Time Spell (21 page)

The only message we had received from Helen since we had arrived in Las Vegas was in the atrocious cellophane basket. The words had seemed eerily familiar. The quotes from the newspaper articles, the letter to Jack, the note in the basket—they all had that same uppity, disdainful tone. Now that we knew who had crafted the threats, they seemed noticeably connected. She said she would get in touch with us today, but we had yet to receive the next set of instructions. Jack was right. Why was I waiting for her to contact us? I could find Helen. Ian had an awesome
Locality Spell
. If I could channel some of that spell, maybe I could find her. She had to be in Las Vegas.

“Ok, I have an idea. It’s kind of a long shot since my family bond is on the weak side.” Jack looked at me sheepishly. “It’s ok. It happened. I still have plenty of magic.” I didn’t want him to feel guilty.

“What do you need? What’s your plan?”

“It’s called a
Locality Spell
. If I have the right elements, I can locate Helen on a map and we can track her. Do we have one of the maps from the lobby?”

Jack hurried to the bar and shifted through the concierge books and pamphlets. Buried in a stack of sightseeing materials was a
Welcome to Las Vegas
map. He spread it on the dining table and stepped back to assess my next move.

“Perfect. Ok, I need something that belongs to her.” I looked at him.

His brow furrowed again. “How are we going to get that?”

“She did used to live in here. So anything in here that was in the penthouse in 1968 was technically hers. Help me search the suite for something that is original. They had to leave something from 1968.” I started in the living room. “Don’t decorators think all of that stuff is so retro and cool now?”

Jack shrugged his shoulders, but began his deco hunt in the kitchen. He lifted a plant stand and a few knickknacks positioned on the end of the counter for me to examine.

“No, all of that is new.” I surveyed the room again. There had to be something. Jack was banging through cabinets and drawers. “Could you…?” I was going to ask him to stop slamming every door he encountered, when I remembered the boulder-like doors in the foyer. “The doors. We can use the doors.” I grabbed the map and headed into the marbled foyer.

Jack examined the monstrous carved beasts. “How are you going to use these?”

“Get the lights.” I pointed to the wall.

He flipped the switch in the hall. Except for a few rosy traces of the sunset, we were immersed in darkness.

“Now hold the map as flat as you can on the doors.” I hoped this would work.

He took the map from my hands and spread it out evenly across the doors’ surfaces, smoothing the creases several times and flattening each of the four corners.

“Now what?” He waited with his arms and hands pressing the map into the door.

“I need a little help from my brother.” I reached for my cell phone and punched in a quick text to Ian.

Take a quick break. Need five minutes for a locality.

My phone buzzed.

Why? Who?

Book research.

I thought that would satisfy him. He wouldn’t want the whole story right now.

Ok. Go
.

Pushing the phone into my back pocket, I faced the map in front of me, closed my eyes, and pictured Helen. I reached for the map with both hands as if I were about to play pin the tail on the donkey. Everything was fuzzy in my mind. Helen kept fading and I was having a hard time connecting. I squeezed my eyes tighter and pushed everything out of my mind except Helen.

“I see it. There’s something bright on the map that’s blinking. It’s green, Ivy.” Jack’s voice hummed over my head through a distant fog. “Ivy?”

I opened my eyes and looked at the map. There was a green dot blinking in one of the Las Vegas suburbs. My head started to ache a little. I rubbed my temples, but lost my footing. Jack reached around my waist and scooped me up before I hit the floor. His arm held me tightly next to him while I leaned my head on his chest.

“Whoa. You ok? What just happened?”

I couldn’t sort through the fog.
Deep breaths, Ivy.
My head was nestled against his chest, and I inhaled that wonderful Jack smell. After a few minutes, the clouds in my head dissipated. He had wrapped his other arm around me and had a double hold on me.

I pushed back and found my balance. “I’m fine. It was nothing. I’m good.” I saw one eyebrow rise, and I felt the raging bull Jack starting to emerge. “Wait, you’re right. No more secrets,” I relinquished.

He exhaled and loosened his grip on me a little. I could tell he had been ready to fight me on this.

“It was the spell. Usually, when my brother helps me with it, it’s like breathing, but this time it was hard. I couldn’t keep focused on it. And the light isn’t supposed to blink like that.” I pointed to the blinking beacon hovering over Helen’s location. “Now I have a headache and I feel a little woozy. Neither of those things has happened to me before. But I’m fine. Totally fine.”

“Why are you always trying to cover something up or derail me? Don’t you trust me by now?” He let his hand slide from my waist.

“It’s not you. I’ve never shared my magic with anyone before. Can’t you just be patient with me? I’m not supposed to share it. Look what’s happened to me already!” I didn’t know how angry I would be without the full use of my power.

I broke out of what small embrace Jack had me in and marched into the living room with the map in my hand. I focused on the search for Helen. I circled the spot on the map that was blinking green. I was afraid the
Locality Spell
wouldn’t hold and I didn’t want to lose her location if the green light did fade into nothing.

“Put the map down. We’re going to talk.” Jack stood behind me.

“No, we’re going to find Helen. We can talk later.” I reached for my bag on the other end of the table, but Jack grabbed my arm.

“You’re avoiding me, you run from me, and you are keeping things from me. Helen can wait. You told me this morning that you would tell me everything. All of my questions, everything. What did you call it—an open book? Why are you avoiding me?” His broad shoulders filled my view. His breathing was rapid and the heat from his body was penetrating the space around me.

I blinked. “Avoid you? Are you kidding, Jack? Since the day I met you, you’ve done nothing but avoid me.” I was starting to shout, but the words wouldn’t stop. “I’ve tried for two years to get close to you, to tell you things, go somewhere with you—anywhere—coffee, wine, anything. But no, you never had time for me.” I did my best Jack impression with my hands on my hips and mimicked his low voice. “Ivy, you better check with Ann and see if I have a calendar opening. Schedule an edit session with her.”

He ignored my bad imitation. “What are you talking about? We work together. I always make time to work on your chapters. I’m your editor.”

His confused look didn’t stop me. Two years of pent-up frustration bubbled out of me. “Exactly. You’re my editor. You’ve made it clear where you stand with me. You are in charge of all of my creative work, but you don’t want to know anything about me outside of work. You don’t want to know where my creativity comes from.” My eyes shot to his. “Don’t you want to know? Don’t you ever think about it—think about me? Think about us?” I stepped closer to him. “You’re just so, so, so professional all of the time!” I fastened my fists to my hips.

His laugh surprised me. How could he laugh when I just confessed every crush moment I had stored for two years?

“Professional?” His voice was low and quiet. His eyes penetrated through the steam and fury encircling me. “Is this professional?”

Before I could answer, he brought both his hands to my face. My eyes locked with his while his thumb traced across my lower lip. I couldn’t move. He leaned down, brushed his mouth across mine, and lingered, kissing me deeply. I pressed my lips to his, taking in his tongue and the taste of his mouth. I moaned as his hands roamed over my body, wrapping his arms around my waist until I was pressed hard against him. I was melting into his embrace one kiss at a time.

He pulled back and looked down at me. I didn’t want the kisses to stop. “I
do
think about you. I can’t stop thinking about you, Ivy Grace,” he whispered. “This
is
what I think about. Don’t you know how long I’ve wanted to do that?”

My mind was swimming, and I was warm from Jack’s hot and hard body still pressed against mine. I didn’t want to talk or think anymore. No more deep discussions about magic or Proxies or even about us. I just wanted Jack to kiss me again, to touch me, to look at me with that devouring gaze. However, the timing was all wrong. We had to go after Helen. This couldn’t be happening right now. Why was this happening now? He had said everything I had dreamed of for two years.

He smiled and leaned in to kiss me again.

“No.” I put a hand on his chest and pressed. I was in disbelief at my own ability to apply the brakes on a kiss I had wanted ever since the first time I saw him. I whispered, “Don’t get mad, but we have to go. We have to go after Helen before she comes after us. Our only advantage right now is that we know where she is. You were right. We can’t hang out here like sitting ducks.” My breath was rapid.

I wasn’t prepared for my body’s reaction when he let go of me and the sizzling force field that had encircled us broke. I wanted to wrap myself around him, and get tangled in his arms, but I fought all the urges.

His eyes locked onto mine, and his voice was steady and calm. “Ok, Proxy first. But we are going to finish this conversation when we get back.”

I took a deep breath. “Deal. I can do that.”

My cheeks were red from the combination of his scruffy five o’clock shadow, and the thoughts of what Jack and I could do alone in a hotel suite for the rest of the night. But first things first, we had to handle this crazy Proxy.

I gathered the map again. “It looks like she’s in Chestnut Hills. It’s maybe fifteen minutes from here. We can get a taxi to take us there.”

I asked the cab driver to drop us off a few blocks from the blinking dot on the map. The little light kept a steady pulse on the Chestnut Hills’ street. I wasn’t sure how far Helen’s magic detection senses carried, and I wanted as much space between her and us while we looked for her exact location. Jack tipped the driver, and he sped off back to the dazzling lights of the casino strip.

The homes in Chestnut Hills were massive stone mansions. Each one had a gated entrance, security cameras, and a pristine hedge of the latest garden craze. A few dogs barked, and we could hear water splashing in a nearby pool. Several of the houses even had large water fountains and ponds bubbling up in their circular driveways.

I folded the map into a small square so the blinking indicator was in the middle. “I think it’s this way.” I pointed to the block north of us.

The desert night was cool. I tugged my jacket around my chest and stuck my hands in my pockets. Jack had foregone a jacket and picked up speed to try to stay warm. He walked on the outer edge of the sidewalk, creating a slight barrier between passing cars and me.

My witchy instincts were on high alert. My body tingled knowing that I was about to face the Proxy who had threatened and tracked me. I had never met an actual Proxy, and I could only imagine what my family would say if they knew I was walking headfirst into her vicinity. Daddy would be livid and Mama would be worried sick. My heart twinged with sadness, thinking of their worry and disappointment. I shook off the guilt and looked at Jack.

He stopped. The blinking light was solid green. He stood in front of me and tried to push me behind him, but I skirted around his wide stance. We both looked through the double-gated entrance barring intruders from the driveway. A half brick, half iron wall encircled the corner estate. Security cameras were affixed to the top of each metal post, but the light indicators were dark. They weren’t on. We noticed next to the driveway a callbox with a touch screen was also black, no power. The sprawling house was dark. A wide marble staircase graced the front entrance, but the plants were dead, the grass brown, and the fountain dry. Jack and I exchanged puzzled looks. It looked like a dilapidated, abandoned mansion. The
Locality Spell
had brought us to this house, and for a second, I worried that my spell bond with Ian was weaker than I had originally thought.

I retrieved my hands from my pockets and let my palms touch the iron stakes of the gate. I pushed hard. The gate gave way and opened a few feet.

“Let’s go.” I motioned to Jack to follow me through the crevice I had forced.

“This is the plan? Walk in?” His low murmur reverberated over the back of my neck. I caught my breath.

“Do you have a better idea?” I turned to face him, but I was already wedged in the gate and I ended up with half of my body pressed against his. He slid one arm around my waist.