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  Minor Magic

  Book Seven of the Xoe Meyers Series

  Sara C Roethle

  Vulture’s Eye Publications

  Copyright © 2016 by Sara C Roethle

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  With one hand on the steering wheel, I held the other toward Chase in the passenger’s seat, waiting for him to hand me the coffee he was totally hogging. “Tell me again why we decided to just share a cup?” I questioned.

  I caught a glimpse of his smile, his tired dark gray eyes, and his slightly curly black hair, then turned my gaze back to the desolate highway ahead of us. Not that I have anything against Nevada, but it’s not the nicest state to drive through, especially midday.

  “When we buy two cups you drink all of yours, then move on to mine,” he explained for the hundredth time. “This way we keep you from getting over-caffeinated.”

  “And no one wants Xoe over-caffeinated,” Lucy added from the seat behind Chase.

  “We have bigger problems,” Allison groaned from the seat directly behind me. “Xoe, I think your dog has gas.”

  We all groaned as the vehicle filled up with a pungent stench. My Dalmatian, Alexius, gave a happy yip from his seat between Lucy and Allison.

  “Well you two shouldn’t have fed him all of those potato chips,” I chided, pushing my way too long blonde hair behind my ear. After an eventful winter spent mostly in the demon underground, my hair had darkened from white-blonde to ash. I was in need of a cut and some sun.

  “He came from the spirit world with you when you returned from the dead,” Allison countered, “I thought he could handle a few chips.”

  We all groaned as the car once again filled up with Alexius’ stench.

  “I think it’s time to stop for lunch,” I sighed, holding one hand up to cover my nose while I steered with the other.

  “Yes please!” everyone else said in unison.

  Alexius yipped again excitedly. For a spirit guide, he sure acted like a normal dog. He’d come into my possession when I’d died in the dream world. I’d been able to briefly see my father during that time. Alexius had been there to lead my spirit to whatever afterlife might await, but my dad had prevented me from going. We’d basically broken all the rules, and my best guess was that Alexius had nowhere to go after I refused to follow him. Thus, he’d somehow hitched a ride with me back to the real world and physically appeared.

  A rest stop with a diner came into view, and I turned on my blinker then exited the highway. As we pulled into the parking lot I saw that the diner, which looked like something out of Happy Days, had outdoor seating where we could bring Alexius. Perfect. The weather was nice outside, but I still felt bad making him wait in the car, even if the temperature would be comfortable with the windows rolled down. I’d never been a pet owner before, but I’d turned into one of those annoying people who treat their pets like children. I wouldn’t leave a child in the car, therefore I wouldn’t leave the dog.

  I pulled Allison’s new red crossover vehicle into one of many free parking spaces. I had a feeling Allison had only volunteered the vehicle to ensure her presence on our road trip, but it was big enough to fit our luggage and passengers comfortably, and small enough to not kill us on gas mileage, so I’d happily agreed. Plus, it was fun watching her cringe any time we hit a pothole, and she practically screamed any time a branch threatened her shiny red paint job.

  I parked and we all piled out of the vehicle. Lucy kept hold of Alexius’ neon-green leash, attached to his matching neon collar as we walked across the asphalt to approach the diner. Why neon green? I’d read it was the best way to keep little Alexius from getting hit by a car. It just wouldn’t be right to have him go out in such a mundane way after traveling all the way from the spirit world.

  Chase took my hand as we walked, sending a little thrill up my bare arm, and not just from the touch. Ever since Chase found out that he could see ghosts, there always seemed to be an extra little zing of otherworldly energy hanging around him, like the ghosts were reaching out for attention. He was doing his best to ignore his newfound gifts, despite his brother Sam’s assurances that they’d only get stronger.

  I squinted my eyes against the springtime sun, taking a seat at one of the round tables in front of the diner. The tables had large umbrellas to shield them, but I’d ended up in the wrong seat.

  Seeing my irritated frown as I blinked up at the sun, Lucy said, “Let’s switch tables before Xoe burns the establishment to the ground.”

  I stood. “I can control my powers very well now, thank you.” It was true. I’d been practicing.

  We moved to another, more shaded table. I sat, smoothing my khaki shorts under my legs, then Lucy handed me Alexius’ leash. Everyone else left me to go inside to order. I trusted Chase to not buy me anything healthy.

  With a sigh, I pulled a manilla folder out of my large canvas purse. I’d gone over its contents a million times, but one more couldn’t hurt. It was the entire reason for our trip, after all.

  I placed the folder on the plastic tablecloth and opened it, scanning over my dad’s research, which was confusing, at best. All I knew was that we were looking for a demon named Art, and I was pretty sure he was my relative. Maybe Art would know why my dad thought I was in danger. Danger that might have had nothing to do with the psychotic ghost of my grandmother.

  Lucy and Allison only had one week off school for Spring Break, so we were making a mad dash all the way down to Nevada, taking turns driving throughout the day.

  I heard footsteps behind me, then turned to see Allison and Lucy approaching. Of course they’d made Chase wait inside for the food. Lucy placed what looked like iced tea in front of me, then sat with her own drink. She flipped her long, black braid over her shoulder, eyeing the folder on the table.

  Allison reached in front of me from the other side and shut the folder as she sat, sipping her drink through a plastic straw. “No more brooding over the info, Xoe. We’ll find Art and we’ll get some real answers.”

  “If we can find Art,” I sighed.

  If he’d lived in the underground, like most demons, we could have easily found Art with Sam’s help, but he’d left over one hundred years ago, according to what little information Sam had been able to find. Why he left was anyone’s guess. He had to have at least a small amount of human blood to leave at all, but that didn’t tell me much. There were plenty of half-demons in the world.

  Lucy reached over and patted Alexius, who panted happily beside my chair. “Maybe Alexius can sniff him out,” she said, grinning down at the dog. She’d bonded much more with Alexius than Allison had.

  Allison snorted, then pushed her chin-length, honey blonde hair out of her face. “Yeah, maybe the dog will be good for something after all.”

  Case in point. Allison had more snide comments for Alexius than she had for me, which was really saying something.

  “He’s good for plenty of things,” I argued, takin
g my turn at patting Alexius’ head.

  “Like what?” Allison asked. Not waiting for my answer, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse to rapidly type a text.

  I looked down at Alexius’ happy face and felt an odd mixture of love and sadness. He’d been there the last time I saw my dad, in the spirit world, and had been my comfort in coming to terms with never seeing him again. In many ways, the dog felt like the last piece of my father I had left.

  “He’s good at being my buddy,” I joked, “and that’s good enough for me.”

  Allison sighed and continued texting. Probably talking to Max, who had not been pleased that he couldn’t come on our trip. I needed him on another task. It was too soon to entirely abandon my new werewolf pack members, Emma and Siobhan, not that Siobhan really cared. Devin had stayed in Shelby to babysit, and had demanded that at least two other pack members remain behind. Since I wanted Lucy to come more than anyone, Lela and Max were chosen as co-babysitters.

  I turned my attention away from Alexius to find Lucy leafing through a text book.

  “Hey no homework!” Allison chided, staring at Lucy. “It’s Spring Break.”

  Lucy glanced up from her textbook and rolled her eyes. “Some of us want to get into a good college.”

  Allison frowned and did her signature hair-flip, which was less effective with her now-short hair. “Or you could just stay in Shelby and go to community college with me.”

  “PSU is only an hour away,” Lucy argued. “We could both go and carpool together.”

  I leaned back in my seat. “Ah for the days where problems were as simple as deciding what college to attend,” I mused out loud.

  “Oh come on,” Allison said, turning her honey-brown gaze to me. “I’d much rather be worrying about the vampire blood in my system and a demon-ey mystery than college.”

  Lucy scowled. “Way to be blunt, Allison.”

  “It’s fine,” I sighed.

  Allison was only telling the truth. In all likelihood the vampire blood Jason and Chase had slipped me before I died in the dream world would have no effect. I’d been brought back to life, after all. Chase and my dad had done the same job the vampire blood would have done, except without the added effect of becoming a vampire. Could a demon even become a vampire? I hoped to never find out the answer to that question.

  “It’s not too late to consider college yourself,” Lucy added, turning her gaze to me. “Once you take your GED you can start applying.”

  I shook my head. “No thanks. It’s a demon’s life for me.”

  “See?” Allison said. “Your life is totally better than mine.”

  “If you say so,” I laughed.

  Allison was still hell-bent on becoming something other than human. I understood her feeling left out since her two best friends were a werewolf and a demon, and her boyfriend a werewolf too, but I still didn’t agree with her. Luckily no one in my pack was willing to make her a wolf, nor was Jason willing to make her a vampire.

  The smell of fried food preceded Chase’s arrival. He placed a tray on the table filled with baskets of french fries, two burgers, chicken strips, and a grilled cheese with a ridiculous amount of pickles on the side. He removed the grilled cheese plate and placed it in front of me.

  “You really do know the way to my heart,” I commented, looking down at the exact meal I would have wanted had I thought to ask for it.

  He smiled as he took his burger plate. “Or at least the way to your stomach.”

  Lucy took the other burger plate, and Allison the chicken.

  Alexius whined, and we all turned as one to look at Allison.

  She glared at us.

  “You know Alexius loves chicken strips,” I pressed.

  She bowed her head in defeat, then handed me one of her chicken strips to feed to the dog. “And you guys wonder why I don’t like him,” she muttered.

  Alexius didn’t seem to catch her rude comment, and gladly accepted the chicken strip.

  The rest of us dug into our food. Just four normal friends and a dog on a road trip. Anyone looking at us wouldn’t think twice.

  If only they knew the truth.

  Chapter Two

  The next morning we reached our destination. At least, I hoped it was our destination. We only had a single address to go on from my dad’s files, marked Art?.

  “Wow,” Allison muttered as we drove through the bland streets of Spring Valley, Nevada, “this is bleak.”

  “Tell me about it,” I muttered, wishing Art had chosen a nicer place to take up residence. Not that it was a rundown area or anything, but the closely placed residences, lacking in surrounding vegetation save random prickly shrubs or cacti, were nothing like what we were used to seeing in Shelby, Oregon.

  My phone’s GPS directed us past nicer houses with identically landscaped front yards, then past some storage buildings, all the way to a small RV park. The park was mostly full, undoubtedly due to spring weather, the ungodly heat I’d heard so much about yet to set in. Hopefully it would stay temperate for our entire trip. None of us Pacific Northwesterners faired well in the heat.

  “This is it,” Chase said, holding my phone up in front of his face.

  He’d put on his normal jeans and flannel that morning, which I had a feeling he’d soon regret. Just because we wouldn’t be around for the hundred plus temperatures, didn’t mean it wouldn’t still be hot. The rest of us were in shorts and lightweight teeshirts, baring our pasty legs to the Southwestern sun. Of course, Lucy wasn’t really pasty. She looked just fine in shorts even though her olive legs rarely saw the sun.

  I pulled the car into the last space left in the small parking area in front of the lobby, then glanced at Chase. “That paper doesn’t say anything about which trailer we’re looking for, does it?”

  Chase lifted the paper from my dad’s file from his lap and looked it over. “Nope, just the address. Maybe we can ask in the lobby if anyone named Art is registered.”

  I shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

  I shut off the engine and we all exited the car. Lucy and Allison stayed outside with Alexius while Chase and I approached the front office, which was actually just a small mobile home with the words Office tacked above the front door. Floral curtains shielded the windows amidst the white siding of the structure, and a barbecue rested out front beside two lounge chairs. Cozy. Kind of. It would have been nicer if the whole lot wasn’t composed of red dirt that would stain anything it touched, including the bottom edges of the mobile homes and RVs. I was glad my sneakers were already well worn and stained with dirt, else I might have feared their demise.

  Chase stood silently beside me as I smoothed my hands over my blonde ponytail, hoping I looked moderately presentable, then knocked on the door.

  A moment later, it swung inward, revealing a man in his mid-sixties, wearing a short-sleeved pastel plaid shirt, khaki shorts, leather loafers with tassels, and a wide, friendly smile.

  Lucy suddenly appeared by my other side, as if by magic. Or werewolf speed.

  I turned my head to her. She stared at the man. Following her gaze, I saw the man’s smile slowly melt from his face. Alexius barked behind us. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Allison gripping his leash back by the car as he struggled against her.

  “He’s a werewolf,” Lucy muttered, drawing my attention back to her.

  “And so are you,” the man replied quietly, his blue eyes trained on Lucy.

  “So, ah,” I began, “Can you tell me if anyone named Art is currently staying here?”

  He continued to stare at Lucy, ignoring me. “You shouldn’t be traveling without your pack,” he growled at her. “Someone might think you’re a rogue and . . . eliminate you.”

  “I’m with my pack leader,” she growled back, nodding toward me.

  The man turned his glare to me, making me wonder if his previous friendliness had only been my imagination. “You’re not a wolf.”

  “How very observant of you,” I replied. “We’re looking
for a man named Art.”

  “I’m not looking to become a part of any demon business,” he replied.

  My eyes widened. Had he recognized my scent? Any wolf who’d been in previous contact with a demon would recognize it, but demons were a little more rare than werewolves. Most werewolves would go their entire lives without meeting someone with enough demon blood to smell different. Maybe he’d gotten to know the smell from Art.

  “Well if you tell me where Art is,” I countered, “we will gladly leave you alone.”

  He flicked his gaze back to Lucy. “I’m going to have to report your illegal presence.”

  Lucy sighed. “I told you, I’m with my pack leader. Leaders don’t have to declare their presence in a new state, and they can bring an entourage of up to three wolves.”

  He seemed confused.

  I rolled my eyes. I didn’t exactly want to alert Art or anyone else of my presence, but I also needed to find Art, and I had a feeling our new friend wouldn’t take kindly to Lucy sniffing around the trailers for demon scent. “My name is Xoe Meyers,” I explained. “I’m the leader of the Shelby, Oregon pack, and I’m completely within my rights to be here. In fact, I believe I’m completely within my rights to demand answers from you, unless you yourself are a pack leader.”

  His eyes widened, and suddenly fear replaced hostility in his expression. “I’ll tell you whatever you need to know, just please don’t report me to Abel. I know you and him are close.”

  I sighed, but didn’t correct him. I wouldn’t call my relationship with Abel close, but it didn’t hurt to have all the wolves in the Western United States thinking I was in good with the Alpha of the entire district. Okay, so I was in good with him, but not by choice. He’d even given me an ugly braided bracelet that signified his protection. Should any wolf attack me, they’d be answering to Abel. The man before us eyed that bracelet now.