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