Page 28 of Wind Called

Or maybe someone in one of the properties bordering hers was having a blow-out party.

But what she heard didn’t sound like music or people laughing and talking. No, it was a sort of odd whisper, something that felt as if it was at the very edge of her hearing, a subvocalization that seemed to slide away into nothing the more she tried to focus on it.

Clearly, she was going crazy.

But even as that half-humorous thought slipped through her mind, Bellamy knew she wasn’t nuts. She’d heard something out there, even if she had no idea what it could have been.

Frowning, she went into the house and locked the bifold glass door behind her. Once that was done, she headed over to the panel for the alarm system and turned it on. Maybe it wouldn’t do much to protect her from the strange whispering she’d heard on the wind, but she still felt better after she’d put even that small security measure in place.

No doubt Connor and Angela had done the same thing in their big house up on the hill in Jerome, although she guessed they would also employ subtler ways to make sure their home was protected against whoever had tried to steal the amulet. If that person made a second attempt, Bellamy doubted they’d even be able to set foot on the front walk before theprimaandprimusknew someone had tried to invade their sanctuary once again.

She wanted to pick up her phone and text Marc, and let him know about those strange whispery voices she thought she’d heard outside, but she told herself she would see him tomorrow anyway. Besides, how much could he even do, other than offer a comforting presence to reassure her she wasn’t as alone as she felt right now?

Not a whole hell of a lot, probably. No, it would be much better to go to bed and lie there and think of how it had felt to have his arms around her, and how wonderful it had been to have his mouth pressed against hers.

Besides, she couldn’t help wondering if he would dream again tonight, a true dream that might help guide them to the person who’d broken into Angela and Connor’s house. If Marc was already in bed, Bellamy knew she would feel guilty about waking him up.

Barring that, if he also reported odd, whispery voices in his dreams, then she’d know for sure she hadn’t been imagining the whole thing.

That seemed to settle the matter. She went down the hallway to the master suite, resolved to get a good night’s sleep no matter what.

However, that didn’t stop her from turning on all the lights as she went.

Marc knew his sleep had been restless, although once he awoke, he couldn’t say exactly why. He didn’t remember any of his dreams, which he hoped was a good thing.

If danger still lurked out there, his gift should have tried to warn him about it.

He hoped.

But even though he didn’t feel quite as ready to face the day as he would have liked, that didn’t stop him from showering early and getting dressed, then packing up his things. The Airbnb he’d rented the night before was empty, and the host had told him he could check in early for a small fee.

He’d paid it gladly, knowing it would be much better to be settled in Sedona before he went to pick up Bellamy for brunch. That was why — after running across the street to the Red Rooster Café to grab a cup of coffee — he was checked out of the hotel and leaving Cottonwood just a little after nine-thirty, which he figured should give him plenty of time.

The nav in his truck guided him right to the address of his new digs, which were located in a quiet neighborhood that backed up to the red rocks and some hiking trails. As he unpacked his clothes and put his toiletries away in the master bath, he wondered if Bellamy was into hiking at all. It sure looked as though there would be plenty of places to explore around here.

She didn’t strike him as the overly pampered type, so maybe he’d broach the subject at brunch. Yes, she’d be back at work after today, but she’d made it sound as if she generally didn’t start her shift until at least noon, which meant they’d still have time to hit the trails early in the morning before the sun got too hot.

Or maybe he shouldn’t get his hopes up. At home in Tucson, he’d gone hiking a lot, also in the early morning before the heat got too brutal. He loved wandering back to the Tanque Verde falls or driving up to Mount Lemmon to get away from the hot weather to a place where he could happily wander in ponderosa pine forests that felt as if they were very far away from the desert city.

Whether Bellamy shared that love?

He supposed he’d find out soon enough.

It was less than a mile from his Airbnb to the ranch where Bellamy was staying; he had to stop at the gate and use the intercom to get her to buzz him in, but soon enough he was rolling down the gravel lane that led to the house, obscurely comforted by all the security measures in place to protect the property. Sure, he supposed someone could jump the split-rail fence that surrounded all five acres, but he’d noticed cameras placed at strategic intervals along the perimeter and guessed that anyone who did such a thing would get captured on the security footage.

Unless, of course, they were a witch or warlock with the power of invisibility, in which case they’d be a lot more difficult to track.

Maybe that wasn’t so implausible a scenario. After all, someone had broken into Angela and Connor’s house in broad daylight, and it didn’t seem as if any of the neighbors had noticed anything strange. His grandmother lived two doors down from theprimaandprimus,and she hadn’t mentioned seeing any intruders or any people who looked out of place on the quiet street.

Or possibly the would-be thief had the power of teleportation. It was a fairly rare gift, nothing that anyone in the de la Paz clan currently had in their arsenal, but that didn’t mean the person who’d tried to steal the amulet might not possess that talent. After all, it would be a pretty useful type of power to have if you were a magical thief with sticky fingers.

His thoughts chased themselves around and around, and he did his best to tell his brain to shut up as he got out of his truck and walked over to the front entrance. Almost as soon as he rang the doorbell, Bellamy opened the door and smiled at him. Today she wore a pretty embroidered blouse and jeans and sandals that showed off toes glimmering with metallic pink polish.

“Right on time,” she said, and he grinned back at her.

“Well, my Airbnb is pretty close, so I would’ve had to work hard to be late.”

She stepped out of the way and he came inside, feeling cold air swirl around him. The day was sunny and bright, with absolutely no sign of the thunderstorm that had passed through the night before, and he could tell it was going to be another scorcher.

---