and get rid of it. We’ll deal with Cassandra’s ununculous when he shows up to finish the job.”
Coyote yawned. “As Fremont says, no can do.”
I marched to the all-powerful god and stuck my finger at his face. “Don’t you dare give me any crap about not interfering in the lives of mortals, because you do it all the time. I’m filthy, it’s getting cold, and there’s a Nightwalker about to rise upstairs while the blood I bought for him slowly spoils in the nonworking refrigerator. Just get rid of the curse. If you are holding out to see how we deal with it, I’ll . . . I’ll tell my grandmother.”
Coyote’s eyes flickered. “Oh, hey, that’s not fair.”
My grandmother, from whom I’d inherited my Stormwalker magic, often hung around my hotel parking lot in the form of a crow, watching over me (or watching to see what I did wrong). She didn’t like Coyote. Once upon a time, she’d run him off our place in Many Farms, he in his coyote form, she with a broom. Grandmother had no fear of trickster gods.
Coyote looked troubled. “I really mean I can’t do it, Janet, sweetie. I seem to have lost my mojo.” He opened his hand and made a throwing motion at the windows, but again, nothing happened. The panes didn’t even rattle.
My heart squeezed. “You’re a god. Your magic can’t disappear.”
“Apparently, it can.”
“You’re tricking me, right? Pretending to be powerless so you’ll see what I’ll do? Some god thing about observing the human condition?”
Coyote leaned to me until we were face-to-face. His nose had been broken at some time in his human form and hadn’t healed in the best way. Why he hadn’t fixed that, I had no idea. “No, Janet. I truly can’t work any magic.”
I went cold. If this ununculous was so powerful that his curse could render a god helpless, what could we do against him?
Fear and rage awoke in me, and that, in turn, stirred the all-powerful, goddess-from-hell magic I fought every day to control. I’d been teaching myself, with the help of my friends, to twine it with my Stormwalker magic, to form a warm and strong power without the side effect of chaotic destruction, but it was tough going.
There was no storm in the sky right now, and if I chose, I could let the Beneath magic untwine itself and become as hot and crazy and devastating as ever. Coyote didn’t want me doing that—a mortal with god magic was a dangerous thing, he’d told me—but I considered this an emergency.
“To hell with it,” I said. “Get out of the way, Mick. I’m breaking the curse.”
Mick stood up, his hand still pressed to the wall. His eyes had gone coal black all the way through, no more trace of blue. “The hex runs pretty deep. If you rip it away from the wards, you might destroy the walls.”
“I don’t care if I bring down the whole damned hotel. I can rebuild it—I’ve done it before.
Coyote rose, his height and bulk a formidable barrier. “Janet, you know I can’t let you use the Beneath magic.”
“Make an exception.
“But if you use that magic to break the curse, my first order of business will be to kill you.”
At the moment, I didn’t care. I was angry, grungy, and not a little worried about what Cassandra had told me. And for some reason, I was convinced I couldn’t fight this ununculous until I’d scrubbed myself clean. I was obsessing, yes, but I didn’t care.
I looked up at Coyote, unafraid. I knew by the expression on his face that my eyes had gone ice green, the color of my mother’s eyes. “Get out of my way,” I said calmly. “Or I’ll do this through you.”
Coyote lunged for me. I stared in shock, not really believing he meant to kill me, but at the last minute, when his hands were wrapping my throat, I realized—yes, he did.
And then Mick was there. Mick ripped Coyote away from me and took the big man down. Coyote’s god power outweighed Mick’s dragon magic any day, but with them both in human form, neither using magic, they were well matched in strength.
While the two of them fought it out on my earth-colored tile floor, I raised my hands, willing the worst of the Beneath magic to come out and play. White-hot light roared from my fingers and hit the door full force. The hotel shuddered, glass tinkling in the windows.
I threw back my head and laughed. I hadn’t felt power like this in months. I’d forgotten how much I loved it.
“Feel that, sorcerer,” I said, my entire body crackling with magic. “Fucking feel it.”
There was a sizzling noise, and sparkling electricity danced across every wall. A high-pitched scream shrilled from the kitchen.
Maya.
I snapped off the Beneath magic—or tried to. A glowing nimbus clung to my hands as I turned and sprinted for the kitchen, Fremont and Cassandra right behind me.
FOUR
WE FOUND MAYA SITTING ON THE FLOOR against the wall, cradling one arm, her black dress hiked up to her hips. When she saw me charge in with my hands glowing white and my eyes bright green, she screamed again.
“Are you all right?” I yelled at her. “What happened?”
Maya’s face was streaked with mascara and tears. “What do you think happened? I shocked myself. What the hell are
Fremont crouched next to her. “Didn’t you switch off the power?”
“Of course I switched it off. I threw the main. I’m not stupid. A big arc jumped out of the generator and wrapped around my arm. Damn, and I’d almost gotten it working.”
Had I done this? With my wave of Beneath power, had I sent electricity through the building to electrocute Maya? Or was it the curse simply not wanting Maya—or me—to get the lights back on?
“Don’t worry about the electricity, Maya,” I said, trying to bring myself under control. “We have plenty of candles, and we’re going to break this spell. Let Cassandra look at your arm.”
“She’s a medic?” Maya asked.
“No, but she’s good with a healing spell.”
“A magic medic.” Fremont grinned.
Cassandra tented her hands over her mouth, tears trickling from her eyes. “I’d better not. If the ununculous behind the hex is after me, using magic will draw him here faster.”
“Cassandra,” I said, my jaw tight. “You need to hold it together and help us.”
“I can’t.” Cassandra started to sob, crumpling to her knees. “I can’t. Don’t make me.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Fremont asked, wide-eyed.
I wished I knew. I’d never seen Cassandra lose her cool, no matter how desperate the situation. “Either the hex is making her a little nuts, or the ununculous really is that terrifying.” I sighed. “So, that’s one powerful Wicca and one god down for the count.”
“You still have me,” Fremont said quickly.
“Yes,” I said, giving him a grateful look. “And me. And Mick.”
And the mirror, I added silently. Time to have it send messages. Dragons knew everything about everyone, even though they mostly sat back and observed. I had no doubt that Bancroft of the dragon council would have heard of the ununculous and know who he was. Time to call in my favor.
I dug in drawers for emergency candles, happy we had so many. In the desert, storms summer and winter could easily knock out electricity, and even though we had our own generator, it didn’t always work—like now. Fremont started helping me set the candles into holders and lit them with a butane lighter.
“Fremont, can you and Cassandra fix some food for all of us? Something simple, even chips and dip would work. Maya, come out front with me, and Mick will take a look at your arm. He has healing magic, too. We’ll have our little meal and figure out how to beat this.”
