me. "We bound your power when you were a baby, but now it's here, and we need to deal with that."
"Wait - you bound my power?"
She stared at me like I was stupid. "You were supposed to be a normal kid. We couldn't very well have you running around making turtles out of plates, now, could we?"
"No." I sat back. "Guess not."
"Eventually, your power was going to come out. This was never not going to happen. To be honest, I was expecting it all to hit the fan when your mother died; emotional trauma can do it. That's why most Magicals get their power at puberty. And it may not be a big deal, really. Just because you got your power, it doesn't necessarily put you in more danger than you were in last week. It's just that if the people who were after you guys find out you've got power, they might come after you again. So we need to have this talk just so you know to be careful and all that."
"Oh, shit," I said.
Betty's eyes widened. "What?"
"There's a woman, Davina. Last Friday, she showed up here and threw a stinky gym sock at me, telling me I was magic and that I should be what I am, or something like that."
Betty's eyes widened. "And you're just telling me this now?"
"I thought she was insane. We get insane people in CCB's every day. But last night, she came to the house, and talked to me about the magic, and I turned my phone into a bat."
"You turned a phone into a bat in front of someone?" She shook her head. "Way to bury the lead, kid."
"There's more..."
She put her hand to her forehead. "Oh, Christ in a bucket."
"Sunday, I bumped into a guy in the alley outside Happy Larry's, and I turned a trash can lid into a dog in front of him." I swallowed. "Davina said his name is Cain, and that he wants to kill her."
Betty stared at me for a while, then pushed up from the table. "Pack your stuff. We're going to the airport."
I stood up as well. "Wait. Let me think a minute."
"Think while you're packing. You're going to Europe in a few weeks anyway, we'll just change your ticket when we get there and send you now."
"Wait. How did you know about Europe?"
"Tobias told me. He asked me if I really thought you would go, and I said no, but right now, I say yes. You go."
"I can't go now."
"Why not?"
"Because we don't know what these people want, or who they are. Davina actually seems kind of nice. A little crazy, but nice. And she protected me when Cain surprised me in that alley. As for Cain ... well..." I felt a shiver go through me at the memory of him in that alley. "Okay, he might be dangerous, but running away isn't the answer. If they found me here, it's just a matter of time before they find me somewhere else." I took a deep breath. "We're just going to need to figure out another solution."
Betty stood there for a moment, her eyes sharp on mine, and then she sat down again. "Any ideas, Mary Poppins?"
"Well ... you said you bound my power. Couldn't you do that again?"
Betty stared at me for a moment, then shook her head. "No."
"Why not? You did it before."
"No. Your father did it before. Gotta be a blood relative, and even then, things get complicated past the age of reason, about seven or eight. There's free will to be messed with and that's where things get dark with magic. It's not a good place to go."
"But it's my free will," I said. "I will it. And complicated doesn't mean impossible, right? I mean, the spell worked well into my twenties. That means it can work again."
"It's got to be a blood relative, Liv. You're kind of short on those."
"I have a father and a sister out there somewhere," I said, feeling my heart rise at the thought. Family. "I'll just find them."
"It's not easy finding people who don't want to be found. I tried when your mother died, I wanted to tell them, but I couldn't find them. And I hired a real private detective. From Buffalo."
I met her eye. "Okay, but I'm not going to Europe. Not yet."
"Okay." She reached across the table and patted my hand. "We'll think of something else, then. In the meantime, though, you're officially on sabbatical. I want you home,