Bruja (13 page)

I glanced down again, against my better judgment. “Looks like you already are from here,” I said softly, but he heard me anyhow.

“I promise. You’re not going to die. I won’t let you. Not today. Not for a long while. So you can loosen your death grip on that handle.”

I tore my gaze away from the edge, and took him in as he concentrated on the road ahead. “I don’t like heights.”

“I can tell. But don’t worry. I’ve lived in this part of the country off and on most of my life.” Lucas paused as he went over another hole in the ground and the van bottomed out. “Believe it or not, the road used to be much worse.”

“Worse than this?” Not possible. Not in a million years.

“Yup.” He nodded with certainty.

I couldn’t imagine worse conditions. “It’s a miracle you’re still alive, then.”

“Eh. Back then we walked.”

“What? You didn’t have cars?”

“There were no cars.”

That made me pause. Man. I was so dense sometimes.

The wolves all looked much younger than they were. He probably wasn’t anywhere near as young as I thought he was. I’d figured he was a few years older than me, but not thirty yet. “How old are you?”

“How old do you think I am?” He asked with a wink.

Was that flirting?

No. Impossible. No way would he be flirting with me. He was far too good looking, and a wolf to boot. “I don’t know. I thought you were maybe twenty-seven, but I have a feeling I’m way off if you were around before cars made it to Peru.” He was grinning big time. It felt like the joke was on me. “Yeah. I’m definitely wrong. You’re way older than that. So how off am I?”

He laughed.

“Seriously. How old are you?”

“Old enough, princess. Old enough.”

I sighed. “I wish you’d stop calling me that.”

“What? Princess?”

“Yeah. It’s demeaning.” I turned away from him, taking in the horizon. “I’ve had enough of that in my life.”

“Hey,” he said as he gripped my hand for a second.

That one touch and I felt his aura, warming me to the core. It was so clear and bright. So strong. I could see a supernatural’s aura all the time, but feeling it, that was something infinitely more personal and unique. It didn’t happen that often. Only when the person was being very open with me and letting me in.

Almost as soon as the touch was there, it was gone.

And I missed it.

What was going on with my feelings for him? I was attracted to him, sure. But then I spilled my guts to him, and now…

“I’m not using the word to be demeaning,” he said, bringing me back to the conversation. Hopefully I hadn’t zoned out too much. “I was using it in a very literal way. But if you don’t like it, I’ll stop.”

Literal way? Someone had grossly misinformed him. “Me? Princess? Of what? The coven?” I nearly laughed. It was a completely ludicrous notion. “That couldn’t be further from the truth and there’s no way I’m going back there. Even once this whole mess is done with. I can’t. So, yeah. No.”

He frowned. “That wasn’t what I was referring to.”

What was he talking about? “Then…” I was so confused. Or he was confused.

“Don’t worry about it. I won’t call you that anymore if you don’t like it.”

“Okay.” I laughed, feeling like I was missing something.

We turned a corner and the cutest little village spread out before us. A church stood off to the left, with little shops and restaurants dotting the road. Homes were practically carved into the side of the mountain. “We’re here?”

“You got it. We walk the rest of the way. The streets in the village are too small for cars.” He grinned at me, and my heart did an embarrassing little flip-flop. “This way. We’ll hit the market first. A lot of people who’ve been indigenous to this area bring their goods to sell. Luckily, you’re here on market day.”

My first thought was that I wished Raphael were here. He loved markets. He would so get a kick out of this. I pushed all the scary thoughts of what might happen away, and thought only of good things. It was hard, but I had to do it. One day, if this market was cool, I’d come back with him.

“You okay?” Lucas asked.

I hopped out of the car and started to follow him. “No. But I’m hoping I will be soon.”

“You will be.” We turned a corner and a wide-open field spread in front of us. People in traditional Peruvian dress stood behind tables filled with all kinds of things. Some had fruits and vegetables. Some had clothes. Others had baked goods. But what hit me the most were all of the colors. Everything was so vibrant and alive.

“Do you see any auras here?”

I scanned the people standing around, looking deeper than just with my normal eyesight, but all I picked up were the energies of normal humans. Nothing supernatural or at all magical. “No.” I couldn’t keep the disappointment from my voice.

“Come on. Let’s take a closer look. Maybe it’s faint.”

I nodded. “Okay.” We’d come all this way. Might as well really look at these people.

As we moved from stall to stall, I thought it odd how Lucas paid each person special attention. One lady was selling cheese. Her colorful skirt and blouse were hand embroidered. A pristine white hat with a small brim sat atop her head. She grinned as Lucas approached and waved him over.

She had her baby playing in a box next to her. Lucas leaned down and gave the baby a kiss. “How are you doing today?” He asked her in Spanish.

“We’re doing same as always. You don’t have to stop by every time.”

“Would I miss a chance to see this little one?”

The lady’s cheeks heated, and she swatted him away before Lucas went on to the next stand. A lady with coca leaves. He negotiated for a bag, and took out a handful. “Here you go,” he said as he held out a bunch for me. “Your breathing is a little tight.”

“You can hear my breathing?” I hadn’t even realized I wasn’t breathing right.

“I’m a were. I can hear a lot of things. Just try them.”

Flustered, I grabbed a few and put them in my mouth. They didn’t taste great, but I’d drunk down my mother’s wellness potions for the early part of my life. I was well used to earthy flavors.

A few stalls down, I found little flat sugar cookies decorated with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles. It was the first time I engaged with one of the people manning the stalls, but the woman there looked behind me and nodded to Lucas before talking to me.

What was with that? Why were they treating him like he was special?

Maybe he spent a lot of time at this market?

The portly woman reached into her jar, grabbing out three cookies for me as I reached into my coin purse for change. I noticed the crystal hanging between her collarbones. It was small and white, but it had a tiny glow of power.

Interesting.

“Thank you,” I said as I handed her the change for the cookies. Just as our skin touched I saw a flicker. Barely there, but enough. It was white and pure.

The lady smiled, and I felt like weight had been lifted.

She handed me the cookies, and the contact was gone. I couldn’t see it anymore.

“Lucas!” I shouted before I could stop myself.

“What? What is it?”

I spun around, grabbing Lucas’s arms with my hands, nearly dropping my bag of cookies. “I saw it. I saw it. Her aura. It was white. So pure. I’ve never seen an aura so white. And I don’t usually see anything at all from humans. You know what that means?” I jumped up and down before rambling on. “She has to be a descendant of the mages. Which means they’re here. Muraco was right.” I squealed like a mad person.

He laughed, and a stupid grin spread across my face. Being here—laughing with him—filled my heart in an indescribable way. He reached up and ran his thumb down my cheek, and I stilled. His eyes were bright and clear. I could see the joy in them, and something else that I couldn’t identify. “That’s so good, Claudia.”

“It’s not a lot, but it’s something. It means that this isn’t a lost cause.” Hope filled me to the point of bursting. “I really can save him.”

“Of course you can.”

I let out the biggest sigh. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He turned toward the aisle, and grasped my hand in his. “Come on. Let’s see what more you can see. I bet we can find a lead before lunch.”

Tears started to fill my eyes, but I held them open. I’d already made one scene, so I wasn’t going to let myself cry in the middle of the market. “That would be really good.”

I stumbled to keep up with Lucas. His hand felt hot in mine as he twined our fingers together. This was going so much better than I’d expected.

When he stopped to talk to the butcher at the next stall, Lucas didn’t let go of my hand. He spoke, and I wasn’t paying attention to the words, but the deep rumble of his voice gave me goose bumps.

He glanced my way with a grin, not pausing in his conversation, and all of a sudden I could see it.

Holy moly. I liked him. More than liked him, I was attracted to him. This guy was drawing me in. Both Cosette and Teresa had mentioned me finding someone...

Suddenly nervous, I tugged my hand away and busied myself getting out a cookie.

I didn’t have time for a romance. Not now. But maybe I could come back once this was over and see if Lucas wanted to go out on a date. It was the twenty-first century. I could ask him. Couldn’t I?

It would be the light at the end of the very long tunnel that my life had been so far. He would be my light.

Chapter Twelve

“I think we should go for a hike after this,” Lucas said.

We’d stopped for lunch at a cafe next to the market. The food was fresh and delicious. I ordered grilled trout with vegetable quinoa and I’d practically been shoveling it in since I took the first bite. “A hike? I was hoping to talk to more people.”

“Were you getting anywhere?”

“No.” That was the problem and we both knew it. The locals all flared with a bit of aura when I touched them, but when asked about mages, they had no idea what we were talking about. A few of them wore glowing crystals, but other than being handed down for many generations to keep away evil spirits, they knew nothing about where they came from. Some of them were afraid of me after I asked about the mages—which was disheartening—and it made me wonder if all humans in this region flared a little. Maybe all humans did. I’d only ever been around witches and supernaturals, and now that seemed like a terrible gap in my knowledge of the world. I was second-guessing myself that much. “But how is a hike going to solve anything?”

He set down his fork. I’d momentarily wondered why the locals hadn’t flinched when he ordered enough food for four people, but I’d forgotten to think about it after tasting the food. Now I was back to thinking about it. How much did the locals know about the pack? And if they knew about the pack, then why didn’t they know anything about the mages?

I didn’t expect anyone to point me straight to ancient magic, but surely someone should have heard about the local covens or maybe some old shrine where locals went to pray. I’d take any lead I could get right now.

“A hike might solve nothing,” he said. I started to speak, but he kept on talking. “But it might give us some clues. You’ll get a better view from up high. If you look down and sense energy somewhere, then I can lead you there.”

I sighed. I’d liked the idea of staying in the village. The people were nice and exploring was more fun on flat ground. But Lucas had a point. “Okay. A hike sounds doable.”

“Good.” He started in on his second plate of food.

“So how much do they know?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Does who know?”

“These people.” I gestured around the room. Most of the round tables were empty, but the people at the few occupied ones all stared at us. Some were more subtle than others, but most kept glancing our way. I fiddled with the edge of the colorful tablecloth.

Combine the looks with the way everyone in the market treated Lucas, and something was obviously up. These people knew him. If not because he was a wolf, then for some other reason.

He didn’t answer me, but I wasn’t giving up that easily. “Who are you to them? A wolf? Or something else? Because I feel like you’re getting special treatment everywhere we go, and it’s not just because of your looks.”

His grin transformed his face from handsome to godlike. It was breathtaking. “How do you think I look?”

I laughed. He was just like every other boy I knew. “Come on. You’re a wolf. It comes with the territory, right?”

He shrugged. “I guess so. I never really thought about it.”

“So?”

“So, what?”

He was starting to frustrate me. “Don’t be so obtuse. Answer the question.”

“They don’t know about the pack exactly. What they do know is that some of us in the area live a very long time and work hard to protect them from anything bad. There are a lot of predators in these mountains—both supernatural and not—and we make sure the locals get to live without the drama that people face elsewhere in the country.”

“So why this one? Why not one of those other villages?”

“Mostly because of proximity to our own stronghold. Also, because of legacy. These are the supposed descendants of the old mages and that’s why we’re here in the first place.”

I guessed that made sense. They couldn’t exactly protect all of Peru. No pack could handle so much territory with so many mountains. So the village closest to their home would reap the benefits of being close to the pack. “Then why don’t any of them know about the mages?”

“Because they don’t exist to modern humans. These people might know their fairytales and legends, but their knowledge is just a memory from a dream. That’s why I said this wouldn’t be easy.”

“Right.” I took another bite of my quinoa before asking the next question. “So, they know how much you eat?”

“They know enough to not question when we ask for something. I won’t waste their food. There’s a trust there that goes both ways.” He paused, watching me as he waited for something. “No more questions?”

My face heated and I fought it as best as I could. “Not at the moment.”

“Good.” He started eating again, and we settled into a comfortable silence.

It was always a measure to me, if I could just sit and be with someone in silence. If I felt the need to talk or sensed awkwardness from the silence, then it was a sure sign that the friendship wasn’t meant to be. But I felt neither of those things with him. Just being next to him was comforting.