A Little Night Magic Page 0,46

I stretched my hand through the busted driver's side window and felt his neck for a pulse; it was there, and it was strong, probably still pounding from the adrenaline of the last few minutes. Given that he was definitely alive, in no more immediate danger, and I could already hear the distant whine of emergency sirens, I thought it best not to move him. I pulled my hand out and spun around, scanning the immediate vicinity for any sign of Amber, or Cain, but whoever had attacked Frankie seemed to have disappeared along with the gray smoke.

Which, honestly, was okay by me, because what the hell was I going to do about it, anyway?

"What happened?" Betty said as she caught up to me, then glanced at Frankie bleeding in the front seat. "Oh, crap."

I pulled her aside, toward the vacant general store, so we'd be out of the way when the EMTs arrived. "Did you see it? The gray smoke?"

She stared at me. "I'm old, not blind. But who was throwing the pool balls?"

"They were magical," I said. "The other night, Peach and I got attacked with magic walnuts. Same gray smoke, same disappearing projectiles."

"Walnuts?" Betty seemed surprised for a moment, then gave a knowing nod. "Millie?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Her grandmother had walnut trees all over the property, and Millie got hit in the head by one when she was four. She had to go to the hospital and everything. She's been traumatized by walnuts ever since." She shook her head. "But Millie's not a Magical. I would know. And, even if she was, why would she attack Frankie?"

"She didn't," I said. "This was Amber Dorsey."

Betty shook her head. "Now, I know Amber Dorsey isn't a Magical. Too angry. She would have gone all Carrie-at-the-prom way before now if she had the power."

"I don't think she has any." I raised my voice to be heard over the approaching ambulance. "Have you ever heard of people taking conduits?"

Betty thought for a moment, then nodded. "I've heard of it. Never seen it. But who...?"

"Cain, that guy I told you about, from the alley at Happy Larry's? He's a powerful conjurer. With night magic."

Her expression darkened. "That's not good."

The ambulance screeched to a halt and EMTs popped out of the back, rushing toward Frankie's car. Right behind, a sheriff's car pulled up, lights blazing, and Mickey Taylor hopped out, heading straight for us. Betty smiled and waved him over. I grabbed her arm and stepped in close.

"Wait, what do we tell him?" I asked, my voice low.

"As much of the truth as we can," she said.

Mickey walked us into CCB's, where Betty told him that we saw Frankie's car swerving, and it looked like someone had pelted the car with pool balls, and that he might want to talk to Amber Dorsey about it, although we didn't actually see her. Everything she said was absolutely true, and yet not at all supernatural. I mostly just nodded and kept my mouth shut. Mickey took it all down on his notepad, saying he'd call us if he needed any more information. After locking the door behind him, Betty walked back to where I was sitting at the counter and sat down next to me.

"That was really good," I said. "You were incredible."

"Not my first rodeo." We were silent for a moment, until she sighed. "Conduits? You're sure?"

"Pretty sure," I said.

She nodded acceptance, her expression grim. "If this Cain is preying on people with scores to settle, then we've got serious trouble. You know how many people want to kill each other with pool balls and walnuts in this town?"

I sighed. "I'll hunt around town, see if I can find Cain. Maybe I can ... I don't know. Talk to him."

She gave me a dull look. "Oh. Good idea. Go search out the man who wants to kill you. That can't end badly."

"He doesn't want to kill me," I said. "He wants my magic. The fact that it'll kill me is incidental. And besides, he's night magic. I'll just look for him during the day."

"He can still knock you out and tie you up until it's nighttime."

I opened my mouth to argue, but she kind of had a point. He might not be able to do magical damage during the day, but he'd been strong and fast enough to pull me into that alley. I couldn't afford to forget that there was basic human damage that could be done, too.

"Point taken. So what do we