Page 17 of Wind Called

They droveto the former mining town in Marc’s pickup, even though Bellamy had protested that she could follow him so he wouldn’t have to go all the way back to Sedona to take her home. He didn’t care about that, though; in fact, he thought if he timed this right, they might be able to eat dinner there, someplace where they could sit and watch the sunset over the red rocks.

It sounded very romantic, even as he had to admit to himself that there hadn’t been much romance in his and Bellamy’s interactions.

Although he sure found himself wishing there was.

On that hot Sunday afternoon, Jerome was positively jumping, and they had to circle around and drive down to one of the lower parking lots before they could find a place to leave his truck. However, he had to admit it was a little cooler here than it had been in Sedona or Cottonwood — and much more comfortable than it would have been in his hometown of Tucson — so he didn’t mind the slog back up the hill to get to McAllister Mercantile.

It was a big storefront located at nearly the end of Main Street before the road looped back on itself and headed up toward Mingus Mountain. Although he’d driven past it multiple times — and had a vague recollection of visiting the store when he was a kid — he knew it had been a long time since he’d gone inside. From what he could tell, it was a touristy sort of place, with jewelry made by local artisans in a glass case in the center of the store, and tables with stacks of Jerome-themed T-shirts and sweatshirts and other Arizona-centric memorabilia.

A pretty woman around Bellamy’s age was working behind that counter and was in the middle of showing a pair of earrings to an older couple. At the far end of the store, a brown-haired guy who looked like he was maybe around twenty-five was talking to some more tourists.

“That’s Seth,” Bellamy said in an undertone. “And Devynn’s working the counter. I think we’ll need to wait for the patrons to clear out before we can talk to either of them.”

Judging by the ebb and flow of visitors in the shop, Marc had a feeling they might be waiting a while before they got a private moment. However, since he knew that discussing witch clan business wasn’t something they could do while the store had a full house, he told himself he needed to be patient.

Besides, the longer all this dragged on, the better the chance they’d get back to Sedona right in time for dinner, in which case he thought asking Bellamy if she wanted to grab something to eat with him would feel a lot more natural.

Devynn nodded at Bellamy, as if acknowledging her presence. Bellamy inclined her red head in return, signaling that she was willing to wait until Devynn had a free moment to talk.

That moment didn’t come until at least ten minutes had passed, but then the tourists miraculously cleared out, and Devynn emerged from behind the counter, even as Seth walked over to join her.

“What’s up?” she asked Bellamy, her gaze moving to Marc, frankly curious.

“Hi, Devynn, Seth,” Bellamy said. “This is Marc Trujillo. He’s visiting from Tucson — he’s Tricia’s grandson.”

At once, Seth extended a hand. “Nice to meet you, Marc. What brings you to Jerome?”

Marc sent a sideways glance at Bellamy, and she gave a subtle nod, as if to signal that it was okay to discuss things openly with the couple.

“Some dreams I couldn’t figure out,” he said. “That’s my talent — I’m a seer.”

Devynn’s arched brows lifted slightly, and Seth looked a little taken aback. Since Marc was used to getting that reaction from other witch-folk when he revealed his gift, he wouldn’t allow those responses to put him off his stride.

“We think it has something to do with the amulet,” Bellamy put in, and at once, Seth and Devynn exchanged a glance.

“You know about that?” Devynn asked, and Marc nodded.

“My grandmother told me about it,” he said. “My dreams have had a sense of danger, of foreboding, about them, and I can’t help thinking that it might be because someone is going to try to steal the amulet.”

At once, Devynn’s blue-gray eyes narrowed. Although Bellamy had said her friend was a Wilcox, Marc couldn’t help thinking she didn’t look much like one of them, with those light-colored eyes and that mid-brown hair.

Well, her appearance wasn’t anything he needed to worry about.

“It’s totally protected,” she said. “It’s in a safe with a biometric lock that only Seth and I — well, and Angela and Connor — can open. And it’s also got all kinds of wards placed on it.”

“Yes,” Marc replied, doing his best to sound patient, “Bellamy told me all that. But still, I don’t think I’d be having these dreams if something wasn’t wrong.”

“We were thinking that maybe someone from the clan of the guy you took it from might have finally figured out where it went and is trying to get it back,” Bellamy offered, and again, Seth and Devynn shared another weighty glance.

“That doesn’t seem very likely,” Seth said. “I got the impression that Lawrence Pratt never said anything to his clan about the amulet, or they would have done what they could to prevent him from using it publicly.”

“But you don’t know that for sure,” Bellamy responded.

His shoulders lifted, and he looked over at Devynn, as if encouraging her to step in.

“No, of course we don’t,” she said, a frown again pulling at her brows. “All we heard is that he left the troupe he was traveling with and headed back to Duluth.”

“Minnesota, right?” Bellamy asked, and Devynn nodded.

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