Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

“I described what I was trying to do and what it felt like. Then they asked me if anything had changed around town—if there was anyone new. I said my sister’s boyfriend was visiting.” His voice trailed off, and he then added a sheepish, “Oops. But I didn’t know it meant anything at the time. I was just excited because they’d let me talk to one of the main guys at the company. It would have been like running across a bug in Word, calling Microsoft tech support, and being transferred directly to Bill Gates in the middle of the night. So, uh, why does this matter?”

“Because the guy running Spellworks just showed up in town,” I said. “He has to know you’re my brother, and that means he has to know Owen’s here and was behind the wards on the bank.” It rankled me more than a little that Phelan Idris had known my brother had magical powers before I did.

“He got here fast enough,” Owen said.

I shrugged. “Well, this might be an even bigger crisis for him than it is for us. Us finding out in this way could put a stop to his little magic school before he hits critical mass. You know, it was really stupid of him to actually sign up one of my brothers.”

“That’s typical,” Owen said. “He couldn’t resist getting a reaction out of you and showing off. As usual, he got sidetracked by looking for a reaction instead of following through.”

I sat on the end of Teddy’s bed. “Did I really screw things up for you, Katie?” Dean asked. He actually sounded contrite.

“No, in the long run you’ve helped. If you hadn’t been mixed up in all this, we might not have found out about this scheme until it was too late. It would have been nice if we could have avoided having Idris come here, but here may be the best place to deal with him. It’s harder to do magic here without the proper lines of power, and when it comes to raw magical resources, there aren’t too many people who can top Owen.”

“Ooh, time for the magical showdown at the O-K Corral?” Teddy asked, brightening.

“I hope not,” Owen said, “but I’ll still probably need your help.”

Then a voice from downstairs called out, “Is anyone home?” It was Granny.

I got up and went to the top of the stairs. “What is it, Granny?” I asked.

“I tried to go to the bank to deposit my pension check, and they wouldn’t let me in the door.”

I turned around to find the guys standing behind me. “I guess the wards are still up,” I whispered to Owen.

“Well, Dad always said she was a witch,” Teddy said under his breath.

Iglared at Teddy, then forced a smile and headed down the stairs, wincing as I crossed the squeaky patch. “But Granny, the bank is closed for the day,” I said when I reached her, hoping that maybe there’d been a misunderstanding. “Remember, the lobby closes at three.”

She rapped her cane on the floor. “I know that. And I was there in plenty of time, but I couldn’t get through the doorway. People were walking past me left and right, but I couldn’t go through. The bank’s been charmed, it has. Someone wants to keep the magical folk out.” She looked up at where the guys still stood at the top of the stairs and pointed her cane straight at Owen. “It was you who did it. I felt your magic.”

I was all ready to spin an explanation, but Owen started down the stairs, the other guys following him.

Once he’d passed the squeaky spot, he said, “I’m sorry about that. I should have lifted the wards already, but I wanted to be sure the bank was protected, with everything that’s been going on. I’ll take care of it tonight to make sure you can go there. You should be able to deposit your check tomorrow morning.” His voice was calm and even, as if he were having a perfectly ordinary conversation.

That took Granny aback. She was used to being ignored, contradicted, and humored, but never taken seriously. “So, you were sent here to protect us from the scoundrel who’s been using magic against us,” she said, gazing steadily at him.

“Yes, I was.”

“You’ve got strong magic in you, stronger than anything I’ve ever felt.” She lapsed into that fake Irish accent that made it difficult for Teddy, Dean, and me not to laugh, but Owen kept a perfectly straight face. “I know a trick or two my Gran taught me, but nothing like what you do. You stopped our culprit, did you?”

“Yes, I believe I did. He won’t be causing any more problems.”

Her gaze darted immediately to Dean, who didn’t react quickly enough to put on a fake innocent expression. Guilt was written all over his face. Her eyes narrowed. “You! I should have known. You always were a troublemaker.” She rapped him across the knees with her cane, making him jump and yelp in pain.

“Abusing the gift like that is dangerous,” she went on, ignoring Dean as he rubbed his knees.

“Meddling with power can get you burned, and using it for personal gain takes you closer to falling into the darkness. I’d have tried to teach you how to use it, but your mother thought I was crazy.

She’s got a different kind of sight, but she doesn’t understand the gift the way I do.”

“Wait a second,” I said, “You knew all along about Dean?”

“Of course I did. I felt the magic in him from the time I first held him. You’re like your mother, though. And Teddy, too. My Gran always said the family liked to keep a balance so we could keep each other in check, one side with the power and the other side with the vision.”

“What about Frank Junior?” I asked, almost dreading the answer. With one brother a wizard and the other immune to magic, there was no telling what the third one might be.

“Oh, he’s as normal as your father is. And thank goodness there’s someone normal around here.”

“I had to go to New York to learn about magic, and you knew all this time?”

She shook her head and tut-tutted. “I told you I don’t know how many times, but did you listen? I even tried to warn you about what you’d find in the city.” That partially explained why I didn’t remember her warnings. The family had been so busy telling me about all the criminals and deviants I was sure to run into that one more wacky warning would have been beside the point.

“But Granny,” Teddy said, “We thought those were just stories.”

“Just stories! Honestly. These children have no respect for their elders.” She turned back to Owen. “I assume you listen to your grandparents.”

“I don’t have any grandparents,” he said, “but my foster mother is about your age.”

“That explains it. You had to listen to your elders. Is there any coffee?” Without waiting for an answer, she spun and headed toward the kitchen fast enough that I wondered if she used magic to speed her pace.

“I’ll make some,” I said, hurrying to follow her. It was a good thing I’d had my meltdown earlier and got it out of my system. Otherwise, I’m not sure how I’d have reacted to finding out that my grandmother was magical and had known about all this stuff all along.

I got to the coffeemaker before Granny did and made a pot of half decaf, since I knew she wasn’t supposed to have too much caffeine and she’d have already had at least four cups of coffee that day.

We certainly didn’t need her over caffeinated; she was bad enough as it was. For once, she didn’t fight me over who should make the coffee. Instead, she seemed content to sit at the kitchen table and let us serve her.

That was probably because she wasn’t through with Dean yet. She rapped him again across the knees, and he wisely took a step back so he’d be out of cane range. “Now that you’ve had your little fun and you’ve shown what you can do, you are going to give all those things back, aren’t you?” she said. She phrased it as a question, but her tone of voice made it more of a command. “I’d hate to have to tell your mother what a disappointment you are.”