Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(49)

Can, not may. Sam shuddered. If she believed Cass. . . “The evil has already been stirred,” Sam corrected, before Walker could object. “The security manager at the lodge was killed a couple of days ago.”

“Juan? Oh, that’s dreadful.” Cass gave a heartfelt sigh. “His poor mother. She had fourteen children. She was so proud of her son when he took the job at the lodge. I didn’t have the heart to warn her that he would be surrounded by evil.”

“He was here eighteen years ago?” Walker asked immediately.

“Yes. Many of the lodge employees have been,” she conceded. “I don’t know most of them. I really didn’t know Juan that well. Juan’s parents moved down the mountain when the bank foreclosed on their little house.”

Cass waved a dismissive hand at Sam’s look. “I know, give me a minute. My memory isn’t what it used to be.” She sat silent, watching out the window as she gathered her thoughts. “The foreclosures started around twenty years ago. That’s about the time that Geoff began talking ski resorts and development and started buying up land his neighbors lost.”

Sam heard her bitterness. “Why did everyone start losing their homes?”

“The usual reasons—recession, the mill closing, a rockslide took out the road for nearly a year so tourists couldn’t get in, an avalanche of bad luck.”

“It happens,” Walker said curtly, keeping his eyes on the narrow switchback up the mountain. “California real estate is a shell game. Mortgage companies, developers, real estate agents promise the American dream. People overextend their finances to buy a piece of that dream in belief that they’re on the way up in the world. First economic downturn, they’re out on the street. The rich developers sweep in, buy the foreclosed land for peanuts, build a new development, and resell at higher prices to the next fool.”

“Capitalism, dearest,” Cass said with a smile. “The biggest wolf wins.”

“And the sheep get eaten,” Walker countered. “If that’s the evil you’re battling, it’s pretty much worldwide.”

“Which doesn’t make it less evil, but no, this evil is innate. It feeds on souls.”

Before Sam could question this insane conclusion, Walker cursed. She turned back to glance out the windshield. Smoke billowed high above the trees.

The mountain was on fire.





Chapter 16





“Oh dear,” Cass murmured. “Is it the solstice already?”

Walker turned on his radio and hit the gas. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded as he took the curves at breakneck speed, siren screaming.

“Nulls once burned bonfires to ward off evil—like witches—on summer’s eve. The cards warned hostilities would commence on the solstice.” Cass peered out the window.

“I think that’s tomorrow,” Walker said after reporting the fire to the office. “And any fool burning in this drought needs to be horsewhipped.”

Meeting a line of cars exiting Hillvale, Walker flashed his lights and used the siren. They eased to one side so he could reach the parking lot. A line of traffic still streamed down from the lodge. On a weekend, the lodge was packed—it was like watching money flow down the drain.

The chatter on the radio indicated the fire had been reported and emergency services were heading up, but Hillvale was a long way from anywhere.

“You ladies need to get out here,” Walker ordered, eyeing the lick of flame through the pines on the ridge.

“Does the lodge have any earth movers?” Sam asked, not unbuckling.

“Monty does. He parks them in the town lot.” Cass did unbuckle, but only so she could open the door and hail Mariah. “Tell Monty to move the mountain,” she called.

Mariah signaled understanding and trotted off.

“Get out, Cass,” Walker said between clenched teeth. “I don’t have time to fight you.”

The old witch leaned over and patted him on the shoulder. “You’re not a fireman, dear. Direct traffic, keep Sam safe, and we’ll do the rest. We’re prepared for this.”

He only bit his tongue because she climbed out to join the rest of her coven gathering in the lot, carrying shovels and hoes. His blood pressure probably soared thirty points.

“Sam—” he said warningly.

“They’re going to cut a line between town and the fire. That fire is aimed for Hillvale, not the lodge,” she said acerbically. “Someone is literally and metaphorically trying to burn them out.”

That was craziness. And she believed it? He cursed again, turned the sirens back on, and began forcing traffic to the side of the road so he could reach the lodge. After years of sitting behind a desk, he indulged in the visceral satisfaction of active command again.

Except he couldn’t force the insane woman beside him to follow his orders.

While he maneuvered past hulking SUVs driven by terrified tourists, she leaned over to gaze up the mountain. “Looks as if it started on Menendez land. I don’t remember any tall trees there. I thought it looked as if it had been logged.”

“Pines all around it.” Pines that would shoot sparks all over the mountain if the wind picked up.

“Water hoses won’t reach that far. How do they fight fire up there?”