Entangled (Spellbound #1)

Chapter 20

Raj was deciding between a frozen pita pocket, canned spaghetti, or starvation when there was a knock at the door. Both he and his father stared at one another.

"Go on and answer it," his dad said.

No one, besides religious crusaders and solicitors, ever knocked on their door, but when Raj opened up he was dumbfounded to find Gray's mother, Mrs. Perez, standing outside.

"Good evening, Raj," Mrs. Perez said. After greeting him she stared into the house.

His father's footsteps filled the narrow hallway as he advanced toward the open door. The smell of smoke moved with him. Raj was used to it, but with the fresh air hitting his face it suddenly felt overpowering in his nose.

Mrs. Perez shifted her gaze to his dad. "Hello, Richard," she said in an easy voice.

"Marney." He nodded. "How have you been?"

"Taking one day at a time."

Raj was grateful that his father was in the security uniform and not his usual white stained cotton T-shirt and worn jeans. Still, he shifted and longed to block himself, his home, and his father from Mrs. Perez's sight.

"I'm actually here to see Raj," Mrs. Perez said.

"Oh? And what do you need from Raj?" His dad took a step closer. Raj inched away.

"I need his help with a rather bothersome migraine I can't seem to shake. I'm afraid it's beyond my abilities and I remember Raj had something of a talent for the healing arts."

It was silent a moment and then from the corner of his eye Raj saw his father's shoulders sag and his face lift into half a grin. "Lord knows he didn't get it from me. Please, come in."

"No!" Raj said. "I find the best warm-up to a migraine disposal spell is breathing in fresh air. Let's take a walk around the block."

Raj's dad frowned. "At this time of night? In this neighborhood?" He glanced at Mrs. Perez.

His dad clearly wasn't using his head. If anyone had the bad idea to attack a witch and a warlock they were in for a world of trouble.

"We'll be fine," Mrs. Perez said before Raj could speak. "But thank you for your concern. Raj?"

Raj came out of his fog. "Right, be back momentarily." He stepped out of the house into the company of Graylee's mother.

Their nearest neighbor had toys littering their yard and not the bright, cheery kind. A wheel was missing from a rusty tricycle turned over on its side. Dolls missing various body parts stuck out of the muddy patches dotting the overgrown yard like quicksand. The next yard wasn't much better, with paint peeling from old lawn furniture and chipped potted plants that had toppled over. It looked more like an abandoned neighborhood in Chernobyl.

Raj walked briskly past. Mrs. Perez matched his pace down the street, not that the scenery improved further down. Even if he hadn't read her aura already, Raj would have known the woman didn't have a migraine. It wasn't as though she'd come to his part of town if she did. Mrs. Perez had to have access to her own treasure trove of potions.

So what was this? Come to warn him away from her daughter? Of course Gray's mom would see Raj as riff-raff not even fit for friendship with a member of her picture-perfect family. Okay, to be fair the Perez family had problems, too. Nothing like what Raj had to deal with, though. At least Mrs. Perez cared about her girls. Hell, she'd gone to who knows what lengths to bring one back from the dead. Would Raj's own mother even visit his grave if he died?

"Gray told me she confided in you."

Raj waited for the shoe to drop even though he hadn't picked up on any hostile energy radiating off Mrs. Perez. For all he knew she had placed herself under a masking spell. It wasn't as though Mrs. Perez would drive over in the dark to wish Raj good luck in his pursuit of her daughter.