I stood on my patio for a while. Fifteen minutes or an hour, I couldn't tell, just staring at the corner Tobias had disappeared around, my mind going a mile a minute, trying to assimilate everything that was happening to me into something that made sense.
I wasn't having a lot of luck.
"Liv?"
I looked up to see Peach standing in my driveway, her eyes red, crumpled tissues in her hand.
"Oh, honey," I said, and held my arm out to her. She sniffled and walked up to me, letting me hug her as she cried.
"That son of a bitch," she said, her words muffled into my shoulder as she spoke them.
"Come on inside," I said. "I'll make some tea."
When I came into the living room with the tea, she was slumped down on my couch, playing ruefully with the Tupperware full of Jordan almonds she'd laid on her stomach, scooping up handfuls and letting them fall through her fingers, like big chunks of sand. Peach was petite, but her presence had always made her seem bigger somehow. Now, she looked shrunken, tiny, and spent.
I set her mug on the coffee table in front of her, then took my seat in the floral love seat, waiting for her to start. Eventually, her eyes still on the almonds, she did.
"I asked him," she said. "It was true. Everything Millie said."
I stayed quiet, not sure how to respond. I'd expected that it was true, but also, had some suspicions as to the level of Nick's culpability. I didn't know the extent of Millie's magical influence. Could she have coerced him magically, somehow? Nick may have been kind of a jerk when we were kids, but as an adult, he had always seemed like a good guy to me, and I couldn't imagine him hurting anyone this way, but especially not Peach.
"The wedding's off," she said. "I told him I never wanted to speak to him again."
I hesitated a minute, then said, "What did he say? Did he ... explain why?"
She snorted angrily. "He doesn't know why." She swiped at her eyes. "What is it with men? They always treat these things like accidents. It just happened, baby. It's not my fault. I didn't want to, I slipped and my dick just fell into her, over and over again, and..." She trailed off, her voice crackling with pain and despondency.
"Maybe..." I began, but I didn't know where to go with it. Under any other circumstances, I would be leading the charge to castrate the son of a bitch. But I couldn't help but feel like this particular thing might be a special circumstance. If it was beyond Millie's power to coerce Nick, it probably wasn't beyond Cain's, and he could only continue to control Millie if he held up his end of the bargain, and she got what she wanted ...
But then there was the possibility that Nick was just a horny son of a bitch, too, in which case, he got what he deserved. But there was no way to explain any of this to Peach, who sat there, sniffling and playing sadly with the Jordan almonds.
She flicked her hand out a couple of times. "And the worst part? It's making me sick. Last night I had the worst headache, and now, my stupid hands are falling asleep. He doesn't get the right to do this to me, goddamnit." She clamped her fist around a handful of Jordan almonds, as if trying to crush them. "And now I've got a living room full of his stupid solar walkway lights. Bastard. Oh!"
She made a surprised sound and bolted upright, throwing the almonds in her hand back into the Tupperware dish. She shoved it onto the coffee table and stared at it, her eyes wide and horrified.
"Peach, what...?" I began, but then stopped as I saw what she was seeing. The almonds were moving, sort of shaking, like eggs about to crack open. I glanced down at my hands; they were tingling, a little, but they were almost always tingling a little now, to the point where I wasn't always aware of it. Had I somehow made the almonds dance without realizing it?
Peach blinked a few times, then looked at her hand. I looked closer at her hand, too, and caught the last little wisps of light fading. Unlike my yellow light, this was pinkish in color, and it faded very quickly, almost fast enough that I could convince myself I hadn't seen it at all.
Except I knew I had. And I knew what it meant. I wasn't sure exactly how, but Peach had magic.
Crap.
"Jesus!" Peach crawled back into the corner of the couch, staring at the bowl on the coffee table as if it were full of spiders. "What the hell?"
Goddamnit Cain, I thought. Doesn't she have enough to deal with right now?
"Peach." I said her name forcefully and carefully, and waited until she pulled her eyes away from the almonds and locked them on me before I said anything else. "You haven't made any kinds of ... vengeance deals lately with anyone? Like a scruffy Southern bad boy type?"
She shook her hand out absently as she looked at me like I was crazy. "Vengeance ... what? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Scruffy Southern bad boy type," I said. "Let's focus on that. Name of Cain. Have you seen him, talked to him, sold your soul to him for vengeance against Nick? Say, in the last day or so?"
She blinked and shook her head. "No. I've been home eating Cheetos and drinking wine since I left your place yesterday. What the hell are you talking about?"
I relaxed a bit, realizing that Cain's power was at night, and was accompanied by the gray smoke. Mine, however ...
... was light.
"Oh my god," I said.
For the moment, the despondency in Peach's expression was replaced by genuine concern. "Liv, you're looking kind of pale. Are you feeling okay?"
I stared at her. I couldn't have taken her as a conduit. I didn't know how. But something had happened, something weird.
I needed to talk to Davina.
"Yeah, I think I'm going to vomit." I grabbed Peach's arm and pulled her out of the love seat. I spoke fast as I led her through my front hall to the door. "It's a twenty-four-hour thing, I'm sure I'll be fine soon, but I don't want to give it to you. That's the last thing you need."
I guided her to the front door, but she stopped and turned to face me on the porch.
"What's going on with you, Liv?" she said, suspicion deep in her voice. "You've been acting really weird lately."
I sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. There is something going on, but I can't talk about it right now. I promise, though, when I can, I'll come find you."
She hesitated for a moment, then let it go. She had problems of her own; there was no need to bug me about mine. "Okay. I'm going to go home and get drunk on Boone's Farm. If you hear crashing sounds later, it's just me throwing his stupid walkway lights into the street from my roof."
"Go rest that throwing arm, babe." I pulled her in for a hug and said, "I love you."
"Love you, too," she said, and finally, she left.
I shut the door, then walked into the living room, over to Gibson's box in the corner. I picked him up and cuddled him to me, and for something hard and ceramic, he was oddly comforting. I held him out and looked into his little blinking blind eyes.
"Oh, Gibson," I said. "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat."
A little after nine that night, there was a knock on my front door. I put Gibson into his padded cardboard box, lest he get another crack in his butt, and walked over to get the door. When I opened it, Davina held up a bottle of wine, grinning as she motioned toward the orange notepaper crane that danced in the air around her head.
"That is adorable." She stepped inside and handed me the wine. "And this is your reward."
I took the wine from her and put it on the half-moon table. "I wouldn't need to send you cranes if you told me where you were staying, or gave me a cell phone number. Do you even have a cell phone?"
"The crane is genius." Her eyes followed its trajectory around her head, her expression glowing with pride. "It actually found me! And it's still got life in it. What time did you make it?"
I shrugged and thought. "I don't know. About two, I guess."
"And it's still in the air." She smiled, watching the crane. "Lovely work. Your power's growing. That's good, baby. That's very good."
I grabbed her arm to get her attention. "Yeah. Not good. My neighbor made Jordan almonds dance this afternoon. Little wisps of pink light zip-zapping around her fingers. A lot like my yellow light."
She eyed me for a long moment, then said, "I guess it's starting early."
"Hmmm? What? What's starting?"
"I can't be sure, but if you're beginning to leak - "
I did not like the sound of that. "Leak? I'm leaking now?"
"It's rare, but it happens. When a Magical gets more power than they have the control to handle, they can leak onto non-Magicals. Sometimes. A little. The effect is usually temporary, and as long as your neighbor stays calm, it probably won't get anyone hurt."
I was just starting to calm down at "the effect is usually temporary," but then I heard the rest of the sentence. "Wait, probably won't get anyone hurt?"
"It's magic. You never really know what's going to happen with magic." Davina frowned. "But it's not good news. You're gaining power faster than we anticipated. We're running out of time."
My heart clenched in my chest. "So ... so ... so, what are we gonna do? I haven't even gotten close to finding my father yet."
She grabbed my hand and patted it. "Even if the binding was a good idea, which it's not, we don't have time for it, baby. We need to move. We need to build your powers, get you ready to fight."
I put my hand to my forehead. "My brains are scrambled. I can't think about fighting. Not now. We have to go." I started toward the door.
"Where are we going?" Davina asked.
"To see Betty, over at CCB's."
I pulled the door open, and Davina grabbed it with her hand, holding it there. "Who's Betty, and why are we going to see her?"
"She's my boss at CCB's. She's magic. She wants to meet you, so she can figure out how to help."
Davina narrowed her eyes. "There's someone else with magic in this town?"
"Yes. She makes pastries. Zip-zap-baklava. They're amazing. Anyway, I told her about this thing with Cain and - "
"You what?" Davina seemed annoyed. "You can't go around telling people things like this. This is very sensitive information."
"Don't worry. We can trust Betty." I decided not to tell Davina that I had also told Tobias; she seemed annoyed enough about Betty, and there was no need to add fuel to that fire. "Anyway, we need to go to CCB's tonight. Betty wants to talk to you, find out what's going on."
"Oh, sure," she said, slowly. "We can do that. But first, I want you to tell me ... have you had any more contact with Cain?"
"No," I said. "I haven't seen him, and I haven't heard anything about him, which is strange because whenever there's a new man in town, usually, I hear about it."
She nodded, her expression thoughtful. "Let's go talk to your Betty. Maybe she'll have some ideas on what we should do." She headed toward the door. The crane followed her automatically and I grabbed it gently by one wing.
"You want me to ... I don't know. Undo it?"
Davina watched me, interest in her eyes. "Think you can? You know that's an important part of your growth, learning to take the power back."
"I know," I said. "It just feels too much like..."
"Killing?" Davina nodded. "I know it does. But you know it's not, right? That thing lives on your power. It's no different from clipping your nails or cutting your hair. It's all just a part of you that you don't need anymore."
I glanced back toward the living room, where Gibson thunked around in his cardboard box. I held the crane's wing in my fingers, closed my eyes, and rallied my energy, feeling it flow through my arms, amazingly at my control. Then something occurred to me, and I looked to Davina.
"Hey, wait," I said. "It's night. Why is this working?"
"You generated the power during the daytime," Davina said. "You can take it back whenever. It's just a little bit of power in that thing. No big deal."
"Oh." I concentrated on the crane again, looking it in the ... well, I guess ... face. I stopped rallying my energy. "Go hang out with Gibson."
I released it, and the crane flew into the living room to hover over Gibson's padded box. I turned to see Davina staring at me, smiling.
"You're a softy, baby," she said, chuckling. "That's gonna hurt you someday."
"I know," I said, stepping out onto the porch and shutting the door after us. "Let's just go to CCB's and get this over with, then we can come back and drink the wine."
"That's fine," Davina said. "Let's go."
We stepped out into the night and made it about half a block when Davina grabbed my arm.
"What?" I said as she yanked me into the narrow driveway between two houses at the end of the street.
"Shh." She held her finger to her lips and seemed to be listening. I listened, too. Didn't hear anything. I waited a few more moments, and was about to ask her what was going on, when she looked at me, her eyes wide. "We need to get out of here." She pointed to the darkness behind the houses. "What's that way?"
"Um ... the woods," I said.
"Okay."
She grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me along behind her. We crossed through the backyard and into the woods. It was dark, the moon was only about half-full, and I stumbled along behind her as weeds and twigs crunched under feet.
"Davina, what - ?"
"Shh!" she said, and we broke into a run. She moved through the woods like she already knew them, and I had trouble keeping up with her. Finally, we came to a thick copse of trees, and she pulled me behind one.
"You stay here."
I didn't have time to argue. She left me there and walked into a clear space, turning around as if looking for someone.
"You can't have her!" she called. "She's under my protection!"
There was nothing. No response. No sound. Not even twigs crackling under anyone's feet.
It was then that it first occurred to me that just because Davina had told me the truth about a few things, that didn't mean she wasn't absolute batshit. I waited for a few moments, then started to move out from behind the tree, but Davina made a motion with her hands, telling me to get back. I sighed and retreated; if she was crazy, I could indulge her for a few minutes until she felt safe, and we could go to Betty's and then ... I don't know. Find a doctor, get a prescription, and -
It sounded a little like wind at first, the eerie whistling when air moves a little too fast. The air around me, however, was still and dead. I watched Davina's form in the moonlight, and had she not been wearing bright yellow, I might not have seen it. But, slowly, circling around her, there appeared to be something ... kinda smoky. My heartbeat ratcheted up; she wasn't crazy.
Crap.
And that's when things started to move. The smoke swirled around her, furious, fast enough to move her hair and send her skirt billowing around her. She turned in circles, too, her eyes wide with fear, but when she spoke, her voice was firm.
"You can't have her!"
The trees around us started to rustle as the smoke spread out. There was the crack of wood overhead, and I looked up to find a baseball bat - sized branch flying toward her in the grip of the smoke. I ran out from behind the trees to get to her.
"Davina!"
"Olivia, get back!" she yelled, and then the branch came down on her head, and she fell to the ground with a dark thud.
"Davina!" I ran to her, the smoke continuing to circle around us, blowing my hair into my face. I skidded to her side and touched her face; she was out cold.
"Davina, Davina, Davina," I said in a panic. "Oh, shit, this is not good."
I heard something behind me, the faintest crackle of a twig, and I grabbed the branch that had hit Davina and jumped to my feet, waving it blindly around me.
"Get away from us!" I screamed.
There was no answer. There was nothing but smoke, whipping the air up around me, smelling thick and hot and acrid. I circled around, trying to guard her body, and then there was a pull on the branch and it was out of my grip, flying away from us in the smoke as it retreated. A second later, I heard the thud as the branch fell somewhere far enough away that I had no hope of retrieving it. Once again, the night was silent, and all I could hear was my heart banging in my chest, and my own panicked breath wheezing in and out.
I waited, standing guard, but really, what the hell was I going to do if Cain stepped out of the shadows and attacked? It was night. I was helpless, and Davina was down. I thought about Tobias and felt in my pocket for my cell phone, but it went dead right after I turned it on.
"Damnit, I have to learn to charge this stupid thing!" I cried to myself, my voice sounding high and panicked. I tucked the phone back in my pocket and turned around and around, trying to catch sight of Cain in the dim moonlight, hoping Davina would wake up before I might have to defend us, because if it was left to me, we were dead meat.
Then, finally, I saw him. His outline was faint and dark, but as he moved closer, I knew it wasn't my imagination. It was Cain, and he was heading straight for us. I glanced around at my feet, kicking at the small branches there, looking for something, anything I might use as a weapon. There was nothing. I closed my eyes tightly for a second, just a second, and when I opened them, he was right there, looking down at Davina.
"Get out of here," he said, not taking his eyes off her.
"No," I said, my voice audibly shaking. "I'm not leaving her."
He looked at me. "This is between me and her. It's got nothing to do with you."
I had nothing. No branch, no power, nothing. Except the knowledge that, according to Davina, he couldn't kill me yet and still get what he wanted. I stepped over Davina, putting myself between her and Cain.
"You want her? You're going to have to go through me first."
His eyes narrowed to slits. "Why are you protecting her?"
Before I could answer, I heard a creaking above us. A second later, there was a thud as a big branch, probably loosened by all the gray smoke havoc earlier, fell to the ground between us. I lunged for it, and grabbed it at the end like a baseball bat. I splayed my feet on the ground, bracing myself as I gripped the branch in my hands. Cain watched me, his stance calm and seemingly unworried by any threat I might present. I swung as hard as I could. There was another thud as it connected with his shoulder, sending him sprawling backward.
"Son of a bitch!" he grunted.
I swung again, and the branch made a whooshing sound as Cain dodged the blow. "You're not getting near her!"
"Put that damn thing down." There was a growl in his voice that might have scared me on a normal day, but at the moment, all I saw was red. I swung again and missed, and as I was setting up to go for him again, he lunged at me, sending the branch flying as his shoulder connected with my midsection, throwing me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. My head connected with something hard, probably a rock, and for a moment sparks exploded in my vision. When my sight came back, I scrambled backward, glancing around frantically until I saw Cain. He was standing nearby, not advancing on me, but simply watching me.
"You okay?" His voice sounded mildly concerned, which I had to admit, threw me a bit. Then I remembered; he needed me, and that gave me leverage.
"Get away from us," I said.
"She's not your friend," Cain said. "She's - "
Davina groaned loudly, and I turned away from him.
"Davina?" I could see the outline of her form putting her hand to her head. I looked back to Cain, then scrambled on all fours to Davina's side.
I touched her gently on the shoulder. "Are you all right?"
She sat up. "I ... I think so."
"Good." I looked back behind me, but Cain was gone, and I could hear the faint crackling sounds of twigs crunching under his retreat. My heart started beating furiously then, and my shaking got more violent. My arms and legs felt weak, and I sat on the ground next to Davina, trying to breathe.
"Baby?" Davina said, concern in her voice. "What happened?"
"You lost consciousness," I said as though that were news.
She rubbed my back. "Olivia? You're shaking. What did he do to you?"
"He..." I began, but realized ... he didn't do anything. No gray smoke, no magic. He knocked me down in self-defense; that was it.
Only because he needs you, I thought. Otherwise, you'd be dead.
"I don't know. You were knocked out, and then I hit my head on a rock..." I swallowed, the panic taking over now that he was gone. "I'm just a little freaked out."
"It's okay," Davina said, rubbing her head. "That was quite a storm he set on us."
"Yeah. Are you okay?"
Davina moved her neck slowly from side to side. "I think so. You?"
I checked myself, then nodded. "Yeah."
"Good. Help me up?"
I got to my feet, then reached down and helped her to hers. She glanced around and let out a long breath.
"He's gone." She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Thank you. You saved my life."
"No problem. Can we go now?"
"You bet, baby." She watched me for a long moment, and then she nodded in the direction of my house. "Let's go."
