"He should have heard us by now," she said, looking at the five concerned gazes around her. "He is a full sorcerer; his rise was felt by all as Lilith raised him - and now, there's nothing."
"We should contact the displaced covens of New Orleans that were forced to flee with the general population," a hissing b londe whispered. "Perhaps there was foul play, and they could get us close enough to summon Fallen Null's energy." "Or we could simply go directly to Lilith to ask - " "Are you crazy?" Lorelei almost shouted, breaking the seance. "Over Sebastian's head? Never, until we know for sure that he's been incapacitated."
"Then hone in on the spell he cast," a brunette murmured, her eyes shimmering with evil.
"If something has gone awry with his spell, then he may be in danger and need assistance
... that is the only reason he wouldn't respond to a coven call of this magnitude."
* * *
seven hours of peaceful sleep did her body good. As she stretched and yawned, Carlos's familiar warmth spooned her, making her bones lazy all over again. Hotel life was getting old. The yearn for being in their own house again, their own kitchen, their own space was threatening to steal her peace. Rather than allow it, she snug gled deeper into Carlos's embrace and dozed, listening to his steady breaths of slumber and loving every minute of the way his heartbeat thrummed through her back. As she drifted in and out of sleep all she could think of was seeing him spit lyrics, the way it had totally taken him over... then how that caught fire at the edges of the team, burning everybody, setting them on fire with creative energy that they hadn't experienced in a long time. Carlos stirred behind her and she pressed his arm closer against her belly. "Thank you," she murmured.
"Good morning," he said in a drowsy, sexy voice, kissing the back of her hair. "For what?"
"For doing what you do," she said quietly, making his arm hug her tighter. "For being you - the fire for the group. The catalyst."
He chuckled softly against her hair. "That's just your nice way of saying I'm always the one starting some shit." "I'm serious," she said quietly and swallowed hard, suddenly overwhelmed for no reason, and unable to even explain to herself why.
"Hey..." he murmured, hugging her more closely. "I didn't mean to make fun of what you were saying, baby ... but if you want me to start some shit, you know all you have to do is ask - and ya don't do half bad yourself, you know."
He made her chuckle, even though she hadn't felt a laugh in her. It didn't really matter that he didn't know what she was talking about; she wasn't sure, either. All that mattered was that he loved her like he did, the way he loved her - that he stood for something she was
proud of, and had brought back her real Muse ... not an imposter. She'd been so afraid of her music after Cain that she almost killed it, so had her team. But leave it to Carlos to talk some trash to make even something that scary feel safe again.
"I want to go see the house today," she said with a sigh. "I just want to be able to see it, walk through it, in more than a mental picture - so I can save it like a postcard." He nodded and kissed her hair again. "Yeah ... the hotel life is getting old for me, too. Let's go put down some roots while they clean the room."
* * *
It took longer than they'd really had the patience to endure, but getting all those couples up, waiting until everyone got dressed, fed, and out of their rooms on their own recognizance to meet in the lobby was a logistical task akin to moving out a platoon. Then there was the debate about which of the several properties to see first, and finally they decided to allow the Covenant-approved Realtor to lead while they followed in a small caravan of assorted SUV rentals. Carlos and Damali looked at each other and the same mental question leapt into their heads - Was it worth all this?
They both nodded. Yeah.
* * *
Carlos knew it was all over when his wife's voice hit that pitched that generally turned his eyes silver. It was that gaspy, "Oh, wow..." let out on a long breath thing that women did when they saw something they really wanted that did him in. Third house, yeah it was a wrap. Every brother got out of his vehicle with that look of resignation in his eyes. Their women had obviously slaughtered them, too, with the breath sigh. What was the point in haggling with a Realtor? Poor Dan was outnumbered and needed to give it a rest. The Realtors could smell a sure kill just like sharks could smell blood in the water. Prices went from flexible to firm, since the women's eyes said price was no object. Can you ladies at least find something wrong with the house as we walk through it, so the ooohhhs and ahhhs don't add another million to the tag? Carlos tried to walk away from Damali when Inez saw the kitchen and screamed.
"Oh, my God, thank you, thank you, Jesus, this is just what I wanted," Inez gushed, grabbing Mike by the arm. "Isn't this just how I told you I saw it - stainless steel every
thing, overhead pot racks, windows all around - facing the beach! Look at the flowers just spilling over the window boxes. Oh, Michael ... a center island, Jenn-Air range, real restaurant-sized burners and double oven, stand-alone broiler ... oh, good Lord, a real brick oven for pizzas and breads, and look at the industrial-sized fridge - hand-laid Spanish tiles!"
Mike squinted and then nodded with his eyes closed. "You like it, baby, I love it." Carlos looked out the window. Cha-ching. They were done. If Inez kept working on the team's big audio-sensor, they'd probably have to ask the Realtor to throw in a baby nursery for free.
Stop, Damali mentally fussed. Get into the present joy of it all. 'Nez never had her own spot like this, and this is gorgeous ... look at the blues and yellows and oranges in here, would ya? Wow . . .
He would not say another word. His lips were sealed, Carlos told himself as they passed
through the huge eat-in kitchen already situated to accommodate a long oak picnic table with sliding glass doors that opened out to a huge deck.
"Security issue," J.L. muttered.
Carlos nodded. "I'm right there with you, brother."
"Oh, but look at the pool..." Krissy gasped, racing down the deck to gawk with Juanita at the view.
Carlos gave J.L. a supportive shrug. "I know, man. What you gonna do?" He almost laughed when Jose closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Oh, Jose," Juanita said, her voice modulating between high-pitched squeals and breathy awe, "if you're in the water you can look out over the surface of the pool and see the waves down on the beach." She smiled at him, and it was a brilliant, dazzling, heartstopping smile. "Won't this be so romantic at night?" When Jose didn't immediately answer, Carlos slapped him on the back in passing. "Stop drooling, you're making the Realtor add it to the bill."