usually took detailed notes; at least she had before.
When it was finally over and we were headed out into the cold and snow, she turned to me. “So have ye thought about what I said?”
“About what? Recruiters?”
“Yes.”
“Some. I don’t see how it would work. What am I going to do? Move to some town in Ireland or wherever the twins are from? And do what?”
“It’s more about having you on their side and about adding your genes to their lines. Some witch moms are pretty militant about marrying their daughters to the fellas with the best magic genes they can find. Yours are tops,” she said.
“Maybe from Mom’s side, but not my father’s. He was a frigging rapist.”
“Like I said, some circle leaders are pretty ruthless about getting the genes. You best not be drinking anything you haven’t poured yerself. Now, jest where was the man who fathered ye from?” she asked.
“Croatia, that’s all I know,” I said.
“Odd that,” she said. I looked at her expectantly. “Oh, it jest that Zuzanna is from Croatia is all,” she said.
Oh great. And she was one of the ones making calls. “You think my father will hear? If he’s still alive?”
“I think the whole witch world will hear, if they haven’t already,” she said with a seriousness that was unusual for her.
Chapter 27
“Hold steady, Declan,” Mack said for like the tenth time. “I don’t want to shoot any of your fingers off.”
“You try holding still when some maniac of a werewolf hunter is pointing a .22 pistol at your hand, or at least close to your hand,” I replied.
We were just outside of Burlington at a sand and gravel quarry that was closed for the night. The pole-mounted security camera had succumbed to my magical persuasions, as had the locked gate, and there weren’t any private homes in the immediate area. A light snow was falling and Caeco’s concern for the line of tracks that the Beast left forced me to use another card in my deck. Jetta had noticed immediately. “You’re using wind to blow away the tracks… How are you using wind?” she’d asked. I had just shrugged and winked at her. Caeco was the one who blabbed my secret.
“He has an affinity for Air,” she’d said.
“No way. He’s Earth and Fire,” Mack had chimed in.
“Earth, Fire, and Air,” Caeco said back.
“A little Air,” I’d corrected, pulling to a stop behind a big pile of snow-covered sand.
“I thought that was impossible?” Jetta asked. I shrugged again.
“So is a dual affinity warlock with more power than an entire circle. Why not be even more impossible, ah Declan?” Mack asked.
“That’s me… Mr. Impossible.”
“Impossible ego, impossible to live with, impossible son of a bi—” Jetta ground out before Caeco interrupted her with a loud “Ahem.” Jetta immediately looked embarrassed . “Sorry about that last part, D. I didn’t mean it like that,” she said.
“It’s okay. I think my mom would be okay with the bitch part as long as it was a capital B Bitch and said with respect. She could certainly go there when it was called for,” I said, thinking of my mom yelling at a food delivery guy who had dropped and then stepped on some expensive meat.
Minutes later found me lying back on the mound of dirt, left hand extended out straight out from my side, watching as Mack lined up to shoot near my hand.
“Remember, try to extend your shield past your fingertips because I won’t hit you, but it’ll be close,” he said, then muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “Maybe.”
“What was that?” I asked.
“Nothing. Now stop being a big warlock baby and concentrate,” he said, lining up the shot from a foot away.
I closed my eyes and thought really hard about stopping bullets. There was a snap, a chuffing sound as the soda bottle suppressor Mack had whipped up contained much of the sound and… nothing else. I looked over at my hand. A little .22 bullet hung, suspended, an inch off the sand.
“Still concentrating?” he asked. I nodded and he instantly snapped off two shots right at my left hand. I yanked my hand away and jumped up.
“Are you fucking crazy?” I asked.
“He kinda is, but so is that,” Jetta said, pointing at my hand, where two bullets were moving everywhere my hand did, but not touching it. I held up one hand to Mack.
“No more shooting. I’m dropping the shield,” I said, waiting until he nodded and cleared the gun’s chamber. Caeco snatched the ejected