Protector(65)

Alex still looked pretty grim, but at last he nodded. “All right. Obviously, these ‘feelings’ of yours are a little more than just that. I’ll let my mother know.”

“Thanks, Alex.”

To Caitlin’s surprise, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Gently, but even so, that delicious warmth curled low in her belly again.

She’d definitely been right when she said he was distracting. Too, too distracting.



* * *



Just as Alex had expected, his mother’s reaction was not exactly encouraging

“You want to do what?”

“Go and talk to Simón Santiago. If these are his warlocks — and I think they must be, because they’re sure not any of ours — then he should know something that would help us find them. We need to, mamita,” he added, trying not to sound too desperate. “What they’re doing to those girls…it’s bad. Very bad.” And please, God, let her not ask me for any details….

Whether she’d picked up on his urgent desire to avoid discussing exactly what Matías & Co. were doing to Danica and Roslyn, or whether she was preoccupied enough with her own troubles that she didn’t have the energy to go into any more details, Alex didn’t know for certain. But his mother sighed, then said, sounding very tired, “All right. I’ll get his address from your grandmother’s book and email it to you.”

“Thanks so much, Mom.”

Her tone sharpened as she replied, “You be respectful, Alex. Simón has perhaps let things get out of hand the past few years, but he is still the consort of the Santiagos’ prima. What has happened to Caitlin’s friends is terrible, yes. However, their current situation is none of his doing. Keep that in mind.”

Alex wasn’t sure he entirely agreed with that. All right, it wasn’t as if Simón had told the rogue warlocks to come to de la Paz territory and wreak as much havoc as possible. Even so, if Simón had been more vigilant, he might have seen the cancer growing within his own clan and taken steps to counteract it. If he even could, that is. He’d been more or less running things for years, ever since his wife became an invalid, but Alex was a bit fuzzy on how that exactly worked. Simón wasn’t a primus, but a consort, and so didn’t have access to his wife’s powers. Not precisely, anyway.

“I will,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about us. We’ll be extremely diplomatic.”

“Oh, I worry,” his mother told him. “I worry a lot. But I can’t leave Maya’s side, and if there’s even the slightest chance that Simón might have information that could be helpful, then it’s best you should go. I have to hope that he’ll see you, the grandson of our prima, going to him in person as a sign of respect. This is not the sort of thing that can be handled by a phone call.”

That angle hadn’t occurred to him. But his mother knew far more about inter-clan politics than he did. She had to, as the prima-in-waiting.

He just worried that she might not be waiting for much longer.

But he didn’t give voice to his worries. Instead, he thanked her again, said that he and Caitlin planned to head out very soon, and hung up before his mother could throw any roadblocks their way. Maybe it was crazy to be leaving for such a drive with the day half over, but Caitlin kept insisting there wasn’t a moment to lose. They’d get into Pasadena at almost ten o’clock, far too late to go see Simón. No, that visit would have to take place in the morning. If it was fruitful, though, they could get back on the road immediately afterward and be in Tucson by dinnertime.

That was assuming everything went according to plan. A pretty big assumption, he knew, but they had to start somewhere.

His phone chirped, indicating he had a new email. He opened up the message and saw that it was from his mother. Simón’s address. Perfect.

Caitlin had been waiting in the family room, pretending to watch TV. As soon as he entered, however, she turned off the television and looked up at him expectantly.

“I’ve got it,” he said. “I’ll program the route into Siri, but it would probably be easier if I went hotel-hunting on my laptop. Come on.”

She followed him into his office, where his MacBook sat on the desk. He opened it up, went to a booking website, then found a few prospects not too far from where Simón’s house was located. Since Alex had never been to California, all the streets and districts were unfamiliar to him. As far as he could tell, though, it was only a mile or so from Pasadena’s downtown section to the Santiago house.

The hotel room — he flicked a glance over his shoulder at Caitlin, who stood a few feet away. “Two rooms?” he asked. Just because they’d kissed once, it didn’t seem as if he should presume as to their sleeping arrangements.