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It was a much more relaxed evening than Marc had been expecting. Bree was friendly and low-key, and she didn’t seem to have any trouble accepting his status as Bellamy’s new boyfriend.

True, the two of them hadn’t said anything so definitive about their relationship, but he somehow knew that was where they stood…even though they hadn’t come right out and announced that they now considered themselves boyfriend and girlfriend.

He also liked listening to the banter between the two women as they talked about the times they’d shared growing up in Jerome, which he had to admit sounded kind of magical…no pun intended. Although witches and warlocks didn’t tend to be helicopter parents in general, thanks to the way they knew a grown-up in the clan was almost always around and ready to step in if someone needed a ride home or a Band-aid or something, it sure seemed to him as if the adults in Bellamy’s hometown were even more relaxed. Apparently, no one appeared to have a problem with the clan’s children roaming around unsupervised — usually with some civilian kids from the neighborhood tagging along as well — whether they were hanging out in some of the abandoned mine shafts that still peppered the hill or finding secret little ravines to build forts or play hide-and-seek.

Thinking about it now, he thought that sounded like a great way to grow up…a great way to raise your children.

And his gaze had strayed to Bellamy, who clearly didn’t seem nearly as interested in watching the horror movie they’d chosen for that night’s viewing as she did in catching up on old times with Bree.

Fine by him, since he wasn’t into the movie and would rather have listened to the two women talk anyway.

They’d gone to their separate wings of the house and gotten ready for bed. Bellamy kissed him goodnight, and even that sweet brush of her lips against his was enough to make his body stir, to wish he could pull her against him and make love to her all over again.

Even with Bree way on the other side of the house, though, he didn’t feel quite comfortable doing that, so he’d made himself kiss Bellamy back and wish her a good night, and then closed his eyes and hoped sleep would come soon.

It was a sleep without any dreams, unfortunately, which seemed to be the signal that however powerful the vortex might be here, it wasn’t the kind that would have any influence on his powers.

“Anything?” Bellamy asked when she rolled over to face him the next morning, and he shook his head.

“Nope. So it looks like I’m headed up to Sky Ranch tonight to see if I have any better luck there.”

She didn’t look too thrilled by that prospect, probably because she knew she’d have to stay behind here if it turned out that her cousin’s powers hadn’t suffered a sea change after one night at the ranch house. But she only nodded, saying, “Well, we were prepared for that possibly happening. So let’s get some coffee going and see if Bree had any better luck.”

The other woman wasn’t anywhere in evidence when they emerged from the main suite and headed into the kitchen to start brewing that morning’s pot of coffee. Maybe Bree tended to sleep late; he could see why she might do that if she spent a lot of her evenings performing at the local resorts and bars. Wine tasting rooms didn’t stay open nearly so late, but it was possible she double-booked on those days, playing at a winery in the afternoon and then a hotel bar in the evening.

After he and Bellamy had poured themselves some coffee and were discussing whether the remaining breakfast supplies would be enough to feed the three of them, though, Bree finally emerged from her room, bright blonde hair tousled.

“I need to pump some of that coffee right into my veins,” she announced, and Bellamy grinned.

“Rough night?”

“Not exactly,” Bree replied. “I mean, I think I slept well enough. But something about this place felt…off…I guess. Or maybe that was just my imagination filling me full of stuff about vortexes.”

Marc glanced over at Bellamy, whose expression had immediately turned thoughtful. “Maybe it was just that…or maybe not. But let me get you some coffee.”

She went to the cupboard and got out a mug, then filled it. No offer of milk or sugar or anything like that; no, she handed the mug directly to her cousin, as if she already knew that Bree drank it black.

A few breaths on the liquid in a cursory attempt at cooling it down, and then Bree helped herself to a few swallows. “Much better,” she said. “Now I feel like I can think.” She paused there, and glanced down at her baggy tank top and yoga pants. Had she slept in the ensemble, or had she just figured it was the bare minimum she needed to put on before she let herself be seen in semi-public?

“Feel any different now?” Bellamy asked. Marc could tell she was trying not to sound too hopeful.

A shrug, and Bree sipped some more coffee. “Well, I’m more awake, that’s for sure. But it’s not as if it feels like my magic is trying to burst out of my body or anything.”

“That’s all right,” Bellamy replied at once. “I honestly didn’t feel any different, either. It was only when I first heard the voices that I realized something weird was going on.”

“Then I suppose we should just go ahead with our morning and see what’s up with that cactus after we’re all showered and dressed,” Marc said. “Bree, are eggs and toast okay for breakfast? We kind of ate all the bacon yesterday.”

“Sourdough?” she asked hopefully, and Bellamy smiled.

“Is there any other kind of toast?”

They all kind of grinned at that comment, and then — even though Bree offered to help with breakfast prep, an offer Bellamy quickly declined, saying her cousin was their guest — Marc and Bellamy got their quickie breakfast together. Sure, she did the bulk of the work, since she was the one making the scrambled eggs, but he kept an eye on the bread, pulling it out of the toaster right when it was peak golden-brown and before it got too dark.

Afterward, they sat at the table in the kitchen nook and ate their meal while they watched a flock of Gambrel’s quail assemble in the courtyard, drinking their fill from the fountain before they headed off to search for food. He wondered why Bellamy hadn’t put anything out in the courtyard for them to eat, then guessed she was probably trying to avoid making a mess, since this wasn’t her house.

No doubt she was already pushing things by having both him and her cousin Bree stay here, even if the arrangement was strictly temporary.

Once they were done with breakfast, they put their plates in the dishwasher and headed off to their respective bathrooms. This time, he and Bellamy showered together, with her telling him that she didn’t need to wash her hair today, and besides, this would allow them to get ready faster.

True enough, but even though they goofed around a little, teasing each other without progressing into full-on foreplay, they both understood they needed to keep the morning moving so they could see if the inflow vortex at the ranch had had any effect on her cousin.

That was why they all assembled at the front of the house a little before ten, the bright desert sun already hot, beating down on Bree’s damp hair. Clearly, she’d thought she needed to wash it today, although she’d still gotten ready fairly quickly.

The cactus planted here all looked happy and healthy, although any flowers they might have sported would have come and gone in May or June. Now that they were inching toward mid-August, those flowers wouldn’t return until late next spring.

Well, unless you had a green witch with you…or at least, someone who could call on green witch powers when she needed to.

However, Bree was looking doubtful, hands on her hips as she stared down at the innocuous cactus, a plump thing about eighteen inches high.

“I’m not so sure about this,” she said. “Like I said earlier, I don’t feel any different.”

“And, like I told you, neither did I,” Bellamy returned. It seemed pretty clear she wasn’t about to let this go.

How could she, really? If it turned out the vortexes really could be instrumental in enhancing witchy powers, they might become their secret weapon when it came to dealing with the Collector.

“Okay,” Bree said, and pulled in a breath. “So…cactus flowers.”

She held out a hand, in almost the same pose used by the Jedi in the Star Wars movies when they were invoking their powers.

And then….

Small buds appeared all over the surface of the cactus, buds that rapidly opened into cheerful, bright yellow flowers. They paused at the peak of their bloom rather than shriveling back down to nothing again, and Bree looked over at him and Bellamy, her expression more one of shock than anything else.

“It worked,” she said, her tone wondering. “I’ve never been able to do anything like that before.”

“Never?” Marc asked. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe she was telling the truth, but it never hurt to ask.

“No,” Bree said, emphatic. “So it sure looks to me like your inflow vortex worked.”

“It does,” Bellamy agreed. “But maybe you should try something else, just to be sure.”

“Something relatively harmless,” Marc added, figuring it probably wasn’t a good idea for Bree to try summoning a tornado or a swarm of bees, or whatever.

Her blue eyes glinted with amusement. “I think I can manage ‘relatively harmless.’”

And she spread her arms and a rainbow appeared over the house, arching from the courtyard to the patio off the room where she was staying. It hung in the air for a moment before it disappeared.

“Just an illusion,” she said. “There’s not enough water vapor in the air to support a real rainbow. Still, that’s the first time I’ve ever made an illusion that big.”

Bellamy set her hands on her hips, looking pleased. “It sure seems to me as if the energy here did something. I guess we’ll need to see whether your powers get stronger after you’ve spent a second night here at the house.”

At once, Bree tilted her head, as if she didn’t look completely convinced. “I was thinking about that earlier while I was in the shower,” she said. “Don’t you think it would make more sense for me to be at home tonight and then see whether my powers are still strengthened tomorrow morning, or whether whatever the vortex did for me has already gone away? If we did that, it might help us figure out whether this vortex energy is going to be much use in the long run, or whether it’s more of a parlor trick than anything else.”

Bellamy’s lips pursed, but Marc could see the merits of Bree’s argument.

“I think she’s right,” he said. “I mean, you heard the voices at the Devil’s Bridge strongly enough the other day, Bellamy, and you didn’t sleep here the night before. So that would give us another data point.”

Although she still didn’t appear completely convinced, she seemed to decide that they might as well roll the dice and see what happened.

“Also,” Bree added, “I’m playing a gig at 1912 Winery in Uptown on Friday night, so if you wanted me to come back here and see what that does for my powers, it’ll give me an easy place to crash rather than driving all the way back to Jerome.”

“Okay, it’s a plan,” Bellamy replied. “I guess just send me a text if you notice anything unusual or if anything changes.” Her cousin nodded, and she went on, now looking at Marc, “I suppose we’ll find out tonight what the outflow energies will do for you.”

And hope like hell it wasn’t anything weird.