Chapter 21

Chapter

Twenty-One

I t was with that vote of confidence that I entered the garden room.

Cecil took the cookies, not seeming to mind that they were a bit worse for wear due to being dropped. Fennel readily accepted his treats, shoving his whole head into the bag as he chowed down.

I tooled around the garden, ensuring that my herbs and other plants were doing well. My fingers sank into the soft soil beneath a struggling dill plant, and it instantly responded, straightening to its full height and releasing its scent into the air.

After I'd checked on all the plants, I gently picked up the baby belladonna. I cradled it to my chest and sat with it on the chaise, chanting a power song into its tiny leaves.

When I traveled, I was only able to grow a few herbs, usually the ones I couldn't find in other witch shops or ones I needed fresh instead of dried. Although I'd been raised to be a travel witch, I'd often wondered why earth witches would choose to live a nomadic life. We had to connect with soil to keep our magic powered. Moving from place to place made that so much more difficult. And there was nothing in this world so pleasing to an earth witch as sitting in a garden that belonged to her, one where she'd had a hand in growing every plant.

Of all the things I'd miss if Joon took over the park, I would miss soft, herb-scented moments like this the most.

A tear trickled down my cheek and dripped onto the belladonna. I would have to talk to Joon about this baby. There was no way I could bring it with me. It was far too fragile to leave the garden room.

Of course, that was only one of the things I'd need to discuss with him.

I glanced at Cecil perched on his workstation, chomping away at the cookies. Would the mage be open to allowing the gnome to stay? Or would Cecil choose to go with me? What about Fennel?

My heart ached at the thought of walking away from them.

Ida .

No. I couldn't go there.

I rose, returned the belladonna to its spot, and went to my workstation to mix rock salt and rosemary for the demon-containment circle tonight. I'd asked the residents to stay inside their homes from eleven p.m. until dawn, which was more than enough time to do what I needed to do, even if things went sideways. In fact, it was overkill.

But then, overkill had always been my style.

Despite my certainty that the tenants were perfectly safe, given the newly refreshed protection spell, I'd had Fennel place a demonic-energy-repulsion hex bag beneath the porch of each trailer. Once activated, the bags were only good for twenty-four hours—demonic energy was notoriously difficult to repulse in the best of circumstances—but that would be enough time.

Again, overkill.

Three o'clock rolled around fast. I'd finished the salt, crafted a few charms, and spent time soaking up the energy of growing things. Joon tapped on the window above my workstation while I was tidying up, and I invited him inside. He was wearing the clothing he'd worn earlier, but he was barefoot.

"I've been walking the property," he said.

"And?"

"My walk was … unsettling. May I show you something?" He gestured for me to follow him. His eyes were downcast, his tone serious.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure. I've never seen anything quite like it." He led me to Red's grave. Placed his hand over the spot as if testing to see if an electric burner was on. "There's power here. A lot of it."

"Makes sense. It's the grave of a hundred-year-old saguaro." I said it lightly, but, except for when I'd cast the protection spell, I hadn't felt anything here since Red died, and I was angry and more than a little jealous that Joon could.

"I tried to connect with it." He knelt beside the rocks. "It rejected me."

An odd combination of relief and fear went through me. I was reassured to not be the only one the soil rejected and scared Joon would leave. "But the grass grew for you. It responded."

"The thing is, I don't believe it did respond—not in any real sense. The grass wanted to be green in that one spot, and I gave it some help, is all." He scooped up a handful of soil and sifted it between his long, thin fingers. The rest he poured into a pouch, presumably to work with in private. "The earth here is deeply injured, and I'm not sure I can heal it."

Damn. I'd so hoped the soil would accept him. I plopped down cross-legged on the other side of Red's ring. "You've only been here a few hours. Could you at least give it a few days?"

"I don't see that it will change anything, but I'll try." He stood, dusted off his hands. "At the very least, I'd like to help you with the spell tonight."

"You don't have to do that. It's a pretty straightforward summoning spell. I'm familiar with the demon."

"Have you summoned it before?"

"Actually, no. The first time we met, he was loose in the world. I trapped him and booted him back to Limbo. The second time, someone else summoned him. He was pretending to be Mictlantecuhtli."

Joon shook his head. "To gain power from worship, I presume. Demons are as transparent as they are stupid."

"The lower caste, maybe," I said, thinking of Sexton. "Not all of them."

He tucked the pouch and one hand into the front pocket of his trousers. "No, not all."

"I took care of his burgeoning ‘Aztec god of death' cult. So all is well on that front."

"Sounds like you have a good grip on the magical world here." He gave me a soft, friendly smile. "Why do you want to leave so badly?"

"I have my reasons," I said, because he seemed to be waiting for a response and I wasn't going to tell him that living on soil that hated me was killing my magic.

Joon was great, but I didn't know him well enough yet to trust him with something I hadn't even explained to my best friend. Not to mention, it was never a good idea to let other magicals know your weakness.

I cleared my throat to indicate the subject was closed. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, Joon, whether you decide to take over the park or not. The Siete Saguaros likes guests, and it's nice having another earth magical around."

"Yeah, it is." He smiled, brown eyes sparkling, and I could see why Ida had immediately fallen for him. "I wish it would've worked out, Betty. I like it here."

"Even though Ida keeps trying to get you to sing her favorite K-pop songs with her?" I teased.

"She's a character. I like characters." He smiled but then quickly grew serious. "I've always wanted a staying place like this. You've got an amazing home here, Betty."

We sat in silence for a couple minutes before he excused himself and left me alone, replaying his question in my head.

"Why do you want to leave so badly?"

"I don't want to leave," I whispered to Red's grave. "I've never wanted to leave. If I'd had my way, I would never have taken over Mom's route, never gone out on my own, never even bought a travel trailer at all. If it were up to me, I'd still be living in the bedroom at the back of Mom's house, surrounded by my herbs … and thriving."

An hour before midnight, I hauled a bag of my salt and rosemary mix to the parking lot. I'd raked the gravel at the far end of the lot into a pile after dinner to give myself a flat, five-by-five-foot dirt surface to work with.

I hadn't stopped thinking about Joon's question—about everyone's question these days, really.

There was another, more practical reason for needing to leave, outside of my discordance with the soil.

Money.

Helping Gladys move into the park was a two-fold bonus: the park would be stronger with another tenant, and the small amount of rent would help out. But there was another fold tucked in there.

Alpha Floyd was going to pay me a whole bunch of money for the Weret-hekau Maleficium . Three times the amount Sexton had paid me, and he'd been very generous.

When the park was sold and the grimoire secured, would I be a rich witch dripping in diamonds and tooling around the continent in an Italian sports car?

Not even close.

But I'd be a financially solvent witch. A financially solvent witch with enough left over to purchase the black tulle, strapless corset dress and slingback pumps I'd put on my Dolce&Gabbana wish list a few weeks ago.

If I was able to pull this off tonight.

I had a plan. It was a good one, but it hinged on a few things outside my control, and that meant it wasn't foolproof.

Then again, what was?

The night was cold and clear, and thankfully, the wind was slight. I breathed in crisp air, tasting the soil minerals in it. This was the sort of night that made me want to sit around a firepit and drink hot chocolate. Since we didn't have many months of the year in the desert when sitting around a fire was a great idea, I took a moment to be grateful.

The bookseller arrived shortly after I finished pouring the circles.

She was a striking woman, a willowy six feet tall with a smile that could've formed icicles in the Sahara. She looked white European, possibly Nordic, and was vampire pale. She wore a red trench coat cinched at her tiny waist and her shoes were Dior pumps, black, with a grosgrain fringe bow and a pretty little pearl. I coveted those shoes.

The woman said very little. I couldn't tell what sort of magical she was from her aura, but I'd never been great at reading that sort of energy. She felt similar to Cecil and the Melliza cousins, so she was likely fae. That might explain why the bookseller curse hadn't affected her. Certain types of fae were immune to curses.

Once she'd introduced herself, she spun on one gorgeous shoe and returned to her fresh-off-the-showroom-floor Lexus SUV to wait for the festivities to commence. The air in her wake was charged with magic.

Definitely fae.

Joon joined me shortly after that, and together we powered up the hex bags protecting the park. With the help of his magic, I was able to get it done quickly and had time to go over the circles once more.

"These are the most perfect circles I've ever seen." He eyed me with respect. "Remind me to give you a call the next time I need to pour one."

"Anytime," I said.

"Yeah, me too. Anytime." Ida crunched over the gravel in silver running shoes and a silver, windbreaker track suit unzipped to reveal a black T-shirt that read: They didn't burn witches, they burned women . "What are we talking about?"

I slung an arm around her shoulders and whispered in her ear, "You were supposed to stay inside."

" Pfft . I'm not playing it safe inside while my bestie is out here summoning demons."

"Thanks," I said, because in truth I could use the backup of a necromancer. And another magical. And hex bags. And double circles…

Contingencies and redundancies, thy name is Betty Lennox.

A shiny black, Pallás pack SUV pulled into the lot and parked beside the bookseller. A beat-up, white Ford truck pulled in behind it.

Ronan threw open his truck door and jogged to the passenger door of his father's SUV. His jaw was tight, mouth downturned. He was clearly unhappy.

His gaze met mine, and he mouthed the words, "I'm sorry."

Oh hell. What now?

The driver's side rear door of the SUV swung open, and a pair of pink ballet flats dropped to the gravel. Bronwyn stepped away from the vehicle, one hand pressed to her breastbone like she was expecting a punch to the chest. She didn't look any happier than Ronan.

The other rear door swung open, and my blood ran cold.

Ida came up beside me. She didn't touch me or even speak, but I felt her support, nonetheless.

I glared at Ronan. "I told you how I feel about her."

He shoved his hands into his jeans and hunched his shoulders. "Wasn't my call."

Maybe it wasn't his call, but he could've warned me.

The woman who'd stepped from the SUV came to stand beside Bronwyn. "Hello, Betty," Margaux Ramirez said cooly.

Nope. Hell nope. I was a Lennox witch. This nasty woman wasn't going to outcool me. "Hello, Margaux. Betray any friends today?"

" Betty ," Bronwyn said, her voice hushed and disapproving.

Margaux didn't flinch at my insult.

If Bronwyn was a fairytale princess, Margaux was the Spanish version of the wicked stepmother from Cinderella. Her skin was the palest of olive tones, her hair glossy obsidian with a streak of silver that swirled from her temple to the crown of her head. She wore it in a smooth chignon that she pinned and unpinned constantly, her fingers rubbing the clasp at the back like a worry stone.

She was only forty but had managed to cultivate the image of a woman far older. Normally, I would've thought that was admirable, but she was also suspicious and distrustful—particularly of anyone not in her coven.

And a passive murderer, of course.

Alpha Floyd exited the passenger side of the SUV, making me wonder who was behind the wheel. I'd told him not to bring any other wolves, but if my experiences with the bastard had taught me anything, it was that he rarely did as told.

"What's our next move?" Ida cracked her knuckles and twisted her neck as if warming up for a wrestling match. "Do we jump 'em?"

Ronan stood as far from his father as he could, given his obligation to the alpha, and gave me a look that managed to convey his regret along with a warning.

I was far too pissed off to listen to either.

Alpha Floyd stared at me with naked, schadenfreude glee. He was pleased with my fury, happy I was pissed, visibly overjoyed that he'd caused me pain.

I looked the alpha leader directly in the eye—never a smart idea—and said, "Get rid of her or the deal's off."

He shook his head, clicked his tongue like a father chastising a child. "You wouldn't allow me to bring my wolves, witch. I was forced to find another way of protecting myself."

"You're an alpha wolf shifter. You should be able to protect yourself with your own claws and teeth."

The comment, paired with the disrespect, scored me a flash of his wolf's fur and a growl. Scary, but telling. The elder Pallás had lost control for a moment. A bad look for an alpha.

"Besides, you brought Ronan." I thumbed in his direction. "He can protect you."

"True. My son will protect me." The alpha threw back his shoulders. "And so will the witches."

"And so will the wolf behind the wheel?" I said.

The alpha lifted his chin and looked away.

"Take on the curse yourself." I indicated the bookseller with a chin flick. She watched from inside the Lexus, her gaze going back and forth from the alpha to me. "Better yet, have Margaux do it."

Margaux tightly laced her fingers together in front of her. Said nothing. She knew how I felt about her.

"You can't do that. We have a deal." Alpha Floyd stomped his feet and sputtered, looking to Ronan and the witches.

"You brought an unauthorized wolf onto my property. Not to mention the witches. You ordered me to keep my mouth shut so the coven wouldn't find out we were doing this then you bring them here to watch ?"

The way Alpha Floyd smiled made my skin crawl. "I decided their presence was required. My telling them about the book has nothing to do with you."

"Betty," Bronwyn called out, "we're only here in case things go wrong with the handoff. We won't get in your way."

The look I turned on her would have reduced a lesser witch to a pile of ashes. "You speak to me with your coven mother standing beside you, commanding your every move. Your assurances are meaningless."

Bronwyn drew back as if slapped.

My entire body quaked with anger. I dug around in my pocket for a piece of lavender or some soil from my garden room to ground me. I had neither.

"Betty," Ronan said, his voice gentle yet imploring, "let's just get this over with?—"

"And you are a puppet for your pack, Ronan Pallás. Your first responsibility is to your alpha. Do you think I trust your judgment with your alpha leader pulling your strings?"

Ronan's eyes glowed gold. The reaction was gone in a second, but I saw it. My barbed words had hooked into his skin.

Good. I'd meant them to.

Joon came up between Ida and me, set a hand on my shoulder. "What's happening?"

Ronan growled at the other man, and again his eyes momentarily went gold.

"This is the La Paloma wolf alpha and his son. Inside the truck is, I suspect, the pack second, whom I specifically told the alpha not to bring."

Alpha Floyd looked up and away, confirming my suspicions. Yep. That was Mason Hartman behind the wheel.

"Cobarde," I said beneath my breath.

The alpha leader's head whipped around, nostrils flaring, eyes glowing. He squeezed his hands into fists and pressed his lips together. Interesting . I'd called him a coward and he hadn't made a single move. Not even to insult or threaten me.

The wolf really wanted this book.

I can use this to my advantage.

"So, you still going to do this or what?" Alpha Floyd asked.

"Sure." I gave him my most vicious smile. "But the finder's fee just went up. It's now forty percent of the cost of the book."

"Thirty-five," he said.

"Fifty."

"That's not how this works." He shook with rage. "You greedy, conniving, mercenary?—"

"And you aren't? Pay her." Ronan looked bored.

"Fine. Forty percent," the alpha growled, and the two of them backed up a few feet where they engaged in a terse conversation punctuated with snarls.

Joon whispered directly into my ear. "I think you could have gotten sixty out of him."

"Are you sure you don't want to live here?" I asked, with a feeble smile. "I'm starting to think you might end up being Ida's and my next best friend."

"Great idea," Ida said.

"Right?" Joon gave me a mischievous smile. "I can just see the three of us sharing coffee and lavender scones on the cottage veranda together every morning."

"That sounds great, except the cottage doesn't have a veranda," Ida said.

"If we're going to be best friends, Betty should definitely put in a veranda."

"Frankly, I'm surprised she hasn't done it already, Joon. I make a mean mint julep."

"I'd pay good money to try one," he said.

I knew what they were doing. And the distraction was working. My anger was subsiding, and I was again thinking clearly. If only I could get my hands to stop shaking.

Focus on your commitment to Gladys. You can do this.

Joon scooped a handful of soil from a velvet bag tied to his trouser loop. It was pale and dry and a cloud of it blew out of his hand in the slight desert breeze.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Helping." He pushed up my long sleeves and rubbed my forearms with dust. "Trust me. The soil will ground you."

It was an intimate thing, to share powered soil with another magical. I was touched by the gesture.

Joon chanted in a voice too low for me to hear. When he'd finished rubbing my arms with his soil, he whispered, "Ida and I'll monitor the wolves."

"That's right. We'll keep our eyes on the witch you'd like to throat punch, too," Ida said. "You keep your focus on the demon. Those bastards are slicker than snot on a doorknob and twice as gross."

"Vivid image," Joon murmured.

"Thanks." I danced my fingers over the soil the mage had rubbed on my arms. It was starting to tingle.

Alpha Floyd appeared to have gotten his wolf back under control. His talk with Ronan appeared to have calmed him, despite the disgusted look on his face.

"Can we get started here?" Alpha Floyd folded his massive arms over his chest and harrumphed. "Some of us have businesses to run."

As if the wolf had ever spent time slinging drinks behind his bar. "Yeah. Keep your witches and wolves out of my way."

A muscle pulsed in Ronan's cheek. He didn't appreciate being lumped in with the others. Tough.

"Fine," the alpha leader said. "Whatever. Just get on with it."

"No interfering once I start," I said.

"My people will only act if I'm in danger," he replied.

It was as good an answer as I would get.

I waved the bookseller out of her Lexus. Time to summon a demon.