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She grinned. "Wow. I like that."
"Don't get too used to it. Now talk."
"None of the strong witch spells work because the middle spells are missing. That's why my mom and other witches--non-Coven witches--use sorcerer magic for all their strong spells."
"They use sorcerer magic?"
"You didn't know that?"
"Ummm, well, I--" I forced the words out. "No, I didn't know that."
"Oh sure, all the really powerful spells are sorcerer magic. We can all do the simple witch stuff, like the Coven spells, plus a bunch of others, but for the strong spells, we need to use sorcerer magic. That's the problem, see? My mom used to get all worked up about it. She blamed the Coven for losing the middle spells. At least, they said they lost them, but she always figured they threw them away. It was wrong, she said, because it denied witches--"
Savannah stopped as Cortez appeared in the doorway.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said. His lips twitched, as if suppressing a smile. "We appear to have a situation out back. I don't mean to intrude on your practice, but I thought perhaps you could use a break."
"Just a sec," I said. "Savannah was telling me something important."
"It can wait," she said, jumping to her feet. "What's outside?"
"I don't believe I could do it justice with a verbal description," he said. And smiled.
With that, Savannah was off and up the stairs.
CHAPTER 29
THEY AREN'T NAKED,
THEY'RE SKYCLAD
When I got upstairs, I shooed a near-hysterical Savannah away from the kitchen window, lifted the blind, and looked out to see five women kneeling in a circle on my lawn. Five naked women. I mean butt-naked, not just topless or scantily dressed, but absolutely without clothing.
I jumped back so fast I collided with Cortez.
"What the hell is that?" I said.
"I believe the commonly accepted term is 'Wiccan.' "
"Wiccans?"
"Or, I should say, that is how they introduced themselves when I ventured out to request that they dress themselves and vacate the premises. They indicated that they are members of a small sect of Wicca from a coven somewhere in Vermont. No relation to your Coven, I presume?"
" Ha-ha."
"They seem quite harmless. They're performing a cleansing ceremony for your benefit."
"How ... nice."
"I thought so." He grinned then, an action I'd never have thought his face capable of performing. "One other thing it behooves me to mention. On their behalf. A request. One that I really would advise you to honor."
"What is it?"
"They've asked you to join them."
I whirled around and, had I not been a firm believer in nonviolence, I swear I would have slugged him. Instead, I collapsed against the counter, laughing. Laughing far harder than the situation warranted. After one week of hell, I must admit, naked Wiccans on my back lawn was a welcome diversion.
"I take it that's a no?" Cortez said, still grinning.
