Jane Kindred - Waking The Serpent

Heading upstairs from the basement café with the latte in hand, Phoebe nearly ended up wearing the drink when she took a corner too swiftly and met someone else coming down.

She held the sloshing beverage out of the way as the lid popped off the cup and a dollop of foam hit the tip of an expensive Italian dress shoe. “Shoot. I’m so sorry. Let me get that.” She’d knelt to dab her napkin on the mess without waiting for an answer, but an amused voice made her pause.

“That’s really not necessary, Ms. Carlisle.”

The face she glanced up into was familiar but she couldn’t place it. Thirty-something and blond with soulful blue eyes, he looked like he ought to be on the cover of GQ.

Phoebe straightened with the napkin wadded in her hand. “Sorry—have we met?”

“Just briefly. Carter Hanson Hamilton.” He held out his hand and Phoebe pocketed the napkin before extending hers, still not sure where she’d seen him before. He had a firm, easy grip. “I’m representing Rafael Diamante in the Barbara Fisher case.”

“Oh.” Phoebe pulled back her hand. Of course. She’d seen him yesterday when Ione had blindsided her.

“I hope there are no hard feelings. The Covent only has Mr. Diamante’s best interests in mind.”

“No, I get that, Mr. Hamilton. I do.” She might as well be gracious. “I wasn’t sure why he called me, anyway. He was probably in shock and just dialed the first number he found in his pocket.”

“Please, call me Carter. And I’m sure you’re selling yourself short. Your sister speaks very highly of you.”

Phoebe couldn’t contain the short outburst of laughter. “Ione? She did not. That’s kind of you to say, Mr. Hamilton—Carter—but I’m not exactly the Covent’s favorite person. As I’m sure you know.”

Carter smiled. “You may not be the poster girl for Covent doctrine, but I think you may be wrong about your sister’s regard for you. Blood transcends belief.”

Phoebe regarded him quizzically. “You’re not exactly what I expected from a Covent lawyer.”

“And you’re not exactly what I expected from an evocator.”

“Evocator?”

“Evocation is the official name for what you do. Has no one ever applied the term to you before?”

Phoebe shook her head. “I’ve always called it ‘stepping in.’”

“That’s what they do, of course. Not what you do.” Carter glanced at his watch. “I have some time before my next appointment. Care to join me for an early lunch?”

Phoebe looked down at her latte. “I just got breakfast.”

Carter smiled. “Half of it’s on my shoe. Toss it. I’m buying.”

* * *

They ended up downstairs in the café again. The Camp Verde neighborhood boasted little more than the courthouse and county jail, a shooting range and an incongruously placed African wildlife park. Carter looked a little out of his element in his impeccable suit.

Phoebe tore open the little envelope of Caesar dressing to squeeze onto her salad. “Big spender. I’m impressed.”

Carter laughed. “I thought about suggesting the promising-sounding Carl’s Custom Meats, but it’s a little too close to the wildlife park for comfort.”

Phoebe grinned. “That’s why I’m sticking to salad.” She carefully speared a cherry tomato. “So, you’re not from the local chapter, I take it.”

“No, does it show? Not wearing enough crystals?” He winked and ate a bite of his sandwich, managing not to end up with mayonnaise at the corner of his mouth as Phoebe would have done. “I live in Scottsdale. I’m with the Phoenix chapter.”

“And do they not have strict rules about consorting with ‘evocators’ in the Phoenix chapter?”

“They don’t think highly of the practice, I have to admit. Though most who profess to have the ability are charlatans.”

Phoebe paused with a hunk of romaine on her fork. “Do you think I’m a charlatan?”

“I haven’t seen your work, so I have no basis upon which to make such a judgment. But your sister’s talent as a witch is impressive. I imagine your talent must be every bit as much so.”

“Well, I don’t do it to impress anyone. I do it because I can, and people seem to need it.”

“By people, you mean shades.”

“You don’t think shades are people?”

“I think they were people. But I think letting them cling to what they were can be dangerous. For both the shade and the evocator.” He paused and looked up from his lunch, giving Phoebe a perfect million-dollar smile. “But I’m willing to keep my mind open to other possibilities.” It was more than Ione or the rest of the local Covent had ever done. Carter took another meticulous bite while Phoebe pondered and chewed. “Have you ever encountered a hostile shade?”

“Hostile?” She swallowed her bite. “No, I wouldn’t say hostile. A few who were angry and confused at first.” And of course there was Lila, who’d tried to feed her to a snake last night to appease some Aztec god. “What do you think of Rafe’s—Mr. Diamante’s situation?”

Carter set down his sandwich and took a sip of his Perrier. “As his legal counsel, I have to believe he’s sincere in his account of what happened. Whether his suspicions are correct about how it happened, I can’t say.”

“But you think it’s possible. That a shade might have stepped into him without his knowledge.”

“Possible? Absolutely. Whether such testimony would be admissible in court is another matter. Of course, everything Rafael has told me is confidential, so all of this is merely hypothetical, you understand.”

Phoebe nodded and swallowed a mouthful of salad. “Of course. I didn’t mean to pry.”

Carter touched her arm. “I didn’t think you were prying. Just reminding myself, really. You’re easy to talk to. I find I’m forgetting myself.” He regarded her for a moment. “Can I ask you something personal?”

Phoebe pushed lettuce around in her plastic clamshell. “Fire away.”

“Is there a reason you aren’t a member of the Covent? Other than the obvious philosophical differences, of course.”

“Yes, there is.” Phoebe smiled. “I’m not a witch.”

“So you don’t believe the animating forces of nature have a spiritual component.”

“I’ve never been big on spirituality. I believe in science.”

“Yet as an accomplished evocator, you work with spirit beings.”

Phoebe shrugged. “I suppose I consider magic to be just another facet of science. The flip side, if you will. I don’t attribute it to any god.”

“Some might attribute it to the flip side of a god.”

Her brows quirked upward. “The province of the Devil? Isn’t that considered heresy in the craft?”

Carter laughed with genuine amusement. “No, of course not the Devil. I was thinking along the lines of a goddess. Inanna or Astarte, for instance. Lilith.” He glanced at his conspicuously expensive watch. “I’m afraid I need to get back. But it was delightful talking with you, Phoebe—I hope I can call you Phoebe?”

He certainly had a way of making everything he said sound utterly sincere.

She smiled. “Of course.”

* * *

Upstairs, Carter paused before they went their separate ways. “I hope we’ll have a chance to talk again soon.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips and Phoebe blushed, not sure anyone had ever kissed her hand before.

“Phoebe?” The surprised voice was a deep baritone. Phoebe looked up to find Rafe staring at the two of them, dark brows drawn together in mistrust. “What’s going on?”

Carter let go of her hand and gave Rafe a placid smile. “Just lunching with Ms. Carlisle. We all have business in court today, as it happens.”

Phoebe glanced from Carter to Rafe. “You have business in court?”