Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
It’s not like I’m totally out of shape, but by the time we got to the car, I kind of felt like I was going to throw up. I’m blaming it on the humidity.
“What the hell was that?” I shrieked, as Luna floored her Bug past the surprised man sitting at the registration table. Yes, that was twice in one day that I’d shrieked. Let’s not dwell on it too much.
“That man is out of his damn mind,” Miss Elva puffed from the front seat, waving her hands at her face to cool herself down. Luna hit the button for the air conditioner as we barreled down the gravel road away from the festival.
“Are you all right, my lovemountain?” Rafe asked and Miss Elva chuckled.
“I like having him around,” she decided.
“He’s all yours,” I insisted and Miss Elva laughed again.
“Luna, what happened back there?” I asked, my breathing beginning to return to a slightly more normal pace, though my back was sticky with sweat.
“He tried to take our power. Pretty much like you said – a psychic vampire who feeds on power.”
“But what about the summoning the dark underlords thing?” I asked, pushing my hair back from my face.
“I think he tried to cover what he was doing with a ‘draw down the moon’ ritual. Usually the ritual is considered quite holy and beautiful, a way to connect with the Goddess Diana or one of the other goddesses. I’ve been present for a few, and found them to be really lovely,” Luna said, checking her rearview mirror.
“This was not lovely.”
“No, what he was trying to do was take power. From us. From the crowd. And from those below,” Miss Elva said ominously.
“Why would someone do that?”
“To feed their ego. The more power he has, the more he can control people. It’s a dangerous game to play,” Luna said as we approached the end of the gravel road where we would turn back towards civilization.
“Goddesses are gonna smack him down,” Miss Elva observed.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Goddesses don’t like when someone tries to trifle with that stuff. Just you watch, Horace is going to get what’s coming to him.”
“Did you curse him?” I asked. Miss Elva was legendary for coming up with the best and most inventive curses.
“Child, I didn’t have to. That man cursed himself when he started trying to steal power from Goddesses. Trust me, he’s in for it.”
“I suppose that’s something, then,” I said, craning my neck to look behind us. “There aren’t, like, demons or anything coming after us, are there?”
“Not us, child, not us,” Miss Elva said.
“Speaking of no harm coming to us,” Luna said, as we sped towards downtown Tequila Key, “what was that little magickal number you pulled back there?”
“Me? What about you? How come we could leave the circle and not be harmed? I was convinced we’d pick up another Rafe.”
Rafe sniffed beside me, his nose in the air. “You’d only be so lucky.”
“There is a little-known spell for breaking a circle when the one who cast it has ill intentions toward you. It’s old magick,” Luna said and Miss Elva nodded her head.
“That’s a good one, Luna child. I hadn’t even thought of that one.”
“Well, thank you. I’m glad we didn’t get zapped by whatever that light was,” I said, running my hands up and down my arms to soothe myself.
“You should be proud of yourself, Thea. You sure did a good job of protecting a whole lot of people,” Miss Elva said.
“I tried,” I said, shrugging it away.
Luna glanced at me in the rearview mirror; I could just see her eyes in the glow of the console lights.
“Tell me how you controlled it like you did.”
“I don’t know, really. I thought of the white bubble and was starting the protection spell when I looked around at all the people behind me. I kind of felt guilty that I was just going to protect us and not everyone else, so I made a magickal donut.”
Miss Elva snorted, and then began to rock back and forth in her seat, wheezing as she slapped her knee.
“A magickal donut?” Luna squeaked.
“Yeah, one that was basically a circular protective ring around us and everyone outside the circle, with a hole in the middle for whatever nonsense Horace was about to pull onto himself,” I shrugged, feeling a little foolish.
“Only you would make a magickal donut,” Luna said, shaking her head back and forth before she began to laugh.
“I like donuts,” I protested.
“Who doesn’t?” Miss Elva laughed.
Lights flashed across the interior of the car and I froze, fear racing up my spine.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I groaned.
“Nope, we’re totally getting pulled over,” Luna swore and eased the car to the side of the road, the interior of the car silent as we waited for Chief Thomas to approach.
I swear – it was almost like it was a full moon or something.
Oh wait.
“Evening,” Chief Thomas said as he leaned down to look in the car, the light from his flashlight blinding us momentarily before he lowered it. “Ladies.”
“Chief Thomas,” we all chorused dutifully, and he shook his head.
“Do you know why I’m pulling you over?” Chief Thomas asked Luna, his eyes serious.
“Because I was speeding?”
“Yes, you were. Going twelve over. You know you can’t drive like that in a small town like this. What’s the hurry?”
“Miss Elva wants a donut,” I piped up, and felt the seat in front of me shake as laughter rippled through Miss Elva.
Chief Thomas looked at me and a wisp of a smile crossed his face.
“Well now, I can certainly understand the pressing need for a donut once in a while,” Chief Thomas agreed. “Y'all coming from that festival?”
“No, just coming from an early Halloween party down in Looe Key,” I said. Wow, the lies were strong with me tonight.
“An early Halloween party?” Chief Thomas raised his eyebrow at me.
“She’s lying,” Luna sighed and shook her head, smiling sweetly at Chief Thomas.
“We were at a private party giving readings. We always dress like this when we get hired out. You know, play into the stereotype a bit. It gets us more tips,” Luna explained.
I saw Chief Thomas’s eyes skim down Luna’s nude dress and he nodded.
“Makes sense.”
“We really were just hungry. Hoping to get to Lucky’s before they stop serving food,” I added.
The walkie-talkie at Chief Thomas’s waist squawked and he stepped back a pace, raising his finger. Listening, he responded. “On it.” Then he approached the car once more.
“Ladies, go get that meal. I’ll follow up if I have any issues.” With that, he all but ran back to his car. I watched as he whipped a fast U-turn and sped back in the direction we had come.
“He’s going to the festival.”
“That he is. Non-magickal people will have reported that earthquake.”
Luna pulled the car back out onto the highway.
“Are we really going to Lucky’s?”
“Oh yeah. I can’t wait until Beau gets a load of our outfits.”