Lone Star Magic by Karen Whiddon Page B

in English
then, because he knew the collie would understand, repeated the
words in the old tongue.
    “What did you just say?” Doubled over trying
to catch her breath, Carly squinted at him. “Another spell?”
    “No. I merely praised your pet. He’s done
well. We should reward him when we get back to the house.”
    “I usually give him a dog biscuit.”
    Usually told Alrick that this had happened
before. “Hold your horse.” Handing her the lead, Alrick slipped his
hands into the work gloves and retrieved the battered gate from the
weeds. It was heavier than he’d anticipated, though it still
appeared to be in good shape. The heavy wire which had secured it
to the fence before hung from the fence. A simple twist of each
wire and he had the gate hung. Slightly crooked, a bit battered,
but still better than nothing.
    “Why do you always put on the gloves?”
    Removing them and slipping them back into his
belt, Alrick shrugged. “We Fae don’t like metal.”
    “But you can touch it?”
    “I’d prefer not to. Metal grounds our magic.”
Alrick took TM’s lead. “The gloves protect my skin. Come on.”
    Together, they walked the long, curving
drive. A docile TM tagged along after them. Kayo scouted ahead, his
tail a black and white plume curved over his back.
    Several hundred feet before they reached the
house, Alrick felt it. The faint tingle left by magical residue.
Cursing under his breath, he stopped. “Not again.”
    Carly peered up at him. “What?”
    “He’s done something. I’m not sure what,
exactly, but he’s been here.”
    “I thought you said he couldn’t use magic
again so close to the last time.”
    “He shouldn’t. But the Warlord cares nothing
for human lives.”
    “Great.”
    Frowning, Alrick shook his head. “The Mage
has told me traveling through time takes great power. This is why
the Warlord hasn’t been able to manifest fully here. For now, he
comes, uses magic to try to kill you, and is pulled back to his own
time and place.”
    “So until he gets strong enough to beam
himself here, we should be okay?”
    “Not okay.” He turned, trying to determine
the direction and shape of the spell. “He can still do a lot of
damage, even while not totally here.”
    “Well.” She heaved a sigh. “Let’s go check
out my house. Do you think he booby trapped it?”
    “Booby,” he looked at her, “trapped? What
does that mean?”
    “Set a trap. Like when we open the door, a
fireball comes at us.”
    Grim, he considered the possibilities. “I
don’t know.”
    They started forward again. As soon as they
began to move, Kayo ran ahead. He skidded to a halt thirty feet
from the house and started barking. His warning bark.
    “Kayo, shush.” Carly rubbed her temples. “All
this crap going on has given me a killer headache. Alrick?”
    Something in her voice made him reach out to
her. “What’s wrong?”
    “Look at my house. What’s he done to my
house?”
    He squinted in the sunlight. “What do you
mean?” Then he saw. “It’s covered red.”
    “The red is moving.”
    They crept closer. The structure appeared to
be shimmering.
    “Stop.” She grabbed his arm. “Those are fire
ants! My house is covered in fire ants!”
    Whatever fire ants might be, they didn’t
sound like a good thing. They didn’t look it either, swarming over
the entire structure like a single, mindless, mob.
    “Ants don’t eat wood.”
    “No.” The dark look she gave him told him it
was worse, at least as far as she was concerned. “They bite though,
and their bite stings like crazy. Worse, I’m deathly allergic.”
    “Allergic?”
    “Yes. I swell up like a balloon, and my
throat closes.”
    Concerned, he studied her. “This has happened
to you before?”
    “Yes. I’m also allergic to bee stings, wasp
stings, and yellow jackets. I have a self-injection kit, and I have
to give myself a shot of epinephrine and take an antihistamine
tablet.”
    “Where is this kit?”
    She regarded him glumly,