Brandon eased the Camaro over to the right, then got off at the ramp Hayley had called out. As she’d said, this shopping center was vast, with acres of parking lots, and satellite feeder roads that led to smaller freestanding stores that weren’t part of the mall itself. Those same roads also connected to a number of restaurants, which still had their fair share of patrons, even though it was now past eight o’clock.
Seeming to know it was better to avoid those spots, Brandon drove to a dark place between light posts, and set off enough from a mall entrance that these parking places weren’t in great demand. He turned off the engine and looked over at Levi. “Now what?”
“Now I go to fetch Lucinda.” Levi made sure he spoke calmly, so neither Brandon nor Hayley would be able to guess at any of the doubts that had crossed his mind on the drive here. “It shouldn’t take very long. Stay with the car.”
“Like we’d go anywhere,” Hayley remarked. “Don’t worry — we’re staying put.”
“And I’ll be ready to hit the gas,” her brother added. “Just don’t take any crazy chances, all right?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” Levi shifted in his seat so he could see Hayley more clearly. In the dim light, her face seemed pale, but it was also set, calm, as though she braced herself for whatever else might come next. Good. Once again he admired her strength, even though he guessed she hadn’t bargained on any of this when she’d made the move to Jerome from Payson. For a second he paused, fixing the image of Lucinda Santiago’s bedroom in his mind, the pale yellow walls, the filmy curtains at the windows, the antique furniture. Then he said, “Hayley, lend me your strength.”
She put her hand on his arm. At once he felt the added boost from her particular talent, licking along his veins like a burst of strong coffee. He called his own power to him, the one that would send him across the miles to the Santiago house. As he went, he uttered a silent prayer to the Goddess the McAllisters believed in, that she might be looking down on their efforts and would grant them a little grace, just enough to have Lucinda be alone in her room, and not elsewhere in the house, or, even worse, to have Matías Escobar with her.
The world dissolved around him, and took shape again. Good. That meant Joaquin Escobar’s powers either weren’t affecting him because of his otherworldly nature, or he was far enough away from the usurping warlock that it didn’t make a difference either way. Levi stood in the room he recognized as Lucinda Santiago’s, now dimly lit by one lamp on the table next to the queen-size bed. The covers of that bed were rumpled, as if someone had just recently gotten up from it, but it was now unoccupied.
Off to one side, through an open door, he heard the sound of water running. At once Levi was able to detect Matías’ presence, strong, but dark and somehow foul, like the odor of garbage drifting up from a trash can that should have been sealed shut.
But there was Lucinda, standing next to the dresser. She’d apparently just finished pulling a T-shirt on over her head, but otherwise she wore only a pair of lacy white underpants. An embarrassed flush rose to Levi’s cheeks, even as he told himself that her clothing wasn’t the issue here.
Her dark eyes widened slightly as she took in his sudden appearance, but he still noted how they looked dull and glassy, not entirely comprehending. Of course they wouldn’t be. Danica Rowe had spoken of how Matías’ powers of mind control left a person unable to do much on their own, able only to blankly absorb what was going on around them unless given specific orders by the dark warlock.
Because of this, Levi knew there was no point in trying to reason with her. The spell would wear off eventually, and now he had to seize the moment, while Matías was still in the adjoining bathroom.
Levi took two quick, purposeful steps toward Lucinda, wrapped his arms around her waist. Her mouth opened, perhaps to call out to the man she thought was her lover. But Levi wouldn’t allow her that chance. At once he summoned his gift, visualizing the place where even now Hayley and Brandon waited for him.
And nothing happened.
Damn. He’d hoped that he could cover that mere thirty-five miles or so, but it seemed even that was too much of a stretch without Hayley’s gift providing the additional strength.
“Hey, chica, you want to go to that club I was telling you about?” Matías stepped out of the bathroom, still rubbing his spiky black hair with a dark red towel. His eyes locked on Levi’s. “What the fu — ”
Levi didn’t wait to hear the rest of the sentence, or to allow Matías the opportunity to use his powers on him…if they would have even worked. Instead, he visualized the parking lot of the Walmart in Glendora, the waypoint that would allow him to leave this place and get Lucinda safely away from the Escobars.
Darkness flashed around them. It must have begun to sink into her spell-muddled brain that Levi was taking her away from her lover, because she began to struggle in his arms, fighting to get away from his grasp.
“I’m trying to help you,” he murmured as they materialized in the Walmart parking lot.
“Let go of me, pendejo!” Lucinda snapped, writhing with far greater strength than he might have imagined. Danica’s accounts had made it sound as though she’d acted as if she was drugged, but the Santiago witch didn’t appear nearly so lethargic.
“Hey — what are you doing to that woman?”
Levi’s gaze tracked to the speaker, a heavyset man who’d just finished manhandling what appeared to be a box containing a flat-panel TV into the cargo area of his SUV. Wonderful. While Levi might have applauded the man’s protective instincts at another time, now all he could do was stifle a curse.
No time to waste. He pulled in a breath, once again locked the image of the parking lot at Ontario Mills in his mind, the shiny black Camaro gleaming in the half-hearted light of the distant lampposts. Both the angry man and the Walmart disappeared, and Levi stood next to the car.
Thank the Goddess.
His relief was short-lived, however, because Lucinda seemed to sense the way he’d momentarily relaxed his grip on her, and wriggled her way out of his arms and began to run barefoot across the empty parking lot. He immediately gave chase, even as he heard a muffled curse from within the Camaro, followed by the sound of more running feet.
Lucinda was quicker than Levi might have guessed, but even so, her slender legs were no match for his longer ones. He caught up to her and snaked an arm around her waist, yanking her back toward him. She began swearing at him in Spanish, calling him a bastard and a demon and worse. The insults didn’t concern him; at this point, he could only hope that no one here would notice her, or the way he began dragging her back to the car.
Brandon came up to them, the frown he wore visible enough even in the semidarkness. “What’s going on? You’d think she’d be happy to be rescued.”
“A magically advanced case of Stockholm syndrome, I think,” Levi replied. “It will wear off in time. For now, we need to get her out of here.”
“No shit.” Brandon gave a quick glance around, clearly as worried that Lucinda might attract attention as Levi had been.
By that point, they were almost back to the car. Hayley crawled out of the back seat and held the door open so Levi could unceremoniously stuff their freed captive in the far corner and fasten the seatbelt. For good measure, he muttered a quick charm, one that would prevent her from undoing the belt until he released it.
Even so, she fought against the restraints, uttering guttural sounds like a trapped wild animal. Hayley gave the Santiago witch a resigned glance as she climbed into the back seat next to her. “It’s going to be a long trip,” she muttered as she fastened her seatbelt.
“I’m sorry,” Levi said. He got into his own seat and shut the door. “With any luck, Matías Escobar’s hold over her will begin to diminish the farther we travel.”
“Which means we need to get the hell out of here.” Brandon had taken his place in the driver’s seat and started the engine. It came to life with a reassuring rumble. “Any signs of pursuit?�
�
“No,” Levi replied as Brandon guided the car out onto one of the feeder roads that would lead them back to the freeway. “Unfortunately, Matías did come out of the bathroom as I was just about to take Lucinda away.”
“He saw you?” Hayley asked from the back seat. Levi couldn’t see her face, but the tone of her voice revealed her obvious worry.
“Yes, he saw him!” Lucinda put in, then laughed. “Oh, he saw your boyfriend, little girl. And Matías is going to come after him, and then he’s going to wish he was never born!”
“I wasn’t born, so that’s not possible,” Levi said calmly. He shifted in his seat so he could reach back and put his hand on Lucinda’s forehead. At once she slumped into the corner, her head lolling to one side.
Hayley’s eyes widened. “What did you do?”
“Nothing to hurt her. I only made her sleep. It’s for the best, anyway — she can rest while we drive, and with any luck, she’ll have returned to something of herself by the time she wakes in Jerome. If not, I’ll just knock her out again.”
This explanation earned him a lifted eyebrow, but Hayley didn’t say anything else, seemed willing to go with matters as they currently stood. Why wouldn’t she? The alternative would have been a seat mate who thrashed and cursed and fought against the seatbelt that held her in. That was a good deal to contend with during a seven-hour journey.
Now they were on the freeway, the Camaro accelerating. Levi could feel himself relax slightly as the powerful car did its best to put more distance between them and the vengeful Escobars. Of course he wouldn’t let down his guard until they were back in Arizona — and not even then, not really — but it did feel good to know that Pasadena was falling farther and farther behind with every minute that passed.
“What are you going to do with her once we do get to Jerome?” Brandon asked. “Are Angela and Connor going to put her up?”
“No, they thought it might be too chaotic at their house, because of the twins,” Levi replied. “She’s going to Rachel’s place, to stay in what used to be Angela’s room. Lucinda should be safe enough there.”
Brandon nodded. “Makes sense. What if she doesn’t snap out of it, though?”
“She will,” Levi said, his voice firm. “Danica recovered with no lasting harm, so there’s no reason to think Lucinda won’t do the same.”
“Hmm.”
That was Brandon’s only response, but Levi could sense his doubt. Well, at this point, there wasn’t much else they could do. They’d gotten Lucinda away, and that was the important thing.
Whatever happened next, all they could do was manage it as best they could.
10
It was past midnight by the time they pulled into Quartzsite once again to make another pit stop. Hayley had actually fallen asleep somewhere around Beaumont, lulled by the rumble of the Camaro’s engine and her overwhelming weariness. Besides, there hadn’t been much point in staying awake, not with Levi in the front seat and her brother Brandon playing the part of unknowing chaperone. They wouldn’t have been able to talk about anything important anyway.
The fluorescent lights from the gas station blared out into the blackness of the desert night. This was the last gas station on the east side of town, before the highway headed out once again into no man’s land. Lucinda stirred as Hayley unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the back seat, but it seemed that Levi’s sleep spell was holding, because the other witch never actually opened her eyes.
Brandon had already started pumping gas. Levi stood a few feet in front of the Camaro, his eyes appearing to scan the darkness, although Hayley didn’t know what he might be looking for out there. They’d made it more than halfway, with no sign that the Escobars were even making an attempt to come after them.
The dry desert wind caught at Levi’s fair hair, even as the harsh light from overhead traced the edge of his fine profile. Despite everything, Hayley’s breath caught at the sight of him. It was hard to believe that she’d kissed such a godlike person, that he’d held her in his arms.
And hopefully he would do that again soon, once they were back in Jerome and Lucinda had been handed off to Rachel to be looked after. Levi had seemed confident that the Santiago witch would come back to herself eventually, but Hayley had to admit to herself that she hadn’t given much evidence of regaining her sanity so far.
She pushed her worries aside, went into the gas station’s convenience store and used the restroom there, which was cleaner than she’d expected it to be. Afterward, she paused to buy a packet of peanuts. It would be enough to tide her over; the sandwich she’d eaten on the trip out here had long since stopped doing anything to appease her hunger.
As she stepped out of the store, a blaze of crimson eyes came out of the darkness, swooping toward Levi and Brandon where they stood next to the car, talking quietly. Black leathery wings beat against the air, every hideous scale and bump and ridge all too clear under the blaze of the fluorescent lights.
The little bag of peanuts slipped from her hands. “Levi!” she screamed.
He started, looked at her, and then whirled toward the demons, as though finally sensing their presence. One hand went out, summoning a gale that knocked all three of the hideous creatures back at least a hundred feet, out of the circle of lights surrounding the gas pumps.
“Get in the car!” he called out, although Hayley wasn’t sure whether he was talking to her or to Brandon. Her brother didn’t seem inclined to argue, though — he hurriedly slipped the fuel nozzle back in its cradle and all but threw himself into the driver’s seat.
As for her, well, she knew Levi needed her help. She ran over to him, laid her hand on his arm so he could draw from her gift.
How exactly he intended to drive off the demons, though, she didn’t know. He couldn’t use fire as he had back at Red Rock Crossing, not with these gas pumps all around. The same thing for lightning. Yes, the winds he’d called had driven them back, but she could already see them creeping into the illuminated area, slithering across the blacktop like something out of the nightmares she’d had as a child, when she’d been sure some horrible scaly monster lurked under her bed, just waiting to grab her ankle the second she set foot in the room. Her flesh crawled, but she forced herself to stay put.
“What are you going to do?”
Levi raised his hands again. “My options are limited — I’m sure that’s why they waited to attack until we were here. Even so, with your power helping to fuel me — ”
He stopped there, fingers flexing and unflexing. Hayley could see the way his jaw clenched, as though he was trying to reach down deep within himself, to summon something that would ensure their attackers were rendered helpless for however long it took Brandon to put the pedal to the metal and get them away.
A wild wind caught at Hayley’s loose hair, snapping it like pale snakes around her face. That wind seemed to take on shape and substance, to form itself into a dark tornado at least twenty feet high. She staggered, fingers digging into Levi’s bicep so she wouldn’t lose her footing completely.
The tornado swirled away from them, headed directly to the spot where the demons crawled across the asphalt. It caught them, yanked them up from the ground as if they weighed nothing. Hideous screeches emerged from within those whirling winds, and clawed hands reached out to scrabble at the cyclone that held them captive, but they seemed unable to break free.
“Come on,” Levi said, dragging Hayley over to the car. He pushed her inside, but slid her hand down from his arm so her fingers were twined with his, never breaking contact. As soon as they were both seated, he used his free hand to slam the door shut. “Go, Brandon!”
Her brother didn’t need any more encouragement than that. He floored the accelerator, and the Camaro screeched away from the gas pumps, going at least thirty in reverse. He hit the brakes for a split-second, wrenched the steering wheel, and spun them around so they were headed directly for the freeway on-ramp.
A semi was approaching th
e access road from the opposite off-ramp, and Brandon hit the gas again, making a left turn so close to the truck’s grille that Hayley was sure they must have blistered some of the chrome. Then they were screaming down the on-ramp, and hit the eastbound I-10 going what felt like a hundred miles an hour. If anyone else had been driving, she might have been freaked out. Now she could only be glad that it was her brother behind the wheel, maneuvering them to safety.
“Can they — ?” Brandon began, and Levi shook his head.
“I don’t know how easily they can catch us. Obviously, they were able to locate us at the gas station. And their masters must have told them where we’re headed, because this was the most obvious, and fastest, route for us to take. But I don’t know how long the tornado will hold, now that we’re gone and I’m no longer there to maintain it. Still, it should give us something of a head start — if they even survive at all.”
Hayley maintained her death grip on Levi’s hand. No way was she going to let go, not until he told her it was safe…and maybe not even then. “Should we…I don’t know…take an alternate route so it’s harder for them to find us?”
Brandon nodded. “She might have a point.”
“I’d say yes, except that any alternates would take us through far more desolate territory than we already have to cover. There is a little safety in being in populated areas. Driving through Phoenix might help to shield us somewhat.”
“Phoenix is still a long ways off,” Hayley pointed out. “I saw the sign as we pulled off the freeway. We have more than a hundred miles to go.”
“There may not be much between here and there,” Levi said, “but at least there are gas stations at somewhat regular intervals, small settlements. If we cut off at Highway 60, then I know we’ll be going through areas where there might not be anyone on the road at all. At least on the interstate, we can be sure that we’ll have other drivers around.”
Deep Magic (The Witches of Cleopatra Hill Book 13) Page 13
