Charmed & Ready (13 page)

We did have that problem with Blackstock a few months ago, but he'd slid in under the guise of another warlock, Cole. It was ironic since Cole is one of the bigwigs of the international spook squad. He almost died too, with me in the conservatory. If he hadn't given me some of his healing power I wouldn't be writing this down right now.

So, Garnout says it's best to have some magical folk around in case something goes wrong.

Ms. Peggy is the leader of the coven. In a small world kind of way, she and my mom actually went to college together. I've become a surrogate daughter ever since we found that out.

She and Mom had lost touch, but now they talk all the time. Goodie for me. Argh. I seem to be a favorite topic of their conversations.

The rest of the coven is made up of a mix of Wiccans, most of whom aren't that powerful. But there are a few that can hold their own. Like Janet. She's strong and so is her boyfriend, Mike. I'm not overly fond of warlocks, well, except for Sam, of course, but he doesn't practice. Mike does practice, but he's a clean soul. I've even probed his mind a few times to make sure there's no darkness hiding in there.

Speaking of cleaning, I'm running around the house trying to get it ready.

My energy level is higher than it's been in forever. I woke up this morning with so much excitement, after a night of mind-blowing sex, and I'm so ready to throw some fireballs.

I'm going to start small and work my way up. It's as if my body knows. Before I had my shower this morning, my mind traveled to check on the prime minister, Zane, Azir and my friend Simone. It's something I usually do on a regular basis, without even thinking about it.

Azir was asleep, so not much going on there. The prime minister was in a meeting. Go figure. Zane was working in the studio again. And Simone was just coming in from a very late night out.

Since I knew she was up, I called. She'd been checking on me every day, and had left a message last night. I couldn't answer. I was kind of tied up. With scarves on the bedpost and whipped cream from head to toe… No, can't think about that right now.

Simone picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, are you okay?" Thanks to caller ID she never bothers with greetings.

"I'm good. Tonight's the first time to try magic after a few weeks. I kind of hope I don't blow up my house."

She laughed. "You know you won't. In fact I talked to Garnout, and he thinks you'll be more powerful and focused than ever since you've been conserving energy."

What is it with everyone gossiping about me behind my back? Garnout's talking to my mom, Sam and now Simone. Geez.

"Well, we'll see what happens tonight. I'm not quite a hundred percent but I'm close." I grabbed the dustcloth and started in on my dining room table and chairs. For some reason, that room gets dustier faster than any other in the house.

"I still think you should come out here and hang with me. The sea air would do you good." Simone lives in the middle of Hollywood, but she does love the beach. "We could do all that girly crap. Spa treatments, nails and highlights with the master stylist Sir David."

Honestly, it sounded like fun. I hadn't taken a real vacation in more than three years, and the last one to Bermuda was interrupted by a warlock attack. I came home with a wicked sunburn and three more kills.

"I'll think about it. For real, Simone. But I'm not up to traveling quite yet. And when I am, I've got to get back on the job. Callie can't cover for me forever."

"Callie the Bitch is covering for you in London?"

I laughed. Did I mention that Simone doesn't have many friends? She doesn't care for most people. The fact that we are friends often amazes me.

"Yes, and she's been doing a great job. Okay, so she's not the friendliest person, but neither are you." I laughed.

"You've got me there. I just figured the probabilities of you coming out in the next month and it's seventy-eight to one. Not good odds."

We never say it to her face but our nickname for Simone is Rain Man. She's a fucking genius with numbers. I mean for real. The cool thing is she doesn't look like a math nerd. She's got cocoa skin, long straight dark hair and she's tall. Legs up to her shoulders.

"Well, you never know." I moved my dusting to the living room.

"Man, Bron, I've gotta crash. We had a demon infestation in Topanga. I took out the nest, but it's been a twenty-four-hour mission." The tiredness in her voice was evident.

"Sorry, girl. I should have known better than to call you before noon."

"Hell, don't worry about it. I'd just walked in the house. But call me later tonight or tomorrow and let me know what happens with your magic practice. Wish I could be there."

I finished cleaning and ate a sandwich for lunch. Sam had to drive into Dallas to consult one of his patients who had moved there. He'd probably stay overnight, which was actually good.

He felt awkward around a lot of the coven because they had helped to save his life. And with him around it would be more difficult to focus.

Oh wow. I'm kind of nervous and excited. But I need to rest.

Saturday, 8 A. M.

Sweet, Texas

Rockin' witches: 14

Insane wizards: 1

I love the women and men who make up the coven in Sweet.

They are like family, or are quickly becoming so.

Everyone brought food last night and it turned into a big potluck. Well, a big potluck with lots of chanting and burned paper plates.

They all showed up around seven loaded down with everything from tacos to strawberry shortcake. We set it up in the dining room and along the long counter in the kitchen.

It was the first time I'd had them all in the house at the same time. A few had come to visit off and on, and some, like Janet, had been here when Blackstock attacked me in the conservatory.

After we ate, everyone headed to the backyard. I have sod for about an acre, but the other ten acres are dry West Texas land. Lots of scrub and dirt. We walked to the area where the grass ended. Caleb had raked the area so that it was mostly smooth dirt.

They set up a circle around me and chanted a protection spell.

I didn't know how this first bit would go, but I brought up a tiny fireball in the air just above my right hand. The hard part is sustaining, so I focused. It didn't take any effort, so I tossed it in the air.

That gave Mike the idea for me to try and hit a moving target.

"Are you volunteering?" I laughed, my voice a little edgy from nerves.

"No, but I thought maybe we could toss these up and you could try and hit them." He pulled out a package of paper plates, and I heard gales of laughter from the other witches and warlocks.

He shrugged. "Well we can toss 'em up and see what happens." Embarrassed, he smiled.

"It's a great idea. Go ahead."

He threw the first one like a Frisbee. Just as it was about to land on Peggy's head, I blew it to bits. She stepped back. "Mike," she yelled shrilly, "you throw those darn things close to me again, and you'll have a skunk's tail by morning."

My shoulders shook with laughter but I didn't let the giggles escape. Several other people did the same.

Mike shrugged. "Sorry, Peg, I'll toss them outside the circle this time."

He threw two at once and, without thinking, I disintegrated them.

"Keep the circle, but everyone move back about ten paces." I motioned them out with my hands. "That's good. Don't freak out. I want to try something."

I pointed with my finger to the ground and, in a matter of seconds, I had a circle of fire three feet away surrounding me, burning about knee high.

The faces of the coven were bright with wonder. Their expressions made me smile. I extinguished the circle.

"She'll never have to worry about being on a deserted island without matches," Mavis Calright, a nervous Wiccan, whispered.

She was a nice lady, but even though she looked like Jackie O, Mavis had foot-in-mouth disease. I liked her. She always made me laugh.

Enough with the child's play. Taking a breath, I lifted my hands to the sky.

Mother Earth, share your bounty,

Mother Sky, let me feel your breath.

As I will so mote it be.

Under our feet a mat of grass grew from the dry dirt. And wind picked up, cooling the August heat that had left a sheen on many a nose and forehead in the circle.

The breeze whipped around us, lifting skirts and sending hats sailing through the air, but no one broke the circle.

Another deep breath and I brought my arms down. The grass stayed, but the wind died down.

"Crap, Bron, you're even stronger than before." That was Janet.

What she didn't know is that I could have done so much more.

Just then the wind picked up, but only in the center of the circle. I had nothing to do with it.

In popped Garnout. His long white beard had been braided. He wore a tie-dyed shirt and jeans. In the six years I've known him, I'd never seen him in anything but wizard robes.

"Welcome." I smiled.

"I felt your power and came to make sure you were doing okay. You look pale." He stepped toward me and stopped, then stared at me strangely.

I looked down at my clothes. I wore jeans, and a pink T-shirt Sam had given me. It said, Humanity Is Overrated. I used to hate pink but it's sort of grown on me. I didn't see anything out of order.

"It's coming," he whispered as he walked around me in a circle.

"What's coming?" I looked behind me. I didn't see anything.

"More." He said it without inflection.

Reaching out, he touched my shoulder. "No more tonight. You need to rest. Build each day. More is to come."

Before I could ask again what "more" meant, he disappeared.

The coven members whispered around me.

I turned to Janet. "Any idea what he's talking about?"

She shrugged. "Not a clue, but he's right. You look pale. Let's go back in and grab a snack."

They joined hands and chanted healing and clearing of magic spells. The grass underneath us disappeared.

The coven left a little later, and a short time after that, I was asleep.

Sam should be home in a few hours. He called from Dallas, but he didn't sound like he was in a good mood. I hope his patient is okay.

I'm heading to the Piggly Wiggly to stock up on Hershey's syrup. A girl can never have too much chocolate, especially when it's drizzled all over her man.

Saturday, 11 P. M.

Sweet, Texas

Spells: 4

Charms: 5

Cranky witches: 1

It's been good to use magic again. Unlike everyone around me, I think if I don't do a little each day it builds up in my system and makes me weaker. I'll probably never convince anyone of that but myself, but I won't go so long without using it in the future. Don't care what anyone says.

And what the hell did Garnout mean about "more"? He's so cagey. I've e-mailed him twice and he wrote, "You'll know soon enough."

Geez. Of course I shouldn't take my bad mood out on my wizard buddy, but still.

So, this is something I've been curious about for a long time. Why is it I can only be happy for a maximum of two days before some drama rises up and saps all the good out of the day? I'd really like someone in the universe to explain it to me.

Sam showed up around noon today. I had run into town to get some avocado sandwiches from Lulu's. The new bakery, Milly's, had some beautiful cakes in the window and I couldn't resist the Black Forest.

Had everything set up and ready to go for Sam. I knew he was tired. I could hear it in his voice when he called from the road. Also had my Hershey's chocolate nearby, just in case.

When he came in, his forehead was etched with stress. There was a lot more than a long drive and a difficult medical case in the worry in his eyes.

"What happened?" I didn't pretend not to notice his mood.

"Nothing, I told you it's a difficult case and we can't seem to agree on a treatment." He sat down and took a bite of his sandwich.

If I had half a brain, I would have let it go. Whatever was really wrong, he wasn't ready to talk about it. But no, Bronwyn can never let anything rest. I've got to push and needle until the other person explodes.

I crossed my arms and stared at him.

He threw his fork down on the plate, and shook his head. "Leave it be, Bron. I'm not in the mood for your games."

Now that just pissed me off.

"What do you mean
games
? I don't play games with you, Sam. Something's bothering you, and I want to help. How is that messing with your mind? Please explain it to me." I could feel my lips pressing into a line, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from saying something I would regret.

He stood up and pushed his chair in. "I can't do this right now." And he walked out.

Just like that. Stupid jerk. There isn't anything he can't tell me. He should know that by now.

I thought about using my powers to stop him, but decided against it. Screw it. This relationship crap is too hard. I mean it. I'm so tired of the drama.