He frowned. "If any of that were true, we'd all be dead, because Kirby apparently did join the circle when she was eleven. All it did was put a monster who deserved death into a wheelchair."
"Not exactly true." Russell tossed a folder across to him. "I've been digging around in old newspaper articles. Eighteen years ago a very centralized quake hit Melbourne. It happened in the dead of night, in the midst of a freak storm, and the only place to be hit was a certain government facility caring for unwanted teenagers. One building was partially destroyed, and a child was killed. Several other children were injured, as well as a nurse and a caretaker who were in the building at the time."
He opened the folder and flipped through the reports. There were images of destruction and terrified children, but Kirby wasn't among them, though why he thought he would recognize her he wasn't entirely sure. He dropped the folder back onto the desk.
"So, what you're saying is that she caused this quake by forming the circle?"
Camille nodded. "But because she was one of five, the power was, in a sense, muted—or at least controlled. But imagine that power all placed in one body."
"It would be damn near unstoppable," Russell intoned. "And that's what we're facing, buddy boy."
"Not yet, we're not. Kirby and Trina are still alive." And would remain that way, no matter what the cost— or what he had to give up.
"Yes," Camille agreed. "But two others are dead, their abilities sucked into the soul of another. I fear our killer may be the point representing strength. It would explain her ability to summon and control two pairs of manarei as well as the zombies. No witch, light or dark, could perform spells that strong so close together without suffering some side effects." He rubbed a hand across his eyes. There might have been three of them, but the odds, it seemed, where decidedly on evil's side. "Have we any idea what abilities she's stolen?"
"I did a reading on Trina. She's earth, and it would have been her power that caused the quake. If Kirby is air, that leaves fire and water."
"She tried lashing me with fire when she locked me in that water tank," he murmured. "So she's definitely got that one. What power does water give her?" Camille shrugged. "She could call in ice and freeze. She could change the course of any nearby water."
"And Kirby? Can she do anything more than call lightning to her fingers?" Because if she couldn't, she was seriously outgunned.
"Given she's air, she should also be able to control the wind. But if she's never called it, it might not be her strongest ability."
"Helen talked to the wind," he murmured thoughtfully. "Is that usual for storm witches?"
"No." Camille frowned. "I wonder what she did with her powers. It's a damn unusual thing to do, I'm telling you that."
He sipped his coffee for a moment, remembering the words of a ghost. "Is it possible to gift your powers to someone else?"
"Not usually. I've seen it happen once, but the two people were identical twins, and more one person than two. Why?"
"I think that's what Helen intended to do when she stripped her powers. She wanted to give them to Kirby."
"What?" Camille's voice was gratingly sharp. "Why would you say that?"
"Because her spirit still roams this Earth—"
"Well, it would, wouldn't it?" Camille interrupted harshly. "She killed herself, after all."
He ignored her and continued. "Helen has talked to Kirby twice now that I know of. She wants Kirby to perform a spell of some sort tonight, and she left a box that tingles with magic."
"Good or bad?"
"If it was bad, I would have destroyed it. You know that." Camille grunted. "The only way it could possibly succeed was if they were twins. They ain't, are they?"
"Who would really know?" Russell said. 'They were left at different hospitals when they were babes. Their birth certificates simply have 'unknown'
when it comes to the name of their parents. They could be related, for all we know."
Camille's gaze cut back to him. "Doyle, you going to let her perform this ceremony?"
"Yes." If only because Helen's abilities might be her last hope of survival if the Circle failed her.
'Then you're going to have to do a protection circle." She twisted around and grabbed a paper and pen. "You do know how to do that, don't you?"
"How to make them, and how to destroy them. You can't feel magic and not know the ins and outs of it, Camille."
"Good." She handed him a note. On it was an address and what amounted to a grocery list of magical ingredients— everything he needed to make a circle of protection, and a little bit more.