"Come on." Cassie grudgingly shook off the fuzzy feeling after a few minutes. She stood, smoothed out her pants and offered Drew her hand. "Didn't you say you needed to check on things at Carter's?"
Drew reached up to take her hand, climbing gracefully to his feet. "I should, plus it'll feel good to have something to think about other than my brother."
"Let me call Julia and let her know we're moving." She picked up her phone where it lay on the floor. "Do you want to call a cab?"
He cocked a bewildered eyebrow at her before it hit him. "Right, my car's at the club. I forgot about that." He ran his hand through his hair, doing his best to look contrite at the reminder of his overindulgence. "How do you feel about bikes?"
Cassie's eyes went wide just as Julia picked up. "Uh, Julia, hey. Have you found them yet?"
"No. Is everything all right?" She caught Cassie's weird tone and turned away from the stretch of road behind them. The formerly maroon sedan now brown with dust sat parked on the roadside. Quan, dressed entirely in black and walking on the balls of his feet, paced up and down the edge of the dried grass and newly greening cypress grove.
"Um yeah, fine." Cassie replied awkwardly. "We're going to head to the club, Drew has to check on things since Brandon's out." She continued before Julia could object. "We might as well have someone on the club since Pritchard's people could come and we don't want anyone to think anything unusual is going on."
Julia "hmm'd" and Cassie moved on quickly again. "How is Quan doing?"
There was a long pause while Julia nervously eyeballed Quan, suddenly gone still, his hands shifted and came together. Her skin twitched for only a nanosecond as his temporarily weak pull afforded him only a fraction of the power he wanted and needed to tie into his prey. "Quan's getting too far inland, he's having a hard time figuring something out. It's like..." Her voice trailed off as she watched her partner stop pacing.
In a rare display of emotion, he kicked a rock and balled his fists stalking back to the car.
"It's like what?" Cassie prompted. Julia was not often at a loss for words and her distraction had Cassie worried, she could hear it in her voice.
"The scent is splittin' and comin' together. With Quan... limited like he is...He can't rightly tell which trail he's followin' for sure. It's like Pritchard's switchin' colognes on him. He's him under it but he keeps throwin' smells on top to shake us. It doesn't make sense." She lowered her voice, "It ain't pretty." Her accent was getting thicker.
Julia was worried. She could see that Quan was in one of his moods. He didn't often get upset. When he did he was scary, like a gathering storm you saw coming and had no hope of outrunning.
"Cassie, I've been thinkin' about it and I want you to check out this church of Pritchard's. Go tonight after hours if you could. We don't need a full scale war on our hands." Irritation crept into her orders. Quan was waiting in the car and she didn't want to go in there with him emanating frustration like he was. It was going to be a long trip. "We're gonna be a little while longer and we should check out Pritchard's home base. I'm guessin' his ladies will have heard something from him by now."
"Will do." Cassie was watching for Drew who had disappeared down the hall. The sound of keys jingling reached her ears. "Be careful Julia."
"You too honey."
Cassie felt a warm bubble in her chest at her mentor's term of endearment.
She put the phone in her pocket as Drew came around the corner, a faded black leather jacket hugging his shoulders.
Drew's expression was guarded. "Have they found anything yet?"
"No, not yet." Cassie hadn't been sure he would want his brother found knowing what he did now about the risks he was facing but his disappointment was easily discerned. "Don't worry, Quan will find him." She offered.
Distracted, Drew fidgeted with the keys in his right hand. Movement caught her eye and Cassie glanced down to see Drew absentmindedly stroke a finger over the top of his ring. The change was dramatic. Almost instantly, the lines in his forehead disappeared and his frown relaxed into a vague smile. A vague smile she was beginning to form a theory about.
Cassie was fascinated at the speed of the process and by the fact that she doubted Drew even knew he did it. For now she kept her observation private. It made her curious how much of him was him and how much was his amulet. There was a possibility she wouldn't recognize him without it. It was also possible that he might not feel the same way he did now about her. Or she about him she realized with a pang. What if she had underestimated what it was about Drew that attracted her?
"A motorcycle, huh?" She changed the subject and forced a smile.
Grinning, Drew jiggled the keys. "Trust me?"
Not certain how either of them could really answer that question, Cassie grinned back. "Absolutely."
Growing up on the res Cassie had ridden dirt bikes with Todd and some of the other kids. It wasn't something she craved like a lot of kids did, but it was a way to fit in and that she did crave. She hadn't had much opportunity to drive one herself being one of the youngest and a girl, two huge marks against her according to the boys who owned said bikes. So what she'd learned rapidly was that your ride depended wholly on the abilities and kindness of the driver. If he wanted to scare you he would and crybabies weren't invited back. Todd had only scared her once and she'd pinched him so hard he'd been nothing but a gentleman thereafter.
Drew was a little bit of both. When they first got on he was careful, gauging her level of comfort. After he figured out she wasn't afraid, he added speed and sent the Ducati weaving through traffic. Cassie could feel his skill in the way he handled it and knew that they wouldn't get into any real trouble. She let him play, enjoying the liberation and temporary distraction of the ride.
All too soon the ride was over and Cassie felt the wind on her face dying as Drew pulled up to park in a lot along the far side of the building. He maneuvered it in behind a little silver coupe, its sleek curves illuminated by the light above.
"Know the owner?" Cassie pointed to the car he was blocking in.
He unzipped his jacket and hit the locks on the 370Z. "I spent a long time with nothing." Drew gave her an easy smile, one she didn't believe came from him but from the stone his finger brushed again in passing. Her eyes were catching it more often now that she was watching for it. It was like a drug and he couldn't stop himself from seeking it's euphoric glow.
Eye to eye with his ignorant dependence on the amulet, Cassie felt her heart sinking. The warmth she felt for Drew was based on a partial picture of who he was. For as long as he wore that stone, she wouldn't know him nor could she trust either of their feelings as being real. His earlier kindness was just as likely to have come from the stone as from him. The epiphany stung and she had to hurry to put a false smile in place as Drew turned back to her.
"Shall we?" He winked, offering her his arm.
Taking it, Cassie felt the edge of her disenchantment fade in the stone's glow, ignoring what her craving of euphoria said about her growing dependence.
Tavaris was on the scene, once again acting as gatekeeper. He was busily putting the list of specials in the silver holders to sit on each tabletop before the restaurant got fully underway. Cassie felt no small satisfaction when his eyes fell on her and he noticed her familiarity with his boss. Wanting to tweak him, Cassie leaned her head on Drew's bicep and watched the host's shining lips tighten. Cassie debated saying something in Spanish while she opened herself up to sense any magickal activity in house.
"Hey Tavaris, everything cool here?" Drew hid his grin at Cassie's move to needle the guy. He deserved it.
To his credit, the host was respectful. His disdain for his boss' companion didn't carry over to the man himself. Tavaris raised his voice to be heard over the din coming from across the way at the bar. "The reservations are down. It's going to be little slow on this side. It can't be helped."
The men exchanged a look. Cassie assumed there was some sort of expectation for respectable patronage the night after a double murder in your back alley. Bar attendance, on the other hand, was through the roof already. Letting out her breath slowly she gave a silent "all clear" on the magick front.
"It's wild over there already." Tavaris confirmed Cassie's guess that this was an unusual turnout for your typical Friday happy hour. "Jaime's been here since noon and she's had the cops out twice to kick people out of the alley and upstairs is already almost full. We're glad you're here." He sighed and looked up through glittery eyelashes.
Drew gave her arm a quick pat and laughed. "Let me do a walk through and see if we can get things a little more orderly."
The tendons in the arm Cassie held tightened as his fingers once again found the stone. She felt a renewal in the peace flowing through her. Before she too could lose herself to it, Cassie forced her hands free and put a few inches of separation between them.
"I'll wait in the bar down here where it's quieter." She looked up doe-eyed at him and blinked rapidly.
Snorting, he let his hands drop. "I won't be long." He assured her, already mounting the darkly carpeted stairs working with the glass and insulation to neutralize the thumping of the dance music above.
The bar wasn't just full, it was packed. Cassie couldn't see any free seats much less one where she wanted to be. Somewhere she could have a good view of the door and the hall. Hopeful she could manage to find someone willing to bump over for a party of one, she weaved her way up to the side of the bar nearest the front windows. Cassie was stuck behind the front line of people when the bartender flagged her.
It was Jaime from the night before. She waved Cassie up and put her head down to speak to the two men sitting on the red topped stools nearest her. With a few good-natured grumbles washed away with one of Jaime's girl-next-door smiles, two seats were suddenly free. She gestured for Cassie to take one.
"Saw you come in with the boss." She brought her head close so she wouldn't have to yell. "What's up with that?" She reared back to give Cassie a speculative look. So genuine was the woman's inquiry, Cassie couldn't feel offended by its intrusiveness.
"I don't know, I think he's a nice guy." Cassie shrugged and let her eyes skim the stairs where he'd disappeared.
Far from satisfied with the limited response but too busy to pursue it, Jaime frowned and held up a finger to someone calling out an order across the bar. "What can I get you?"
"A hot tea." Cassie smiled at Jaime's strange look. That was probably the only one of those she would sell tonight.
"I'll get one sent over from the kitchen." She went to the phone below the mirror, ordering Cassie's unusual request before moving on to manage the alcoholic needs of easily three dozen patrons and the steady back and forth traffic of the other serving staff managing appetizer and drink delivery to the outlying tables.
When a server at long last brought her tea, Cassie could tell right away from the lack of steam that it was tepid at best.
A finger inside the pot confirmed it was stone cold. She was staring at it, debating whether it was worth even pouring when she was struck with an idea.
Browsing the other occupants, Cassie could see that no one was paying any attention to her, she was essentially alone in the crowd. Casting her eyes back at her mug, she decided. As a precaution she filled her cup only halfway and put a hand over the rim.
Sending another look around to be sure she was still uninteresting to the masses, Cassie hung her other arm down by her side and opened her palm to the floorboards. Using the same amount of effort as she'd used in her previous attempts, Cassie felt the tingles race up her skin eagerly answering her call. In another breath, she sent it into the cup and steam began rising from the liquid inside. She pulled her hand away at once to prevent herself from sending too much in and blowing up the cup. Mesmerized, she sat, watching the steam, pride surging in her breast.
The success of the basic spell was cathartic. The boost it gave her eclipsed the one she'd gotten from last night's exercises with Quan. Tonight was better because she was alone and had chosen to call her power, not forced it with fear. She'd really worked it out! Cassie was no longer a witch in name only, she was really and truly a witch. It was hard to keep from jumping up and dancing right there on the bar but she refrained to maintain her low profile.
Elated, Cassie considered how difficult it would be able to put her years of training into practical use or if she could even start doing it by herself. Here and now.
Scanning her surroundings Cassie took in the activities and conversations of the regulars oblivious to her idea of turning the bar into her classroom. Cassie searched for another opportunity to try out another minor bit of magick, one that no one would notice. Her gaze landed on the silver shaker, frost from the last drink still hazing its metal sides. It was the same spell she'd just conducted except on a larger scale, and with the addition of distance it presented a challenge for control. Cassie glanced sideways out of the corners of her eyes and began to pull.
She blissfully lost herself in her small victories and successfully got rid of every trace of ice above the bar. Jaime was running like crazy, selling twice the booze of an hour ago because everyone drank their rapidly warming beverages faster. To her great amusement, Cassie had also unwittingly convinced Tavaris they had an electrical problem. She'd flickered and shut off every light in her general vicinity in alternating patterns, a light show for her own personal pleasure. Her fellow customers found the whole thing amusing, shouting when the light above each of their seats would go off. More than one group had turned it into a drinking game.
Bored with the lights, Cassie debated whether she could get away with tying the shoelaces of the guy next to her. His pick up lines were terrible and the woman he was hitting on was actually giving him the green light, which Cassie was sure was due more to the fourth rum and coke she'd ordered than the man's underwhelming prowess. She decided to go for it.
As her downturned hand began pulling energy, feeling that newly familiar tingling dance along her skin Cassie caught sight of a movement on the stairs beyond Mr. Swinging Single. In a heartbeat, her joy turned to remorse. Drew was coming her way, his face ashen and clearly in pain. She'd forgotten about his sensitivity in her exuberance, the buildup from her festivities must have been agonizing for him.
A quick push down, making sure to clear the residual from both elements from her system, and Cassie released the energy back into the ground. Energy not "put back" could be damaging and she'd gotten lucky last night when her broken circle had been dissipated among so many. She wouldn't risk that again. Cassie had to remember she was using potent magick even if it was on minor spells.
The Earth element tied to her nature gained its energy from the creatures, living and dead, existing in it and the trees tied into the network of life giving roots extending the world over. It was one of the richest sources of power giving Earth witches a slight advantage over their other elemental cousins. Her second element, Water, was all around her. Water was under her feet, in the air and in heavy concentrations on the coasts. Water witches on islands and even in the tropics were exceptionally powerful because of the heavy density of their element in such close proximity. Cassie, with the good fortune of having both, would surely never be far from a power source.
Cassie had gone on her bender neglecting the comfort of those around her, much to her mortification. It was a rookie mistake and she was lucky none of the regulars had picked up on it, a fact owed directly to the high volume of alcohol sales, not Cassie's discretion.
The direct line of his approach told Cassie Drew knew exactly where his headache was coming from. Sitting up straight and spinning to face him, she didn't have to fake the sincerity of her apology when he got close enough to hear it.
Drew stalked right up, stopping only when he had interposed himself between her legs, sending a rush of blood up the side of her neck. The move surprised her, putting him intimately close before she could think to object. He placed his cheek directly beside hers and ground out between clenched teeth.
"What the hell are you doing down here? I can hardly see straight." His voice was strained and he was holding the edge of the bar so tight his knuckles were white. Violence or vomit, one or both were not far for him at this point.
The thought of pending violence from him brought Cassie up short. "Drew, are you mad right now?"
He turned his head to stare at her, incredulous. "Yes, Cassie. I am mad right now. At you for making my head hurt." He spelled it out slow and sarcastic, his teeth flashing as he bared them.