Page 57 of Wind Called

“But they did,” Bellamy said, doing what she could to sound level and matter-of-fact, even though she knew deep down that she was worried about the way the would-be thief had been able to succeed at such an incursion. “And Zoe de la Paz’s house, too, which means we’re not dealing with some sort of one-off situation here. It’s kind of scary.”

That was one word for it. However, even though Bellamy had found herself sort of creeped out here and there by what was going on, she was much more interested in unknotting the various mysteries she and Marc had encountered than letting herself get sucked into emotional reactions.

Except for the reaction she’d had to him, of course. She wasn’t about to step away from those emotions.

“But I also think they’re on top of it,” she continued briskly. “No one was expecting that kind of incursion. Now, though, we’ve all been tipped off and know to keep our guard up. It’s going to be okay.”

Bree didn’t respond for a moment, but then her mouth curved into a half-smile. “Especially if sleeping here for a night or two kicks my gifts into high gear. It would be nice to have something that wasn’t so…wimpy.”

It had been tough for her cousin to realize that her powers weren’t terribly strong despite having a father who was some sort of otherworldly being and who possessed magic that was stronger than that of anyone else in the clan except for Connor and Angela. Bree had soldiered along pretty well, but still, she continued to look at herself as a disappointment even if no one else thought of her that way.

Her brother Shane, who was almost two years older, had inherited a gift that Marc’s McAllister uncle also possessed, being an absolute whiz in the kitchen who could whip up just about anything and have it be Cordon Bleu level of quality. No, that sort of talent wasn’t going to change the world or anything, but it was very strong, powerful enough that Shane was already working as the head chef at The Asylum, the fancy restaurant in the Grand Hotel at the top of the hill in Jerome.

Because there wasn’t much point in saying that Bree’s grab bag of talents was still useful even if individually they weren’t all that powerful, Bellamy decided to let it go.

“Well, we should go out to the living room and talk about our plan of attack,” she said.

“‘Attack’?” Bree echoed. “I thought this was all about me just staying here and seeing if the vortex energy does anything to me.”

“It is,” Bellamy replied. “But we also need to know how best to test your gifts tomorrow to see if there’s been any changes. When it happened to me, I didn’t have any idea what was going on. Now I know it was the vortex, making it so I can’t just control the winds, but also hear the messages they have for me.”

“That seems like a pretty cool enhancement,” Bree said. “So I’ll cross my fingers that I get something similar.”

Bellamy didn’t know about “cool” — hearing voices was the sort of thing that could get you shipped off to the funny farm — but she let it go. Those whispers on the wind had been helpful in their own way, had provided information that she otherwise would have never been able to obtain. Just because they were disconcerting didn’t mean she could ignore them.

They went back out to the living room, where Marc was sitting on the couch. He was watching the game again, but with the sound muted, so it wasn’t too intrusive.

“All settled?” he asked, and Bree smiled.

“I am. This is an incredible house, so I don’t think I’m going to mind hanging out here for a bit.”

Hopefully, just for one night. Bellamy knew she couldn’t control that outcome, though, so instead they chatted a bit about Bree’s powers — they all agreed that testing her skill with growing things was probably the safest, and thought she could work with it tomorrow by making one of the cacti planted out in front of the house bloom again. That time had already come and gone, but if she could get that barrel cactus to burst forth with bright yellow flowers when it was completely out of season, then it would prove that even a single night’s exposure to the inflow vortex here had made a difference. And since they went outside just to make sure she couldn’t perform that feat right now — she concentrated with all her might on the cactus, but nothing happened — it seemed pretty clear that any changes in her powers would be due to the vortex located here and nothing else.

After that, they pulled up Pisa Lisa’s menu online and decided on dinner, going for a large pepperoni pizza and a side salad and some of the restaurant’s famous tiramisu for dessert. They all seemed pretty relaxed with each other, and Bellamy found some of her worries receding.

This was all going to work out just fine.

16

It was a much morerelaxed evening than Marc had been expecting. Bree was friendly and low-key, and she didn’t seem to have any trouble accepting his status as Bellamy’s new boyfriend.

True, the two of them hadn’t said anything so definitive about their relationship, but he somehow knew that was where they stood…even though they hadn’t come right out and announced that they now considered themselves boyfriend and girlfriend.

He also liked listening to the banter between the two women as they talked about the times they’d shared growing up in Jerome, which he had to admit sounded kind of magical…no pun intended. Although witches and warlocks didn’t tend to be helicopter parents in general, thanks to the way they knew a grown-up in the clan was almost always around and ready to step in if someone needed a ride home or a Band-aid or something, it sure seemed to him as if the adults in Bellamy’s hometown were even more relaxed. Apparently, no one appeared to have a problem with the clan’s children roaming around unsupervised — usually with some civilian kids from the neighborhood tagging along as well — whether they were hanging out in some of the abandoned mine shafts that still peppered the hill or finding secret little ravines to build forts or play hide-and-seek.

Thinking about it now, he thought that sounded like a great way to grow up…a great way to raise your children.

And his gaze had strayed to Bellamy, who clearly didn’t seem nearly as interested in watching the horror movie they’d chosen for that night’s viewing as she did in catching up on old times with Bree.

Fine by him, since he wasn’t into the movie and would rather have listened to the two women talk anyway.

They’d gone to their separate wings of the house and gotten ready for bed. Bellamy kissed him goodnight, and even that sweet brush of her lips against his was enough to make his body stir, to wish he could pull her against him and make love to her all over again.

Even with Bree way on the other side of the house, though, he didn’t feel quite comfortable doing that, so he’d made himself kiss Bellamy back and wish her a good night, and then closed his eyes and hoped sleep would come soon.

It was a sleep without any dreams, unfortunately, which seemed to be the signal that however powerful the vortex might be here, it wasn’t the kind that would have any influence on his powers.

“Anything?” Bellamy asked when she rolled over to face him the next morning, and he shook his head.

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