“Buttercup? Is she related to you, Rose? Because I think I'm going to have to arrest her for assaulting a federal officer.” He aimed a stern look at Buttercup, who was patently unimpressed.
“It's Astrid,” she said defiantly. “And you can't arrest me for protecting the wildlife on my own property.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You also attacked a P-Ops agent on your own property. P-Ops is a division of the FBI, and both organizations frown on magical attacks on their agents.”
Rose walked up beside him and put a hand on his arm. “She didn't mean it; she's only fifteen, and she gets emotional about animal rights. She's been a vegetarian since she was six. Please don't arrest her.”
The worry that was apparent in Rose’s eyes sent a twinge of guilt through Alejandro. For some reason, he wanted to protect this woman, not add to her stress.
“I'm not going to arrest her, but she might not be as lucky with someone else in law enforcement. I just wanted to warn her about that.” He finally allowed the smile he'd been suppressing to show on his face. “I haven't sunk so low as to start arresting children.”
Rose blinked, and a hint of pink touched her cheeks. “I ... thank you. I'll have another talk with her about shooting energy balls at strangers.”
He laughed -- he couldn't help it. “You mean it's okay for her to shoot energy balls at friends? Family?”
Rose grinned back at him, and she shook her head. “You'd be surprised.”
Buttercup Astrid marched up to them, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “Are you going to stand around and flirt with the hot guy who tried to incinerate a helpless living creature in our garden?”
Rose spun around to face her sister and pointed an accusing finger first at Buttercup and then at Mac. “No, I'm not -- he's not -- forget it. What I'm trying to do, in case you haven't noticed, is restore the man that your helpless living creature turned into garden statuary.”
The irate teenager finally noticed the statue of Mac, and her mouth fell open. “Oh, boy, we're in trouble now.”
“That's what I'm afraid of,” Alejandro muttered. He turned to Rose and asked the question, even though he was afraid to hear the answer.
“Are you going to be able to fix this or not?”
“What have you done now? I can't leave you girls alone for five minutes.” The woman rushing down the garden path toward them looked a little like Alejandro's village wise woman. She had the same long white hair, the same flowing skirts, and the same expression of serene wisdom on her face, although it was apparent that her serenity had been shaken a little by the sight of the Mac-shaped statue in the garden.
Rose threw her hands in the air. “Mom, I'm not six years old anymore. I just had to stop Agent Vasquez from arresting Astrid, after she tried to incinerate him with one of her defective energy balls, after he tried to shoot the basilisk, after my potion didn't work on his partner. There, are you satisfied? Simple explanation.”
Rose's mother blinked, started to speak, and then blinked again.
“Concise, but not exactly simple,” Alejandro said. He extended his hand to Rose's mother. “Agent Alejandro Vasquez, ma'am. The statue is my partner Mac. One of the lizards -- basilisks got him, and Rose tells me she can bring him back.”
“Sue Cardinal,” she replied, looking a little dazed. “I still have no idea what's going on, but I'm used to that after more than twenty years with daughters.”
She turned to study Mac. “What have you done so far, Rose?”
Rose bit her lip. “Mom, the potion seems to be losing its potency. It took way too long to bring Bob back--”
“Bob? They got your cat? Is he okay?” This from Astrid, of course, who was far more concerned about the cat than about Alejandro's partner. Mac wasn't a helpless living creature in her eyes, after all.
Rose shot a distracted glance at her sister. “Yes, Bob is fine. But the potion took longer to work than it should, and then I used nine vials on agent Henson, and nothing at all happened.”
Sue's eyes narrowed, and Alejandro could all but see her brain working.
“How old is that potion? If you made it more than three days ago, it loses its potency. Any more than four days and it loses almost all viability,” Sue said.
Rose heaved a sigh of relief. “It has been almost four days. That's the problem, then. I can brew a new batch tonight, and we’ll have Mac back to himself tomorrow morning.”
Alejandro pinned first one, then the other, of them with his most serious P-Ops agent stare. “Can you guarantee it? Because if not, I have to report this to my field office right now. Dios, I should report it anyway, but I don't want this on Mac's record, after the--”