS because he knew the Verde Valley and its environs like the back of his hand. True, there was the map function on his phone, but again, he’d never had much need for it.

  “So…they’re as crowded as the parts we’ve already driven through?”

  Zoe gusted out a little breath between her full, glossy lips, as if she had been about to laugh and then decided it wouldn’t be appropriate. “Yes. There are little open areas here and there, but you know, it’s a city. All those places are cities. We’ve got millions of people living here. “

  Of course they did. A huge haystack, with one ant that wasn’t supposed to be there crawling around somewhere in the middle.

  “Okay,” he replied, even though he knew the situation was far from okay. The car had begun to cool down now that they were driving, but he could still feel sweat trickling down his back. Why the hell hadn’t he changed into a T-shirt before he drove down here?

  Because it was still in the sixties when you left Jerome, he told himself. The temperature in Phoenix wasn’t exactly high on your list of priorities when you were getting your stuff together.

  Zoe was staring out the car window at the high-end houses passing by. Not that they should be anything new to her, since she’d lived her whole life in this area. Evan wondered what that would be like, to be surrounded by everything new and shiny, to not always be patching roofs and replacing siding and shoring up hillsides that had a tendency to slip an inch or three each year.

  But then he felt it again — that strange tingle at the back of his neck, almost as if a small insect was crawling across his skin. He had to resist the urge to slap at the place, like he’d expected to find a gnat or a mosquito there.

  South…but south and east, toward those strange spiky mountains he could just barely glimpse out the driver-side windows.

  “What are those?” he asked, jerking his chin toward the unfamiliar peaks.

  “What?” she responded, and then seemed to notice where he was looking. “Oh. Those are the Superstitions.”

  Reassuring name. “Are there people living out there?”

  “Not really. I mean, I guess people go to hike there and stuff, but it’s not what you’d call populated.” She shifted in her seat once again so she was nearly facing him full on, at the same time pulling at the seatbelt so she wouldn’t get tangled up in it. “Do you think it’s in the mountains?”

  He didn’t bother to ask her what she’d meant by “it.” “I’m not sure. Maybe. I’m feeling something in that direction, but I can’t tell how far out it’s coming from.”

  For a moment, she didn’t say anything. Her hands smoothed the fabric of the vintage-looking skirt she wore. “I’m not really dressed to go hiking.”

  No, she wasn’t. In a perfect world, he’d be taking her out for a drink or something. If she drank. There was so much he didn’t know about Zoe Sandoval.

  “Well,” he told her, “let’s just drive in that direction. If it looks like we’re going to be heading into some rough terrain, we’ll stop and turn around.”

  “And let it get away?” She shook her head, full mouth set with determination. “I can manage.”

  Evan had a sudden flash of her climbing up a rocky mountain path in those flat sandals. Better than high heels, he supposed, but her footwear still wasn’t what he would call practical. But he could tell she was determined to make this right. “We’ll see what happens. How do I get out in that direction?”

  By that point, he’d pulled onto the 101 Loop southbound, just because it felt like the right direction to go. But he really didn’t know where the freeway went after that.

  “Um…give me a sec,” Zoe said. “I don’t go out that way very often. I think the 60 east, but let me check.” She fumbled in her purse and pulled out a big iPhone, one of those pink metallic ones. It had a sparkly protective case, also pink. She seemed to notice Evan giving it the side-eye, and added, somewhat waspishly, “You have a problem with pink?”

  “Um…no.”

  “Good.” She entered her passcode and then brought up a map, dragging it around on the screen with one finger. “Yes, the 60. We still have about five miles to go.”

  Thank the Goddess for technology…and that Zoe seemed to know what she was doing with it. Evan wasn’t sure why he should be surprised by that, even if he himself was the type who tended to ignore the more advanced features on his own phone. He had to admit tha
t it did help to have her there in the passenger seat, playing navigator. Kelly had been useless at that sort of thing, mostly because she’d grown up in the Phoenix area and seemed to have a mental block when it came to learning where everything was in Cottonwood or even Sedona. Prescott she could handle, probably because that was where you needed to go if you wanted to do any serious shopping.

  But he really didn’t want his thoughts to head down that particular pathway, not when he had much more serious matters to occupy his mind right now.

  “What will you do if we catch up with it?” Zoe asked then. The half-irritated expression she had worn a moment earlier was gone; now she just looked worried.

  “Guess I’ll figure it out when that happens,” Evan said.

  A finely arched eyebrow lifted. “That’s your plan?”

  “Mostly, I don’t plan.” She cocked her head at him, as if urging him to explain further, so he went on, “That’s not how my talent works. Every magical spell that goes wrong is a little different in how it’s gone wrong. So I have to be near it, feel it, and then I can begin to work through unworking it, if you know what I mean.”

  She nodded, dark eyes solemn. “I think so. But…have you ever fixed anything like this before?”

  “No. That doesn’t mean I can’t, though. I just won’t know until it’s right in front of me.”

  “That’s kind of scary.”

  Just kind of? Evan thought. But he didn’t say that out loud. He knew she was nervous and worried, and beating herself up for getting them in this situation to begin with. Admitting that he was anxious and tense — and yeah, a little scared — wouldn’t help at all.

  “Not really,” he said, hoping he sounded strong and confident. “I’m used to it by now. I’ve never run into anything I couldn’t handle.”

  The eyebrow went up again. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  He wouldn’t bother to tell her that dispelling wonky weather spells or toning down the effects of a love potion gone sideways wasn’t exactly the same thing as driving off the sort of inhuman being she’d summoned. But at least he hadn’t been lying when he’d said that he really had been able to manage everything he’d come across.

  So far.

  They drove in silence for a few minutes after that. Evan saw the turnoff for the 60 east and took it. Out here, the freeways weren’t quite as busy, although he still saw plenty of cars occupying the road. After they’d gone a few more miles, he felt that buzzing, prickling sensation on the back of his neck again, only much, much stronger. Without thinking, he changed lanes, then pointed the Barracuda toward the Power Road off-ramp.

  “What is it?” Zoe asked. “Is it here?”

  “I think so,” he replied, slowing down as he approached the bottom of the ramp. That tingly sensation seemed to tell him he should head south, so he turned right. Coming up on the left was a large apartment complex. The pull in that direction was so strong he winced.

  “You feel it?”

  “Yes,” he said shortly. “Don’t you?”

  She shook her head, fingers tight around the pink iPhone she still held. “Nothing. That’s kind of sad, isn’t it? I mean, I summoned the thing, and I can’t even sense where it is.”

  “At least one of us can. That’s what’s important.” He aimed the Barracuda at one of the driveways leading into the apartment complex, then drove along slowly, passing carports and open-air parking areas for guests and resident overflow. The place was clean and well-kept, almost mercilessly bright under the hard Phoenix skies, even though the sun was now edging toward the horizon.

  Why the hell would an unearthly creature take refuge in this kind of place? Evan could understand if the monster had decided to go roaming around the Superstition Mountains — that sounded like its kind of place — but this particular corner of suburbia? He didn’t get it.

  But his current incomprehension certainly wouldn’t stop him from pursuing his goal. Evan kept driving along slowly, waiting for that uncomfortable sensation at the back of his neck to intensify further, to tell him just where the heck he could find his quarry.

  Then he heard it, even over the rumble of the Barracuda’s engine. A woman screaming from somewhere off to the left.

  Zoe shot him a look of consternation. “Is it — ?”

  “Probably. Let’s go.”

  He pulled the car into one of the guest parking spaces — luckily, there were several available, probably because it was late afternoon on a weekday — and stopped the engine. Zoe slipped her phone back into her purse, but then tucked the bag under the seat, as if she’d realized that she would need both hands free for whatever might come next.

  They hurried over to one of the sidewalks, then ran in the direction of the screaming. Evan wondered why he didn’t see anyone else responding, but realized that most of the people who lived in the upscale-looking complex were probably still at work, or maybe on their way home. Actually, that could only help him out. The fewer witnesses to what was happening, the better.

  The walkway curved around the building, heading toward a large man-made pond bordered by more sidewalks. Trees grew along the greenbelt, already lush with leaves in this much warmer climate, while the trees up in Jerome were still mostly bare.

  The screams abruptly stopped, but Evan knew where he and Zoe had to go. To that one clump of trees to the left, which provided shade and shelter.

  Shelter for what, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  He and Zoe came around the final curve, and her hand went to her mouth, as if she’d had to stifle a scream of her own. Not that he could blame her.

  The creature — well, she’d said it was a monster but hadn’t gone into much detail. It was tall, several inches taller than his own six foot two, and oddly proportioned, with overly wide shoulders and arms that seemed much too long for its torso. That was the least of it, though. As if it had sensed them approaching, it turned at once, so Evan was able to get a good look at its face.

  It was like staring at a waxwork that had begun to melt. None of its features were in the right place, the nose off to one side, the mouth skewed, one side much higher than the other. Its rage-reddened eyes locked on Zoe, and it let out a hideous roar, right before it let go of the young woman it had been holding — clearly, the source of the screams — and came straight for them.

  How the hell was he supposed to think in this kind of situation? Evan might have faced down a human adversary once or twice before, but dealing with a couple of drunks in a dive bar was a far cry from confronting a rampaging monster that looked as if it had climbed right out of hell. Anyway, this was when his power was supposed to take over and tell him exactly what to do. Now, though, he could only stand there, instinctively placing himself in front of Zoe even though he didn’t know what he could possibly do to stop the juggernaut that was bearing down on them.

  But then he felt a sharp pain in his side, and realized Zoe had just elbowed him in the ribs so he would step out of the way.

  “I’ve done this before, remember?” she said grimly as she raised her hands.

  Bright light flared outward, hitting the creature in the chest. It let out another of those roars, but she didn’t flinch, only sent another of those blinding flashes toward the creature. This time it staggered, and she didn’t waste any time, but kept throwing improbable fireball after fireball at it, until at last it let out a screech and disappeared.

  Zoe stopped then and bent over slightly, palms flat against her skirt as she tried to catch her breath. Then she glanced over at Evan and shot him a sardonic glance, right before she said, “Exactly who’s supposed to be protecting who here?”

  5

  As far as knights in shining armor went, Evan was definitely falling down on the job. Zoe pulled in another breath, then reminded herself that she was going to be prima one day and that she could take care of herself, thank you very much.

  “Sorry — ” Evan began, but she just shook her head.

  “It’s okay. I
’ve fought it off before. You haven’t.”

  He still didn’t look convinced. However, she really didn’t feel like getting into an argument right then, because now with the creature gone, even if just temporarily, she needed to focus on its victim. A young woman — girl, really, probably younger than Zoe herself — was slumped at the base of one of the eucalyptus trees.

  Shit. If the monster had been responsible for hurting someone…or worse…she knew she would never forgive herself.

  She ran over to the girl, Evan just a pace behind her. Without thinking about what she might be doing to her skirt, Zoe knelt in the grass next to the unknown young woman. She had long dark hair and wore a knee-length skirt similar to the one Zoe had on. In fact, at first glance, she looked a lot like Zoe herself.

  No….

  Evan caught it, too; his face was grim as he looked from her to the girl and then back again. But he didn’t bother to comment, only reached out and took her wrist, apparently so he could feel for a pulse.

  “She’s alive,” he said, and Zoe went limp with relief. “I think she just fainted from shock.”

  Well, that wasn’t too surprising. Zoe figured she probably would have done the same thing if she’d been a civilian confronted by such an unearthly apparition.

  She stood up and brushed at her skirt, which seemed none the worse for wear. “What should we do?”

  Evan didn’t appear all that certain, either. “I’m not sure. I hate to just leave her here. Maybe we should call 9-1-1?”

  That sounded like a good idea. They could call for help, but make sure to be gone before anyone in authority showed up. The last thing they wanted was to attract any attention to themselves. Yes, the de la Paz clan had witches and warlocks in most of the police departments in the greater metro Phoenix area, but Zoe didn’t know if any of them worked in this particular neighborhood.

  “Okay,” she said. “Do you have a phone?”