“How long is Cris going to be like that?”
“I’ve only seen her use it a couple of times, once she canceled it after a few minutes and once she flew off out of range and it dropped. I wouldn’t think more than a dozen minutes, but I’m not certain.”
Tess went to the door and put her hand up. In a few seconds, she turned to me. “Definitely warded. Extremely heavy ward, I’d say it’s as good as ours on the cabin.”
“Great. Nothing we can do to breech it and that woman is definitely not going to be inviting us in now. Cris is too quick to use that spell. I’d have thought she would have expected the ward to bounce it back at her.”
“Is that usual?” Tess asked.
I shrugged. “As often as not. It depends on the strength of the ward and the magic involved. Strong enough magic will shatter a weak ward, but when the ward is stronger. Well, you can see.”
“What are we going to do? This guy is our best chance of getting you fixed.”
“Good question.” I bent and picked up Cris. She was as stiff as a plank, but I thought I saw a little flex in her position as I lifted. “Let’s walk back to Beast and Maia. There’s a good chance that this guardian is going to call the cops. We don’t want to be standing here with a paralyzed Cris if they show up.”
“Rafe, we still need to get in to see the Monsignor. We can’t just give up,” Tess said.
“We’re not giving up. We’re just regrouping until we have everyone flexible again,” I said as I reached Beast.
Bruno wasted no time in flying from Maia’s back to Tess’s shoulder. He settled in, wrapping his tail part way around her neck and leaning into the side of her head.
“What happened to her?” Beast growled.
“She had a little accident,” I said.
“Looks more like someone paralyzed her.”
I ignored him and studied Cris for a minute. Was she flexible?
“Tess, take Cris’s right foot. We’re going to see if we can get her on Beast.”
“And do what? Make a wish and pull?”
“Huh? Oh, wishbone, I get it. Glad you can see the humor in this,” I said, bending and getting a grip on Cris’s left foot. “When you’re ready, pull gently. Her muscles may flex, but if she’s rigid, we’ll have to try something else.”
“Ready,” Tess said.
“Slowly now, pull,” I directed as I tried to ease Cris’s foot away from the other one. They moved, but only a fraction of an inch per second.
“Hell, this is going to take all day. She’ll be thawed out before we get her on Beast.”
“I hear a siren,” Tess said as she turned toward the street.
“Yeah, I was afraid of that. Beast, Maia, glamour up, but can you make like a deer rather than a hawk?” I asked.
“No problem,” Beast growled.
“Certainly,” Maia said.
“Go ahead then,” I said as I picked up Cris in a cross arm carry.
A second passed, and then I was looking at a buck and a doe.
“Guys, they don’t have mule deer in this part of the country. Can’t you do white tails?” I complained.
“How was I supposed to know?” Beast growled.
A second later, there were two white tail deer, one buck, and one doe. The buck had an elaborate spread of antlers. I rolled my eyes, thankful that it wasn’t hunting season.
“Let’s go,” I said and swung a leg over the buck’s back. As soon as I touched Beast, I was part of the glamour and could see him for what he was. I turned to see if Tess was mounted up, but I couldn’t see her behind Maia’s glamour. That meant she was on.
“Okay, Beast, go back to the place we landed. We’ll wait there and see if the cops stay long.”
Beast’s engine cranked. I could hear it, but hopefully he’d set his glamour to hide soft noises, not that a Harley could be considered a soft noise.
We made a wide turn in the yard and pulled back onto the road. To our right, flashing blue and red lights were approaching rapidly. Beast and Maia pulled out and eased down the road in the direction of the church. As we turned into the parking lot, I saw one police car pull into the Monsignor’s driveway, while the other parked in the road, blocking the drive.
“That was close,” Tess said.
“This being without magic is a pain in my ass,” I grumbled.
Beast stopped at the back edge of the parking lot in the shade of a couple of trees.
Maia stopped beside us and Tess asked, “What now, oh powerless one?”
Beast growled out a laugh and even Maia joined in.
I frowned at where I guessed Cris would be. “This isn’t funny.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”
I took a breath and let it out in a sigh. “It’s all right. There’s no point in being moody about it.”
Cris twitched in my grasp.
Suddenly she flailed about and exclaimed, “Oh, shit!”
I almost dropped her, but pulled her tight against me until she stopped struggling.
Cris turned to face me. “Rafe? Damn, I screwed up didn’t I?”
“Pretty much. Didn’t you think there would be a ward on the parsonage?”
“That’s just it. I didn’t think. That woman was deliberately being difficult and… well, I’m sorry. I should have controlled myself better. I’m sorry. What’d I miss?”
Tess chuckled. “Not much, except for Rafe trying to turn you into a wishbone.”
“I did not, we were just trying to get you on Beast, and I thought maybe you’d be flexible enough to move.”
Cris tilted her face up to me and our lips met for a
