To her surprise, Alex just laughed and shook his head. “Not thinking very clearly, are you, Matías? Your whole plan revolves around getting your hands on Zoe. Without her, what’re you going to do? You kind of shut the doors behind you in California when you nailed the prima’s daughter.”
Hate glittered in Matías’ eyes. “Fuck you, pendejo.”
“That the best you can do? It’s over, Matías. At this point, about all you can hope for is mercy from all the clans you’ve insulted — although I’d say the odds of that are pretty low, considering you’ve managed to get the McAllisters, the Wilcoxes, and the de la Pazes against you all at the same time.” Still smiling slightly, he added, “Actually, that’s quite an accomplishment. All three of the Arizona clans in one fell swoop? I’ve never heard of anyone else who managed that kind of feat.”
Caitlin listened, aghast. Just what the hell was Alex doing? He had no idea how volatile Matías was, how he couldn’t be trusted to react like a normal person. All he had to do was stick that knife into Zoe’s side, and then where would they be? Caitlin was no healer, and she’d never heard of healers being able to treat themselves. Also, she’d seen the dark magic the warlock was able to summon. Maybe it wouldn’t work without the ritual circle, but still —
Scowl deepening, Matías said, “You might want to shut your mouth, cabron. Unless you want me to make a hole in this little puta’s gut.”
“Puta!” Zoe flashed, her temper obviously getting the better of her common sense. “I’ll puta you, you asshole!”
One Doc Marten–clad foot came down squarely on his toes, and Matías swore. But Zoe had gotten him off-balance enough that she wrested her arm from his grasp and came running toward Caitlin and Alex. Now just a yard away — a couple of feet.
Then Zoe let out a howl of pain, and Caitlin saw that Matías had reached out and grabbed a hank of the girl’s long hair as it streamed behind her. A grin of triumph pulled at his mouth as he began to drag her back toward him.
“Alex, do something,” Caitlin pleaded. It was fine to stand here and know that Matías could do them no harm, but Zoe would be lost to them after all if they didn’t take swift action. And as much as Caitlin wanted to burst out of there and go running to the other girl’s aid, she knew even the two of them together probably wouldn’t be enough to overcome the dark warlock.
Beside her, Alex shifted, gritted his teeth, and then raised his hands. She didn’t know what he was doing…she didn’t even know if he knew what he was doing. Not exactly. He made a pushing motion, as if he was shoving against an invisible force. Around them, the dome shivered, pulsed, and then exploded forward in a flash of light, seeming to pass harmlessly over Zoe but knocking Matías back against the Fiat, where his head slammed into one of the rear windows with a crack! Caitlin both saw and felt.
He slid to the ground, unconscious…at least, she thought he must be, as he was limp and not moving. Zoe stopped in mid-flight, pink-glossed lips open in a round “O,” as if she still hadn’t quite processed what was happening.
And then Alex was moving, going over to where Matías lay. Caitlin jogged along behind him, not because she thought she could do anything to help, but more because she wanted to confirm for herself that the warlock really wasn’t about to get up again any time soon.
“Is he…?” she began, as Alex stopped and laid a couple of fingers against Matías’ throat.
At once Alex shook his head. “He’s alive. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not.” He glanced past her to his cousin. “Zoe, are you okay?”
She put her hand up to the back of her head. “Well, I’m lucky that pendejo didn’t snatch me bald-headed, but other than that, I’m all right.”
Caitlin glanced past the car, saw that there were a few people at the end of the row shooting curious glances in their direction. All she could do was hope they hadn’t seen Alex’s last display, had only caught a glimpse of what looked like an altercation over a girl between a couple of guys in a parking lot. Otherwise, they’d have a lot of explaining to do.
“Hey!” she heard Miguel shout, and she looked over her shoulder to see him and Jack Sandoval approaching, Tomas and Jorge in tow, a bewildered Danica trailing along behind them. What they’d done to subdue the two other warlocks, Caitlin had no idea, but they both looked cowed, marching along meekly in front of their captors and keeping their eyes firmly locked on the ground so they wouldn’t have to look at anyone…especially not their fallen ringleader. And Danica only stood there, hand to her mouth as she stared down at Matías’ limp form.