What’s New Pussycat(68)

As Dianna led Martine away, Derrick and Faith helped Max up off the floor, his cheek covered in blood from his crash into the wall. “Damn,” he muttered, rolling his head on his shoulders.

Derrick slapped him on the back, bumping shoulders with him. “Thanks, brother.”

“For a shitload of nothing,” he groaned. “What the hell happened?”

Um, yeah. What the hell had happened? One minute he was giving up his life to save Martine’s, the next he was alive and his mother was holding hands with the enemy.

Looking down at Faith, Derrick asked, “Explanation?”

Faith winced, wedging the tip of her fingernail between her teeth. “It’s going to involve me and what a nosy, interfering pest I am…”

Derrick rolled his tongue along the inside of his cheek. “Well, you did save my life. At least I’m assuming it was you who did this.” He pointed to the debris all around them and an unmoving Escobar.

Faith nodded, her dark hair singed at the ends and sticking up from the side of her head. “Guilty.”

“Seven hells, Mom,” he murmured gruffly, pulling Faith into his embrace and hugging her hard. “How in the hell did you know what to do to stop that?”

She chuckled against his shoulder. “The truth?”

“I’m almost afraid to say yes.”

“YouTube.”

“What?”

“YouTube. While you were both trying to convince everyone you were only in it for the death-sex—”

“Mom…” he warned on a groan, already feeling the sting of humiliation creep along his neck from knowing his mother knew about his deal with Martine.

“Oh, Derrick, don’t be silly,” she chastised him with a grin. “It’s not like I didn’t know what was going on. I have super ears. I knew all about your deal with Martine. Sometimes I can’t believe how ridiculous it is for you to think you can hide things from me. Anyway, while you were pretending you weren’t falling in love with Martine, JC and I did some research about witches and, more importantly, spells on YouTube, and I found an old, very dear friend who had a channel. I contacted this friend, and she gave me a crazy bag of herbs and voila.”

Derrick’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “Voila? Explain that, Mom.”

“When I found out Martine had been held captive by a warlock, and with the odd things going on back in Cedar Glen, like her almost abduction, I wanted to be prepared in case of an emergency. So I reunited with someone who shall remain nameless for her safety and asked her advice. My friend said likely Martine’s ability to use magic was alive and well inside her, but she’d chosen subconsciously to keep it dormant, and all we needed to do was give it a kick-start. You know, sort of like jumping a car?”

“Noted. So how did awakening her magic save me?”

“When your brother texted to tell me you were going to see Martine’s mother, I texted my…er, my friend. I described Martine and her situation and my friend made an obscure connection I thought was a real leap. But she knew exactly who Dianna was, and it turns out, she was spot on. Though no one had seen or heard from her in years—in the familiar world, Dianna and her family are legendary.”

Max nodded, running a hand over his healing jaw. “Right. The baddest familiar in the land.”

Faith punched a finger in the air. “Bingo! A familiar in hiding, no less, which I’m sure is what Dianna is explaining to Martine right now. Anyway, after I told her about Dianna and this spell Martine was under, I hoped she could help me break the hold Escobar had on her. I also told her all about this warlock. My friend knew all about him. Apparently all familiars know about him,” she scoffed with a tone full of distaste.

“That doesn’t explain how you knew exactly what to do to save me and Martine, Mom.”

She shrugged her shoulders but her eyes twinkled. “I, unlike you two, came prepared for every scenario. I brought a bag of tricks filled with lots of witchy goodness. In other words, I was loaded down for bear. Locked and loaded,” she added with an impish wink.

“And you found us how?”

“How I’ve always found you lot of unruly children. My nose. I followed you and Max to Dianna’s and then I followed you all here, and I listened to everything Escobar said and texted the information to my connection. Though, I’ll admit, when you offered up your life for Martine’s, it was all I could do not to rush in here and beg you not to do it. Don’t you ever do that to me again, Derrick Adams!”

Derrick gripped her hand, remorse on his face. “I’m sorry, but—”