Don't Hex with Texas (17 page)

He gathered his wits about him a little more securely, drawing himself to his full height to tower over Owen and crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s none of your business.”

“Actually, considering you’ve been teaching my brother how to do magic, it is.” He looked truly blank, as though he had no idea what I was talking about. “Dean Chandler? The guy who called you in the middle of the night about some wards he ran into? I assume that’s why you’re here.”

The expression on his face was priceless. Dad would say he looked like he’d been pole-axed. He forgot about towering over Owen and sat down on the bed. “That’s your brother?”

“One of them. You didn’t notice that we have the same last name and we’re both from Texas?”

“You’re from Texas?”

I turned to Owen. “I thought that was tattooed on my forehead. Everyone in Manhattan knows I’m from Texas.”

“It’s not really a rare last name, either,” Idris mumbled. “I take it those wards he ran into were your work,” he said to Owen.

“Yes, those were mine, and they did their job of stopping him before he could make a really big mistake. I thought that’s why you were here, because you knew I was here.”

“No, I’m here because there’s no record of a wizard here, and my lessons haven’t gone up to wards yet. I was worried I might have competition or that someone was on to one of my students and might expose him.”

“Wait a second,” I said, “you came all the way here to this town that’s barely on the map and that most people in Texas haven’t even heard of, just because you thought there might be another wizard here who could step in and steal your students or expose them for doing magic?”

He got the kind of expression Dean used to get when he realized he needed to come up with a good explanation for something, fast. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t nearly as smooth as Dean. “Well, um, uh, from the sounds of things, my student was attracting attention, and um, if someone warded the bank, it meant someone with power knew something was going on.” He pulled a pillow into his lap and fiddled with it, then realized he’d removed the covering from his papers and moved it back. “I haven’t taught dueling yet, so I wasn’t sure my student would be able to take care of himself. He might have needed backup, and if a student got exposed, then it would ruin my operation.”

“Your attempt to build a magical army of your own, you mean,” Owen said. He didn’t look like he was enjoying Idris’s discomfort nearly as much as I was. He just looked tired and fed up.

Idris didn’t deny Owen’s assertion. “Yeah, if you want to put it that way. And, um, well, I was kind of looking for an excuse to get away from New York.”

“Evil scheming is very hard work,” I said in mock sympathy. “You need fresh country air to recharge yourself.”

“It is! It was fun at first, but man, these people I’m dealing with are intense. I thought it was great to get the funding, but wow, now they want reports and results, and stuff. It’s like if I don’t have every magical person in the world as customers, I’m doing something wrong, and now they want me to find even more magical people so we can grow the market and outnumber your customer base. Oh yeah, and they use phrases like ‘grow the market’ and ‘customer base,’ which is so not my scene. It was a total buzzkill.”

“That’s what happens when you go into business,” Owen said. “What did you expect?”

Idris acted like he hadn’t heard him. He was on a roll. “And then there’s this crazy broad who keeps meddling in my life. I can’t even look at a woman without her showing up to get in the way. It’s like someone cursed me. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had any action?”

This time, I managed to keep a straight face while Owen cracked up. We both knew exactly who that crazy broad was, and that was a very accurate description for my erstwhile fairy godmother, who’d nearly driven Owen and me apart in her attempts to make sure we got together. I’d managed to get her on Idris’s case to make sure he worked things out with his girlfriend, who was currently in MSI custody. Apparently fairy godmothers didn’t think that forced separation was an excuse for infidelity.

“What?” Idris asked Owen.

“Oh, nothing,” Owen said, fighting to suppress a smirk.

Idris turned to me. “So, my local student here is your brother? I guess that means you caught him and stopped him from doing anything else.”

“Yeah, we kind of read him the riot act. He’s seen the error of his ways. He won’t be taking any more lessons from you, and he’ll be warning the others about what you’re really up to.”

“He’s also going to get some real training so that he can keep watch over this area for us, and he’ll be registered with the Council,” Owen added. “You might as well head back to New York. There’s nothing for you to do here.”

A look of panic crossed Idris’s face. “I’ll refund his money, but he’d better not be blabbing to the other students on my message boards. He can’t do that to me! I carried out my end of the deal. I can’t help it if he chose to use his power to commit crimes.”

“Your lessons contained step-by-step instructions on how to commit specific crimes using specific spells,” Owen pointed out. “The entire course was on using magic to get rich.”

“That was only an example. When you do those problems about trains running into each other in math class, do you really think that means you’re supposed to go out and crash trains into each other?”

“No,” I said, “but if you’re taking home economics and there’s a cake recipe in a textbook, I do think it means you’re supposed to follow those directions to bake a cake. It’s not just a hypothetical example of what happens when you combine flour, sugar, and eggs.”

“That’s different! And you can’t register him! I’ll look like a failure.”

“News flash,” I said. “You are a failure. Maybe you should quit now while you’re still ahead.”

“I can’t quit. Do you know what they’ll do to me? I have to stop you. If you go through with this, you give me no choice. I swear, Palmer, this time I will bring you down.”

Owen turned to look at him, staring at him silently for long enough that Idris started to sweat. Finally, Owen gave him a crooked grin. “This time, huh? You mean unlike all the other times?”

“I got away those times. The last time I almost got your girlfriend.”

Owen shrugged. “Okay, then, I guess I’ll have to take you into custody now.” He took a step toward Idris, his hands raised. The sense of magic in use in the room grew stronger, and I stepped backward so I’d be out of the way of the magical fight that was about to break out. Just when it was getting intense enough to give me a headache, Idris vanished into thin air. Owen lunged toward where he’d been, but it was too late. “How’d he do that?” he asked. “I can’t do that here, so there’s no way he could do that.”

“Well, he did. He’s not here, so it’s not like he just went invisible.”

“This is not good,” he said, the tension in his voice contradicting the incredible understatement of his words. He raised his hands again, his eyes half closed, like he was listening for something. After a while, he shook his head. “He used a lot of power, but I’m not sure where he got it.”

I reached over and took his arm. “Come on, we’re not getting anything done standing around here.” With a weary sigh, he went along with me. On our way out of the room, I locked the door behind us, in case Idris hadn’t taken his room key when he vanished. He’d have to use that much power again to get back into the room. I dropped the towels off in the housekeeping closet, then we got back into Owen’s rental car.

“What do you think he’ll do?” I asked.

“He may make a go of convincing your brother not to drop his program or let the other students know what’s going on. Or he could challenge me to a duel on Main Street at high noon. With him, you never know.”

Dean and Teddy were still hanging around at the house when we got back. They met us on the back porch. “What time should we meet tonight?” Teddy asked.

“A quarter to midnight behind the bank. We should all park in different places so it’s not too obvious that someone’s congregating,” Owen said.

“Okay, quarter to midnight,” Dean said, nodding. “Is that because there’s more power at the witching hour of midnight?”

“No, it’s because by then everyone here will be asleep, making it easier for us to sneak out, and there won’t likely be anyone wandering downtown. It also seems to fall between two different police patrols of that area.”

“Oh,” Teddy said, looking disappointed. It was a shame how boring and ordinary magic often turned out to be.

“You’re still planning to return those goods?” Owen asked Dean.

“Yeah. It doesn’t look like I have a choice if I want to keep my wife.” I bit my tongue to keep from saying that it wouldn’t be a big loss. Besides, Sherri was turning out to be okay.

“Then make sure you’ve wiped off any fingerprints and wear gloves. Box everything up in separate boxes for each store.”

Dean’s eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face. “Fingerprints?”

“Don’t you think they’d check if stolen goods suddenly reappeared and they still had no suspect? Returning the goods is a mitigating factor, but it doesn’t erase the fact that you committed a crime.”

“How are you going to explain to Beth why you’re taking off in the middle of the night?” I asked Teddy.

“I’m always taking off in the middle of the night when I get an idea and head to the test crops,” he said with a shrug. “She’s used to it by now.”

“I’ll see you two tonight, then,” Owen said.

“Do we need to bring anything?” Teddy asked.

“I’ve got it taken care of. Wear something dark that won’t stand out too much if light hits it. And you’ll need gloves, since we’ll be handling stolen goods.”

My brothers were waiting for us behind the bank shortly before midnight, both of them looking like cat burglars in their all-black clothing. Teddy was the most eager of the two. I wasn’t sure if it was because of his curiosity about magic or because of Dean’s reluctance to give back all his loot.

“We’ll deal with the wards first, since that’s our priority,” Owen told them. “Then if we have time, if I have the energy, and if the coast is clear, we can start returning the stolen property. You did bring it, didn’t you?” he asked Dean.

“It’s in my trunk. Sherri had everything already boxed up.”

“I hope you thought to wipe off her fingerprints so she won’t be suspected,” I said, finding it hard to believe I was actually looking out for Sherri.

“Of course I did.”

“Good,” Owen said. “Okay, here’s the plan. Sam will veil the area, so no one who happens to pass by will see what we’re doing. You should still be quiet and not do anything to draw attention to yourself because no veil is perfect. The less there is to see, the easier it is to disguise it. Stay out of my way, and if I tell you to do something, you’ll do it without hesitation or question. Have you got that?” He sounded so firm and commanding that I might not have been able to resist tackling him if my brothers hadn’t been there.

They nodded, apparently also getting that sense of power from him, but obviously with a totally different response. “Got it,” Teddy said, while Dean gave a cocky salute.

We crept around the corner to the front of the bank, where Sam waited for us on the sidewalk. “I got you covered, boss,” he said. “All of you. You did tell these two to keep it quiet?”

“Yes. It’s under control.” Owen turned to me and said, “I’d like you to be standing by. I probably won’t need you because breaking wards is easier than setting them, but I’d rather be ready, just in case.”

“I’ll be here,” I said.

As he went to work, I was torn between wanting to watch him and wanting to see how my brothers reacted to what he did. So far, they’d seen little more than parlor tricks, but this would be real magic on a level they hadn’t yet experienced.

He sprinkled some shimmery powder in a line under the doorway, then stepped back, held his hands out, and did that half chanting/half singing thing he’d done when he set the wards. The wards again flared into visible light, then that light collapsed into the powder, which burst into blue-white flames that shot into the air.

Of course, that was the exact moment a police car drove by on patrol. When did our local police force become so effective?

“O
h, sh—shoot,” Dean hissed, glancing at me as he corrected himself.

“We’re running around at midnight and doing magic,” I whispered back to him. “Do you think I’m going to tell Mom you used a bad word in front of me?”

“Hush!” Owen snapped.

I somehow doubted that with a wall of blue-white flame shooting to roof height, our whispering would be what alerted the cop to our presence, but I hushed, anyway. For all I knew, Sam might be able to veil the flame while it took too much extra power to muffle the sound.

The police car slowed to a crawl as it passed the bank, and I held my breath. I knew Sam was good at hiding things magically, but all that flame—along with the light it cast—had to be a challenge. Suddenly the flame collapsed in on itself, leaving no trace. Even the powder it had grown from was gone.

The police car kept moving at its frustratingly slow pace, but it didn’t stop. When the car at last passed out of sight, there was a collective “whoosh” as all five of us let out our breath. Then Teddy turned to look at Owen. “That was so cool!” he said. “What did you do?”

“The energy that created the ward had to go somewhere, so it was absorbed into the powder and burned up,” Owen explained.

I stepped in before the two of them could start discussing the chemistry and physics of magic. “Are you sure it worked?” I asked.

Owen gestured at Dean. “Come over here.” Dean looked apprehensive, but he stepped forward. “Try to cross the threshold.” Dean visibly steeled himself, then stepped forward. He was able to get all the way to the bank’s door. “It worked,” Owen reported. “Now, we need to get all those stolen things returned. Based on the pattern from previous nights, I think the police car will most likely return in half an hour, so let’s hurry. I don’t want to test the limits of Sam’s veiling ability.”

Dean and Teddy ran back to Dean’s car to get the goods and returned loaded down. “This is the first batch,” Dean said.

“How much did you steal?” I asked.

“I may have gotten a little carried away,” Dean admitted.

“Which stores are those from?” Owen asked.

“I thought we’d start with the jewelry store, since that was the most valuable stuff.”

We made a funny procession as we headed across the square to the jewelry store. Sam flew ahead. I followed behind him. Teddy and Dean with their overflowing boxes were in the middle, and Owen brought up the rear. We looked like a gang of inept reverse burglars.

“They didn’t have a camera here, but there is a security system,” Sam reported when we reached the jewelry store.

“Yeah, I was able to bypass it,” Dean said. He looked a little too proud of himself for my comfort.

“That’s not too difficult,” Owen said. “The spell that dissolves the window actually keeps the sensors intact. You were sloppy, though. You overdid it on the windows. They should have come back as soon as you were in and out. That wasted power and drew attention to your actions.” He faced the window, waved a hand, whispered a few words, and the glass vanished. “Okay, now put the stuff back in there.” Dean went to climb through the window, but Owen shook his head. “No, just leave the boxes there. You want them to notice it’s been returned. You don’t have your name or anything identifying you on those boxes, do you?”

“These are the boxes I got from the store.”

“Then put them in there.”

Dean followed instructions. As soon as he was clear of the window, the glass reappeared. “You’ll have to teach me how to do that,” Dean said.

“Somehow, I don’t think that would be such a good idea.”

“I wouldn’t do it to steal stuff again.”

“Then why would you need to be able to do it?”

“This is amazing,” Teddy gushed. “Now, how does the ratio of matter and energy work on this? Are you actually making the matter go away, like into an alternate dimension, or are you just separating the atoms so it looks like the glass isn’t there, but all the matter actually still is?”

“Teddy, we don’t have time for the scientific explanation,” I said.

“Sorry. But can we talk about it later?” If they did, it wasn’t a conversation I wanted to be anywhere near. Thinking about how magic worked gave me a headache.

We worked our way around the square, returning goods to all of the stores Dean had burgled magically. “What were you trying to do, open your own store?” I asked.

“Something like that. I thought I’d unload a lot of this stuff on eBay when it cooled down a little.”

“You do know that cops monitor eBay to look for stolen goods showing up, right?”

“In this town? I’m not sure the cops know eBay exists.”

“Jason’s wife sells collectible dolls and antiques on eBay,” I pointed out. “He’d know it exists.”

“You took some extremely stupid risks,” Owen said. “You shouldn’t be doing anything with magic that brings unnecessary attention to yourself. That should be the first thing you learn, even before you start learning spells.” I could tell the night’s activities were draining him, even as he made it look easy. With each shop, the glass took a bit longer to disappear, and he walked more slowly to the next shop.

When we were almost done and Dean had retrieved the last load from the car, the police car returned. “Sam, have you still got us?” Owen asked.

“Yeah, but hold off on the hocus-pocus until he’s gone.”

We all froze in place, holding our breath as the police car made its circuit. Just when we thought we were in the clear, the car pulled up in front of the jewelry shop, and the officer got out to walk the square, swinging a flashlight ahead of him. He aimed the flashlight into the windows, where he was sure to spot the boxes.

“Now!” Owen hissed, getting Dean’s attention. The window we were in front of had gone. Dean dropped the box he held as quickly and quietly as he could, then the glass returned.

From across the square, we heard, “Hey!” The police officer leaned against the window, getting a closer look. He must have discovered the returned goods. He went back to his car and got on the radio.

“I suggest we scram, now,” Sam said. “I can bamboozle one of them, but not more with this many of us and at cop levels of scrutiny. Stick together, though. That makes it easier.”

We clustered together and tiptoed away from the square, moving as one with Sam flying overhead. When we reached the spot behind the bank where we’d met, Owen said, “Now, go, but take the long way around instead of going straight home or looking like you were coming from here.” My brothers took off, and Owen turned to Sam. “Keep an eye on things and let me know what happens here tonight.”

“Sure thing, boss. Now you get some rest.”

When he was gone, we made our way back to Owen’s rental car. He tossed me the keys when we reached the car. “Do you mind driving? I’m not sure I’m up to it.”

I noticed then that he was shaking. “You could have drawn power from me, or from Teddy,” I said.

“I’ll be okay. It was quicker and easier this way.”

He fell asleep almost as soon as he got into the car, and I hoped we didn’t get stopped this time, since I didn’t have any Jedi mind tricks in my arsenal. I’d have to resort to crying. I let the car creep away from downtown without the headlights on until we were well out of the zone of suspicion. Then I took back roads to arrive home from the opposite direction, as though we were coming from out of town.

When I’d parked and killed the engine, I nudged Owen awake. “Are you wearing anything under that black sweatshirt that might look less suspicious?” I asked him.

“What? Why?” he mumbled sleepily.

“Because I don’t think you need to be climbing trees or in and out of windows right now. And I think you need sugar. We could go in the back door, have a snack in the kitchen, and then if we get caught on the squeaky steps, we can say we just went downstairs for a midnight snack. The thought of food should distract Mom. She’ll be so terrified about her guest going hungry that she’ll insist on going downstairs and cooking you a three-course meal, and she’ll forget to wonder why she didn’t hear us going downstairs.”

“Very good idea,” he said, making no move to get out of the car.

I got out and went around to Owen’s side, where I opened the door and pulled him out. I nudged him into a position leaning against the side of the car and unzipped his sweatshirt to discover a plain white T-shirt underneath. I pulled his sweatshirt off him, removed my own sweatshirt, and locked them and the bag of magic tricks in the trunk. I then got an arm around his waist and led him up the back steps into the kitchen.

Under the kitchen light, he looked even worse than I realized, very pale and drawn, and with his eyes sunk into dark circles. I put a kettle on to make cocoa, then found two packets of mix. While the water heated, I cut a couple of slices of cake and put one in front of him. “Eat!” I ordered.

He nibbled at the cake while I mixed up the cocoa, then I put a mug in his hands and made sure he took a few sips. By the time he finished half the mug, he looked a lot more human. That was reassuring enough that I was able to sit and drink my own cocoa.

“If doing all that had this effect on you, how did Dean do it?” I asked.

He finished his cake, and I got up to cut him another slice while he replied. “I imagine it took him all night, and there would have been fewer patrols then. It was harder for me to do magic tonight than it was yesterday. I’ve probably been using more power than is wise in a place like this, for too many days in a row. I shouldn’t have done as many demonstrations as I did earlier in the day, and I may have gone overboard in controlling Dean. I probably could have done that physically, but I thought using magic would have more impact.”

“I’m worried about you being weakened while Idris is in town and doing some pretty big tricks.”

He shrugged. “He won’t be able to keep that up for long, and he doesn’t have any immunes to draw power from. I have you and Teddy. And your mother, if things get desperate, though I’d prefer it not come to that.”

“Well, with any luck, Idris’ll just hide out from the fairy godmother from hell and his new bosses for a few days and leave us alone so you can rest.” I hesitated, then asked, “How long do you think you’ll be staying?”

He flushed a pale shade of pink, but I couldn’t think of what was so embarrassing about my question. “It depends. I was supposed to leave today, but I want to make sure we know what Idris does, and I won’t leave as long as I know he’s here. Do you think your parents will mind me staying a few days longer?”

“If you tried to leave before being here less than a week, my mom might hide your car keys.”

A loud squeak on the stairs startled both of us into silence. A few moments later, Mom came into the kitchen in a bathrobe. “I thought I heard voices,” she said.

“We were having a midnight snack,” I hurried to explain. “We didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I might even join you.” She then got a good look at Owen, and I found the play of emotions across her face to be fairly amusing. At first the mom instincts won as she noticed how sickly he looked. Then other instincts took over. The funny thing about Owen was that as gorgeous as he was, he somehow looked even more gorgeous when he wasn’t looking his best. He was a sight to behold in a tuxedo, but in a T-shirt, his hair rumpled, unshaven, with his glasses on, and with dark circles under his eyes, he could stop traffic. There was a hint of danger to him then, lurking beneath his boy-next-door exterior. Even better, he was entirely unaware of this effect and didn’t seem to notice when he was affecting women that way.

Then the mom instinct fought its way back to the surface. “Are you okay?” she asked. “You don’t look like you’re feeling too well.”

“I must not be sleeping well away from home. I never realized I was so used to hearing traffic and sirens all night long,” he said.

“I can make something for you, if you like. Maybe an omelet?”

He shook his head. “No, thank you. Katie made me some cocoa, and I had some cake. Now I think I’ll get back to bed and try to get some sleep.”

As much as I wanted to get into my own bed, I lingered with Mom for a while. “Are you sure he’s okay?” she asked when the squeak on the stairs told us he’d made it to his room. “He doesn’t look too good.”

“I’m sure he’s just tired,” I said. “Remember how it took me a few weeks to get used to the quiet after I got back here. And it’s never too restful sleeping in a strange place, especially in someone’s home.”

“You don’t think it’s anything we’ve said or done, do you?”

“Mom, he’s fine. He’s having a good time. I just think he’s a little overwhelmed. He doesn’t come from a big family, and he lives alone, so he’s not used to having all these people around. But I think he’s adjusting. He and Teddy really seem to be hitting it off.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” I kissed her on the cheek, then headed toward the stairs. “Now, I’m getting back to bed. Good night!”

It wasn’t until I’d reached my room that I realized she hadn’t even noticed the fact that both Owen and I had been fully dressed instead of in pajamas and bathrobes. And she hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t heard the squeak on our way down the stairs. For someone who could notice every detail of someone’s outfit and remember how often in the last few months she’d worn it, Mom sometimes wasn’t too observant.