We gathered at Luke’s after we escaped from Flannery’s party. He’d been perp-walked out in front of all his guests, and even though he was taken to the hospital, it was obvious he was no longer a free man. Videos had been flying up onto the net from all the guests who’d managed to capture the moment. With any luck, the video Lorraine had taken would end up there, too.
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” I said from where I sat on the floor. Ajax lay between my legs with his head pillowed on my thigh. I leaned against the couch where Jen and Stacey sat. Luke sprawled in an overstuffed chair. I lifted my beer toward the TV, where Flannery had just shuffled to the ambulance, hands cuffed, and trying to scratch the incessant itches plaguing him. “May he reap all that he sowed,” I said, and then took a swallow of my beer.
“Amen,” Jen said.
“When does the pizza get here?” Stacey asked. “I haven’t eaten all day, and this beer is going straight to my head.”
“Best stay away from Luke, then. He’s not above seducing you when you’re drunk,” Jen said.
“You’d stop him,” Stacey said confidently.
“Or we’d wave good-bye and tell you to have fun,” I said.
She nudged my shoulder with her bare foot. “You wouldn’t.”
“I might.”
“Traitor.”
“You’ve said it many times: orgasms are the best way to release stress.”
“Says the woman who's been sharing a bed with a stunningly handsome man and has yet to play ride ‘em, cowboy,” Jen drawled.
“I have issues,” I said.
“And he has blue balls,” Luke said. “I can relate.”
“As if,” Stacey said. “Your sperm turns over faster than condoms at a sex club.”
“French fries at McDonalds,” I suggested.
“Coffee at Beck’s house,” Jen added.
“You three are a pain in the ass. Why did I let you into my house again?”
“You’re horny and hopeful,” Jen said.
A horn honked outside. We jumped up and went to look. Lorraine had returned from checking over Lydia’s two Bengal cats. She parked her work truck and hopped out. Ajax jumped down after her, while she opened the back door and lifted out a cage. As I went to greet Ajax, the pizza delivery car drove up. Luke and Stacey went to grab the pizzas, while Jen helped Lorraine with the cats.
“How are they?” I asked, peeking through the door to admire their unusual spots.
“A little stressed, but otherwise good,” Lorraine said.
I frowned. “Why is that one so thin?”
Lorraine laughed. “He’s not thin. She’s fat. Or rather, she’s pregnant. She probably has around a month left.”
I poked my fingers through the cage to stroke the female behind the ears. “I wonder if Lydia knows.”
“If not, she will soon. Mike gave her my number, and she called from the hospital. She’s refusing to stay overnight, so she’ll be here as soon as she can escape. Grab the litter box and litter, will you? It’s on the floor behind my seat.”
We went inside and released the cats in a small room, after Ajax investigated their cage and attempted to get his tongue far enough into the cage to bathe them. They weren’t scared, but they did seem a little offended. We put down water and canned tuna for them to eat, set up the litter box, and then left them to explore, while we dug into the pizza.
“How many people are you planning to feed?” Lorraine asked, eyeing the stack of boxes.
“We wanted some variety,” Luke explained. “Plus, you girls eat like horses.”
“He’s very practiced with his compliments, isn’t he?” Jen said, reaching for a plate.
“Truth is sexy, or so I’m told,” Luke replied. “Anyhow, you four would laugh in my face and accuse me of trying to get into your pants if I gave you actual compliments.”
“Because you would be,” Lorraine said.
“True, but I could also be telling the truth. Have you ever thought of that?”
“Maybe,” she conceded. “But your track record says you just want to get laid.”
We piled our plates and grabbed fresh beers before returning to our seats.
“You know those cats might cause some damage to the furniture and rug, don’t you?” Lorraine asked Luke.
He shrugged. “Everything’s replaceable. Can’t leave them in the cage. They probably haven’t been out since Flannery stole them.”
“Now see,” Jen said, “that’s the kind of thing that makes women want you. A good looking guy who likes animals, and doesn’t mind them clawing up his expensive belongings. That’s like finding a unicorn.”
“Don’t forget I’m smart and rich,” he said, winking.
She grinned. “Most of the time I totally get why Stacey won’t have anything to do with you, but every once in a great while I wonder if she’s making a mistake. This moment right now is one of those times.” She lifted her beer in a silent toast.
“Wow,” I said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard you gush about a man like that.”
She flipped me off and smiled. “Why don’t we talk about you and Damon? What’s going on with him?”
My smile slipped a little and I sighed. “He still hasn’t called. I’m beginning to wonder what’s going on.”
“Do you think something’s wrong?” Stacey asked, her brow furrowing.
I shrugged. “I have no idea. I mean, all this business with Lindsey’s premonition has me on edge. I have no idea what bad thing could be coming and sure, I wonder if it has something to do with Damon.”
“Why don’t you call him?” Lorraine asked. “Resolve your worries with a simple conversation. Grown-ups do it all the time. I bet you could, too.”
I stuck my tongue out at her.
“See?” Stacey said. “Sucks when your own friends use logic against you. Call him now.”
“Fine.” I pulled my phone out and hit the speed dial. The phone rang awhile and then went to voicemail. I almost hung up without leaving a message, but stopped myself.
“Hey Damon,” I began and winced. Weak. “It’s me, Beck. I’m just touching base to see if everything’s okay. Call me when you get a chance.” I hung up.
“That was cold,” Luke said. “Are you sure he’s your boyfriend? Sounds more like the kind of message you’d leave for your dentist.”
“Fuck you,” I said, quite eloquently, I thought.
“He’s not wrong,” Lorraine said, ducking when I threw a piece of pineapple at her.
“Gotta agree,” Jen said, and Stacey nodded.
“I don’t even want to know what you think I should have said.”
“Maybe that you miss him? That’s pretty basic,” Lorraine said.
“Fine. Next time I will tell him I miss him.”
“You could always sext him,” Luke suggested. “Send pictures or dirty talk.”
Jen sighed. “You’re such a guy.”
“So, I know what I’m talking about.”
“I am officially done with this conversation,” I said. “Next topic, please.”
“You still haven’t seen the stuff Lindsey wrote while she was having that vision, have you?” Stacey asked.
I shook my head. “No, not yet. Was going to check it out after we finish eating, or maybe after I nap.”
Rhi and Lorel had taken Lindsey back to their house, telling me they’d call in a few days when she was feeling back to normal. At the moment, she seemed committed to her imitation of Rip Van Winkle.
“You’ll look after eating,” Stacey decreed. “Her writings might be time sensitive.”
At that, the rest of us broke into laughter.
“What?”
I gasped for air and slowly got myself under control.
“I don’t see what’s so funny.” Stacey eyed us with undisguised annoyance.
“Time sensitive psychic vision,” I explained.
“Yeah?”
“It’s funny. Like saying the prophecies in Indiana Jones were time sensitive.”
“It’s not the same thing at all. Lindsey said something bad was coming, and then within hours she had another vision that seems to be related to you. It grabs her so tightly that she spends hours and hours frantically sketching out everything she’s seeing, and you don’t think there might be some urgency there?”
No, I hadn’t thought of that. In fact, I’d been avoiding thinking that. I wanted a small break before the next pile of shit hit the fan. No such luck. I nodded. “You’re right.”
“Of course I am.”
“Maybe I’ll look now,” I said, setting my plate aside. “Where is the gym?”
“I’ll show you,” Luke said. “Follow me.”
I got up. Ajax eyed me as if trying to decide whether he needed to stand, or if I’d be sitting back down. Concluding that I was, indeed, leaving the room, he jumped up and trotted after me.
“Hold on,” Jen said. “We’re coming, too.”
Luke walked into his gym. I stopped on the threshold and just stared, the air going out of my lungs and my mouth drying like the Sahara Desert. I didn’t understand what I was looking at; I didn’t understand what it said or what it meant. What I did know was that Lindsey had written her scrawling vision in spell language.
Foreboding clutched my lungs. Something very bad was coming. Now I knew for sure it involved witches. Which ones? My parents? Damon? Someone else? What were they after? And more importantly, what were they willing to do to get it?
“Beck?” The girls had squeezed past me and stood looking at me in concern.
“What’s wrong?” Jen asked. “You look like someone brained you with a frying pan.”
I could only wish. I liked to tell myself that I wasn’t going to let any witch grab me, or use me, or do anything to me I didn’t want. But the truth was, even though I had a lot of power, that didn’t make me strong enough to stand against someone who’d decided they wanted me and were willing to go to any length to make that happen. I didn’t know shit about creating spells, I didn’t have a lot of experience using my magic, and I had a lot of enemies, most of whom I didn’t know. In all truth, I was pretty much a sitting duck.
If someone kidnapped one of the girls or Ajax or Damon, the way Flannery had taken Lydia’s cats, I would do almost anything to get them back. I’d let them beat me with riding crops; I’d let them use me as a broodmare; I’d give up my freedom and everything I held dear if it would keep them safe.
I absently rubbed my hand over the bandage on my arm hiding Aunt Mitzi’s bite. I hadn’t seen her coming any more than I’d foreseen Garrett coming after me. If my history ran true to form, I wouldn’t see my next enemy coming.
“I think I need to move to Aunty Mommy’s estate,” I told them, my voice sounding eerily calm and hollow. “I think you three need to move there, too. The gargoyles will protect us until we can figure this out.”
I hoped so, anyhow. I’d ask and hope to hell they were willing. And Damon. Suddenly I wanted him back here and safe. I needed to warn him. Maybe he’d have some idea of what Lindsey’s scribbles meant.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
“Beck,” Lorraine said softly, reaching for my hand. “Until we figure what out?”
I shook my head slowly, feeling dazed. “Who is out to get me. I’m just not sure I can count that high.”
The End.