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“She knows?” Rod asked.
“She is. Magical, I mean,” I replied.
“This family would make a fascinating study for the genealogy group,” Owen said. “They seem to have the magical gene and the mutation for immunity in nearly equal numbers. I’ve seen some clans in the British Isles that function that way, but—”
Rod cut him off. “Owen! Later.”
“Oh, right, sorry.”
“We do have something going on that we have to plan for, Granny,” I said.
She entered the room and sat in my desk chair. “Maybe I can help.”
“That’s really not necessary,” Rod said.
She shot him a glare that could have curdled milk. “You lot have my grandchildren mixed up in this.
You’ll not shut me out.”
“You’ve already been very helpful,” Owen said gently. “You gave me perfect directions to find the local magical folk, and they’re going to help us tonight.”
“This all has to do with those strange young men loitering downtown, doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said. “And we’ll be getting rid of them soon enough.”
“Good. They have terrible manners.” She stood and said, “Then I suppose I’ll see you all this evening. You’re outnumbered, so you need me. I’ll have Teddy pick me up. I don’t like to drive after dark. Be sure to eat a good dinner.” And then she was gone before any of us could object.
“Now we see where Katie gets it,” Rod observed dryly.
I whirled on him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, would you let yourself be left out of this?”
“Not on your life.”
“I rest my case. How much help might she be?”
“I have no idea. I didn’t know she was magical until a couple of days ago. I just thought she was crazy.”
“She’s got a pretty vast knowledge of folklore and folk magic,” Owen said. “She’s also got a few good protective charms and healing abilities.” I remembered all the nasty herb teas she’d made me drink when I was sick as a child, and now I knew why her miracle cures never worked on me. She must have figured my immunity out, for she gave up on the teas after a few tries.
“It would seem that our magical assets include myself, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Gwaltney, and now Mrs.
Callahan, as well as Sam,” Merlin said.
“We also have Dean on the inside,” Owen added.
“And then Miss Chandler as an immune.”
“Plus my brother Teddy, who’s also immune.”
Merlin raised an eyebrow and said to Owen, “Now I see what you mean about an interesting family tree. And then we have whatever local creatures deign to show up. That’s against how many of them?”
“About two dozen to start with, but a few of them left this morning,” Dean reported.
“Mr. Idris is the only fully qualified wizard of the lot?” Merlin asked.
“As far as I can tell,” Dean replied. “Not that I’m an expert, but the whole group seems to be students.”
