Page 23 of Dream Weaver (Spellbound in Sedona #3)

ABBY

We were both silent on the hike back to the car. Not that I’d expected Cooper to be chatty in bear form.

I wedged his boots under one arm and shook out his shirt, releasing a cloud of orange dust. We’d found his jeans — or what was left of them after his rapid shift — tangled in a bush, and I carried those scraps too.

So, it was a damn good thing we didn’t meet anyone else on the trail. What would they think of a woman and a bear toddling along?

And, wow. It wasn’t often a girl got an escort like that . Cooper’s massive shoulders swung as he walked, and his fur glinted under the sun. The upper half of his body was golden-brown, his legs tree-trunk brown — and about as thick. His paw prints were the size of plates, and where they overlapped with my footprints, well…goodbye footprint.

Whoever came along the trail next would have a field day with that .

But that was the thing — we didn’t meet a soul, despite the popularity of this trail. A few hardy souls usually trekked out to Devil’s Rock for sunset, and by noon, dozens of visitors crowded the place. Had Liselle — if she was the one responsible for the storm — spelled the area in a way to keep people away too?

I sniffed the air. Cooper kept his nose to the ground, vacuuming up scents.

“Anyone you recognize?” I asked.

I took his grumble as a yes.

“Liselle — or Lisa, I mean?”

Another grumble.

“Jay too?” I asked.

Cooper’s eyes shone with pure hate, and he showed his teeth.

Yep. Jay had been here, all right. But what the hell was he doing with Liselle?

Back at the car, I fished the car key out of Cooper’s jeans pocket. Then he shifted, and I froze, mesmerized by the sight.

My mother was a dragon shifter, and watching her shift — the few times I had — was mind-blowing, to say the least. Because, well… Wings. Leathery hide. Sharp teeth. In comparison, Cooper’s shift — from one type of mammal to another — was less abrupt. More…natural, if that was the word. The air around him shimmered, his fur thinned, and his body morphed gracefully. One minute, he was down on all fours, and the next, he was human and rising up to two feet.

Naked, too.

My eyes drifted down, and it was all I could do to jerk them back up. But, heck. That was a mighty fine man there, and he’d just been a bear. I could be excused for ogling a bit.

I handed him his shirt as casually as I could.

“Thanks.” His voice was low and growly. A sign of emotion or an aftereffect of his shift?

I nodded quietly. Keeping hold of his shirt during the storm had been a challenge, but there was no way I was going to let the wind rip it away. Not a shirt that had belonged to his brother.

“Sure,” I murmured as he pulled it over his head. A damn shame, because I’d been enjoying the view.

He grimaced at the remnants of his jeans, then gave up on them and tugged on his boots. Then he looked down at himself and sighed.

“Great.”

It did make for an unusual sight — a grown man wearing nothing but boots and a flannel shirt that barely covered his rear, let alone his, er…front.

“I don’t know,” I tried a joke. “It’s kind of cute.”

“Cute?” he protested.

“Adorable, even.”

“Exactly the look I was going for,” he grumbled, swinging into the driver’s seat.

Did I peek at the prime vista that afforded? Yes, I did. How could I resist?

He turned on the engine, then the wipers. That sort of backfired, though, because the wiper fluid turned the thick layer of dust into orange sludge.

“Great,” Cooper griped as the mud swished back and forth, back and forth.

A few more squirts cleared the glass — mostly — and we started cruising toward town.

“Didn’t you say Liselle wasn’t all that powerful?” he asked after the first dusty mile.

“I did. And she’s not.”

“Then what was that?” He jerked a thumb behind us, more an indication of time than place.

I mulled it over. “Three possibilities. One, I was wrong, and she’s more powerful than I thought.”

Cooper’s eyes flashed. “Let’s hope not.”

“Two,” I continued, “she wasn’t that powerful, but now she is.”

“How?”

I tossed my shoulders in a frustrated shrug. “By siphoning power from the vortexes, maybe.”

“With the stolen ax?”

“Maybe.” My frown deepened, because we hadn’t only found ax marks. There’d been ashes too. “Or with fire, or both.” Then I cursed.

Cooper swung his head around, and it was such an echo of the same move in bear form that my mind went blank. The guy behind the wheel of the vehicle could turn into a bear. Make that, the guy I’d slept with.

The thought terrified as much as it thrilled.

Then my brain got back into gear, and I picked up where I’d left off.

“Liselle wanted a brazier. A portable one,” I said.

Cooper’s jaw went hard. “Not just to barbecue, I take it.”

I shook my head slowly. “I think not.”

“Does that mean she can’t make fire?”

“You mean, like a pyromancer?” I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“Just wondering,” he muttered.

Just wondering, my ass. What was he thinking?

Cooper went painfully quiet, and when he finally spoke, his voice was gruff. “What’s option three?”

I bit my lip, not sure if I liked it any better than the other two.

“That Liselle wasn’t the one kicking up that dust storm — or, at least, not alone.”

His face clouded. “Another witch?”

“Or warlock.”

“Great,” Cooper muttered again. Then he sighed. “Who else around here is capable of kicking up lightning, thunder, and a dust storm?”

Other than my sister and Mike, who couldn’t possibly be responsible? “I don’t kn—” I started, then froze.

Cooper tensed, waiting.

“Months ago, the ranch was attacked by a warlock,” I said. “Harlon Greene. Lightning, thunder, the works.” I flicked my fingers to illustrate.

And, yikes. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Cooper stared at my hands, and I did too. Cause and effect or coincidence?

I stuck my hands under my thighs as he drove on. “Where were we?”

“Harlon Greene,” Cooper said a little hoarsely.

Right. “He was after our ranch.”

“You mean, to develop it?”

My mind spun. Development. Edelweiss Corporation. Could Harlon be involved? I made a mental note to ask Ingo. Then I replied to Cooper.

“Yes and no. Harlon wanted access to the vortexes there.”

“Vortexes?” Cooper’s tone stressed the plural.

I nodded stiffly. This was not going well.

“What happened?” Cooper finally asked.

I skipped over some of the details, like Erin throwing lightning bolts with help from Pippa and me, and said, “Harlon was arrested by the ADMSA and submitted to a restraining spell that overrides his powers.”

“For how long?” Cooper demanded.

“Forever, I assumed,” I said.

In truth, I’d never looked into the details. I pulled out my phone and dialed Ingo again, then cursed. Still no answer.

And no end to the questions in my mind. Was Harlon back and at full power? Was he involved with Liselle?

“Given that the lucky ax is missing…” Cooper started, then trailed off. After a heavy pause, he continued. “So…I’m about to say something you might not want to hear.”

I waited, digging my nails into the seat.

“You need to be real careful using magic if you don’t know exactly what it’s capable of.”

I gulped. He had a point there.

“I do. I will. I mean, I’ll try,” I stammered.

Which pretty much summed up my problem, didn’t it?

Cooper looked at me, and I looked at my feet.

Silence settled over us, so thick and heavy, it pressed over my body.

A few minutes later, we turned onto the main road, and not long after, Cooper pulled over in a supermarket parking lot. All the vehicles parked there were covered with a layer of dust. A young guy walked up to his van and shook his head, then drew a smiley face in the rear window. Another person cleared their windshield with an ice scraper. We watched them in silence.

Finally, Cooper spoke. “Well, you did a good job fighting off whoever was responsible for that storm.”

I looked at my feet, proud but frightened too. “I have no idea how.”

A little like the lucky fire ax, I supposed.

Chills went down my back. What if I was inadvertently throwing magic around? What if others could capitalize on that somehow?

And, shit. There was a very thin line between inadvertent and negligent . What would the ADMSA have to say about that?

Cooper looked at me. “No idea at all?”

I shook my head. “No. Metal, fire — I can work with those. But not weather.”

“And yet, you stopped the storm.”

I closed my eyes, trying to replay what I’d instinctively done. “All I did was deflect it for a little while.”

He snorted. “That’s ‘all,’ huh?”

My shoulders sagged. I prayed Cooper wouldn’t ask me how I’d done that deflecting, because I wasn’t sure. I’d just acted on instinct.

The upholstery of the pickup’s front seat squeaked as Cooper leaned over and slid an arm across my shoulders.

“Sorry.” He tipped his head against mine. “Not accusing. Just trying to understand.”

I laced my fingers through his and held on tightly, praying all this magic wouldn’t drive him away.

My phone rang, and I grabbed it, eager to hear from Ingo.

But it wasn’t Ingo calling. It was Claire.

“Hi, Mommy!”

Rays of sunshine illuminated my soul, and my heart fluttered on angel’s wings.

“Hi, sweetie! Did you have a good night?” I asked.

Cooper looked over with a faint smile.

“The best!” Claire launched into a detailed description of everything she’d done on her sleepover at Twin Moon Ranch.

“Wow… Great… Amazing…” I interjected at appropriate intervals.

A few syllables from someone like Jay could ruin my day, but a few words from Claire made me an optimist again.

Then Claire launched into a long, feverish sales pitch about why she really, really ought to be allowed to stay one more night. Apparently, Twin Moon Ranch had an old-time covered wagon, and all the kids were going on an outing that day.

“Please, Mommy. Please?” Claire pleaded.

Wow. A covered wagon? As in, pioneers? I’d never gotten to ride in a covered wagon. I’d never gotten to do a lot of things. All the more reason to say yes now, no matter how much I would miss her.

Claire passed the phone to Lana, her host “mother” for the night.

“It’s no trouble, really,” Lana assured me. “The girls are having a great time, and we can bring Claire home tomorrow — Sunday.” She chuckled. “I’m sure you can use a day off.”

A day off was fine. And another night with Cooper…

A gutter cut through the parking lot, and my dirty mind jumped right into it.

Oh yes. I had a few ideas on how to fill the time.

My cheeks heated, and I exhaled upward, reminding myself to get real. We’d been ambushed by a gang of cougars and a dust storm. How could I think about getting down and dirty at a time like this?

But think, I did.

And honestly — was that so wrong? No one had ever made me feel so…special. Capable. Interesting. Was it crazy to want to dive in and paddle around that pool for a while?

“I guess I could,” I told Lana. After profuse thanks — and a last, quick chat with Claire, I hung up and stared at the phone.

Cooper had to have caught the gist of the conversation, though he didn’t say a word.

I’d never been shy when it came to speaking my mind, but for once, my tongue was hog-tied. Maybe because I’d never wanted to say something like, I have the rest of the day and the whole night off, and I’d really like to spend them with you .

And not just that, but I really like you.

I made a washing motion with my hands, then caught myself and stopped. Nervous raccoon was not an attractive look.

Or maybe it wasn’t so bad, because Cooper gently tugged my hands apart and clasped them in his.

“So, I was thinking…” he started.

My heart leaped, and I was all ears.

“Maybe we could—” he continued.

My phone rang, and I nearly groaned.

I fumbled with my phone. “Hello?”

“Abby? Are you okay?” It was Ingo, and he sounded worried.

Pippa echoed him in the background, and she sounded downright frantic.

“Yes, we’re fine,” I assured them. Then I glanced at Cooper, who nodded grimly. “But we need to talk. Now.”