Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

I reached over and took his arm. “Come on, we’re not getting anything done standing around here.”

With a weary sigh, he went along with me. On our way out of the room, I locked the door behind us, in case Idris hadn’t taken his room key when he vanished. He’d have to use that much power again to get back into the room. I dropped the towels off in the housekeeping closet, then we got back into Owen’s rental car.

“What do you think he’ll do?” I asked.

“He may make a go of convincing your brother not to drop his program or let the other students know what’s going on. Or he could challenge me to a duel on Main Street at high noon. With him, you never know.”

Dean and Teddy were still hanging around at the house when we got back. They met us on the back porch. “What time should we meet tonight?” Teddy asked.

“A quarter to midnight behind the bank. We should all park in different places so it’s not too obvious that someone’s congregating,” Owen said.

“Okay, quarter to midnight,” Dean said, nodding. “Is that because there’s more power at the witching hour of midnight?”

“No, it’s because by then everyone here will be asleep, making it easier for us to sneak out, and there won’t likely be anyone wandering downtown. It also seems to fall between two different police patrols of that area.”

“Oh,” Teddy said, looking disappointed. It was a shame how boring and ordinary magic often turned out to be.

“You’re still planning to return those goods?” Owen asked Dean.

“Yeah. It doesn’t look like I have a choice if I want to keep my wife.” I bit my tongue to keep from saying that it wouldn’t be a big loss. Besides, Sherri was turning out to be okay.

“Then make sure you’ve wiped off any fingerprints and wear gloves. Box everything up in separate boxes for each store.”

Dean’s eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face. “Fingerprints?”

“Don’t you think they’d check if stolen goods suddenly reappeared and they still had no suspect?

Returning the goods is a mitigating factor, but it doesn’t erase the fact that you committed a crime.”

“How are you going to explain to Beth why you’re taking off in the middle of the night?” I asked Teddy.

“I’m always taking off in the middle of the night when I get an idea and head to the test crops,” he said with a shrug. “She’s used to it by now.”

“I’ll see you two tonight, then,” Owen said.

“Do we need to bring anything?” Teddy asked.

“I’ve got it taken care of. Wear something dark that won’t stand out too much if light hits it. And you’ll need gloves, since we’ll be handling stolen goods.”

My brothers were waiting for us behind the bank shortly before midnight, both of them looking like cat burglars in their all-black clothing. Teddy was the most eager of the two. I wasn’t sure if it was because of his curiosity about magic or because of Dean’s reluctance to give back all his loot.

“We’ll deal with the wards first, since that’s our priority,” Owen told them. “Then if we have time, if I have the energy, and if the coast is clear, we can start returning the stolen property. You did bring it, didn’t you?” he asked Dean.

“It’s in my trunk. Sherri had everything already boxed up.”

“I hope you thought to wipe off her fingerprints so she won’t be suspected,” I said, finding it hard to believe I was actually looking out for Sherri.

“Of course I did.”

“Good,” Owen said. “Okay, here’s the plan. Sam will veil the area, so no one who happens to pass by will see what we’re doing. You should still be quiet and not do anything to draw attention to yourself because no veil is perfect. The less there is to see, the easier it is to disguise it. Stay out of my way, and if I tell you to do something, you’ll do it without hesitation or question. Have you got that?” He sounded so firm and commanding that I might not have been able to resist tackling him if my brothers hadn’t been there.

They nodded, apparently also getting that sense of power from him, but obviously with a totally different response. “Got it,” Teddy said, while Dean gave a cocky salute.

We crept around the corner to the front of the bank, where Sam waited for us on the sidewalk. “I got you covered, boss,” he said. “All of you. You did tell these two to keep it quiet?”

“Yes. It’s under control.” Owen turned to me and said, “I’d like you to be standing by. I probably won’t need you because breaking wards is easier than setting them, but I’d rather be ready, just in case.”

“I’ll be here,” I said.

As he went to work, I was torn between wanting to watch him and wanting to see how my brothers reacted to what he did. So far, they’d seen little more than parlor tricks, but this would be real magic on a level they hadn’t yet experienced.

He sprinkled some shimmery powder in a line under the doorway, then stepped back, held his hands out, and did that half chanting/half singing thing he’d done when he set the wards. The wards again flared into visible light, then that light collapsed into the powder, which burst into blue-white flames that shot into the air.

Of course, that was the exact moment a police car drove by on patrol. When did our local police force become so effective?

“Oh, sh—shoot,” Dean hissed, glancing at me as he corrected himself.

“We’re running around at midnight and doing magic,” I whispered back to him. “Do you think I’m going to tell Mom you used a bad word in front of me?”

“Hush!” Owen snapped.

I somehow doubted that with a wall of blue-white flame shooting to roof height, our whispering would be what alerted the cop to our presence, but I hushed, anyway. For all I knew, Sam might be able to veil the flame while it took too much extra power to muffle the sound.

The police car slowed to a crawl as it passed the bank, and I held my breath. I knew Sam was good at hiding things magically, but all that flame—along with the light it cast—had to be a challenge.

Suddenly the flame collapsed in on itself, leaving no trace. Even the powder it had grown from was gone.

The police car kept moving at its frustratingly slow pace, but it didn’t stop. When the car at last passed out of sight, there was a collective “whoosh” as all five of us let out our breath. Then Teddy turned to look at Owen. “That was so cool!” he said. “What did you do?”

“The energy that created the ward had to go somewhere, so it was absorbed into the powder and burned up,” Owen explained.

I stepped in before the two of them could start discussing the chemistry and physics of magic. “Are you sure it worked?” I asked.

Owen gestured at Dean. “Come over here.” Dean looked apprehensive, but he stepped forward. “Try to cross the threshold.” Dean visibly steeled himself, then stepped forward. He was able to get all the way to the bank’s door. “It worked,” Owen reported. “Now, we need to get all those stolen things returned. Based on the pattern from previous nights, I think the police car will most likely return in half an hour, so let’s hurry. I don’t want to test the limits of Sam’s veiling ability.”

Dean and Teddy ran back to Dean’s car to get the goods and returned loaded down. “This is the first batch,” Dean said.

“How much did you steal?” I asked.

“I may have gotten a little carried away,” Dean admitted.

“Which stores are those from?” Owen asked.

“I thought we’d start with the jewelry store, since that was the most valuable stuff.”

We made a funny procession as we headed across the square to the jewelry store. Sam flew ahead. I followed behind him. Teddy and Dean with their overflowing boxes were in the middle, and Owen brought up the rear. We looked like a gang of inept reverse burglars.