* * *
“I hate this,” Angela said. They were all gathered in the living room of Maya’s home, waiting for Miguel and Jack to show up with the three warlocks in tow. The McAllister prima had declined a seat and was pacing nervously in front of the fireplace. “I didn’t sign up to be judge and jury and executioner all at the same time.”
Connor had been standing nearby, and he came over and took her hands in his, thus making her stop her nervous pacing. Seeing them together, Alex couldn’t help experiencing a twinge of jealousy. Not because he wanted to be with Angela; he knew Caitlin was the girl of his heart, even if circumstances did seem to be conspiring to keep them apart. It was just that Connor and Angela seemed so right together, so comfortable with one another. She held her husband’s hands and looked up into his eyes, and her entire frame seemed to relax slightly.
The last time Alex had seen her, Angela had been just a girl, slightly too thin and nearly pretty, without a lot of confidence in herself. Now she was still slender but had filled out, and some sort of alchemy had turned the half-pretty girl he’d met into a very lovely woman. Was that a consequence of being with Connor, or would Angela have turned out that way no matter what?
Alex supposed it didn’t matter at this point. She wasn’t destined to be his, and the woman he did want, who sat on the sofa on the other side of the room, sandwiched between her parents, might as well have been on the moon for all he could reach her. Tricia McAllister had her daughter’s same rich copper hair, although with a few streaks of gray around her face, and normally she probably would have been a very pretty woman. Now, though, she was frowning, her mouth set. On the other side of their daughter, Richard McAllister, tall and brown-haired, looked equally as grim. It didn’t seem as if either of them was too concerned about Angela’s scruples regarding Matías’ punishment.
Apparently there had been some talk about the other McAllister elders coming down with them, but then the Wilcoxes would have had to send envoys as well. It also sounded as if Marie had wanted to put in her two cents regarding the situation, although since she hadn’t really been that much help in locating Roslyn and Danica, Alex didn’t much see the point of Marie being present. In the end, though, it had been decided that the three clan leaders — Angela and Connor and Luz — would handle the situation. Just as well, Alex reflected, since the living room was already crowded enough, what with Caitlin’s parents and his own father being there, too.
Danica’s parents had come down with the rest of the contingent, but had collected their daughter and continued on to Tucson so they could retrieve whatever of her things were still left at the condo, along with the Land Rover that had been parked there since the girls first arrived in Tucson. They’d looked shaken when they saw their daughter’s condition firsthand, but they hadn’t wanted to stay to see punishment meted out.
“It’s better if I don’t see those bastards in person,” Joseph Wilcox had growled. “Because otherwise I’d be tempted to wring their necks.”
Now, Connor shook his head. “I don’t think any of us signed up for this,” he told Angela. “Problem is, we have to deal with it, one way or another.”
“I know.” She looked past him to Luz. “I don’t suppose you have any advice?”
“None beyond what I’ve already given you.” Dressed in a black sheath dress, her hair in a low bun on the back of her neck, Alex’s mother looked more composed than she had the day before, but still tired. He hoped that after Matías and his cronies were taken care of, she might finally have the time to grieve for her mother.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Angela said. She fidgeted with the pendant she wore, a pretty thing of turquoise and what looked like smoky quartz. Unlike Luz, she was wearing jeans, but with a simple wrap top and boots. Too heavy for Phoenix weather, really, but they’d come straight down from Flagstaff.
A knock came at the door. “I’ll get it,” Alex said. It made sense. He was closest. And anyway, he was curious to see how the three warlocks had fared while being watched over by Miguel and Jack.
When he opened the door, he noticed at once that, besides the two men he’d been expecting, his cousin Oscar stood outside as well. Oscar de la Paz was a detective with the Tucson P.D., and Alex didn’t have to think too hard about why his other cousins would have enlisted Oscar’s help.
As for the three captured warlocks, well, they weren’t looking all that good. Tomas and Jorge seemed to have shrunk in height, and still seemed to be unable to meet anyone’s eyes directly. Matías did stare angrily at Alex, but the effect was marred by the two black eyes he was currently sporting. Whether they were a result of smacking into Zoe’s car, or whether one or more of his captors had decided he needed a little roughing-up, Alex didn’t know for sure. Either way, Matías wasn’t in any condition to be attracting any more unsuspecting females.