She studied my face as if searching for something. “You promise?”
“I promise.”
Tess nodded. “Okay, Rafe. I know your promise is good.” She faced the front door as I dropped my hands. She took one step and then another, climbing the six steps to the deck with no sign of her earlier hesitancy. I followed Tess up the steps, and my eyes dropped to her leather encased cheeks. The black leather was stretched tightly across her hips and made a most appealing sight. I shook my head. Damn, just when a man thinks he’s maturing past constantly thinking of sex, hormones kick in, and he’s just a teenager in rut again.
We reached the eight foot wide, Trek-clad, front deck and I felt a tingle against my ward. Instantly, I was paying more attention. Tess raised her hand toward the doorbell, and I caught her wrist.
“What’s wrong?”
“There are wards here. Did you know your aunt practiced magic?”
“What? No, that’s not possible,” Tess countered.
“It’s not strong, but there’s definitely a ward on the house. Look there,” I said pointing at a vertical line of Hebrew text along the doorjamb.
Tess studied the writing and shook her head. “That’s not English.”
“No, Hebrew, Cabalistic script. It’s a very old spell to ward the occupants of the home against magic and spirits. Not something you often see these days.”
“Aunt Emily isn’t even Jewish.”
“You don’t have to be Jewish to use some of their magic, but being Jewish definitely makes it stronger. This spell is weak, one of the symbols has a curve that shouldn’t be there, and it damages the power.”
“Okay, then Aunt Emily practices some Cabalistic magic. She’s still my aunt.”
“I just wanted you to know. We’ll need her to invite us in if we don’t want to be handicapped while we’re inside.”
“Handicapped?” Tess asked.
“I’m certain I’ve told you this. The threshold of a home provides some protection against creatures of evil and against magic users. A ward takes that to a higher level.”
“Well, I’m certain that Aunt Emily will invite us in,” Tess said and stabbed the doorbell.
I triggered my enhanced senses spell and studied the wards while listening. As soon as the door chimes stopped ringing, I heard heavy footsteps coming toward the front door. The home’s wards glowed softly in my sight. They were mostly white in hue, indicating a religious magic that was usually indicative of magic cast by a person of strong faith. Interesting, I thought.
The footsteps stopped at the front door, and it opened.
A tall woman, nearly as tall as Tess’s five-ten, stood in the doorway. She had darker hair than Tess’s red-hued tresses. Her face gave her age to be in her early thirties. She had brown eyes, set well apart. Her weight appeared to be at least one fifty, and if her biceps were any indication, it was more muscle than fat. She wore a green t-shirt that was tucked into camouflage pants. The military didn’t call them cammies these days, I think they were calling them UCPs, Universal Camouflage Pattern, or some such nonsense. The Army never could name anything sensibly.
The woman’s mouth gapped open.
“Hi, Aunt Emily, surprise!” Tess said cheerfully.
“Therese? Good God, girl, where have you been?”
Before Tess could answer, her aunt wrapped her in a bear hug. Tess joined in the hug while I remained silent. I studied the woman’s aura and saw very little sign of magical capability. Odd, the ward couldn’t have been done by someone with so little indication of power. Could she have gotten a rabbi to do the warding?
After a few moments, the women separated. Emily’s eyes were moist, and she gripped Tess about the upper arms and gave her a shake. “Where the hell have you been, soldier? You know I’ve been worried sick? They told me you were AWOL. What–Jesus H. Christ! Your leg. When did you get fitted for prosthetics?”
“I’ll explain as much as I can Aunt Emily, but can we do this inside? Could you invite Rafe and me in?” Tess asked.
Emily appeared to see me for the first time. She frowned and studied me sharply. “Who’s this?”
“This is Raphael A. Semmes, but he goes by Rafe.”
“Please to meet you, Aunt Emily,” I said cheerfully.
She took a step back, and her right hand rose to hip level. It was the action of someone who expected to find a weapon riding there. I raised both my hands and widened my smile.
“I’m harmless.” It wasn’t a lie. I was harmless for any relative of Tess’s.
Emily hesitated, but then lowered her hand and stepped back from the entry. “All right, come on in, Tess, and I guess you can bring your boyfriend in too.”
“Thanks, Aunt Emily.” Tess stepped past the entrance, and I followed. Crossing the threshold, I felt the surge of its ward against my own. I adjusted mine to be more suitable to the Cabalistic spell and joined Tess in the foyer. The foyer was floored with sixteen-inch Spanish tile. There was a skylight directly above us and the late afternoon sun lit the room with a cheerful glow. To our right was a short sunroom, filled with enough plants to make it a veritable jungle. It was open to a living room filled with formal furniture in some style that while I recognized it as a style, I couldn’t name it. On our left was a large room with an entire wall of windows facing west toward the setting sun. A cheerfully burning gas fireplace, encased in river rock, rose to a ceiling at least fourteen feet above the hardwood floor.
Emily shut the door and turned to stare at the two of us. Then she motioned briskly for us to follow and walked into the large room.
