Page 58 of Wind Called

“Nope. So it looks like I’m headed up to Sky Ranch tonight to see if I have any better luck there.”

She didn’t look too thrilled by that prospect, probably because she knew she’d have to stay behind here if it turned out that her cousin’s powers hadn’t suffered a sea change after one night at the ranch house. But she only nodded, saying, “Well, we were prepared for that possibly happening. So let’s get some coffee going and see if Bree had any better luck.”

The other woman wasn’t anywhere in evidence when they emerged from the main suite and headed into the kitchen to start brewing that morning’s pot of coffee. Maybe Bree tended to sleep late; he could see why she might do that if she spent a lot of her evenings performing at the local resorts and bars. Wine tasting rooms didn’t stay open nearly so late, but it was possible she double-booked on those days, playing at a winery in the afternoon and then a hotel bar in the evening.

After he and Bellamy had poured themselves some coffee and were discussing whether the remaining breakfast supplies would be enough to feed the three of them, though, Bree finally emerged from her room, bright blonde hair tousled.

“I need to pump some of that coffee right into my veins,” she announced, and Bellamy grinned.

“Rough night?”

“Not exactly,” Bree replied. “I mean, I think I slept well enough. But something about this place felt…off…I guess. Or maybe that was just my imagination filling me full of stuff about vortexes.”

Marc glanced over at Bellamy, whose expression had immediately turned thoughtful. “Maybe it was just that…or maybe not. But let me get you some coffee.”

She went to the cupboard and got out a mug, then filled it. No offer of milk or sugar or anything like that; no, she handed the mug directly to her cousin, as if she already knew that Bree drank it black.

A few breaths on the liquid in a cursory attempt at cooling it down, and then Bree helped herself to a few swallows. “Much better,” she said. “Now I feel like I can think.” She paused there, and glanced down at her baggy tank top and yoga pants. Had she slept in the ensemble, or had she just figured it was the bare minimum she needed to put on before she let herself be seen in semi-public?

“Feel any different now?” Bellamy asked. Marc could tell she was trying not to sound too hopeful.

A shrug, and Bree sipped some more coffee. “Well, I’m more awake, that’s for sure. But it’s not as if it feels like my magic is trying to burst out of my body or anything.”

“That’s all right,” Bellamy replied at once. “I honestly didn’t feel any different, either. It was only when I first heard the voices that I realized something weird was going on.”

“Then I suppose we should just go ahead with our morning and see what’s up with that cactus after we’re all showered and dressed,” Marc said. “Bree, are eggs and toast okay for breakfast? We kind of ate all the bacon yesterday.”

“Sourdough?” she asked hopefully, and Bellamy smiled.

“Is there any other kind of toast?”

They all kind of grinned at that comment, and then — even though Bree offered to help with breakfast prep, an offer Bellamy quickly declined, saying her cousin was their guest — Marc and Bellamy got their quickie breakfast together. Sure, she did the bulk of the work, since she was the one making the scrambled eggs, but he kept an eye on the bread, pulling it out of the toaster right when it was peak golden-brown and before it got too dark.

Afterward, they sat at the table in the kitchen nook and ate their meal while they watched a flock of Gambrel’s quail assemble in the courtyard, drinking their fill from the fountain before they headed off to search for food. He wondered why Bellamy hadn’t put anything out in the courtyard for them to eat, then guessed she was probably trying to avoid making a mess, since this wasn’t her house.

No doubt she was already pushing things by having both him and her cousin Bree stay here, even if the arrangement was strictly temporary.

Once they were done with breakfast, they put their plates in the dishwasher and headed off to their respective bathrooms. This time, he and Bellamy showered together, with her telling him that she didn’t need to wash her hair today, and besides, this would allow them to get ready faster.

True enough, but even though they goofed around a little, teasing each other without progressing into full-on foreplay, they both understood they needed to keep the morning moving so they could see if the inflow vortex at the ranch had had any effect on her cousin.

That was why they all assembled at the front of the house a little before ten, the bright desert sun already hot, beating down on Bree’s damp hair. Clearly, she’d thought she needed to wash it today, although she’d still gotten ready fairly quickly.

The cactus planted here all looked happy and healthy, although any flowers they might have sported would have come and gone in May or June. Now that they were inching toward mid-August, those flowers wouldn’t return until late next spring.

Well, unless you had a green witch with you…or at least, someone who could call on green witch powers when she needed to.

However, Bree was looking doubtful, hands on her hips as she stared down at the innocuous cactus, a plump thing about eighteen inches high.

“I’m not so sure about this,” she said. “Like I said earlier, I don’t feel any different.”

“And, like I told you, neither did I,” Bellamy returned. It seemed pretty clear she wasn’t about to let this go.

How could she, really? If it turned out the vortexes really could be instrumental in enhancing witchy powers, they might become their secret weapon when it came to dealing with the Collector.

“Okay,” Bree said, and pulled in a breath. “So…cactus flowers.”

She held out a hand, in almost the same pose used by the Jedi in the Star Wars movies when they were invoking their powers.

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