Charmed & Ready

When your troubles weigh heavy, ask a friend about hers. It always makes you feel better. It’s sad, but true.

Poor Kira, she’s in a tizzy. The dead people won’t leave her alone. I had to get out of the house and away from my own thoughts.

Sam left a message while I was in the shower. “Sorry again about the rush this morning. But it’s all good, we’ll talk when I get home.” I promised him months ago to never pry into his mind or try and locate him. But well, I just did a quick flash and saw he was on a jet. It looked like a private one.

He does a lot of work with his father, who is a big humanitarian, so I wondered if that had something to do with it.

Stopped by the library and, it being a Monday, no one was there. It was one of her slowest days of the week, but Kira seemed a bit more flustered than normal.

Dressed in a black Armani pinstriped suit, four-inch Pradas and her long blond curls hanging loose around her shoulders, she couldn’t have looked less like a small town librarian. She’d made a small fortune during her tenure as a corporate lawyer, and spent a good portion of it on her clothes. You can take the girl out of the big city, but not necessarily away from her favorite designers.

She shoved her curls behind her ears. “I’ve had it up to here with these damn ghosts.” She put her hand to the top of her forehead.

“What happened?” I picked up a book and handed it to her to stack on the shelf in front her.

She rolled her eyes. “The worst was this morning. Mrs. Archer, the one who owns that big ranch out south, came in to return some books. There was this old man who walked up to the desk right before and was asking if we had anything on World War II. I told him to check the back wall far right corner where we keep most of the historical novels. Mrs. Archer looked at me like I had three heads.”

Kira stepped over to another shelf and pulled the book cart with her. Normally she treats books like small treasures, but she was slamming them into the shelves.

“I asked her if I could help her, and she kept staring. ‘Excuse me, Mrs. Archer can I help you?’ I said it again. She handed me her books and then she said, ‘Who were you talking to before?’ ‘I don’t know his name,’ I told her. She patted my hand. ‘Dear, are you feeling well? There wasn’t anyone there. You were talking to thin air.’

“I almost passed out right then and there. I’d been conversing with a ghost. When I looked at the corner where I’d sent him, no one was there. I said something stupid like I must have been day-dreaming. I’m sure now the whole town knows the librarian’s off her rocker. But he seemed so real, Bron.”

I handed her another book. “Don’t beat yourself up, girl. This is all new to you, but you’ll learn how to tell the dead from the living. I know. How about I teach you to see auras? Dead people don’t have auras, so that way you can tell.”

“Sure. Trust me, it’s a lot harder to see dead people than it is auras. Since you can already read different energies, it’ll probably be even easier. Why don’t you come to the house tonight? Have you told Caleb yet?”

She frowned. “No, the right time hasn’t come up. Though I’m sure he thinks something is up because he heard me talking to myself in the bathroom the other morning.” She made a face. “Well, I was talking to the dead people. But he’s back in New York this week working on that story, so I’m free. Do you think I can do this?”

I laughed. “Yes, you can. And I wish you wouldn’t worry so much about telling Caleb. He’s a big toad, but he loves you and he hangs with me, so he understands the metaphysical world better than most men do.”

She smiled and held one of the books to her chest. “Yes, he’ll probably be great about it. But I think I have to accept it first.”

I made a few more stops, one of which included peeking into Janet and Mike’s new bookstore. They were set to open in a few weeks, and it was looking good. Cherry wood bookcases lined the walls. There were short aisles of shelves and some tables for displays. They hadn’t revealed the name yet. The sign over the door was wrapped in brown paper. I didn’t see either of them, so I decided to head out and check on the jet.

Caleb had flown her home from New York for me, but I always like to check her out before and after flights. It’d probably be another few days before I should fly. But I could hardly wait. I love to fly. It’s one of the few times in my life I can let go of everything except concentrating on the task.

Darryl was in his office. He runs the Sweet airport, and he waved while he talked on the phone.

My girl looked good. Azir had given her to me right after we first met. I’d tried to give the jet back several times, but he wouldn’t have it. The PM is the one who finally convinced me to keep it.

She’s glorious, with rich leather interior for the sofas and chairs. A gold-plated bathroom. It’s the most ostentatious thing I’ve ever owned. And I missed it so much.

By the time I got home, I had four messages on my phone. The first was the prime minister asking me to call him back as soon as possible. The second was from Zane, with the same message. The third and fourth were from Miles basically asking the same thing, but not as nice.

“If you’re so damn sick, where the hell are you?” Miles mumbled. “Your expertise is needed.” And he hung up.

I rang the prime minister’s direct line in hopes of bypassing snippy little Miles. It worked.

“I’m much better, thank you.” It was the truth. It’d been almost three weeks since the attack, and I felt stronger than ever.

Wow. Hadn’t really planned to go back for another two weeks. I wanted to work, but I wasn’t sure my body was up to it.

“Did something happen?” I realized I hadn’t called to check in with Callie for a couple of days. The last time she spoke things had been quiet, and she promised to let me know if the spook squad got anything from the black sludge at the pub.

Usually I did mental checks on Azir and the PM on a daily basis. I hadn’t been able to use my magic in so long, I’d gotten out of practice.

“No, it’s just that he has to come that way to prepare for his new concert and Callie has to return to Australia. Seems there’s a problem only she can deal with and they need her back.”

“No, this one is a bit closer to home for you. Zane is preparing for the new tour and it begins in Los Angeles. Would it be possible for you to meet him there at the end of the week?”

I thought about it for a few seconds. By the end of the week I’d be even better than I was now. I still get tired, but I’d been tired before on assignments and managed.

“He’s scheduled for noon. I haven’t told him any of this. He seems to think that since Callie took care of those warlocks the threat is over, but I have a feeling it’s only just begun.”

“Why do you think that sir, if you don’t mind my asking?” I moved around the office shuffling papers. I’d really let things stack up while I was sick.

“Just a feeling. Aren’t you the one who always tells me to follow my instincts where threats are concerned?”

“Yes, that sounds like me. Okay, I can’t be there before noon. Garnout has to check me out on Friday morning before I can leave. He wants it to be a full three weeks. But I’ll have Simone, my friend the demon slayer, meet Zane. She’ll take him to his home. I’ll be there a couple of hours after.”

“Trust me sir, if you’d met her, you’d remember. But she knows Zane. She’s the one he asked about in New York.”

“Oh yes, that’s where I remember the name. I’ll have Miles send the itinerary when we have it complete.”

“And Bronwyn, thank you. Sheik Azir and I will meet you there by the end of the second week.”

I sighed. I have to build my stamina, my resistance to Azir, learn to use my new power and get myself into fighting shape in just one week.

That’s when it dawned on me. I pulled my iPod out of my purse to check the addresses and phone numbers. Sure enough, there it was. The number on Sam’s cell phone. It was Azir who had called him out of my bed.

I couldn’t imagine any scenario other than Azir had asked for help with one of his humanitarian missions. It’s noble of them both, but if Azir gets Sam killed, I’ll have to hurt him in return.

It also explains why Sam acted so strange that morning. Whenever Azir is involved in any of our conversations things tend to get weird.

So they were off saving people. Azir does it all the time. He pulls women and children out of atrocious circumstances and gives them better lives.

I’d had a chance to meet a few of the women he’d saved when I visited his home in Dubai. They nearly worshipped the man for all he had given them. Their stories . . . well, that those women hadn’t lost their faith in humanity was some small miracle.

Okay, so Sam’s off saving the world. I do it all the time. I guess I have to give the guy a break.

Kira’s a friggin’ genius. I swear she learns faster than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life. Well, with the exception of Simone.

Within an hour of showing her how to look but not look—that’s the secret of aura reading—she was doing it. She could even see Casper’s aura. And animals are lot more difficult than people.

We drove into town and sat in Lulu’s eating chocolate cream pie. (I swear I’ll start eating healthy tomorrow.) She read every single patron correctly. Amazing.

I don’t know how I ended up with all of these brilliant friends, but I’m feeling a bit blessed today.

The good news is she’s beginning to accept her gifts as a talent and not so much a curse. I explained that these things come to us for a purpose, and she’ll soon discover what that is.

She reached over and hugged me. “Thank you for being my friend.” She smiled. “For the first time in weeks I don’t feel like I have a hundred pound weight sitting on my shoulders. I can breathe.”

“Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you and Caleb these last few weeks.”

She sniffled. “So tomorrow after work I’ll come over and we’ll do yoga and we’ll work on the meditation thing. Then I’ll watch while you practice making earthquakes.”

Now, if Sam would call and let me know he’s alive and well, this would be a great day. Not going to happen, but a girl can wish.