my hands, wanting to do something, anything ... but what? Turn an acorn into a snail? With all my power at my disposal, and her weakened and only able to rely on whatever premixed potions she might have in her bag, she was still more powerful than me.
"See," she went on, "Cain had his chance, and he lost it, because the man - for all his wonderful qualities - is not a person who can seal that particular deal." She reached out and put her hand over mine, her skin feeling cold and alien. "And neither are you. And since the only way you're going to stop me is to kill me, then we're going to have to find another way to settle this little problem we have."
I pulled my hand out from under her grip. "If I give you my magic, who's to say you won't just go ahead and kill everyone anyway?"
She looked at me, her face shocked and almost hurt. "Oh, come on. You know why I'm doing this, don't you?"
"Ummm ... because you're insane?"
She turned her body toward mine, leaning forward as if we were still friends. "Do you have any idea what this would mean to the Magical community? I'd be able to protect people. I'd have the power to keep them all safe from police, scientists, politicians. You think witch hunts are a thing of the past? Just look at Don't Ask, Don't Tell; they paint it over with nice little slogans, but bigotry and fear are real, and they are deadly. If I had this power, no one would be able to harm another Magical again. We'd be on top, for once."
"And that was worth killing the man you loved?"
Her eyes flashed with emotion, and my heart sank. It had just been a hunch, both that Davina had loved my father, and that she had killed him, but her speed at regaining her composure didn't keep me from seeing what I was looking for.
"That's none of your business," she said, but I could see that I'd gotten a hit in on a tiny patch of soft underbelly, so I kept going.
"You loved my father," I said. "And he trusted you. That's how you knew who he was, what he was."
Her fists clenched, but she didn't say anything.
"You killed him when you tried to steal his magic," I went on. "You didn't mean to, but you killed him."
Her eyes met mine, cold. "Who told you this?"
"In the newspaper article, they mentioned that when they dragged you half-conscious from the woods after you killed Holly, you were calling for him in your delirium. There's only one reason I can think of why you would do that."
Her eyebrows raised. "Nice work, Sherlock."
She carefully smoothed her skirt over her legs, her eyes locked on her strong fingers, and then she turned a cold smile to me.
"I've already lost everything," she said, her voice quiet and oddly cold. "This is the only way to make it mean something."
"You're going to kill more people, including me, so you can get the power to save other people from being killed? To give my father's death, also at your hands, meaning? Your logic's missing a piece there."
"My logic is not your problem. Saving this town is your problem. The only choice you have to make is how many people die. Just you, or you and a whole bunch of others." With that, she stood up, tucked her purse over her shoulder, and landed cold eyes on me. "As you can see by this chance meeting, I can get to you whenever and however I choose. I will call you again, and when I do, you're going to want to heed that call. Because if you don't, I will rain such hell down on you and yours that you will wish you'd died the other night, the way you were supposed to."
She blew me a quick kiss, then turned and walked away. I sat on the bench, shaking, a potent cocktail of fear and rage running through my veins. After a few moments, it occurred to me that I should get up and go back home.
That's when I saw Tobias standing at the edge of the square, watching me with a stony look on his face.
Chapter 18
I waited for Tobias as he walked toward me, knowing I should get up but unable to move yet. He got to me, his eyes never leaving mine as he flipped out his cell phone