Casually Cursed (5 page)

OUTSIDE OF TEXAS,
I have been to New Orleans, Nashville, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The airplane that took Zach and me to Mexico was small and packed with people. He’s tall, and his knees hit the seat in front of him the whole way. And when the people in front of us leaned back, they were almost in our laps. Being so smashed together, I knew how the marshmallows in a s’more must feel. So I wasn’t looking forward to a whole workday’s worth of time on a plane. Being trapped on a bus in the sky for more than nine hours would be nerve-racking.

But when I saw the airplane to take us from Dallas to London, England, my mouth fell open. It was Texas-size! The seats in first class were like giant recliners. They were practically twin beds.

I was astounded and took a quick walk to the back of the cabin to have a look at the coach seats. “There’s a lot more room even in the regular seats. I don’t think your knees would’ve hit the seat in front of you.”

“Hmmm,” Bryn said, handing the flight attendant a bag that got hung in a closet, just like we were at a house.

“Would you like a drink?” she asked.

“I’ll have whiskey on the rocks. Tamara, what do you want to drink?”

“Me? I’m good. I have that giant bottle of water, remember? And the whole box of pralines, two magazines, and the little bag of Hershey’s miniatures. I’m so glad the magazine store had miniatures, since my bags of kisses are in the big suitcase. I put them there so I wouldn’t start eating them on the flight. I’ve gotta ration. Don’t wanna run out of Hershey’s all the way across the ocean!”

“They may have Hershey’s in Ireland. I can’t recall. They certainly have Cadbury, which is just as good,” Bryn said.

“Yeah, Cadbury is good. Really smooth. But there might not be any chocolate at all underhill,” I whispered, shuddering at the thought. I should’ve asked Kismet about that.

“Come sit down, sweetheart.”

I sank into my seat with wide eyes. It was as comfortable as the couches at home. “How much did it cost to sit up here?” I whispered.

“Food and drinks are complimentary. So you should think of it as being at a buffet. We’ve already paid. Have whatever you want.”

I bit my lip and looked at my giant diamond ring. I wondered if I would get used to living rich, because it seemed like Bryn did not believe in living any other way.

“Would you like something to drink other than your bottled water?” he asked.

“I already told her I didn’t. And she’s trying to help people get in their seats. Let’s not bother her.”

Bryn kissed me on the forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. And I would’ve loved you the same if we’d been sitting in coach. Maybe more.”

He laughed. “Why more?”

I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ears. “Because you’d be more like a regular person I could relate to.”

His grin widened. “You can’t relate to me, huh? We don’t have anything in common?”

“Nope.”

“Other than being part witch and part fae?” he whispered.

“Right, other than that.”

“That hardly counts, it being such a common thing. There are what . . . maybe a couple dozen of us in the world?”

I smirked. “You don’t know that it’s rare. Maybe there are whole mixed-race tribes of merrows living underwater. Maybe it’s where all the ‘mermaids who get legs on land’ stories come from. Just because we don’t know them personally . . . Look at that ghost from Victorian times that we met. She was part witch and part fae. For all we know there could be hundreds, maybe thousands. We should start a club.”

“Right,” he said, laughing. “With a Web site. Let’s make it easy for WAM. We’ll include a pdf of our members, so the association can print the names for a hit list with one click.”

I frowned. “The fae want to claim anyone with faery blood. The witches want to eliminate anyone with faery blood. Even though I’m scared of going into the Never, I think the faeries may be nicer than a lot of witches I’ve met.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.”

“You know your wizard magic won’t work underhill. Aunt Mel said she and Momma couldn’t do a single spell. Are you really sure you want to go in there?”

“The only thing I’m sure of is that I don’t want you going anywhere without me. For life and longer, remember?”

“You’re the craziest sane person I know, to tie yourself to a woman who is on the most-wanted list of so many scary supernatural creatures. You should’ve gotten engaged to a nice lady lawyer with no magic at all. If you’d been smart that’s what you would’ve done.”

“I got the woman I wanted. If we live fifty more years or fifty more hours,” he said, repeating part of what he’d said when he’d proposed.

“Crazy,” I murmured, but gave him a kiss, feeling the magic curl into me, warm and silky like melted caramel. “I hope it’s fifty more years. But don’t say I didn’t warn you if it’s fifty more hours.”

“Kiss me again, and I won’t care if it’s fifty more seconds.”

Yep. Crazy.

*   *   *

FOR PART OF
the flight we slept, but when we were awake Bryn read secret WAM files sent by his friend Andre. The electronic documents contained the most up-to-date intelligence on the Seelie fae. Unfortunately there was no information about getting into the Never or getting out of it. Several operatives had breached the gates, but they were either found dazed and confused in the woods, unable to give any information about what had happened, or they were never seen or heard from again. Not encouraging.

“You should never let it slip to anyone that your aunt Melanie has been underhill and returned with her memory intact.”

“You’re right. WAM would send someone from the Conclave to get her, so they could question her,” I said grimly. The World Association of Magic was the organization of witches and wizards worldwide. Its leaders had an agency that reported to them called the Conclave, which was made up of killers and spies. It was hard to tell who was the most dangerous . . . the operatives sent by WAM or the leaders who sent them.

I rubbed my tired eyes. I didn’t know why I’d bothered to buy
Saveur
and
Fine Cooking
magazines. I hadn’t really looked at them. I’d spent most of the time whispering back and forth with Bryn about the trip, and regretting that the first time I’d see his home country was just to pass through on the way to the Never.

“I wish we had time to see where you grew up,” I said.

“Next time,” Bryn promised.

“Maybe on our honeymoon.”

He smiled. “Ireland would be great for our honeymoon, but then, I’d be happy just about anywhere celebrating that.”

I smiled. “Sweet-talking candylegger.”

He laughed. Candylegger was what Edie called him. It was slang from the 1920s and supposed to be an insult, but I’d turned it into a pet name.

*   *   *

HEATHROW AIRPORT IN
London, England, is four-point-six square miles, and I think we walked at least half of that. I was so tired I used a pillar to hold me up while we waited for our luggage.

I noticed Bryn go still and then look around sharply. I felt his magic gather. Suddenly alert, I felt my spine stiffen, and my gaze darted side to side.

“What is it?”

“I sense magic from at least three different practitioners. It’s all around us.”

I bit my lip. “I wish Merc were here,” I said.

Mercutio is my ocelot companion and pretty much my best friend. I’d had to leave him in Duvall, because Merc’s a jungle cat and there are no jungles in the United Kingdom, and it was going to be really cold. Also, I didn’t trust the faeries. What if they locked us up? Mercutio roams all night. He has to be free to go wherever he wants or he’s not happy.

“I wish I had a gun,” I whispered. Being unarmed made me feel vulnerable. For weeks I’d kept a gun in a kitchen drawer with other occasionally used utensils. “Wait, look. It’s okay—there’s Andre!”

Bryn’s friend Andre is as cute as a cupcake. He’s chubby and has thinning light brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He looks like a baker for Pillsbury, but really he’s a wizard and physicist.

“I didn’t tell Andre to meet us,” Bryn said.

My smile drooped a little. “Well, he probably wanted to surprise us.”

“I never told him what time we were arriving. I planned for us to go straight to Dublin after collecting a pair of reference books on the fae from a London bookshop.”

Andre hurried to us. “My friend,” he said, embracing Bryn. “My dear,” he said, kissing and hugging me.

“What’s going on?” Bryn asked.

Andre is Swiss, but he speaks German as his first language, and he lapsed into it, speaking rapidly.

Bryn glanced around and then nodded. I gave him a questioning look.

“We have to go to WAM headquarters.”

I tensed. “Why?”

“Andre wasn’t told,” Bryn said.

We’d gotten into trouble with WAM pretty often. They’d sent operatives to train me for a magical challenge, and those guys had ended up dead. But they’d been bad guys. Then the Association had sent more representatives, including the president and his superspy bodyguard. Three out of the four people they’d sent on that trip—including the superspy, who turned out to be my great-aunt—had wound up getting killed.

A lot of what had happened had been their own doing, meaning sometimes they’d killed one another. Assassin-spies, go figure! But Bryn and I had played a role in the demise of every WAM entourage that came to Duvall. We’d been acting in self-defense and in the defense of others, but even though we’d given proof of criminal conspiracies and wrongdoing, I didn’t think the Association was particularly pleased with us. Their operatives had been trying to secure Duvall and its magical tor for WAM; Bryn and I had prevented it. We just kept rebelling against everything the powers that be wanted us to do.

“How does the Association know we’re in London?” I asked, glancing around. I still hadn’t seen anyone who looked like a magical assassin. And Andre certainly wouldn’t have told his bosses about our plans.

“I don’t know,” Bryn said; then he leaned close. His voice in my ear was low. “Remember which things to keep secret.”

“I’ll remember!” I whispered fiercely. “Listen,” I said, grabbing his arm. “We’re in the airport. They won’t try to take us from here by force. There are too many people and cameras. We can just get on our plane to Ireland.”

“Getting to Ireland wouldn’t do us any good.”

“Why not?”

“Because Andre’s given us the message. If we don’t comply, they’ll have operatives waiting to take us by force in Ireland the minute we step out of the airport in Dublin.”

I frowned. “That’s not fair.”

“I know. Take a minute. Remember the practice interviews we did to prepare for the interrogations last time? Go through those in your mind.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. I sat on top of my suitcase and closed my eyes to concentrate. I ran through the practice question-and-answer sessions I’d had with Bryn until I heard him say, “Christ. You’ve got to be kidding.”

My lids popped up, and then my mouth fell open.

Dressed in a fur-cuffed coat in dusty rose and a short burgundy beaded dress and matching booties, Edie strode toward us. Next to her, on a leash that was attached to a jeweled collar, came Mercutio. And bringing up the rear in a cowboy hat, jeans, a dark sweater, and boots was my buff ex-husband, Zach. He had a coat under his arm and a duffel in his hand. People turned to stare at the trio. It’s not every day that you see an heiress in flapper wear with an ocelot and a cowboy in tow. In fact, I’m pretty sure no one had seen that combination before. Ever.

Mercutio darted forward and, rather than being pulled by the leash, Edie let it go. The leash slapped the ground and slithered behind him.

I put my arms out and hugged him when he got to me.

“Thank goodness you’re here, Merc! We’ve just landed, and we’re already in trouble!”

“Hello, biscuit,” Edie said to me.

“Edie, how—”

“First of all,” she said, leaning forward to whisper, “let’s remember that we are in the land of tea and treachery. My name is Evangeline Rhodes. My friends call me Evie, which is short for Evangeline, of course.”

“Oh. Right. That’s good thinking.
Evie.
I’ll try to remember that.”

“Luckily Edie and Evie are very close. If you slip, it may go unnoticed.”

Zach nodded briefly at Bryn and then joined Edie and me.

“But I don’t understand how you got Mercutio here.”

“It’s called money,” Edie said.

“Edie,” I hissed.

Evie
, I corrected in my mind.
Think of her as Evie.

“I chartered a plane, paid some fees, and arranged for some powerful people to smooth the way. One exotic animal arriving in London for an ad campaign and commercial shoot with his owner,” she said, touching her chest. “And his trainer,” she said, nodding at Zach.

My eyes widened.

“Lyons could’ve managed it if he’d bothered to try. Remember that, darling,” she said. “Who best takes care of you? Fiancé or family?”

“Hello,” Bryn said, and bent to stroke Merc’s fur. “I’m not even going to ask.”

Edie looked around. “There’s a lot of magic here,” she observed.

“Yes,” Bryn said. “It belongs to the Conclave, and it’s here for us.”

“Oh,” she said, frowning.

Andre stepped forward and extended a hand. “The beautiful Ms. Rhodes, I believe.”

“The very one,” Edie said, turning to Andre. “And men who call me beautiful may also call me Evie.”

Andre blushed. “Evie, I’m Andre Knobel. I’m very pleased to meet you. I wish the circumstances were better.” His brow crinkled. “I’m afraid the Association sent me to greet you and to extend an invitation for you to come to headquarters.”

“Just when I thought I’d made a friend,” Edie said.

“Do you still think it was a good idea to blow into town on a pile of cash and flash?” Bryn asked.

“You tried to sneak through, and that didn’t work. So why not flash and cash? If we are going down, at least we can do it in style.”

For the love of Hershey!

I took a deep breath and stood up straight, giving each of them a stern look.