I nodded meekly. Further conversation was put on hold as Charles and Evan rejoined us. Evan stopped in the doorway to the living room and pointed at the TV set. “That’s where you’re from, isn’t it?”

I turned and saw a news report on a grocery store robbery in Tucson. The security camera footage was spotty, frequently going to static, but it showed a few bizarre shots of what looked like items flying off the shelves. Eyewitness reports were equally odd, and if I hadn’t known it was completely impossible, I would’ve thought the store had been hit by a ghost. But a ghost had no use for money—or, in this case, food, since that’s what had been stolen.

“Weird,” I said, once the story ended. If some other type of Otherworldly creature had been involved, I had no doubt Roland would deal with it. Knowing that made me feel even more ineffectual. Roland had theoretically retired, but my various actions over the last year had forced him to take on the role of an active shaman once more.

“It is,” remarked Candace. “But it hardly fits the usual—”

Her jaw dropped as a low rumbling sound filled the house. All of us stared at each other in confusion. Another rumble sounded, just as I saw the living room windows light up. My senses were suddenly flooded, seconds before the others realized what was happening.

“It’s raining,” exclaimed Evan. He hurried to the door, the rest of us right behind him.

Out on the porch, we watched in wonder as rain poured down in sheets while lightning ripped apart the sky. A fierce wind picked up, blowing the rain at us, but nobody cared. Charles laughed and stepped off the porch, holding his hands skyward.

“This’ll fix my garden right up,” he declared.

Evan turned to me in amazement. “You were right. She said this would happen, Aunt Candy. This afternoon—the sky was clear blue, and she swore there’d be a storm.”

Candace smiled and turned to watch Charles, oblivious to the true nature of my insight. “I guess some people just have a knack for the weather.”

“You have no idea,” I murmured.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Despite our conclusions that I probably hadn’t raised any notice in the Otherworld, I still spent the next week on pins and needles. I jumped at shadows, expecting gentry assassins to come bursting through my window at any moment. Candace played it cool and casual as usual, but I noticed she too was more watchful than before. One evening, a friend of hers came by, a wizened woman with an accent so thick I could barely understand her. Candace claimed the friend was visiting for tea, but later, I noticed them walking around the yard. I never asked Candace about it, but I suspected her friend was a witch who had laid some protective wards for us.