Enchantment (7 page)

Gray shivered. Her courage was disappearing
faster than the cloud of fog juice that had engulfed their group
moments before. She grabbed Will’s hand. “Let’s dance.”

Will leaned back with expanding eyes.

“You, too,” Gray said to Hannah and Marco.
“Let’s all dance.”

“I haven’t had anything to drink yet,” Hannah
said.

“After this song.” Gray didn’t wait for a
reply. She moved into the crowd knowing that at least Will would
follow. Gray was already dancing when he joined her in the center
of the floor. The club was dark and the techno music pumped all
around them. Gray had dressed all in black, as though that would
help her fade into the night like a chameleon hiding from lurking
predators.

Will’s hands trembled. Gray knew where he
wanted to put them from the direction of his eyes on her hips. The
surrounding bodies closed in and squeezed them closer together.

Gray was happy to see that Hannah and Marco
had joined their side.

The time was drawing near, and it made Gray
feel reckless. She slid her hand around Will’s hip and pressed
herself against him. What a coward, trying to huddle against him as
a child might hide behind a tree.

She had expected frustration and a great deal
of challenge when she signed up for Benita’s summer retreat. What
she hadn’t been prepared for was the feeling of vulnerability that
followed an agreement to abandon one’s powers, even
temporarily.

The techno pounded heavier. The tempo
throbbed. Suddenly Will’s hands gripped Gray’s hips, and that’s
when the hair on the back of her neck prickled.

Gray wasn’t sure how she heard Adrian’s
voice. He spoke at the same volume one would on the street. “Well,
looky here, if it’s not the mischief makers from the front
row.”

Will removed his hands instantly and blushed
red as though being caught in flagrante delicto. Gray forced
herself to turn and face Adrian.

He wore snug trousers and a silk buttoned-up
shirt that put Marco to shame.

“It’s the magician!” Hannah cried out. “What
are you doing here?”

Adrian flashed her a grin and inclined his
head toward the speakers. “They have a DJ here who calls himself
The Magician. Naturally, I had to check out my competition.”

Hannah snorted. “Some competition. You were
brilliant.” Hannah didn’t need to yell over the music. Her voice
was naturally loud.

Adrian looked downright smug when he bowed in
front of her.

“Buy you a beer?” Marco asked.

Adrian smiled. “
Muchas gracias
.”

“I could use one, too,” Hannah announced. She
led the way out of the crowd.

Will hurried to follow her. Gray forced
herself to hang back. Adrian had taken her off guard at the
Teatre Poliorama but not tonight.

He looked her up and down.
“Black doesn’t suit you, Gray.” He smirked as though he’d just said
something very witty.

Gray’s jaw clenched. She
followed slowly in the wake of her friends, allowing Adrian to step
into place beside her.

Adrian nodded toward Will.
“Is he Raj’s replacement?”

“No one could ever replace
Raj,” Gray said coldly.

Adrian stiffened beside
her. It made Gray smile.

Hurt me and I’ll hurt you
back
.

“No, of course not, no one
could ever replace Saint Raj; the boy who burnt down his own
house.”

“That was an accident.”
Gray took wide steps to join her friends as they approached the
bar.

Marco fell back. “Name your
poison, sir.”

“Shots,” Adrian said. His
eyes followed a young bartender passing with test tubes filled to
the brim with blue liquid. “We’ll take five of those.”

Hannah’s nose wrinkled.
“You want to drink that piss water?”

Adrian paid the bartender
and held the tubes in one hand. He smiled and sprinkled powder from
a small envelope over all five. The blue liquid turned
purple.

Hannah’s eyes widened.
“Are you a . . .”

“Magician?” Adrian
suggested, slanting a brow.

“He’s a warlock,” Gray
said.

“Really?” Marco asked,
looking at Adrian anew. “How did you know?”

Adrian grinned.
“
Takes
one to know one.”

“No way!” Hannah clapped
her hands together. “That is too rich. A wizard performing as a
magician.”

Adrian nodded. “I aim to
please. And now, how about a little club potion?”

“What
does
it do?” Marco asked, leaning forward.

“It enhances the club experience.” Adrian
tipped one back and poured it down his throat, not waiting for the
others to take theirs.

Gray’s friends looked at one another.
S
eñora
Contreras may have said no magic,
but she’d made no mention of potions. Hannah’s lips twisted
momentarily and then she reached out.

“No!” Gray yelled.

Hannah’s arm abruptly dropped.

Gray turned on Adrian, sparks shooting pain
through her eyes as they crackled around her irises. “We’ll pass on
the drugs, thanks!” Her voice came out nasty, biting. Even Will
looked embarrassed.

Hannah frowned at Gray then looked at Adrian.
“Don’t mind my friend. She recently had her heart broken.”

“Hannah!”

Adrian’s eyes immediately flicked over Gray.
“Is this heartbreaker someone from back home?”

“Gads, no,” Hannah said. “He’s a Spaniard, a
duffer—normal as you call them.”

Adrian didn’t take his eyes off Gray as
Hannah spoke. “Sounds like someone’s in need of avenging.”

“I’ve had enough vengeance to last me a
lifetime, thank you very much. Magic isn’t the answer to
everything.”

Adrian’s lips quirked. “Isn’t it?”

Gray glared in answer.

“Marco, Will,” Hannah said. “Why don’t you
get the beer while we find ourselves a table.”

Marco smiled at that. Will didn’t, but he
looked eager to leave Adrian’s company even if it meant abandoning
Gray.

Hannah’s eyes scanned the tables along the
wall. They were all occupied.

“Allow me,” Adrian said. He snapped his
fingers, and a group of five seated around a corner table stood up
simultaneously and made their way to the dance floor.

Hannah smiled. “Well done, Mr. Montez.” When
they were seated, she leaned forward on her elbows and asked, “So
tell me, are you traveling with a girlfriend?”

Adrian grinned. “Nope, it’s just me and my
nan.”

“Aww,” Hannah said. “How sweet.” She elbowed
Gray, but Gray refused to mimic her.

“If only my nan was.” Adrian’s eyes glittered
right before he laughed.

Hannah hooted with him. She was still
laughing when Adrian lifted the test tubes one by one and tipped
them down his throat.

The faintest smile edged its way over Gray’s
lips. Yes, let the fiend drug himself. It would make trailing him
much easier, especially considering she couldn’t make herself
invisible.

Gray bided her time patiently. Now that
Adrian was under her watch she felt calm. What was the old saying?
Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. After downing
the five test tubes, Adrian drank a pitcher of beer. He spoke at
length with Marco then addressed the group. “What are the four of
you doing in Barcelona?”

Before Hannah could answer, Gray said, “We’re
here to strengthen our abilities.” The last thing she wanted was
for Adrian to know she wasn’t using her powers.

Luckily, the guys were no less eager to share
the truth. Hannah was another matter. “The only thing I’m
strengthening . . .”

“Let’s dance!” Gray said, cutting her
off.

Luckily Hannah was easily distracted and
loved dancing.

Her eyes lit up. “Good idea. We’ve been
sitting much too long.”

Gray pulled Marco to her before Adrian had a
chance to get near her on the dance floor. The Italian had no
qualms about putting his hands on her. Will and Hannah looked like
brother and sister when they danced together, but they always
seemed to laugh and have a good time. Maybe now Adrian would go
away. But he didn’t.

A girl in skintight shorts and a halter top
noticed Adrian dancing alone and practically threw herself into his
arms. Gray narrowed her eyes. The way the girl thrust her hips into
Adrian was obscene. No doubt he’d take her back to his hotel
room.

But when the time came, Adrian disentangled
himself from the girl and vacated the club alone. Gray’s eyes were
on him the whole way. She tapped Hannah, now dancing with a
stranger. “I’ll be right back.”

Hannah nodded.

Gray turned on her heel and hurried after
Adrian. She couldn’t lose him or let him see her following him,
either.

It didn’t take long to catch up. Adrian
hadn’t made it to the door yet. He didn’t even seem to notice when
he stumbled over a girl’s purse on the floor beside her table.
Maybe going invisible didn’t matter anyway.

Gray got within six feet of Adrian before
slowing her steps.

On the way out the door, he bumped into a
woman coming in.

“
Excusez-moi,”
Adrian said, tipping his
head forward.

Just how blitzed was he?

Gray didn’t step out after him right away.
Through the open door, she watched Adrian head to the left. Gray
pushed forward to follow. Outside, a line had formed to get inside.
She walked along it, crouching down as she walked. It didn’t appear
as though Adrian would look over his shoulder, but she couldn’t be
too safe.

Adrian picked up his pace as though the fresh
air had rejuvenated him somewhat. Gray hurried to keep him in her
sight. The crowds thinned the further they got from the club.

Gray usually associated darkness with cold,
but during the summer in Spain, the night air enveloped her in a
warm caress.

As the activity on the streets quieted, Gray
increased the distance between herself and Adrian then closed the
gap once more when she nearly lost him. She did not want to have to
do this all over again the next night.

Adrian whistled a tune as he continued down
the sidewalk. Turned out guys were fairly easy to stalk—probably
didn’t have their radars up the way women did.

It wasn’t a hotel Adrian led Gray to, but an
apartment complex. Gray watched him lift a finger in front of the
building’s entrance before disappearing behind the double doors.
That’s when she remembered his grandmother. No wonder he’d left the
clinger back at the club.

From where she stood, Gray could see two
sides of the building. She waited, hopeful. Her patience paid off
when a light came on in a third-story window.

Gray smiled before turning around. She’d
discovered her way in.

Mismatched furniture filled S
eñora
Contreras’ communal sitting room brandishing
more wear and tear than the books left behind by travelers and past
retreaters. There was an entire shelf filled with travel guidebooks
to Spain—all out of date.

Gray spread open the
Vanguardia
to the
entertainment section on the cracked coffee table. She read the
theater times for the tenth time. A matinee at the Teatre Paliorama
had started thirty minutes ago. It was time to suck it up and get
her mission over with.

The fact that Adrian was traveling with his
grandmother presented both a solution and a problem—the solution
being a way inside his room without using magic, and, of course,
the problem: the story Gray must craft as to what she was doing
calling on Adrian Montez.

She hurried down the Ramblas, fearing she’d
waited too long. The ticking of the clock, at least, propelled her
into action.

Once inside the apartment building, Gray made
her way up a set of steep stairs to the third floor. From inside,
she wasn’t certain which apartment Adrian had entered so she closed
her fingers around door handles. The first gave her nothing, nor
the second or third. The fourth attempt proved a winner when she
picked up a faint trace of the warlock as she closed her hand
around the door handle.

Gray had found that she could still get
readings off objects without technically using magic. It was like
her sense of smell. It didn’t go away. So long as Vinuesa was none
the wiser it worked for Gray.

Gray stared at the door a moment then
knocked. Then she waited. And waited. Gray didn’t dare knock again.
Finally, she heard a shuffling coming toward the door. When the
door opened, the look Gray received was so sour, she nearly
apologized for coming to the wrong apartment; until she reminded
herself she had no choice.

“What you want?” the woman demanded.

Gray had to look down to meet her eyes. In
addition to being at least a head shorter than Gray, the old woman
stood hunched. From neck to foot she’d attired herself in drab,
loose garb that made her look like Yente the matchmaker from
Fiddler on the Roof
.

There was nothing pleasant about her
demeanor.

“Hello . . . Mrs. Montez? I’m here on behalf
of Barcelona Now, an English blog about local arts, entertainment,
and music. The Teatre Poliorama gave me your address. Might I speak
with Mr. Montez?”

“He not here.” The woman began to shut the
door.

“Will he be returning soon?” Gray asked
quickly. “If you don’t mind, I’d love to ask you some questions for
a feature we’re doing on our blog about Mr. Montez’s show.”

The woman’s hand stilled on the door. She
stared at Gray for a long moment then opened the door. “Come,” she
said.

Gray stepped inside the apartment and took a
quick look around. It was fully furnished and decorated with
contemporary paintings in primary colors. A china hutch filled with
brightly painted ceramics caught Gray’s eye. Definitely not
Adrian’s place, though he must have wealthy connections to land an
apartment so close to the main drag.