To Spell & Back Read online

  Something, whether you want to call it an onus or a geis, laid its weight over me like a curse. I bore it willingly.

  “Never make a promise like that to a faerie, not even a half-breed. Who knows what lengths you’ll be forced to go to keep it.” I shrugged off the warning. No Fae promise-keeping mojo was necessary in this case.

  “Did you find anything?” I circled around and opened the driver’s side door so that I could help search.

  “Not yet. Check in the back.”

  “You two spend a lot of time in the back?” My attempt to lighten the mood only put images in my head that I would rather not have seen. “Never mind.”

  Face flaming, I conjured witchlight into my palm and leaned down to look under the seat. Something was wedged into the spot where the front seat bolted to the floor. It was just far enough back that I had to crawl until I was half in and half out of the vehicle and reach as far as I could. I pulled out...wait for it...a dirty gym sock.

  “Euw.”

  “What, did you find something?” Flix asked, his voice intense.

  “Maybe. You’ll have to tell me if this is his or yours.” I held out the stinky sock.

  “It’s Carl’s. You know I don’t wear white socks.”

  “You’ve been wearing a lot of new things lately.” Lumberjack shirts. Mental head shake.

  “Shut up.” I got half a smile out of him. “Will it work?”

  “Should do. It’s definitely got his...essence.” Essence. Stink. Same thing, right?

  In his eagerness to see the results, Flix bumped my elbow and sent the quartz pendulum swinging wildly.

  “Sorry. Sorry.” He backed off a little, but not enough to keep from breathing down my neck. Between his eagerness, the pressure to find Carl quickly, and the distraction of holding someone’s filthy sock, my concentration was shot. Salem pressed in on my other side, and between the two of them, I couldn’t have found Carl if he’d been in my backyard. Thankfully, Kin could tell I was in focus mode and gave me the space I required.

  “That’s it. Both of you go over there,” I waved vaguely toward the other side of the sanctum. Terra and Vaeta, after much discussion, had returned to the party. It had taken all my powers of persuasion to convince them I’d think better if I didn’t have that worry riding me, too. “You’re vibrating at a very high frequency, and I need a minute of peace.” Maybe I should have sent them to the kitchen instead.

  “But I...” I glared at Flix.

  “Okay.” He raised his hands in a gesture of submission and backed away.

  With a bit more elbow room and a few seconds of calming meditation under my belt, I set the pendulum in motion again. Crickets. Four more times I scryed, and four more times the crystal spun around and around, never touching down.

  “It’s not working. And he hasn’t been harmed, or you’d know it.” I directed at Flix. “Salem, a little help here?”

  Salem sighed but knew better than to begin a diatribe about my studies. “She must have concealed him somewhere impenetrable. People can be warded, but so can places, like this room for instance.”

  Another epiphany hit me square in the face, though I carefully concealed my optimism in case this idea was a bust, too.

  “She took Pinky. I’ve got an extra key. See where I’m going with this? It didn’t occur to me before, but maybe the key will act as a link. It does sort of belong to Pinky.” They all nodded in agreement, and Salem morphed into cat form and scurried to my bedroom to retrieve the spare I kept in my jewelry box.

  The suspended hunk of quartz touched down almost immediately. Bam! Results.

  Confusing results. The crystal wavered and fell on its side.

  I angled my body between the table and the spot where three anxious men were staring at me with nothing but questions and desire for vengeance in their eyes. I tried a second time, shooting Salem an annoyed frown, “Okay, you can come back.” A familiar’s primary job is to help his witch, and I needed his calming presence.

  “What’s happening?” Flix was ready to blow a gasket. I motioned for them to take a look at the map.

  “She’s moving. Thankfully, Pinky can’t go that fast, but it’s still enough to mess with your results. The upside is, we won’t have trouble finding her in Flix’s Jaguar.” It wasn’t appropriate to defend my mode of transportation right this second, but I wanted to point out that had I traded up to the Harley Flix suggested, Serena—and Carl—would be much harder to find.

  See, I’m growing as a person.

  Chapter Twenty

  “FLIX, YOU PROMISED we’d do this together. We’ll take the pendulum and the map, and we’ll ferret her out. She’ll have to stop eventually, and then we’ll swoop in. Okay?” If I were expected to uphold my end of the bargain, so would he.

  “Yes, yes, I agree.”

  Flix kept his oath and didn’t go tearing off on his own, but he did utter all the words on the godmother’s naughty list and a few I’d never heard before. Kin echoed several of Flix’s sentiments. It occurred to me that he and Carl had become better friends than I’d realized, given their experience with Serena’s truth serum.

  Brutal honesty either wreaks havoc on or reinforces friendships. I think grudges and past slights act as a good portion of the glue holding Terra, Evian, Soleil, and Vaeta’s relationships together, and the phenomenon isn’t exclusive to otherworldly beings.

  “Ugh.” Kin spit bubbles. “What the...”

  “Saliva soap. Terra’s way of washing your mouth out.”

  “I don’t even live here. What’s the deal? How come Flix didn’t get whammied?” Another silvery orb slid out from between his lips and floated toward the skylight. At any other time, I would have been howling with laughter.

  The staccato beat of Flix’s shoes tracing a path between the Balefire and the casting circle bore witness to a rising fury that threatened to unleash once again the vengeful Fae resting just below the surface.

  “Enough,” Flix roared. “Kidnapped boyfriend, kind of urgent. Let’s get this show on the road.” He stalked toward the fireplace entrance, the formidable set of his shoulders somewhat diminished as he ducked under the low doorway. Seconds later, we heard the Jag’s engine revving and the blast of a horn and scurried after him.

  Scrying in the sanctum was one thing, but scrying in a moving vehicle was quite another, and the tiny sports car seats weren’t conducive to my efforts either. Serena had been tracing a path back and forth across Old Port’s historic district, the easternmost section of the city that hadn’t yet been completely swallowed by modern convention.

  When the town had been no more than a fishing and trading port, a large interior cove protected residents and ships from the blistering winter winds. Now, its cobbled streets buzzed with the activity of vendors, quaint shops, and some of the best restaurants in the state. I’d zipped past muttering truck drivers attempting to maneuver through the rough roads to their desired destinations on more occasions than I can count; you either walked the streets of East Bay or you found a vehicle better able to navigate in confined spaces.

  My scooter was perfect, and Serena was taking advantage of the fact that if pursued by car, we’d never stand a chance of getting close enough to spit on her, let alone reverse direction if we were spotted.

  Salem peered around the front seat from his position next to Kin in the back and watched as the pendulum twirled and set down a bit further into the cove each time. “There’s no rhyme or reason; no pattern. She just seems to be zig-zagging through the side streets. Thank goodness your windows are tinted. Maybe she won’t recognize the car, and we’ll be able to sneak up on her.” I uttered nervously.

  “She clearly knows we’re coming, or she wouldn’t be traipsing all around the bay. If this is a trap, I swear...” Flix trailed off, and I didn’t want to hear the rest.

  “We’re getting close. She’s two blocks west and heading this way.” The words were hardly out of my mouth before Serena, astride my beloved scooter, raced
out from a narrow alley to our left, crossed the street two cars ahead of us, and continued in the direction of the coastline. A spell fluttered to my lips from some instinctual place deep in my witch’s gut, and I did what I could to clear a path. Flix laid on the horn to my dismay (not very stealthy) and we careened through a gap barely wide enough for the Jaguar to take advantage of the brief break in traffic I’d conjured.

  Unfortunately, Serena either had some magical way of detecting our presence—or maybe she was just that paranoid—and caught sight of us as we thundered behind her. A beautiful hedge of blooming Cupid’s Dart flowers crunched beneath Pinky’s tires as Serena attempted to cut across a courtyard positioned between two 19th century apartment buildings.

  We heard a bang, and Flix screeched to a halt before—thankfully—hopping out and racing around the corner with the three of us at his heels. Salem went catty while still inside the vehicle, and streaked ahead of us at light speed.

  “Nooo!” I shouted at the sight of Pinky smashed into a tree, both tires flat and the rearview mirror hanging at an odd angle against the crumpled front fender. Of course, my scooter was replaceable, and we were after a live human being who was in danger, so I turned my attention back to the matter at hand while inwardly mourning the loss. “Where is she?”

  Salem sniffed, looked me square in the eye, and tilted his furry little head to indicate we should follow him. Three blocks later, in the depths of another dark alley, Salem looked around surreptitiously and poofed back into a man with wide eyes.

  “I know where Carl is. Serena’s lair, for lack of a better term, is in that direction. One of her father’s old warehouses downtown. She’s got the place warded to the hilt, so we’ll need to either draw her out or find a weak spot. I might even have an idea.”

  “And you couldn’t have come up with that idea before she did this?” I waved a hand to indicate poor Pinky and he had the good sense to apologize.

  Serena had Carl holed up in the one place where she had the upper hand and had probably headed back there because she was reaching the far edge of desperation. No self-respecting witch would risk luring an enemy so close to where they practiced, and she knew we were on her trail. You can bet your rent money Serena never expected us to find her there, much less to attempt a rescue. Salem’s recent romantic experience with her familiar was about to provide some useful information. We had intel, and we had to move quickly.

  “How hard could it be? Serena’s not what you’d call a criminal mastermind. We go in; we take her down.” Kin slammed his fist against his palm.

  “You don’t understand. Now we’ll be on her turf. There’s no telling what sort of defenses she’s installed. I doubt she’d show any measure of mercy.”

  “Okay, I get that she’s large and in charge, but how does that change things?” He asked.

  “Breaking through a powerful warding is a big deal.” Flix had put plenty of them on our own office. When Delta, the bounty hunter who helped put me on the path to find the Bow of Destiny, had first started sniffing around, I’d felt the need for one place in the city where I could go and not be followed by anyone with ill intentions. “It’s all about the intent. The stronger our desire to do her harm, the stronger her wards will become.”

  “Naturally...” Kin’s eyes rounded when the implications hit home. “...but it’s different for you. Witch rules don’t apply to Fae, right?” The question was directed at Flix, who continued to pace back and forth impatiently.

  “Karma is a mean mistress and not limited to witches. If we go in with aggression, it will come back on us all. It’s okay if you want to sit this one out.”

  “You go, I go,” Kin said with finality. “But there’s a back door, right? Lexi’s mother got into her house without Terra knowing.” Kin tried to puzzle it through, and Flix was growing more impatient with every passing question; a squiggly blue vein at his temple throbbed in time with his heartbeat.

  “You forget one thing..” Salem puffed out his chest. “I’m irresistible.”

  Before Flix turned into a steaming puddle of angry, I quickly explained how Salem had graciously taken one for the team when I’d asked him to turn spy for me. I laid it on thick because he’d need the ego boost if he were going to do what we were about to ask him now.

  Armed with all the information at our disposal, we laid out the bare bones of a plan that centered around Salem’s skills with the ladies. Or with the lady cats anyway.

  “Okay, let’s go. I’ll drive.” Kin offered.

  “Too slow, and I need to grab something from the house. Flix can you...” I’d never asked him to transport me before. I knew he could move from place to place like the godmothers, but I wasn’t sure, being only half Fae, what his limitations were.

  “Yes, I can take you. Just hurry up.” Tension turned his expression stony as we all clasped hands.

  In under five minutes, the four of us landed in a parking lot not too far from Serena’s current position. Kin looked a little green. Flix managed the shift with speed, but he lacked Terra’s ability to provide a smooth re-entry.

  “Hold still, Salem.” The sharp command quieted him long enough for me to tie a couple of Evian’s favorite toys onto his collar. “Okay, go.” I gave him a little scratch behind the ears first. He hadn’t even asked for extra tuna for doing this, and I knew how much of his pride was on the line. “You’re the best.”

  Salem didn’t need words to convey his reaction to my comment—the speed of his turn and the twitch of his tail told me all I needed to know as he melted into the darkness. My heart thumped double time while Salem made his way alongside the building. On quiet paws, he scaled a dumpster to get to a ledge that provided him access to a windowsill and then up the fire escape where he disappeared into the shadows.

  Silence filled several tense moments as we waited.

  Kin wobbled over and whispered in my ear, “See anything yet?” He slung an arm around me and leaned in while I angled the compact-sized mirror connected to the much smaller version dangling around Salem’s neck. Two-way water mirrors were one of Evian’s specialties, and I’d happened to have a set tucked away in my dresser drawer. Flix, whose Fae-enhanced night vision picked up more than ours, drew in a hiss of breath.

  “He’s heading for the roof.”

  The mirror showed a blur of dark against darker when Salem lifted a paw over the edge of the rooftop. Morana must have sensed his proximity because she practically oozed through an open vent near the heating ductwork. A minute before, I’d been thankful for the nearly full moon that rode low in the sky, but what happened next made me want to scoop my eyeballs out with a spoon.

  “Meow.” Infused with need, Morana’s entire body quivered at the sight of Salem, and her butt went up in invitation. I felt his shudder of distaste, but bless him; he played the part. Thankfully, the conversation rolled out in howls and murmurs of cat language; I had no desire to hear the details. Didn’t matter anyway, my imagination supplied enough to make me cringe.

  “Hey, big boy. Come and get it.”

  “Rawr. Why don’t we go inside where we can be a little more comfortable.”

  “I want you right here, right now.”

  “Inside. Please. I’ll give you what you want. I’ll give it all to you.”

  Okay, Salem probably didn’t say that, and by now, I needed a gallon of mind bleach.

  “He did it.” Kin distracted me from the horror. “He’s in. Lexi, go.”

  “Sorry. I was...never mind.” Shaking my head to dispel the last of the mental images, I spoke a sleeping spell into the tiny shell. Immune to my particular brand of witchcraft, Salem remained alert while Morana slid into a peaceful slumber, and then he moved deeper into the warehouse.

  A moment, or a lifetime later, the mirror in my hand lit up like Christmas. What I saw were feet.

  Two of them wearing shoes that looked a lot like a pair I usually kept in the office in case I needed to change for the gym. I rifled through my memory for the last ti
me I had worn them and came up with a vague vision of having nudged them deeper under my desk during the first wave of new clients. Brushing aside a fleeting resolution to work out more frequently than bi-monthly, I searched my memory for clues as to when Serena might have hatched this diabolical plan.

  She could have walked through the front door and taken my entire desk without my noticing her during the past few weeks. I’d spent a lot of time ferrying hopefuls in for a consult with Flix, who plied them with good wine and his special brand of stress reduction. I’d given so many tours of The Closet I was already anticipating the arrival of fall, feeling the urge to rescue all the boots from a boring summer spent indoors. Serena could have watched and waited for me to retreat into the back room, and then—the wards were down during business hours—ransack the front office.

  Barely whispering, I spoke into the other item Evian supplied; a simple-looking seashell, “Lean up or something, all we can see are feet.” Salem complied, and Carl’s earnest face swam into view just as a burst of speech came through the shell.

  “I'm trying to think, Lexi, but that’s all I remember. Are you certain Flix went to the same place he sent that Jett guy?”

  “Yes, of course, I am, or I wouldn’t have dragged you out of the party to come here and look for clues to where he might have gone.”

  Have you ever had two wildly opposed emotional responses at the same time? The sight of Serena’s—or more technically, my—face and the sound of my voice fired every ounce of mad I could muster while the sight of Carl, unharmed, sent relief flooding over me. Furious me controlled the blood pressure, which shot up to an alarmingly high rate. Relieved me preferred caution to action.

  Landing somewhere in between, I cupped my hand, raised the shell to my lips, and directed Salem to initiate phase two. As helpless as I felt at that moment, I had no idea what inner resources Flix was pulling from to remain so calm. Twenty-some-odd years living with faeries had taught me plenty of lessons, chief among them that the quieter the faerie, the worse the havoc they will wreak. Calm and cold fury are not the same thing; one means peace, the other can be deadly.