Chapter 11 #2
If Noah didn’t have paranormal hearing, he wouldn’t have been able to follow the conversation. Nick grabbed the phone and moved a few paces away.
“Where were you, Wolfensen? Is Kizzy really okay?”
“Yes. Kizzy must have had to lift the blindness spell to get out. I’m sorry, Dr. Samuels.
Truly, I am. My wife needed my help with something, and I thought Kizzy would be okay for a few minutes.
Fortunately, the young man, Noah, was with her.
He’s a firefighter and did contain the fire to a smaller area while Kizzy got out and called 911. ”
Nick glanced over at them. With one hand around Kizzy’s waist and the other in his pocket, Noah tried to look casual and supportive. Not possessive.
“Why were they alone together? You were supposed to make sure they stayed apart.”
Wolfensen turned away and growled into the phone. “She’s a grown-ass woman. If she wants to see him, there’s nothing you or I can do about it. I wouldn’t want to stop her from having a friend.”
“Sure, having him as a friend and talking on the phone is fine. But now he’s saved her life, and she’ll probably think of him as some kind of hero.
I had hoped by her being blind, she’d not be under the influence of the handsome firefighter’s looks.
If she’d actually get to know the guy, who is probably just an average Joe Schmoe, she’d realize she can do better.
I thought by letting her discover that on her own, she’d make the right decision. ”
Noah tried not to show his irritation. How dare this guy assume he was some kind of moron?
He became a firefighter because he wanted to.
He could’ve gone to college, but why? His destiny was to protect the city just as his father and his grandfather had, and he was the sixth brother to follow that path.
He was proud to be one of the legendary Fierro firefighters.
“Now she’ll be gazing up at him with adoration,” Dr. Samuels said, sounding dismayed.
“Maybe she genuinely cares for him. He seems like a good guy,” Nick was saying. “Won’t you even give him a chance?”
After a brief silence, the elder Samuels said, “I hadn’t realized I’d hired a relationships expert. I thought I’d hired a PI and bodyguard for my daughter.”
Nick shrugged absently. “You did. And if that’s all you want, that’s all you’ll get.”
Noah had hoped to invite Kizzy to his place, but he didn’t know what kind of luck he’d have now. She had already snuck in the back door and put the book back in its hiding place. It was probably time to find out where her loyalties lay.
He bent and whispered in her ear. “Why don’t we go to my place? There’s nothing you can do here now, and I can show you the other book.”
Her gaze snapped to his face. “You would do that? Show me the other book?”
“Absolutely. It’s important to compare them, but it seems as if they’d be safer apart…for now.”
“You’re right. Let me just speak to my father for a minute.”
Noah nodded and removed his arm. He watched as she strolled over to Nick’s side and waited her turn.
“I think your daughter wants to speak to you.”
“Put her on.”
“Dad, I’m going to Noah’s apartment for a little while. I need to tell you something but not here with all these people around.”
“Can you stay there until I get home?”
“The place is a mess, and I don’t even know if we can live in it.”
At last, her father sighed. “Wait until I get there. Then I want you back home as soon as things settle down. I can wait for the insurance inspector and the fire inspector, but the minute they deem the place safe to go in, we’ll grab some important things and relocate.
I also want to ask you some specific questions about how close they came to the you-know-what. ”
“Very, but with Noah’s help, they didn’t get it.”
“How did he help?”
“I tossed him the book so I could have both hands free. He held it so I could use my powers to force the entity to retreat.”
Dr. Samuels’s voice raised. “Did he see what you did?”
“Yes. There was no way to avoid it. And he didn’t freak out. We haven’t had a chance to talk about it, but I think we need to do that and soon. There’s something else I want to check out at his place. Something he just told me about.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you after I see it. It might be something important or nothing at all. I won’t know until I see for myself.”
“Fine. Just don’t leave yet. Let me get there first. Can you hand the phone to the police? I’d like to talk to whomever is in charge.”
Kizzy returned to Noah while her father spoke to the police and the fire chief. He must have asked to speak to Noah, because the chief walked over to the two of them and handed Noah the phone.
“Hello, sir.”
“I understand Kizzy wants to go to your apartment. For how long?”
Noah looked at Kizzy. “I wasn’t planning on an overnight guest. I just thought…”
“Yeah, I don’t need to stay overnight,” Kizzy said quickly. “I’m sure we’ll all go to a hotel, won’t we, Dad? I just wanted to get out of this place and…”
“I understand,” he said. “Why don’t you both come out to dinner with me?”
“No, Dad. I really need to see something at his place. I can meet you at a restaurant later.”
“That’s fine. Can you come to Elephant Walk at seven?”
“I should be able to be there by sevenish. I’ll call if I’m going to be late.”
“Good. And, honey?”
“Yes?”
“Forget what I said about Noah. If he kept you safe, he’s all right with me.”
* * *
Kizzy couldn’t wait to see the book, but she wasn’t going to rudely interrupt Noah as he showed her around his makeshift chemistry lab.
She was right. He was kind of geeky, but in a sexy way.
Whenever he walked by her, he touched her in some gentle way, like running his warm hand across her back. His touch made her shiver.
“So you thought the book was about alchemy?”
“Yeah. I still do unless…”
“Unless?”
“Unless you see something in there that changes the interpretation. You know your book. Maybe we can figure out how it fits with mine.”
“I won’t be able to draw any parallels…if I don’t see the book.”
Noah laughed. “Yeah, I guess I should show it to you.” He opened the closet and took the leather-bound book off the top shelf.
Once she had it in her hands, Kizzy knew this was indeed one of the companion books. She opened it and hoped it referred to certain pagan rituals. Then she might be able to piece together not only what this was, but also why the books were separated.
“Noah, this is a breakthrough. You have the ingredients of each spell, and we have the words.”
“It’s a spell book?”
“Yes. One of three.”
“And you know this because…you’re a witch?”
“Um, yeah.”
Noah laughed. “I just realized something. You’re a witch and a doctor. Does that make you a witch doctor?”
“Hardy-har.” She had to get back to the book. There’d be time for teasing later—she hoped. “I don’t know what the entity has, but most spells consist of certain props and particular words and steps that go with them. Maybe theirs is choreography, or a code breaker, or something.”
“So, you’re saying that my alchemy ingredients would probably never work without the wording that goes with it.”
“That’s what I’m guessing. Can I sit down and study this for a while?”
“Of course. Find a comfortable spot in the living room. Can I get you something to drink? About all we have is coffee and beer.” He laughed. “Ice water if you don’t like either of those.”
“After the day I’ve had, I think I’d like a beer.” Kizzy wandered back to the living room, gazing at the book the whole way. She found a comfortable chair, plopped down on it, and pored over the book in more detail.
What she saw was indeed some ingredients, but they were listed in an order she didn’t understand.
She and her sister had been instructed to study their book backward and forward.
She couldn’t make the ingredients go with the spells they had.
For instance, the ingredients that would help turn lead to gold didn’t match up with their words for increased wealth in a different section of the book.
That’s what made her think the third book might be an index.
If she were creating this set of books, that’s how she would do it.
Let each one contain only part of the information needed, but use a third one to decode everything, in case they fell into the wrong hands.
When Noah returned with her glass of foamy ale, she sipped it gratefully.
Noah gave her an intense look. “I think it’s time we had that talk about who we really are. Our hidden identities.”
She set the beer glass on the table next to her and licked the foam off her top lip. “You’re right. You know my secret. I’m a witch, if you want to put a label on it. And you said you had some secret too, but I have no idea what it is.”
“Should I tell you or show you?”
“Oh, show and tell.” She smiled. “You decide which to do first.”
“Okay. Sit tight.” He unbuttoned the top of his shirt.
Noah’s body shrank and changed shape. Suddenly, a bird with colorful tail feathers flew out of his open collar. He made a couple of rounds of the large living room before he landed on the floor behind the coffee table. At last, he grew and changed back into his human form, in all its naked glory.
The coffee table hid his private bits. He raised one hand. “Toss me my jeans, will you?”
Kizzy plucked the pants off the floor, rolled them into a ball, and threw them to him. He snatched them out of the air and managed to get them on without exposing himself.
“You don’t need to be shy around me. I’ve seen it all before.” She gave him a teasing grin.
Noah smiled. “You’ve seen a phoenix before?”
Kizzy knew he was purposely misunderstanding her. “Is that what you are? A phoenix?”