Gypsy Witch (2 page)

“Let’s do it to it.” Gina stood straight and tall in the center of the star, facing the doorway.

She chanted, “Spirit of Change! Hear my plea!” She sprinkled frog’s water over the first point of the circle, then over the feet of the knight on the right side of the doorway.

“Spirit of Motion! Heed me now!” She tossed chameleon scales on the second point of the circle and on the same knight.

“Spirit of Heat! Infuse this stone!” She took the charred bits out of the zip-lock and scattered them.

“Spirit of Light! Guide my purpose!” The butterfly wings.

“Spirit of Life! Come to me, now!” The spotted eggs, which had cost a dollar fifty apiece at the gourmet specialty store, broken into the last point of the star and onto the knight’s feet.

They waited but nothing happened.

Finally Tom said, “Hey, what if you did something wrong?”

Gina hunted through her notes. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “I copied everything out right and I did everything just as it said.”

“Maybe it isn't working because you only put the stuff on one knight.” But he was thinking,
Maybe it isn’t working because it’s bull turds.

“Nuh-uh. The Book of Shadows was real clear. Only one knight—the right-hand one. His name is Dexter. The left knight, he’s Sinister, and he’s supposed to be just like his name—”

A wheeze came from the right side of the doorway. “What you say is true, my child.”

Tom jumped, knocking into Gina. Shivers ran through his body despite the summer sun. He smelled fear in her sweat.

With a labored creaking and cracking, Sir Dexter pulled himself out of the doorway, his stony armor transforming into metal. Chunks of plaster smashed to the pavement. Dust billowed, choking Tom’s lungs. Coughing, he tugged Gina’s arm, pulling her away from the falling rock.

Sir Dexter dropped to the ground, landing with a crash of iron on the sidewalk. He turned to face them and began to walk in their direction. Fear filled Tom’s heart with each crunching step.

* * * * *

Elena jerked upright in bed, each muscle tense. Beside her, Ben stirred, reaching for her with a slow, languid hand. “What’s up, babe?”

“I…I dunno.” Still half asleep, she pushed her hair out of her face, fingers shaking. “I dreamed…I don’t know what I dreamed.”

He pulled her down beside him and kissed her lobe. “You dreamed about me.” His voice was husky in her ear. He blew on the damp place he’d made, and she shivered with delight. His lips traveled down her neck to her breasts, suckling the tips while he fingered her clit. His fingers were gentle, as though he knew she was tender after their previous intense lovemaking.

Pleasure flowed through her and she forgot the terrifying image of a man of metal emerging from stone as Ben slowly thrust one finger, then two, inside her, crooking them to stroke her G-spot.

She stretched out along the mattress, taking his hand in deeper, and groaned, spreading and raising her legs to afford him greater access. He shifted his hand, thrusting his thumb into her back door, holding her, controlling her in the most intimate way possible. His movements were slow, rhythmic and very effective. When she started to come, he withdrew his hand and she gave a protesting moan.

He smiled. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m not finished with you yet.” He rolled her onto her belly again and reached for a couple of pillows, stacking them beneath her hips.

Her heart beat faster with anticipation. “Th-the oil’s next to the lamp.”

He used her massage oil, scented with lavender and eucalyptus, to lube her butt, opening her first with one finger, then two. The sweet aromas mingled with his masculine musk and their juices to create a heady tang that drove her higher.

He slowly eased in his cock, allowing her to open and accept his girth at her own speed, then shifted so his weight was directly on top of her hips and let gravity do the work. Her back canal slick with oil, he slid in. He was deep inside her, moving gently, but his rod still felt impossibly big even though he’d taken her ass before. Achingly hot, piercingly sweet, he reamed her thoroughly before reaching around her hip to caress her clit. She screamed as she came, her desperate cries mingling with his grunts of satisfaction.

* * * * *

“Who-what…” Tom hated the quiver in his voice. He cleared his throat and deepened his tone. “Who are you?”

“You know who I am. Your friend told you. I am Sir Dexter of the Knights Templar.”

“How did you get into that doorway?” Gina asked.

Tom glanced at her.
A better question might be how to get him back.
Dexter wasn’t attacking them or anything, but he didn’t like the idea of something so unnatural escaping. He guessed he was like his father. According to Ben, anything out of the ordinary was trouble.

Tom turned his attention back to Dexter as the knight began to speak. “Many centuries ago, the Knights Templar were a group of noblemen who fought in the Crusades and brought back to the Western World much esoteric knowledge and magic. We used this magic to make ourselves immortal in the form of these statues.”

“How’d ya get here?” Gina asked.

The knight looked baffled. “Where am I?”

“Sacramento, California.”

“I have never heard of such a place, but many centuries have passed since I was placed into the door. I was warned that I might be destroyed or transported to a different land. Perhaps that is what happened.”

“Why did you want to be a statue?” Tom asked, intrigued.

“I chose immortality and service. We are to be called in times of strife and need. Who called me?”

Gina looked nervous. “I, uh, called you.”

“And what is your need, my lady?”

Tom winced for her. Feeling bored on a summer day didn’t seem worthy. Before she could respond, the knight said, “Is this stripling your champion, my lady?”

“Gosh, no,” Tom said. “I’m just nine, and so is she.”

“I’m too young for a boyfriend,” she said. “What do you mean, a champion?”

“Your protector in time of need.”

“I don’t really need anything.” Her chin jutted out. “Elena and I do fine. We don’t need a champion.”

“Huh. I wonder what my dad would say about that,” Tom said.

“You have no protector,” the knight said. “Very well—I will be your champion.”

Tom and Gina looked at each other. “What will we do with a knight in Sacramento, California, in 2013?” she whispered to him. “Shoot. My mom and your dad are gonna kill us. I mean, Mom won’t mind that I messed around with her stuff a little, but we can’t hide this!”

“Maybe it would be better if he came with me,” he murmured to Gina. “My house is bigger than yours. He can stay in the cabana until we figure out how to put him back.”

A car whizzed past them. Dexter stared. “Tell me, young sir, what manner of cart is that?”

Tom groaned. “Gina, I can’t believe what we’ve done! We’ve got to find a way of putting him back!”

She sighed. “I’ve blown it big time.”

“No kidding. Sir Dexter, I’m sorry, but you don’t belong here.”

Dexter started to protest. “But Lady Gina needs—”

“The Lady Gina will have to take care of herself. You don’t belong here, and you must understand that you have to go back.” Tom nodded at the shattered alcove, wondering what kind of magic could repair it.

“If there is no need of my services,” Dexter said stiffly, “of course. I was placed in the doorway as a safeguard, for times of need. If there is no need, I will return to my repose.” He started to climb into his niche.

“Do you know how to get back?” Tom asked.

“Of course, young sir. I placed myself there in the beginning,” Dexter said, still sounding injured.

“I hope you’re not offended,” Tom said. “It was really exciting meeting you. Please forgive us for disturbing you.”

Sir Dexter melted back into his stone niche. Tom was transfixed, but Gina stood head down, shoulders slumped. After a few moments she slouched across the street. Tom hastily packed the basket before following her, and caught up with her in Capitol Park.

“I’m really ashamed,” she said, misery clogging her voice. She dragged a toe through a pile of leaves. “I gotta admit, I didn’t really believe it would work. Then we woke that poor knight out of his hibernation for no reason at all. I was so embarrassed when he asked to be my champion, and wanted to know
my need!
Jeez!”

Back on J Street, a slight breeze swirled through the paper trash on the sidewalk outside the Masonic Temple. The wind lifted bits of chameleon scales, butterfly wing, frog’s water and other spell ingredients from the ground, scattering them onto the feet of the knight who slept on the left side of the doorway.

* * * * *

When Elena woke up, the light through her curtains was muted. Beside her, Ben was propped on one elbow, watching her with a slight smile softening his craggy face. “Hi,” he said softly. “Nice nap?”

She ran her fingers through his short dark hair. “Yeah. Nice nap and nice nookie.”

“Yeah.” He gave her a gentle kiss, then peeled himself away from her side and began to dress. “I gotta go, babe.”

“Is Tom coming over tonight?” she asked.

“If you don’t mind. It just seems wasteful to hire a sitter when the kids want to hang out here.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” She tried not to sound huffy, but boy, was it ever hard. They’d been seeing each other for weeks, but there were times when he still behaved as though nothing really existed between them. She knew the signs of a man fighting his feelings, and there were times when he pissed her off, but mostly she was just amused.

Right now she was a little annoyed but wouldn’t show it, she decided. They’d had a great time together and she wouldn’t let his stubbornness spoil her day. “So we’ll see you at about midnight?”

“Hope so.” He leaned over her bed to brush her forehead with his lips before he opened his wallet and took out a couple of bills.

“We already talked about this, Ben.” This time she let her temper show.

“Look, you feed my kid dinner five days a week. You babysit him. You deserve—”

“I have everything I need, and I don’t want your money.”

“If you’d allow me to pay you for childcare, you wouldn’t have to tell phony fortunes to silly old ladies.”

“Excuse me?” She sat upright, her blissful mood shattered. He thought she was a
phony
? Boy, did she ever want to rock his world with a real spell, but cursing him would be unethical. “How do you know they’re phony?”

“Babe, I like you, but you’re one arrest away from a misdemeanor conviction for fraud. And if that happens while I’m seeing you, I can kiss a promotion to detective goodbye.”

“Don’t you realize that offering me cash right now makes me feel like a whore?”

“It’s called childcare, and it’s a totally legitimate way to earn money.” He tossed the bills onto her dresser.

“Ben McCulloch, if you leave that money in my bedroom, don’t come back.”

He stared at her.

“I mean it.” She folded her arms across her torso. Too many men had treated her as though she were a blow-up sex doll. She’d stopped allowing that sort of behavior when Gina was born.

“Fine.” Though he spat the word, he returned to her side to kiss her again before leaving. The kiss turned into a longer caress as he went for her breasts, licking and nibbling her nipples into tight, aching pearls. “You know I can’t resist you, baby.”

“Yeah, and I like it that way.”

He raised his head. His mouth and her nipples gleamed from his wet kisses. “You think I’m pussy-whipped?”

“Yeah, right. I’m just trying to avoid being completely dominated. I’m not your sex slave, you know.”

“Huh.” He kissed her on the mouth, smacked her on the hip and left.

Elena stretched contentedly and went to take a shower.

Later she found the money tucked beneath a salt shaker in the kitchen.
Asshole,
she thought, smiling. Ben had his code of honor, just as she had hers. She wondered where their strange liaison would take them, but put him out of her mind when the kids returned.

They came in at about six, acting unusually quiet and subdued. She knew something was up but didn’t pry. Distracted herself, she fed the kids, put them in front of the TV and went to meditate.

First she tidied her room, then lit a candle and switched off all the lights. She placed her topaz in front of the candle so it would reflect its glow. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she focused her attention on the golden facets of the topaz, letting her mind wander.

She felt strangely unsettled. Was it Ben? A more stable relationship would be great but it was early days yet. She and Ben had plenty of time to work out their issues. He wasn’t the kind of man who’d commit hastily and he might never grow beyond the shocking loss of his wife. Polly, who’d also been an officer, had been shot at what should have been a routine stop. Elena didn’t need tarot cards or a crystal ball to see that Ben had distanced himself from his emotions—except his lust—to keep his heart safe.