A Little Night Magic

 

The walk home was short, but it was long enough that by the time we got back, the cold hollow inside me had filled itself with fury. Once we got inside, I settled Davina on the couch, grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket, and flipped it open.

"What are you doing?" Davina asked.

"I'm calling nine-one-one," I said. "You need to go to the hospital and I need to report that asshole and have him put in jail."

I flipped it open, but it was still dead. Damnit. I walked over to the charger and plugged it in. "I always forget to charge this stupid thing." I glanced around. "And my other phone's a dead bat."

"Calm down, Olivia. We need to talk."

"With the police," I said. "We need to talk with the police."

"One thing you need to learn," she said, her eyes suddenly hard and angry. "Police don't work for people like us. The police belong to them. We" - she motioned her hand between us - "need to take care of our own."

"He attacked us," I said. "If he's so magic let him magic himself out of a goddamn jail cell. Just give me a minute, and my phone will charge, and - "

Davina took in a breath, and her face looked strained as she closed her eyes and put her hand to her head.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just need a minute."

"I'll get you some water and some aspirin." I went into the kitchen and filled a glass with ice water and grabbed a bottle of Advil. When I got back to the living room, Davina was lying on the couch with her eyes closed. I was going to step out, let her rest while I fumed quietly to myself, but she opened her eyes and reached for the water.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem." I gave her the water and put the bottle of pills in her hand, then collapsed into the easy chair. Davina sat up to drink the water and take the Advil, then fell back again and let out a long breath.

"Oh, that's much better," she said.

"Okay, you ready to explain to me why we're not having his ass thrown in jail?"

Davina looked at me, and a small smile graced her lips. "Because he didn't break any laws."

"He attacked us. We don't have to tell them about the gray smoke. We'll say he hit you in the head with a branch. That's the truth."

"It doesn't matter." She smiled up at me. "You handled him just fine."

"No, I didn't, and I'm not fine," I said. "I just don't understand why we can't call the police."

"No," she said, her voice firm. "I'm serious. Police don't work for people like us. If we call the police, and they see - or sometimes, just think they see - something weird, the next thing you know, we're gone."

I felt a chill run down me at the word. "Gone? What do you mean?"

She stared at me, her eyes hard, and then she said, "'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.' Exodus 22:18. You think people don't believe that?"

"Well, sure. Crazy people."

Her eyes got beady with anger. "They use religion, they use science, they use national security, whatever they need to use to justify it, but if you think there aren't a million little Salems happening every minute of every day, then baby, you're just being naive."

I took that in for a moment, then shook my head. "No. This is Nodaway, it's not like that here. Betty's been here for, god, thirty years - "

"And she's open with her magic?" Davina asked. "Everyone knows about it?"

"Well ... no. I mean..." I sighed, regrouped my argument. "Look, I know the sheriff. His name is Mickey Taylor, and he's really nice and he's known me since I was a kid. I went to school with his son. He would never hurt me, or let anyone else hurt me."

Davina closed her eyes and shook her head as though lamenting my stupidity, but when she looked at me again, her expression was kind. "That's how it used to be. That's not how it is now. You can't trust anyone, and things are only going to get worse."

"Worse? Worse than being attacked by a homicidal maniac?"

She met my eyes and said simply, "Yes."

"I don't understand how - "

"You think he's bad now? Imagine how he'll be when he gets your magic. He could have this kind of power at his disposal, day and night. Someone like that ... well, you just can't stop someone like that. Not the police, not anyone."

Except ... maybe ... Tobias. I thought about it for a moment, but then decided not to tell her about Tobias right now. She was already very agitated, and I didn't want to make things worse. I could tell her tomorrow. "Okay. Fine. No cops. So, what's your big idea, then?"

"We need to get you strong, and you need to fight Cain."

I shot up from the easy chair. "Are you insane? I can't fight him. I do the magical equivalent of balloon animals, Davina."

Her voice was raspy as she spoke. "Right now, yes. But soon, you're going to have all manner of power."

"How do you know that? Just because my father's power evolved, or Holly's did, doesn't mean mine will. What if this is it, this is all I do? I can make a chicken out of a Tupperware dish; how is that going to defeat a guy like Cain?"

"Well, you're right," she said thoughtfully. "If all you can do in the next few days is make balloon animals, then ... well ... we'll figure something else out."

"Like what?" But I'd barely gotten the words out before it hit me, so clearly, like the solution had been there all along, only I hadn't seen it. I pulled back from her and said, "What if I gave you my magic?"

She stared at me blankly. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You. But you wouldn't have to force me to give you my magic, I'd do it willingly. Godspeed and god bless, take it."

"Oh, really? And have me end up like him? Going crazy every twelve hours, living on potions to keep me hanging on?" She shook her head. "No, thank you."

"Well ... what if...? What if you just took it and spit it out? Like with snake venom? You're a conjurer, like him. You're smart. Can you do that?"

Something flashed over her face and I grabbed her hands.

"You can! You know something."

She sighed. "I don't. Not really. There's a possibility that I could do something like that but..."

"That's great, let's - "

She held up her hand. "This stuff is very dangerous, baby. Your magic ... if someone takes it from you, you'll be weakened. You could die. Holly died, and I will not see that happen to you, I will not!" She sighed, reached for my hand, and smiled. "Don't worry. You can do this. I will help you, I'll - "

I hopped up off the couch. "You don't understand. I can't."

Davina smiled. "You did well tonight. You were very brave."

"We're only alive because he didn't want to kill us yet." I took a deep breath. "I know myself, Davina. I know what I'm capable of, and I'm telling you, I'm not the kind of girl who fights magical battles. I wanted excitement in my life, sure, but the kind that involves flirting with some guy wearing a kilt, not ... not this."

"Life isn't a drive-through," Davina said. "Sometimes you get things you didn't order."

"Okay, I don't need a motivational poster right now." I breathed deep, trying to allay the panic, not getting very far. "Look, maybe it only kills if it's taken unwillingly. I mean, I leaked magic to Peach, right? And that didn't hurt me at all. Hell, I didn't even know I was doing it. If I can do that, I bet I can find a way to give it to you. Maybe not all of it, but enough that I won't be useful to him anymore."

"Calm down, Olivia." She patted the space next to her on the couch. "We don't have to figure it all out tonight. There's time. We've still got some time."

I sat down next to her and stared into space, suddenly exhausted. I let my head loll back on the couch, and didn't realize I'd fallen asleep until I felt a pat on my knee, and my head shot up.

"What? Huh?"

"Time for me to go, baby," Davina said, smiling softly. "And time for you to go to bed."

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" I said, rubbing my eyes and yawning. "I have an extra bedroom. Actually, I have four."

"No, no, I feel much better now, really."

She started to get up, and I hopped up to help her stand, but she managed it on her own, pretty easily, considering how wobbly she'd been on the way home.

"Wow," I said. "You heal fast."

"Yes." She smiled brightly. "I'm feeling much better now."

"Are you sure you won't stay?" I said, walking her toward the door. "It'll take me two seconds to put fresh linens in one of the guest rooms."

"No, no, I'm okay. I'm going to walk. The fresh air will do me good."

"But..." I glanced out the panel windows by the door. "What if he's still out there?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he spent what he had tonight," she said. "I'm not worried."

That makes one of us, I thought. I followed her to the door. "Hey, where are you staying? I can call you tomorrow, maybe we can go out to lunch."

"That's a fine idea," she said. "Just send the crane for me. I liked that."

And with that, she headed out the door. As soon as she was out of sight, I glanced up and down my street, and then heard Davina's voice echoing eerily in my head.

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

I shuddered, then shut the door and hit the dead bolt.

* * *

I woke up early the next morning, tossed and turned for a while as the animated orange paper crane flew around my room, possibly still looking for Davina. When the sun finally rose, I caught him in my fingers and whispered for him to stick close to Gibson, sort of a Seeing Eye crane. I let him go, and he floated down to Gibson's box, covered Gibson protectively with one wing, and ... I think ... fell asleep.

I headed out to CCB's at seven, and found Betty behind the counter. I sat down near the cash register, and she quickly finished pouring coffee for Ray Skipp, then zipped over to me.

"Hey," she said, her voice low. "How are you? I was worried when you didn't come by last night."

"I know, I'm sorry." I met her eye briefly, but couldn't hold it for long. I'd been jumpy all morning, and I couldn't shake it. "We got ... detained."

Her expression got serious. "I don't like the sound of that."

"You're not going to like the reality of it, either," I said. "So let me just say, we're fine, Davina saved us."

"Saved you? From what?"

"Well ... he kind of ... attacked us."

"Excuse me? What the hell happened?"

I told her the story, abbreviated but hitting all the major points, and when I finished she was watching me, her expression grim and determined.

"I don't want you spending time with Davina anymore."

"It's not her fault."

"It's been nothing but trouble since she got here."

"Betty - "

"I don't trust her."

"Stop it." I leaned forward, keeping my voice down. "She ran right out in the thick of it, all his dark magic, gray smoke everywhere. She almost got herself killed trying to protect me."

"I don't care if she swallowed dynamite and shot rabbits out of her ass, you are not to spend any more time with her. I don't trust her."

"Well, I do. I even wanted to give her my magic, and she - "

"You what?" Betty's whisper was harsh. "Are you crazy? What if your magic is exactly what she wants?"

"She wasn't going to take it, take it. Just spit it out, like a snakebite."

Betty made a face. "Ew."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, she refused. Too dangerous." I put my hands to my pounding head. "Look, Betty, please. It's been a hell of a few days, and I need you to just trust me, okay?"

She watched me for a long moment, then slowly nodded, although her shoulders didn't seem to relax at all. "Fine. If you say she's all right, I believe you."

"Okay." I craned my neck from side to side, trying to get the kinks out. "So, have you found out where Cain is staying yet?"

Betty shook her head. "I went to all the B and B's, even though he doesn't seem the B-and-B type - "

"He's not," I said.

" - and no one's seen him. I canvassed all the motels within fifty miles, and even asked Happy Larry if he'd seen him around. No joy."

"How is that possible? Fresh meat doesn't stay hidden in this town, even cranky, scruffy meat. There are too many girls in this town who'd go crazy over something like that." I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose, then sighed and looked at her, pulling on the best smile I could muster. "Thanks for trying, Betty. Keep your ear to the ground."

"It's never anywhere else." She watched me and sighed. "Speaking of which, how is everything shaking out with Millie and Peach?"

I sighed. "It's not. Hey ... is it possible...? I mean, could she have overridden his will?" I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Is there such a thing as magical rape?"

Betty thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "Like I said, most people get innocuous powers. Change the color of a dress, make a pencil fly, that sort of thing. Messing with free will, that's dark stuff. If there are people who can do that kind of thing, I've never had contact with them."

"What about a conjurer? Might someone like that be able to make a potion, slip it in Nick's drink?"

"I don't know," Betty said, although she looked doubtful. "Maybe. I guess. But..."

She trailed off, and I prodded her. "What?"

She leaned forward, her elbows on the counter, her eyes compassionate and sad. "Have you ever heard of Occam's razor?"

"Yeah. The simplest explanation is usually the correct one, right?"

"Well, the simplest explanation here is human nature. Men - especially men who are about to get married - are known for this sort of thing. You don't need to slip anything into their drinks. You just have to be ... tempting. Millie tempted him, he was human, he messed up." She leaned back and wiped down the counter absently with her towel. "I'm seventy-three years old, Liv, and I've seen this happen a lot. Never once has there been any magic involved."

"Right." Still, I couldn't help but feel like there was something more here. But then, maybe that was just because I didn't want Peach to be suffering like this. I sighed and put my head in my hands. "I'm gonna go stand on the magic square and wish it all away."

She patted my hand. "You go do that, honey."

I pushed myself up from the counter and walked over to the square near Booth 9. I sighed and looked down at it, my feet just outside its edges. I wish - I thought, and then I heard my name. I looked up, and Andrew Garvey, the elementary school principal, was holding up an empty coffee mug, looking at me expectantly. I glanced down at my sweatpants and my Mason's Plumbing T-shirt that read, WE FIX ANY CRACK, and looked back at Andrew.

"You bet." I walked around the magic square, grabbed a carafe from the industrial coffeemaker, and caught Tobias's eye through the pass as he delivered a waffle order up for Betty.

He looked pissed.

"Great," I muttered to myself.

"What are you doing here?" he said.

"Serving coffee." I delivered Andrew's coffee and then headed back into the kitchen, where Tobias was manning the grill while Kenny headbanged on his iPod, supervising the waffle irons. Tobias shot a look at me and whistled loudly to Kenny, who raised his head.

"Take over for me, Ken. I'm on break."

Without skipping a headbanging beat, Kenny walked over and monitored the grill. Tobias took me by the elbow and led me out toward the back dock. On the way, I grabbed a small ceramic prep bowl full of raspberries off the counter and then followed dutifully until we were sitting, once again, in the two nylon camping chairs in the back. I sat down, pulled out a raspberry, and popped it in my mouth. Man, they were good.

"I thought you were going to stay home," he said.

"I was," I said. "But, you know, best laid plans."

"This isn't a joke," Tobias said. "I was going to come by and see you after my shift."

"Why?" I said, sitting forward a bit. "Did you find something?"

"Not much. I made some calls to friends, just preliminary stuff. His name is Cain Taggart. From Hastings, Tennessee. He's a conjurer, although he didn't show up on Magical radar - "

"You guys have Magical radar?"

The edge of Tobias's mouth quirked up a bit. "I mean, they only first heard of him recently."

I sat back, flushing at my own stupidity as I chewed on another raspberry. "Shut up. I don't understand how this world works."

He smiled. "Don't worry about it. Few people do. Anyway, he dropped off the surface about two months ago, and no one has seen or heard from him since." He cleared his throat. "I also looked into your friend Davina." He gave me a look. "She didn't show up anywhere at all. Are you sure her real name is Davina Granville?"

I stared at him. "I didn't check her driver's license or anything, no. But she says she's just a small-time conjurer. Maybe she's just never done anything to show up on your radar."

Tobias shrugged. "Maybe."

I set the raspberries down on the ground and leaned forward, looking at Tobias. "I trust her. She almost got herself killed last night protecting me - "

"Last night? What happened last night?"

"Cain attacked us," I said, then held up my hand as Tobias sat forward. "I tried to call you, my cell phone was dead, and by the time I could contact you, we were home safe and I was exhausted. I'm telling you now. Please back off, okay? If I have to deal with one more well-intentioned but overprotective person in my life, I'm going to throw myself headfirst into the falls."

Tobias smiled. "Well, that would be bad."

"I know," I said. "I could get wet. And possibly even a little muddy."

This time, the flush was his, appearing at the base of his neck. I felt myself warm up all over, and this time, I didn't think the tingling I felt was from any paranormal source. I reached down and grabbed the bowl of raspberries again, cupping it in my hands.

"So," he said after a while, his voice just as calm and in control as always. "You're okay, then?"

I looked at him, and our eyes met again, and there was more tingling, all over. Oy.

"Yeah," I said, my voice soft. "I'm fi - "

And that's when something small hit my face and bounced off.

"What the...?" I pulled back a bit and swatted at the air by my face. "What was that?"

"I think," Tobias said flatly, "it was a flying raspberry."

I hopped up out of the chair and looked inside the ceramic bowl I'd been holding; it was empty. I glanced around and a number of raspberry butterflies zoomed around the patio, their wings seeming to be made of some kind of raspberry juice vapor, my yellow light flickering around them as they flew. I checked my fingers and I caught the last fading glimpse of the light on my fingers; I hadn't touched the raspberries at the time of transformation, nor did I intend to change them.

Evolving power, I thought, and my throat tightened.

The wayward raspberry that had hit me in the face now flew drunkenly around Tobias's head, then backed up a bit, as if trying to get a good look at us, as though we were the freaks of nature. For his part, Tobias stared back at it, equally mesmerized.

"Huh," he said.

The raspberries flew around us, tightening their circle, occasionally bouncing off my shoulder or the back of Tobias's head.

"So," he said, ducking a raspberry as it buzzed his head, "this is interesting."

"The charm wears off after a while, trust me." I watched the raspberries fly around, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do now. "Davina said I should practice. I guess I should try to undo them? Maybe?"

Tobias motioned toward the swarm. "This is gonna be fun."

I stood up and concentrated, trying to remember what Davina had said to me the other night about pulling the energy back in. It's mine, I thought. I'm not killing anything. I'm just pulling what's mine back to me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, locating the raspberries around me, visualizing them as tiny yellow balls of my energy floating around me. One by one, I pulled the yellow light back in, and one by one, I heard the tiny plops around me. The energy flowed back into me, and for a moment, my limbs buzzed and my stomach dropped, the jolt of power hitting me like a steep decline on a roller coaster. But then I absorbed it, and my body calmed. I was getting stronger, just as Davina had said I would. I could feel the magic inside me, buzzing throughout me, waiting to be of use. And if I didn't figure out how to control it, it would control me.

I looked around at the scattered raspberries on the ground. I concentrated on one, and it took a moment to get it right, but soon, wisps of yellow light surrounded it and I floated it into the air. While holding that one up, I allowed my concentration to spread to the others, finding all of them and lifting them up as well. Slowly, I circled them around and around, until they whirled around us like a Ferris wheel on its side. I let the energy hum for a bit, enjoying the feel of the power, and then, I pulled the magic back into myself and let them drop, one by one, perfectly aimed into the center of the little ceramic dish.

When I finally allowed myself to meet his eyes again, Tobias was staring at me, concern on his face.

"You all right?" he asked.

"I guess." I looked up at him. "My power is evolving, just like Davina said it would."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"I think that means I'm going to have to fight this guy." My legs started to shake. "Tobias, I don't want to fight this guy. I don't want to fight anyone."

He stood up and walked over to me. "It's a little late for that." He put both hands on either side of my face and guided me to look at him. "If you have to fight, you'll fight. But you won't fight alone, ever. Okay?"

I took in a sharp breath, only then realizing that I had stopped breathing in my panic. "Okay."

He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. "Go on home. Lock the doors. Get some rest. I'm gonna follow up on some things after my shift, but I'll be by later tonight, if that's okay."

I nodded. "It's okay."

"It's not too overprotective of me? All the hovering?"

"Yes," I said, "but it's okay. I kind of like it when you hover, sometimes."

"All right then." He smiled. "Call me if you need me."

I took my index finger and crossed over my heart. He hesitated a moment, then gave a little wave and went back inside. I folded up the chairs and tucked them back into the corner of the patio, then headed down the alley to Main Street, just walking home as if I were a normal woman on a normal day doing normal things.

None of which was exactly the case.

* * *

I killed the afternoon sitting on my porch swing, watching the neighborhood and thinking. I knew I should have gone inside and thrown the bolt when the sun set, but what difference did it make? If Cain wanted to come after me, what would I be able to do to stop him? Was my little dead bolt going to stop a guy who had both conjuring and magical powers? My guess was that if he wanted me, he would come and get me, and there wasn't much I could do about it if he did.

"Nothing like a little fatalism to make the day complete," I muttered to myself.

Just then, a big white van with the EASTER LANDSCAPING logo on the side pulled into my street.

"Oh, hell," I said as Nick pulled the van in front of Peach's house. He slammed the door, walked up onto Peach's porch, and banged on the door. Nick was short, stocky, and bald as a cue ball, but he was powerful and determined.

"Peach!" he yelled, then stepped back off the porch and looked up at her bedroom window, where her light was on. "Peach!"

The light shut off, and Nick waited for a bit, then when there was no sign of Peach, he shouted again.

"I know you're up there! Come out and talk to me!"

"Crap." I got up and walked out to the sidewalk. "She doesn't want to talk to you, Nick."

He turned and his eyes fixed on me. "Liv!" He rushed over to me, and only then could I see the frantic desperation in his eyes. "Liv, you have to help me. Go talk to her for me."

I eyed him coldly. "Why would I do that? You broke her heart, you big bald asshole."

"I know." He ran his hand over his head, and shook it, as if he didn't understand what was happening. "I know."

I couldn't help it; I felt myself softening toward him. On the one hand, Occam's razor. On the other hand, strange things had been happening lately, and Millie was at the center of it all. That bought Nick a little leeway. A little.

"What happened?" I said finally.

He looked at me, his eyes glazed. "I don't know. I've never thought of Millie that way. Never. It just happened, and it was like ... like I didn't have any control."

"Were you guys drinking anything?"

He shook his head, and lowered his eyes. "Just coffee. I don't know what happened. We stay late and do taxes once every quarter. I get Chinese food and we knock it out and it's always fine. It's always ... you know ... Millie."

"But there she was, all sexy in her red dress..." I said, but Nick shook his head again.

"I don't like the change," he said. "It's not Millie. I get that she wanted to change, and that's her business, really, but to be honest? I liked her better before."

"But you slept with her now," I said.

He leaned back against his van, obviously confused. "I don't know what the hell I was thinking." He swiped at his eyes, rubbing them briskly before going on. "I love Peach, Liv. She's the one. I never thought in a million years a woman like that would want a guy like me. Why would I do this to her, to myself? I've never cheated on a woman I've been dating, never. But the one woman I really wanted, the one woman I actually..."

He trailed off, his voice choked, his misery visible in his slumped shoulders and the tears that welled in his eyes.

Screw Occam's razor. Somehow, this was Cain's handiwork. I didn't know how, but it was, I was sure of it. I reached out and patted his arm. "I believe you, Nick."

He turned his head to look at me, a tiny smile, almost imperceptible through all that misery, on his lips. "Thanks."

"Oh, so you're going to try to sleep with Liv, now? Is that it?"

I looked up to Peach's porch, where she was standing watching us, her body tense with fury.

"Peach," I began, but she didn't hear me. Her eyes were focused on Nick as she barreled down on him, her arms flailing.

"I hate you!" she yelled. I stepped in between them and clasped my hands on her elbows, keeping her from swinging.

"Peach, calm down!"

"I just want to talk," Nick said. "That's all."

"Yeah, well I don't want to talk to you!" she hollered at him over my shoulder.

I angled my head toward Nick.

"Go home," I said. "I'll take care of her."

Nick hesitated for a minute, and was about to get back into his van when I heard a wild cracking sound, and felt Peach jerk in my arms.