Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

Then she broke down in sobs.

Dean drove me crazy at times, but if she was worried enough to question gifts, I couldn’t help but worry about him, even if he had brought his troubles on himself. I just didn’t have time to deal with it at the moment, not until we took care of this wizard. Why couldn’t my family wait to have a major crisis? Then again, if he was dealing with the wizard, Sherri might be a useful source of information.

“Keep an eye on him, and let me know if you notice anything else suspicious, okay?” I said, giving her shoulders a squeeze. “It might help if we knew who he was dealing with and where he got all that stuff. But we will take care of it, I promise.”

She collapsed, sobbing, on my shoulder, and I patted her back until she pulled herself together.

“Thanks, Katie,” she said with a sniffle and an attempt at a smile. “Well, I’d better go fix my face, then get to the register.”

I got through the rest of the morning without any additional scenes. By noon, I was able to wrap things up in the office. I took the morning’s receipts in a deposit bag and headed to the bank. It really was an errand I’d have to do anyway, but it was the perfect excuse to check in on Owen and Sam.

The bank was busy at noon on a Monday, so I had to park a block away and walk. Owen was across the street from the bank, leaning against a wall with a cup of coffee in his hand. I wasn’t sure whether I should speak to him, or if he was invisible to everyone but me. He spoke first. “An errand at the bank?” he asked.

“Yeah, would you believe, I have to make a deposit?”

“Need some company?”

“Sure, if you’re that desperate for something to do.”

“I want to get a look at the inside of the bank, just in case.”

“I take it you haven’t seen any customers being forcefully repelled.”

“Not a one.”

As we approached the bank, I saw Dean heading toward the front steps. I wanted to talk to him some more about what I’d noticed and about Sherri’s concerns, but he was the last person I wanted to see right now. Next to me, Owen stiffened. He obviously wasn’t too thrilled to see Dean, either. Both of us slowed our pace, holding back so that Dean turned to go into the bank before he noticed us. I sighed in relief that at least one awkward encounter had been avoided when he reached the bank entrance without seeing us. Then he bounced off something invisible and landed on his back on the sidewalk.

It was impossible. I never in a million years would have believed it if I hadn’t seen him bounce off the wards with my own eyes. My brother was the local wizard. The lying, thieving, con-artist local wizard. I rushed over, Owen right behind me. “Dean? It was you?” I couldn’t help but blurt as my brother stared up at me in shock.

“What was me?” he tried as a look of panic crossed his face. He rolled to his side, as if to prepare to get up and run. Owen bent, grabbed his arm, and helped him to his feet, then didn’t let go. His knuckles turned white, he was grasping so hard. Dean made as though to pull away, and I thought I felt the tingle of building magic. Dean frantically mumbled words, his eyes growing wider and wider as Owen stayed put and was entirely unaffected by whatever he’d tried to do.

After about a minute of this, Owen’s grip on Dean’s arm tightened and he said very softly, “Don’t even try it. You are so outclassed here that you can’t even comprehend the class I’m in.” Then, quite suddenly, Owen released Dean and stepped backward. Dean’s muscles tensed, ready to run the moment he was let go, but he was frozen in place, unable to take a step. Owen stood there watching him, his arms folded across his chest, not even breaking a sweat.

Then Dean yelled at the top of his lungs, “Hey, this is your burglar! He’s the guy who did it!” People kept walking up and down the sidewalk, not giving him more than a passing glance.

“You’re not the only one who can hide what you’re up to,” Owen said mildly. Then he added, “Katie, I’ll stay out here and keep your brother company while you wrap up your errand. We have a lot to talk about.”

“What are you doing with my sister, you freak? Katie, you come back here, don’t do what he says!”

Dean shouted. He then began mumbling words and wiggling his fingers at me. I felt the magic but, of course, it did nothing to me.

“Give it a rest, Dean,” I said with a sigh. “I need to go make these deposits.” I didn’t want to leave them alone, but I was holding the morning’s receipts for the store, including the checks that had come in over the weekend, so skipping this errand wasn’t an option. I headed to the bank, shivering as I crossed through the wards at the threshold, and gave one last glance over my shoulder before I entered. I wasn’t sure if the lines were longer than usual or if they only felt that way because I was so eager to get back outside and see what was going on.

My brother was the local criminal wizard? There had to be some kind of mix-up or coincidental misunderstanding. Maybe he’d tripped or slipped on the steps instead of bouncing off the wards. But no, he’d been using magic—or trying to—on Owen and me. There couldn’t be any doubt, unless there was another local wizard who’d done all the illegal stuff, but then that wouldn’t explain all of Dean’s new acquisitions.

It seemed to take forever to make my deposit, and while normally I’d have been glad that the teller double-checked the amounts, this time I couldn’t help but drum my fingers on the counter in impatience. I practically grabbed the deposit receipt out of her hand and shoved it into my bag while I jogged across the lobby to the exit.

Owen and Dean were still right where I’d left them, in the middle of a staredown. “All done!” I announced. “Now, where do we go from here?”

“Is there a place we can talk without being overheard or interrupted?” Owen asked.

“In this town? Let’s see, Mom will be at home. Sherri will be off work soon, so Dean’s house is out. I know, we can talk in the barn.”

“Good idea, Katie,” Owen said, still sounding calm and collected, but I noticed a small muscle in his jaw twitching.

“Katie, you’re siding with this guy?” Dean asked, the faintest hint of a desperate whine in his voice.

“Do you know what he is?”

“I know exactly what he is. I’m just not sure you know yet what you’re really dealing with, and I guess I don’t know what you are anymore.”

Owen waved a hand ever so slightly, making an “after you” gesture, and Dean’s legs began moving, walking him toward Owen’s rental car. Every so often, Dean gave a little jerk, like he was trying to break free, but Owen only intensified his control. He made Dean sit in the passenger seat.

Owen then took a small cell phone—or something that looked pretty much like a cell phone but that I imagined had a few extra magical features—out of his shirt pocket and pushed a couple of buttons.

“Sam, meet us at the barn behind Katie’s house,” he said into the phone. “And be careful. You know about her mother.” The way Owen had to hold the phone away from his ear told me that Sam definitely remembered my mother. She’d hit him in the face with her purse when she was in New York at Thanksgiving, thinking he was an overgrown bat.

I went to get my truck, and Owen followed me out to the house. I pulled up into the horse pasture behind the barn so the truck wouldn’t be visible from inside the house, then once Owen had parked, I led the way into the barn. The dogs came running up to greet us, but then came to an abrupt halt a few yards away, almost like they’d sensed that this was something they didn’t want to get involved with.