Gypsy Witch, Page 2

  “And what is your need, my lady?”

  Tom winced for her. Feeling bored on a summer day didn’t seem worthy. Before she could respond, the knight said, “Is this stripling your champion, my lady?”

  “Gosh, no,” Tom said. “I’m just nine, and so is she.”

  “I’m too young for a boyfriend,” she said. “What do you mean, a champion?”

  “Your protector in time of need.”

  “I don’t really need anything.” Her chin jutted out. “Elena and I do fine. We don’t need a champion.”

  “Huh. I wonder what my dad would say about that,” Tom said.

  “You have no protector,” the knight said. “Very well—I will be your champion.”

  Tom and Gina looked at each other. “What will we do with a knight in Sacramento, California, in 2013?” she whispered to him. “Shoot. My mom and your dad are gonna kill us. I mean, Mom won’t mind that I messed around with her stuff a little, but we can’t hide this!”

  “Maybe it would be better if he came with me,” he murmured to Gina. “My house is bigger than yours. He can stay in the cabana until we figure out how to put him back.”

  A car whizzed past them. Dexter stared. “Tell me, young sir, what manner of cart is that?”

  Tom groaned. “Gina, I can’t believe what we’ve done! We’ve got to find a way of putting him back!”

  She sighed. “I’ve blown it big time.”

  “No kidding. Sir Dexter, I’m sorry, but you don’t belong here.”

  Dexter started to protest. “But Lady Gina needs—”

  “The Lady Gina will have to take care of herself. You don’t belong here, and you must understand that you have to go back.” Tom nodded at the shattered alcove, wondering what kind of magic could repair it.

  “If there is no need of my services,” Dexter said stiffly, “of course. I was placed in the doorway as a safeguard, for times of need. If there is no need, I will return to my repose.” He started to climb into his niche.

  “Do you know how to get back?” Tom asked.

  “Of course, young sir. I placed myself there in the beginning,” Dexter said, still sounding injured.

  “I hope you’re not offended,” Tom said. “It was really exciting meeting you. Please forgive us for disturbing you.”

  Sir Dexter melted back into his stone niche. Tom was transfixed, but Gina stood head down, shoulders slumped. After a few moments she slouched across the street. Tom hastily packed the basket before following her, and caught up with her in Capitol Park.

  “I’m really ashamed,” she said, misery clogging her voice. She dragged a toe through a pile of leaves. “I gotta admit, I didn’t really believe it would work. Then we woke that poor knight out of his hibernation for no reason at all. I was so embarrassed when he asked to be my champion, and wanted to know my need! Jeez!”

  Back on J Street, a slight breeze swirled through the paper trash on the sidewalk outside the Masonic Temple. The wind lifted bits of chameleon scales, butterfly wing, frog’s water and other spell ingredients from the ground, scattering them onto the feet of the knight who slept on the left side of the doorway.

  * * * * *

  When Elena woke up, the light through her curtains was muted. Beside her, Ben was propped on one elbow, watching her with a slight smile softening his craggy face. “Hi,” he said softly. “Nice nap?”

  She ran her fingers through his short dark hair. “Yeah. Nice nap and nice nookie.”

  “Yeah.” He gave her a gentle kiss, then peeled himself away from her side and began to dress. “I gotta go, babe.”

  “Is Tom coming over tonight?” she asked.

  “If you don’t mind. It just seems wasteful to hire a sitter when the kids want to hang out here.”

  “Of course I don’t mind.” She tried not to sound huffy, but boy, was it ever hard. They’d been seeing each other for weeks, but there were times when he still behaved as though nothing really existed between them. She knew the signs of a man fighting his feelings, and there were times when he pissed her off, but mostly she was just amused.

  Right now she was a little annoyed but wouldn’t show it, she decided. They’d had a great time together and she wouldn’t let his stubbornness spoil her day. “So we’ll see you at about midnight?”

  “Hope so.” He leaned over her bed to brush her forehead with his lips before he opened his wallet and took out a couple of bills.

  “We already talked about this, Ben.” This time she let her temper show.

  “Look, you feed my kid dinner five days a week. You babysit him. You deserve—”

  “I have everything I need, and I don’t want your money.”

  “If you’d allow me to pay you for childcare, you wouldn’t have to tell phony fortunes to silly old ladies.”

  “Excuse me?” She sat upright, her blissful mood shattered. He thought she was a phony? Boy, did she ever want to rock his world with a real spell, but cursing him would be unethical. “How do you know they’re phony?”

  “Babe, I like you, but you’re one arrest away from a misdemeanor conviction for fraud. And if that happens while I’m seeing you, I can kiss a promotion to detective goodbye.”

  “Don’t you realize that offering me cash right now makes me feel like a whore?”

  “It’s called childcare, and it’s a totally legitimate way to earn money.” He tossed the bills onto her dresser.

  “Ben McCulloch, if you leave that money in my bedroom, don’t come back.”

  He stared at her.

  “I mean it.” She folded her arms across her torso. Too many men had treated her as though she were a blow-up sex doll. She’d stopped allowing that sort of behavior when Gina was born.

  “Fine.” Though he spat the word, he returned to her side to kiss her again before leaving. The kiss turned into a longer caress as he went for her breasts, licking and nibbling her nipples into tight, aching pearls. “You know I can’t resist you, baby.”

  “Yeah, and I like it that way.”

  He raised his head. His mouth and her nipples gleamed from his wet kisses. “You think I’m pussy-whipped?”

  “Yeah, right. I’m just trying to avoid being completely dominated. I’m not your sex slave, you know.”

  “Huh.” He kissed her on the mouth, smacked her on the hip and left.

  Elena stretched contentedly and went to take a shower.

  Later she found the money tucked beneath a salt shaker in the kitchen. Asshole, she thought, smiling. Ben had his code of honor, just as she had hers. She wondered where their strange liaison would take them, but put him out of her mind when the kids returned.

  They came in at about six, acting unusually quiet and subdued. She knew something was up but didn’t pry. Distracted herself, she fed the kids, put them in front of the TV and went to meditate.

  First she tidied her room, then lit a candle and switched off all the lights. She placed her topaz in front of the candle so it would reflect its glow. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she focused her attention on the golden facets of the topaz, letting her mind wander.

  She felt strangely unsettled. Was it Ben? A more stable relationship would be great but it was early days yet. She and Ben had plenty of time to work out their issues. He wasn’t the kind of man who’d commit hastily and he might never grow beyond the shocking loss of his wife. Polly, who’d also been an officer, had been shot at what should have been a routine stop. Elena didn’t need tarot cards or a crystal ball to see that Ben had distanced himself from his emotions—except his lust—to keep his heart safe.

  Would he change? Could he?

  Probably not, Elena realized, and if he didn’t drop his insulting attitude toward her profession, which was not only her craft but her very spirit itself, he wouldn’t become a permanent mate. It just wouldn’t work.

  Maybe the kids were the source of her tension. Tom tended to be a little formal and distant with her, but she expected that from Ben’s son. It might take Tom a while to open up
. Polly had died just a couple of years before.

  But what was with Gina? She was usually chatty and totally upfront about her feelings. Tonight was different, and Elena sensed that her daughter was holding back.

  Unable to draw any visions from the topaz, Elena uncurled her legs and went to check on the kids. They were sitting in front of the TV watching a Star Wars DVD. As Obi-Wan Kenobi intoned, “I feel a great disturbance in the Force,” Elena felt Gina’s forehead. Nothing special there, but—

  “Mo-om!” Gina batted away her hand.

  “Okay, but when are you going to tell me what’s up?” Elena sat down and crossed her legs.

  Gina evaded, staring at the TV set. “Nothing’s wrong.”

  The movie’s music softened and Elena could hear sirens splitting the night. She stood. “That sounds close. I hope everything’s all right.” She glanced at Tom.

  “Me too. Um, can I go to bed now?” He stood.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. Something was definitely going on. Usually the kids watched DVDs until all hours, often falling asleep in front of the screen. She stared at Tom.

  He returned her scrutiny, meeting her eyes without faltering. “I’m fine. Just a little tired. It was hot today and we walked around a lot.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “Through Capitol Park and over to J Street.”

  Hmm. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Just to walk. It felt okay at the time but now I’m tired.”

  Either this kid is the best liar in the world, she thought, or everything’s fine. “Of course you can go to bed if you’re tired,” Elena said. “Gina?”

  * * * * *

  Tom slept in Elena’s guest room so often that it had started to feel like home. Even the cat had adopted him, curling up by his side in bed or occasionally kneading his chest with paws that only sometimes scratched, purring like a furry little machine. That usually sent him straight into dreamland, but tonight he couldn’t sleep, cat or no cat.

  The sirens bothered him. He always worried about his father’s job. Dad said it was usually boring, but Tom knew that bad people could do bad things, like what had happened to his mom. Oh, they’d caught her killer, but he still didn’t have a mother. Though he missed her a lot, he always told himself that he and his dad got along fine, especially since they’d met Elena and Gina.

  The thought comforted him, so finally he slept.

  He was roused by the creak and groan of metal as Dexter opened the first-floor window of Tom’s room, tearing out the screen. Puffball screeched and, back arched high, leaped toward the window and clung to Dexter's metal visor. The knight, startled, fell away into the darkness.

  Tom ran to the window and looked out. Dexter had fallen onto his back and now, weighed down by armor, tossed like a turtle, helpless on the ground. Tom clambered outside and shooed Puff away from Sir Dexter, then helped the knight up.

  “What are you doing here?” Tom hissed. “Aren’t you supposed to be back in your immortal repose or whatever you called it?”

  “I wanted to be,” Dexter said in a quiet rumbling voice. “But I have to find Sinister first.”

  “Find who?”

  “The left knight, the one Lady Gina warned you about. After you left, Sinister awakened. We fought and he evaded me. He is evil,” the knight said. “Although I was placed as a guardian for the future, he was entombed as punishment for his sins and wickedness.”

  “Sins and-and wickedness? What do you mean?”

  “Oh, he has killed many,” said the knight, dropping his head. “And for no reason at all. He is entirely without honor. Worse, I do not know how to find him.”

  “I think I do,” Tom said. He raised his head, listening. He could hear the scream of police sirens and the beating of helicopter blades in the night sky.

  “Wait here,” he told Dexter then climbed back into his bedroom and swiftly dressed. He figured that he had a better chance of seeing Gina alone without disturbing her mother if he didn’t walk through the dark Lautari house. Elena’s home was crowded with chairs, footstools, pouffes and lounges of every type and description, and most level surfaces were covered with knickknacks and tchotchkes. They were better than the most sophisticated burglar alarm system—if he bumped against anything he’d awaken everyone in the house.

  Back outside, he grabbed Dexter’s mailed arm. “Let’s go find the Lady Gina and see if she can put back what’s been disturbed.”

  * * * * *

  Elena and Gina lived just a few blocks away from the McCullochs’ big house on Land Park Crescent. Elena’s cottage was more modest than Tom’s home and was located on a side street. Tom was never so happy that he’d spent the night at Gina’s and that the Lautaris lived in a quiet neighborhood. He and Sir Dexter would have presented a curious sight to any onlooker, but in a small side street in calm Land Park, everyone was asleep.

  Tom tucked Dexter behind some camellia bushes at the side of Gina’s house. He slipped around farther to the back and tapped cautiously on the window he thought was Gina’s. After a few moments it opened.

  To his horror, Elena’s tall figure was outlined by candlelight on lace. “Tom? What are you doing out of bed?”

  Tom stuttered, “E-Elena! I’m sorry, I just wanted to talk with Gina for a second—”

  “At this time of night? If you were five years older, I’d understand what you were doing.” Elena sniffed and grabbed her topaz. Tom could see an eerie golden light pulsing out of the jewel. “What are you up to, young man? I smell displacement. I feel magic in the air tonight! Has Gina been fiddling with my spells again?”

  She whipped away from the window and a moment later a light went on in Gina’s room. Tom went to that window and beat frantically on it. “Elena! Elena! Wait! It’s not her fault!”

  Elena opened the window again. She had calmed down considerably and, in fact, was laughing. “Tom, come in. It’s all right. I’m not angry.”

  “B-but you don’t know what we did!” wailed Gina.

  “You have no idea,” said Tom. “Listen, I’m coming in, and I’m bringing Sir Dexter.”

  “What?” two female voices exclaimed.

  Running feet thumped across the wooden floors of Elena’s cottage seconds before she opened the door. His metal joints squeaking and squealing, Sir Dexter mounted the stairs to the front porch of the cottage.

  Elena’s brows lifted. She was an experienced modern witch, meaning that she read tarot cards and made charms for the lovelorn. She used her topaz the way others used a scrying mirror, seeing visions in its golden facets. Unlike her bored child, she never felt any particular need to tamper with the fabric of her world, and had never seen anything like Dexter outside the movies.

  Gina regarded the knight with visible pride before eyeing Elena with trepidation. Elena folded her arms across her chest and glanced at Dexter’s metal-shod feet.

  “Perhaps we all should stay on the porch,” she said, thinking of her polished wood floors. “The bushes will conceal our new friend from prying eyes.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Tom. “This neighborhood's dead.”

  “Is that so? What’s that?” Elena asked. Sirens screamed, sounding as though they were just a few blocks away. “Perhaps you should tell me everything.”

  She didn’t interrupt—she knew the value of careful listening. After she had heard the three tell their tales, she swept indoors, leaving them on the porch.

  Tom whispered, “Is she mad?”

  Gina rolled her eyes. “She's beyond mad. This is a disaster. I’m gonna be grounded until I’m nineteen.”

  “Do not worry, little friends. Lady Elena will take care of all.”

  They turned, astonished, to Sir Dexter. “What makes you think Elena can deal with Sinister?” asked Tom. “After all, you couldn’t.”

  “I am not a witch, a warlock, or a magician,” said the knight. “I am but a lowly fighter with limited abilities. The Lady Elena has true power. She will make all right again,
restore the balance.”

  “Restore the balance?”

  “Yes. When you released me, little Gina, you put the spells of the Door out of balance, so Sinister was able to leave. Normally, intention has to accompany a spell for it to work,” Dexter said. “Although you did not intend to release Sinister, enough magic was present to enable him to go free because balance had been lost. Lady Elena will restore the balance.”

  “With your help, Sir Dexter,” said Elena. She was dressed in one of her exotic outfits and carried a basket on one arm. The topaz flashed on her chest. “Come on now, children, let’s go.”

  Elena led the way to her big old Cadillac, and the three humans put Dexter into the large front seat. The events of the day had made him flexible enough to sit in it, though with difficulty. The kids piled into the back.

  Elena drove as fast as she dared to the corner of 12th and J Streets. Once out of the car, she surveyed the damage at the doorway of the Masonic Temple while Tom and Gina pried Dexter out of the front seat.

  “It’s bad,” Elena said, “but I think I can put it right. Dexter?”

  Sir Dexter turned to the children and pressed a heavy, mailed hand onto each child’s shoulder. “It has been a wondrous experience,” he said solemnly. “Although I do not relish the disturbance, I am pleased to have made your acquaintance.”

  He faced away from the doorway and somehow sprang upward and backward into his niche, melting into the stone. Elena looked down and examined the pentagram drawn on the sidewalk. “Crude,” she murmured, “but obviously effective.” She looked at Gina and sighed.

  Elena stood in the center of the star and gripped her topaz. Spirit flowed through her body. Tingling, she stretched her arms to the sky. Power streamed through her, heady and rich. She swayed with the force of it, and sparks leaped from the tips of her fingers. She breathed into her heart chakra. The stone, hanging over her sternum, seized and channeled her energy, transforming force into intention and then action.

  “Blow, storm, blow, wind, power come to me!” Her voice reverberated inside and out of her, as if she were a drum and the sound, magic.