Don't Hex with Texas (26 page)

Granny came over to join Owen, Dean, and me. “They don’t like being captured, and they take it out on anyone they can as soon as they’re free,” she said with grim satisfaction. “Besides, being cooped up in a bottle like that is enough to drive anyone crazy. I forgot how long ago it was I caught that thing.”

Idris fell to his knees. “I give! Stop it! I surrender!” Merlin said something sharp in a foreign language and snapped his fingers, and the sprite’s mayhem ceased as the sprite vanished. Idris was left bloodied, his clothing shredded. He whimpered a little in relief once he realized the sprite was gone. Then he did something I never would have expected: He broke into sobs. “Oh please, you’ve got to help me. I need your protection. I throw myself on your mercy.”

Merlin stepped out of the way before Idris could grab onto his pants leg and cry on his shoes. Then he said sternly to Idris, “So, you surrender yourself to us? You place yourself under our power so that your power becomes our own and cannot be used against us?” There was something about his tone and the precise formality of his words that told me this was a ritual of some sort, possibly even a binding one.

Idris pulled off his necklace and handed it to Merlin, then he clasped his hands together and said, “I surrender myself to you. I place myself under your power so that my power becomes your own and cannot be used against you and yours.”

Merlin nodded. “Very well. Now, what is it that you need our protection against?”

“These people I’ve been working for. I want out. It’s going too far. I was having fun before, doing my own thing, you know, but they’re serious. I don’t know, it’s like they really want to take over the world, or something, and they were using me to get it started. And guess who’d have taken the blame if they got caught or if something went wrong. But I didn’t know how to get out. These people would track me down and come after me if I tried to get away. They were like the Firm, you know, only with magic. No one leaves, and all that. I’m in huge trouble for failing. They might even kill me for not raising a proper army. You’re the only one who might be able to protect me.”

Owen and I came over to stand beside Merlin. “You’ll tell us everything you know?” Owen asked.

Idris scooted around on his knees to face Owen. “I don’t know much. I only met the moneybags lady in person. I think she’s got a boss beyond that, and that’s the person calling the shots, but I don’t know who that is. I do know I’m scared of him.”

“We will protect you in return for whatever assistance you can provide us.” Merlin gestured Rod to come join us. “Mr. Gwaltney, will you see to him?”

Rod did something complicated with his fingers, and soon a thread of liquid light twined around Idris’s wrists. Then he pulled Idris to his feet and walked him over to where the other prisoners were.

Merlin faced the gathered prisoners, revived them with a snap of his fingers, and said firmly, “It is over. This ends now.” His voice had the weight of a millennium of authority, and it seemed to resonate with the prisoners even if they didn’t know who he really was.

Owen released his hold on me and stepped forward. “I hope you realize now that what you were playing with is dangerous and not to be used lightly. There’s so much you don’t know, and that lack of knowledge could have gotten you killed.”

One of the prisoners spoke up. “Could you teach us the stuff we really need to know?”

Owen turned to Merlin, a questioning eyebrow raised.

“Why not?” Rod asked. “I doubt we’ve interrupted their entire magical training scheme. We might as well do our own training and do it right so we’ll have our own allies to call on if we need them.”

“We may be able to train you,” Owen said, turning his attention back to the prisoners. “But you should know that you won’t have much power to do anything in this town. Finding sources of power will probably be a part of your revised curriculum.”

“You are now free to go, so long as you vow never to use your magic to do harm or to influence others for your personal gain,” Merlin said. “If you swear this, it is binding. If you will not swear this, you will join Mr. Idris in our custody.”

They all raised their hands and swore. “Now, before you leave, I’ll need to get your contact info if you want to continue training,” Rod said. He stood near the exit with his Palm Pilot, entering data. Most of them stopped to give him the information, but several just ran. I had a feeling they were going to pretend they’d never discovered magic.

When all was done, we trooped back to the creek bank to thank our friends. “Do I need to bring my flute?” I asked Owen.

“I don’t think so. Those necklaces were more than enough payment for their aid.”

“Good, because I didn’t want to play the school fight song again.”

“But it would have been appropriate tonight,” he joked, already sounding stronger.

The head naiad met us at the water’s edge. “You won a great victory tonight—with our help, of course. My people actually had a lot of fun. Give us a shout next time you’re in town.” She winked at me and added, “I’m sure your lady would agree to helping you summon us. We will make good use of the tools you gave us. We are now even, with neither side owing any debt.” With that, she disappeared beneath the surface of the water, and the few remaining pinpricks of light along the sides of the creek followed her.

Then we all turned and headed back toward our respective vehicles. “We will return to New York tomorrow,” Merlin told Owen as we walked. “I won’t expect you back in the office until Monday. You need the rest, and I imagine you have some business here you need to conclude.” He gave me a sidelong look as he said that, but I was afraid Owen was too beat to pick up on the hint.

While Rod shoved Idris into the backseat of their rental car, Merlin took my hands and said, “You have been most helpful, as always, and I have enjoyed meeting your family.” He winked and added, “If I were a few centuries younger, I might be tempted to stay a couple of days longer myself, and become better acquainted with your grandmother.”

“When you get to be a certain age, what’s a few centuries?” I said with a laugh, even as I cringed at the idea of my grandmother dating my boss. Or former boss. Maybe.

He grew more somber again. “You are welcome to return whenever you see fit. After these events, I’m no longer convinced that you’re any safer anywhere else, and you more than make up in assistance what you might cost in distraction or danger. But you must do what you—and what Mr. Palmer—believe is best. He is the one who seems to suffer the most.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.” It sounded like the ball was in my court. Or maybe Owen’s court. I knew where I stood, but I still didn’t know what he felt. Did he feel relief at having me out of the way and presumably out of danger, or did he want me with him? It looked like we were going to have to talk about it, but clearly not tonight.

By the time I’d said good-bye to Rod and Merlin, Owen was already at his rental car and ready to go. “Do you want me to drive?” I asked. He looked to be close to passing out, and he just nodded and sat in the passenger seat.

When we got back to the house, he automatically headed for the tree on the edge of the porch, but I caught him. “Remember, we left legitimately. And it’s not even all that late.” It just felt like it, we’d been through so much.

“Oh, good,” he sighed. “I wasn’t sure I could make it up that tree. I’m not entirely sure I can make it up the stairs.”

I took his arm. “I think it’s time for more cake, maybe some ice cream. And then, just think, we get to sleep through an entire night.”

“Wow, I’d forgotten what that was like.”

“I can’t believe it’s all over now.”

“We’ve saved the day again,” he said with a laugh that sounded like he’d been drinking. He must have been giddy with exhaustion and relief. “And now, it’s time to get back to normal.”

That’s what I’d been afraid of. I’d come to the conclusion that normal was way overrated.

I
didn’t want to go to work the next morning, but it would have been hard to explain that this was the first day I hadn’t had to do what amounted to at least two jobs in days. Things worked out, however, when Mom got a look at Owen the next morning at breakfast. “Oh, you poor thing! Those allergies must be killing you. Katie, you can’t leave a guest at home alone when he’s sick. I’ll tell your father you aren’t going to work today. You stay and look after your friend.”

I could only imagine what she’d have said if she’d seen him the night before. Today he looked pale and tired, not nearly as shattered as he’d been before he got a good six hours’ worth of sleep.

“I’m fine,” he insisted. “But I would appreciate having Katie stay home with me. I have to go back tomorrow, so this is my last day here.”

That set off a whole new round of fussing. I’d heard Merlin tell him that he didn’t have to be back at work until Monday, and this was only Friday, so I wasn’t sure why he felt he had to leave so soon. I supposed he might want to catch up on his rest in the peace of his own home and have a whole free day before he went back to work. Being around my family wasn’t restful for anyone. At least he’d said he wanted to spend the day with me. I took that as a positive sign.

When Mom had rushed off to her meetings and Owen and I were left alone with our second cups of coffee at the kitchen table, I said, “So, you’re heading back tomorrow, huh?”

“Yeah, I think that’s best. I’ll have been gone more than a week.”

“That makes sense,” I said, nodding. “And I guess your cat and your dragons miss you.”

He smiled. “I don’t know about the dragons, but Loony may not let me back in the house. I don’t think I’ve ever been away from her this long. Fortunately, it looks like I have a job to go back to. There’s nothing like catching the bad guy for getting myself out of trouble. I’ll have to send your grandmother flowers to thank her for her sprite.”

I waited for him to say something about me coming back with him, but he didn’t. I knew Merlin had said it was okay, but I needed to be sure of what Owen wanted. “Is there anything else you wanted to do while you’re here, before you go?” I asked.

“Sleep?”

I laughed, trying to keep my tone light even though disappointment weighed me down. Would it have killed him to say he wanted to spend quality time with me without having to worry about dark magic, or possibly that he wanted to pick up where we’d left off before the naiad showed up? “Yeah, sleep does sound good.”

“Did you get your front porch time?” he asked.

“What?” I asked, shaking my head.

“You said back in New York that you wanted some time to sit on the porch, or maybe in a hammock, and have nothing to do with magic for a while. Did you get that while you were here?”

“I guess so. I hadn’t really thought about it. The first week or so I was here, I was treated like a guest, so I got spoiled and had time to relax—as much as I could amid all the craziness. I got to know my baby niece, which was nice. And then when they realized I was staying instead of just visiting, it was right back to being a member of the family instead of a guest, and I was back at work. There wasn’t any magic for a while, but I’m not sure I’d call it restful.” I sighed. “What about you? Did the craziness continue after I was gone, or did the disaster quota drop dramatically in my absence?”

“Well, I didn’t have to drag anyone out of a burning building or a frozen pond. I haven’t been trapped by dragons, stalked by a fairy godmother, or had hordes of mothers swarm after me, so I guess you could say things settled down after you left.”

I let the ensuing silence hang in the air for a while, in case he wanted to add something about not being sure that the disasters were really directly related to me, after all, or maybe that he kind of enjoyed all the little crises because they were entertaining and better than being bored and alone. But he didn’t say anything. I knew my only other option was to ask him flat-out if he wanted me to go back to New York, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. What if he said no?

After we cleaned up from breakfast, we took a short ride around the town to make sure things were more or less back to normal. All of Nita’s guests had checked out during the night or first thing in the morning, and there were no strange cloaked figures dancing on the courthouse square. When we stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch, there was some talk of kids setting off fireworks in the park, but otherwise, it appeared that a major magical battle had gone entirely unnoticed.

Mom held one of her big family dinners that night to say farewell to Owen. I watched him across the living room, chatting with all three of my brothers while he held Lucy. I’d been surprised earlier at how well he fit in with my family, but now I knew that wasn’t as surprising as I’d thought. As odd as my family was proving to be, he fit in perfectly, magic and all.

The rest of the family said their farewells at the dinner, so we were alone when Owen left the next morning. The odd distance I’d noticed when he first arrived was back in full force as he prepared to leave, getting his magical case from under my bed and carrying his bags out to his car. He closed the trunk and gave it a pat, then turned to me and said, “So, I guess I’d better be going. Thank your parents for being such great hosts.”

“I will. They loved having you here. I’m sure they’ll be telling me right away to invite you back any time.”

“And maybe the next time we won’t be fighting magical battles.”

“Let’s hope not.”

“Teddy and your grandmother will have to keep an eye on Dean. I think he’ll be okay, but it wouldn’t hurt to watch him.”

“That’s a good idea.”

An awkward silence fell, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I kiss him good-bye, hug him, shake his hand, or just wave? Did I make the first move, or should I let him? “It was good to see you,” I said at last. “I really missed you.” I figured that counted as a verbal first move. Whatever happened next was up to him.

“Yeah,” he said, looking down at the ground and turning red. “It hasn’t been the same without you.”

I could come back!
I wanted to scream, but I wasn’t going to beg, not even for him.

He came around the car and opened the driver’s-side door, then paused as he stood inside the open door, leaning against the top of it. “Thanks for your help, as usual.”

“Say hi to everyone for me.”

“I will.” There was another long, uncomfortable silence. I wasn’t sure what was going through his head, but I was imagining throwing myself at him and giving him a kiss that would have drawn every naiad in a three-county area. His cheeks turned even redder, which made me really wonder what he was thinking. After a pause he said hoarsely, “I’m sorry you had to go because I screwed up.”

“It wasn’t because—”

He smiled ruefully and shook his head. “I know you didn’t blame me, but let’s face it, that’s the reason, because I have this bad tendency to lose perspective when it comes to you. But, you know, I have those same perspective problems whether you’re near or far, and it’s a whole lot easier and a lot less distracting for me to drop everything when you need help if you’re near than if you’re far away. I can’t seem to get you out of my head wherever you are.”

I was stunned silent—something I hadn’t been sure was possible. With Owen, you often had to read between the lines. Had he just said what I thought he’d said? “So, you weren’t mad at me for leaving?” I asked at last.

“I was mad at me for getting us into a situation where you felt you had to leave. And I guess I thought you were disappointed in me, like everyone else was.”

“I was worried about you. I didn’t want you to have to go through anything like that again, to have to make that choice again. And that didn’t go so well, did it?”

“All’s well that ends well. Whenever you’re ready, I’d like to have you back.” Before I could respond, he got into the car and shut the door. I stood in the driveway until his car was out of sight. When I couldn’t even imagine a trace of him anymore, I went to my truck and drove to the store.

“Did Owen get away on time?” Dad asked when I got there.

“Yeah, his flight isn’t until this evening, so he should have plenty of time, even with any security holdups.”

“Good, good. Now, when will you be going back to New York?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“That’s where you want to be, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“And could you work out something with your job?”

“I’m sure I could, but…”

“Then you need to be there. That’s a good man you’ve got, and you’ll get nowhere with each other at a distance like this. You’re not afraid of something, are you?”

I’d been afraid he didn’t really want me there, but that had gone out the window with what he’d just said. “No, I guess not.” I realized then that I was afraid of more than that. I’d never let myself believe Owen could want me. This distance had become an excuse. I could play noble and stay down in Texas, with no danger of the relationship moving in either direction—getting closer together or breaking apart—and not take any chances. Or I could face things head-on, win or lose. “You know, I think he might be worth taking a chance on. I guess I’ll see when I can book a plane ticket to go back.”

Dad reached into his pocket and brought out an envelope. “You’ve been working hard all spring, which is one of our busy times, and you’ve got us back on track with all your systems. I haven’t paid you nearly enough, so here’s what I owe you. Buy yourself a plane ticket and go back tomorrow, if you want to.”

I gulped and blinked away tears, then threw my arms around him. “Thanks, Dad. Now I guess I’d better see if I can get a seat.”

I logged on to the airline website using the frequent flier number I’d signed up for in optimism before my first trip to New York, back when I’d imagined myself becoming a real jet-setter. I was surprised to find that there was already a ticket reserved for me, going to LaGuardia the next afternoon. I wasn’t sure if it was Merlin or Owen, since both of them had those uncanny precognitive abilities, but either way, it was a pretty strong message.

I grabbed my things from the office and ran out into the store. “I’ve got a flight for tomorrow. I’d better get home and pack,” I called out as I left.

Back at home, I ran up the stairs to my room, then stopped short in the doorway. Sitting on my bed was a single red stiletto pump. I’d had a pair of those shoes, once upon a time. I’d lost one of them during a particularly disastrous New Year’s Eve party. This had to be that shoe, and Owen had been the one who had it all this time. I still had the other one in my closet as a reminder of the little bit of glamour I’d enjoyed in my New York life. I went straight to the closet to get it, but it wasn’t there. Then I took another look at the shoe on my bed. It was the right shoe, the one I’d had all along. Still, the fact that the shoe was out there had to be a sign.

After I had everything packed, including the shoe, I got into my truck to make one last round around town. I dropped in on Nita at the motel. “Please slap me the next time I say I want excitement,” she said. “I’m still recovering from this crazy week.” I noticed that the rock-and-roll decor was gone and the old chamber of commerce calendar prints were back.

“Yeah, that was pretty crazy. Uh, there’s something I need to tell you.”

She clapped her hands together. “You’re going back to New York!”

“How’d you know?”

“It was all over your face. You look happier now than you have in ages.”

“You should come visit. I’m not sure where we’d put another person, but we’d think of something.”

“I will, you can count on that. You’re going after that guy, aren’t you?”

“I’m going after a lot of things.”

“Good! You know, I think I might even be inspired to do something, myself.”

“I can’t wait to hear what you come up with,” I said before giving her a good-bye hug.

Teddy drove me to the airport in Dallas the next day. I was glad it was him because we could talk openly along the way. “Dean’s already planning a trip to New York so he can get a couple of real magic lessons,” he said as he drove.

“You’ll keep an eye on him, won’t you? I think he learned his lesson this time, and he did help save the day, but you know Dean. He’s likely to slip and get lazy along the way.”

“He’ll get nothing past me, I promise. There isn’t any training we’re supposed to have as magical immunes, is there?”

“Not that I know of. You just have to learn to keep your eyes peeled and your ears open, and be aware of anything that seems wrong. You’ll learn to sense magic if you’re around it enough. It feels like a tingle or a shiver up the spine. When Granny says she feels like someone’s walking over her grave, that’s what it feels like. And you’ll try to keep Mom out of trouble—and out of the loony bin?”

“That’s a tall order. I hope it won’t be a problem anymore, now that all the wizards are gone.”

“All you need is a good cover story in case you do notice something.”

“I’m glad you’re going back,” he said after a few miles of listening to the radio. “Not that I don’t love having you here, but now that I’ve seen what’s going on and what you can do, I think you belong there.”