Magic, New Mexico Boxset books 1-3

Chapter 6-2

Lacey pulled into the rounded driveway in front of her modest home and groaned. Both of her sisters were standing on the front porch, their hands on their hips. She grimaced as she saw Samantha’s tight, worried face and Joanna’s anxious one. Both expressions seemed to have become a permanent fixture on their faces since Sean’s death.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t died, you know,” Lacey muttered under her breath.

The faintest hint of a cool breeze and the light movement of her hair was the only sign that let her know that Sean was with her. She had been having a one-sided argument with him all the way to Theo’s and half the way back as she tried to explain WHY she had taken the other male to Theo and dropped him off.

“It’s not happening!” she whispered in a furious voice as she opened the door to her Jeep. “I don’t care that you think I should move on. I’m happy the way I am.”

“Lacey!” Joanna cried out as she ran down the steps. “What happened?”

“What is it? The horses and mule warned us that something bad happened. Poor Ginger is beside herself and your house is a mess,” Samantha added anxiously. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m alright. I sent the horses and mule to the pasture. They were scared to death and now I know why. At least I think I do,” Lacey said, reaching over and grabbing the container off the passenger seat. She turned and held it up with a sigh. “Houston, I think we might have a little problem.”

Both women gaped at the tiny creature that was snarling and scraping at the sides. They nodded and stepped aside as Lacey slammed the door to the Jeep before following her as she walked up the steps to her house. The only thing she had time to fix before she took the other male to Theo was the front door.

With a wave of her hand, it flew open. As she stepped inside, a flash of golden fur rushed past her, Sam and Joanna. Little Bit had escaped from the barn again.

Lacey walked over and set the container down on the small side table next to Alfred, who was suddenly twice the size of the creature who had eaten him earlier. With a tired sigh, she turned and collapsed on the couch, folding her arms across her stomach as she let her eyes roam over her destroyed living room. She was too tired to fix the mess right now. Sam must have felt her fatigue because she whispered to Joanna and within minutes, her house was back to its usual pristine shape.

Lacey turned her gaze to stare at the creature as it paced back and forth in the container. The negative energy it was putting out was enough to power the farm as far as she was concerned. There was no way she was letting it out. She felt like a fool for thinking the twins had created something like this. Hell, Larry was a sweetheart of a lizard. He would never have tried to kill her, even if he was the size of a small car.

“So, what is that?” Sam asked with a look of distaste. “It looks… pretty gross.”

“Lacey, I hate to tell you this, but it is really putting off some bad karma,” Joanna said with a wince as the creature ran his sharp, but tiny claws, against the thick plastic. “I also think a double insulated bowl would be safer.”

With a slight wiggle of her nose, Joanna added the layer. Lacey glanced at her younger sister and smiled her thanks. Joanna was the quiet, more cautious sister out of the three of them. Turning her attention back to Sam, she struggled for a few seconds on how to phrase what she was thinking without her sisters thinking she was crazy. She opened her mouth, but a brilliant flash had her snapping it shut as Topper suddenly appeared next to the doorway to the kitchen.

“Well, I have to say that my premonition was right on target again,” Topper announced with a happy clap of her hands. “Where is the little bugger?”

“I think you mean alien,” Lacey suggested drily. “And, how did you know he was little now?”

“I thought you were in Bermuda,” Sam muttered before turning to stare at Lacey in disbelief. “You mean like in out-of-this world alien? Or that it just looks like an alien?”

“I was,” Topper replied, ignoring Lacey’s suspicious look as she picked up the small container and shook it. “Nasty little piece, isn’t he?”

“She was,” Joanna said at the same time as Topper. “And I think Lacey meant the out-of-this-world kind.”

Lacey leaned her head back against the couch cushion. Her eyebrow rose as Topper snapped her fingers. A huge magnifying glass with a long oak handle suddenly appeared. She turned her gaze to Sam and Joanna, who came to stand closer so they could see the details of the creature Lacey had captured.

“Translate universal,” Topper muttered with a tap on the lid.

The creature inside roared in outrage as he fell to his knees, grabbing his head as the spell took hold. She almost wished she hadn’t put the three holes in the top of the lid for ventilation. Perhaps it would have been better to just suffocate the thing. The problem was she didn’t have it in her to kill another living being.

“I am going to kill each of you,” the creature threatened as he struggled to his feet. “I’ll drain your blood and snap your bones as I pull the flesh from them.”

“Wow, someone has delusions of grandeur,” Joanna whispered.

“Especially considering we could make fish food out of him,” Sam replied, peering through the container. “So, what are you?”

“I am Taar, female,” the male replied. “My name will be the one on your lips as I pull you apart.”

Sam’s lips twitched at the threat. It might have been a little more intimidating if the creature wasn’t slightly larger than a stick of gum. She glanced at Lacey, who laid her head back again with a roll of her eyes.

“How long will the spell last?” Sam asked.

“Until I release him,” Lacey murmured, closing her eyes. “There was another one as well.”

“Another…. Where is he?” Joanna asked, nervously looking around.

“Oh, not like him, Joanna dear. Just another alien. That one is a law man like Theo,” Topper replied, setting the container back down on the table and fanning herself. “He’s a looker! Sean sent him to Lacey.”

Lacey’s eyes popped open and she glared at her aunt. Fury burned in the soft brown depths. She was so not going there. She was done with love. It hurt far too much.

“No, he did not. Sean is gone! There is no way he could have sent him,” Lacey retorted hotly, pushing up off the couch. “Besides, how do you know that the other alien didn’t look like him? And just to clarify, he wasn’t all that good looking. He was… he was too tall and… big!”

“Lacey,” Sam started to say, pausing as tears began to glitter in her younger sister’s eyes.

“NO!” Lacey interrupted impatiently, wiping at her eyes. “I just want everyone to leave me in peace. I don’t need anyone else. I have the animals here at the shelter and that is all I need. I don’t want another man in my life. I don’t need another man; human, alien, or anything else.”