Barely Bewitched (6 page)

Incendio picked up the glass and set it down hard in front of me. “You’ll drink with us or you’re on your own with that challenge in a couple days.”

I looked at Jordan.

“There’s no harm in it, love. Have a drink with us.”

I gritted my teeth, but picked up the glass.

Jordan smiled. “There’s a good love.” His voice was low and melodic as he said:

By the fire and the flame
All truth speaks first
From thy lips in thy shame
All lies are cursed.

Sure it was a spell. Sure I only had about eight days of experience with whatever little spark of power I have, compared to these guys who were trained up and dangerous. Sure I was in a dark bar full of men, at night, drinking with strangers. So, if I got into trouble, a lot of people might say I got what I had coming since I should have known better. But the truth spell was going to affect all of us, and I wanted answers.

I poured that tequila down my throat as fast as Incendio downed his. My throat felt like it was on fire, but I was pretty certain it wasn’t, since no smoke came out of my mouth when I coughed.

“Just a sec,” I said, hustling over to the bar. “Have any limes?” I asked the bartender.

He gave me a small dish full. I put a wedge between my teeth and bit down, swallowing the tangy juice as I walked back to the table. My glass was full again; so was Incendio’s. He was ready to pour for Jordan, but Jordan put a hand over his glass.

“Three’s my limit, mate. I don’t even like tequila.”

“Gringos,” Incendio said with a roll of his eyes.

I discarded the lime wedge as Jordan said, “I’ll just play a spot of pool.” He got up.

“Hey, I thought we were gonna talk about the challenge thing,” I said in a low voice.

“In a bit,” Jordan said as he walked away.

“ ’Bout time he left. I’ll drink two to your one. You think you can handle that, Red?” he asked.

Not for long.
But now that the spell was already on us, how much difference would a couple more drinks make? From experience, I knew I could handle two or three tequila shots without getting sloppy drunk.

“I think I can, but if I lean over suddenly, you’d better mind your boots.”

He laughed, and we both lifted our glasses. He tapped mine with his, and we drank them down. I coughed a little and chewed another lime wedge while he drank a shot alone.
Two to my one, and he started before I got here,
I thought. I didn’t care how “bad to the bone” he was; I’d give a bottle of tequila the edge over a man every time. When he got good and drunk, I bet I could get a lot of information from him.

“What do you know about my cat? You know where he’s from?” Incendio asked. There was already a slight slur at the edge of his words.

“No, where is he from?” I asked.

“We hooked up in Tijuana. He got in a fight with my hawk over a lizard. Jose never lost a fight ’til then.”

“Yeah, Merc’s a real good fighter.”

“He’s not the cat for a little girl. Few more months, he’ll be tearing up everything in sight.”

“I suppose who he lives with is up to him,” I said, trying not to stick my chin out defiantly.

“Ain’t hard to decide it’s time to move on if your old house is a pile of ash.”

“You burn my house down, and you’ll be sorry,” I said. I slapped a hand over my mouth, wondering why I’d said that.

“Why would I be sorry?”

I shook my head and licked my tingly lips. He filled our glasses again.

“Why would I be sorry? You think your boots are big enough to kick dirt on me? You been hiding your magic from the powers that be, and now you’re going to unleash it?”

That surprised me. So WAM didn’t believe that the reason I’d never used my powers before was because I hadn’t had any? Did they think I’d been secretly training? If so, then Bryn was right. The guys in charge were paranoid.

“ ’Course not. But if you’re here to cause trouble, don’t expect me to just stand around and take it,” I said. Sweat popped out on my forehead as he edged my drink to me. “Last one for me,” I announced and swallowed it.

He drank, too.

“You know, Incendio Maldaron, I don’t think that you’re just here to teach me spells. Why are you in my town?”

He raised his eyebrows, then grinned. “Don’t think too hard about it, Red.”

“Are you here to—”

He reached across and covered my mouth with his palm. “You’ll follow your next question to the grave.”

Fear curled in my belly, and, for a moment, I saw flames dance in his eyes.

I leaned back and wiped my forehead. It was too hot in my seat. I kicked off my shoes, resting my toes in the sawdust on the floor.

“Where’s Melanie? She still live here?” he asked.

“Yep, but she’s out of town just now.”

“You look like her.”

“She’s my aunt.”

“You drink like her.”

“Recklessly with strangers, you mean?”

He put a cigarette between his lips, and the end smoldered to life unaided by a match. He inclined his head. “Like fire doesn’t scare you.” He offered me a cigarette.

“I don’t smoke.”

“Not yet maybe.”

Earl stomped over to the table. “Drinking tequila with Mexi cans now?” Earl spat at me.

Incendio said, “I’m Colombian.”

Like the emeralds.
“But you lived in Mexico City, right?” I asked.

“There and a lot of other places. Wherever the money’s good, and the power’s easy.”

“Enough of this. If you’re finally through with Zach, it’s about time. Now it’s my turn,” Earl said, grabbing my arm and yanking me out of my seat.

Chapter 7

In a motion as liquid as the tequila in my belly, I brought my knee up hard. Earl’s breath went out of him in a whoosh and he stumbled back, clutching his groin. Incendio’s laughter roared through the bar.

“You only had my oce a week, and you’ve already picked up his wildcat ways. Better give him back to me before he makes you think you can handle all the badness that can rain down, when you can’t.”

I leaned forward, my palms flat on the table. “Merc picked me, and I picked him. Unless he changes his mind, you can’t have him back.”

“Where is he?”

“That’s none of your business.”

I squeaked in surprise as an arm yanked me off the floor. My bare foot kicked my chair over. The crash echoed through the place, and everyone turned to stare at us. I looked over my shoulder at Earl’s furious face.

“Earl, you’d better reconsider this!” I snapped.

He ignored the warning and dragged me toward the door. I thrashed and came free, falling on the floor. A couple guys stepped forward, I think to help me, but a wide section of the floor caught fire, blocking them.

I gaped at Incendio. “What are you doing?” I yelled, my breath coming short.

He smoked his cigarette casually. I felt fingers claw my arm and looked back at Earl, who was flushed and cursing. I planted my feet, trying to keep him from dragging me across the floor. My bare feet slid on the dirt and sawdust.

The bartender tossed water from a pitcher onto the flames. Steam sizzled up from it as Earl got me to the door. I caught sight of Jordan advancing on us, but Incendio called to him.

“No, English. Leave it,” Incendio said.

Jordan frowned, but stopped walking.

My heart raced and adrenaline spilled into my veins. If Earl got me outside, I’d be in for whatever he had planned. I pictured myself on the ground with him pinning me down and ripping my clothes off.

“Let go!”

He ignored me, flinging the door open.

“No!” I screamed as he threw me outside. I rolled over the sidewalk and landed with a thump on the roots of a big tree.

I’d skinned my back, but I felt better on the small square of earth.

He reached for me.

“Stop, Earl!”

We struggled, and a thick branch cracked off the tree and fell right onto his bastard head. He fell backward, unconscious and bleeding over the cobbles. My whole body shook with the force of my revving emotions.

I climbed to a standing position, my back still against the bark, my bare feet planted on the dirt. The door opened, and the guys from the bar came out. Earl stirred and sat up, then put a hand to his bloody scalp.

“You bitch.”

“Touch me again, and I’ll kill you!” I yelled it so loud I could hear it over the sound of my pulse pounding in my ears.

He staggered to his feet and came toward me, but one of the men grabbed him. “Time to sleep it off, Stanton.” The guy forcefully guided Earl away from me. The crowd dispersed and then Incendio walked over to examine the branch. Jordan had my slip-on shoes in his hand.

“Thanks for the help,” I snapped as I took my shoes from him.

“We wanted to see what you could do under pressure,” Jordan said. “Which magic did you cast to drop the branch?”

“I didn’t cast a spell,” I said.

They both looked at me sharply. “I think she believes that,” Jordan said quickly to Incendio.

“It’s still a lie and cursed by the toast,” Incendio replied.

A gust of wind shook leaves down on us as I glared at Jordan and Incendio. “Leave me alone!” I said, shoving my way between them as I passed. I moved down the path to the alley.

Cursed for lying even if I’d done it on accident? Not fair! Was it any wonder that I wanted to stay out of their crooked magical association?

I didn’t think I’d cast a spell on the tree, but I’m not known for sensing magic, so maybe Jordan and Incendio had felt some that I couldn’t. And thinking about it now, there had been a couple incidents over the past week when I might have done magic without using an incantation or mixing herbs. Once had been while we were under attack by werewolves at a witch’s meeting, and Bryn claimed I’d sent his power back into him. But I just figured it went back where it was supposed to go without any help from me. The other time, I’d wished hiccups on Jenna Reitgarten, and she’d gotten them. Of course, that might have been a coincidence, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t.

I stood by my car, feeling pretty . . . good. Maybe there was hope for me learning to use my magic after all. Plus the tequila had hit me. My lips tingled, and my head buzzed. I glanced at my car and knew I couldn’t drive. It’s only a little Ford Focus, but it gets me around. I wasn’t fixing to crash it to bits.

Who should I call to drive me home? I sure wasn’t asking those rats, Jordan and Incendio. I could call Bryn, but then they might catch him giving me a ride and overreact by killing him.

I couldn’t really walk home though. It was way too far. I could hitch, but, from the looks of Earl, the Duvall crime wave wasn’t over. “What’s it gonna be, Tammy Jo?” I whispered to myself.

As I tried to decide, I heard a cracking sound so loud it threatened to pop my eardrums and then a big crash and shattering glass. I ran around the corner and stopped, staring at the tree whose branch had knocked Earl on the head.

The tree had split down the middle, falling over and ripping up its roots. It had crashed through the roof of the Whiskey Barrel, smashing the street-side windows. The earth around the tree was blackened. The dirt that had been so soft under my feet was brownish black, too.

While I stood on the deserted street, something bit my ankle.

“Ouch.” I slapped at my leg, stumbling onto the walkway for a better look at the tree. I heard a shriek and then was bitten again. I smacked my leg, making contact with something fuzzy.

I screamed and rushed toward a streetlight, my eyes darting over my shoulder, looking for a rabid squirrel or crazed chipmunk. And then I saw him. He wore a fuzzy animal skin, but unless they’d started carrying weapons, he was no squirrel.

My blood dripped from his spear. He was about two inches tall and poised to throw the spear at me like you’d throw a javelin. Well, like you’d throw a javelin if you were from the time of my spellbook, back when jousting was invented. I stared at his gnarled figure, and his dark eyes stared back at me from his scrunched face.

“What are you?” I asked.

It took me a moment to understand his high-pitched squeak of a voice. “Foul witch usurper! You have destroyed our home. Prepare to die!”

“What in the name of all that’s Hershey?” I mumbled.

Then I heard a chorus of shrieks and the rest of his tiny tribe swarmed over the path. They shook their daggers and spears and bared their pointy teeth as they raced toward me.

“Stop!” I yelled, but they didn’t. I guess I could have tried to defend myself, but I couldn’t imagine fighting back against toy-sized creatures, even if they were smudged with dirt and crazed with bloodlust. So I did the only thing that I could think of. I ran.

For having such short legs, they were surprisingly quick. A couple scrambled up trees and leapt from them to land on my shoulders. I managed to bat one off before he stabbed me in the neck, but his partner got tangled in my hair and swung from it, jabbing my upper back.

I screamed loud enough to pierce dogs’ ears, shaking my head and swatting at my hair. This rendered me blind, which was probably why I ran shrieking into the night and slammed smack dab into the side of Zach’s truck.