by March, Lucy
“Davina!”
“Olivia, get back!” she yelled, and then the branch came down on her head, and she fell to the ground with a dark thud.
“Davina!” I ran to her, the smoke continuing to circle around us, blowing my hair into my face. I skidded to her side and touched her face; she was out cold.
“Davina, Davina, Davina,” I said in a panic. “Oh, shit, this is not good.”
I heard something behind me, the faintest crackle of a twig, and I grabbed the branch that had hit Davina and jumped to my feet, waving it blindly around me.
“Get away from us!” I screamed.
There was no answer. There was nothing but smoke, whipping the air up around me, smelling thick and hot and acrid. I circled around, trying to guard her body, and then there was a pull on the branch and it was out of my grip, flying away from us in the smoke as it retreated. A second later, I heard the thud as the branch fell somewhere far enough away that I had no hope of retrieving it. Once again, the night was silent, and all I could hear was my heart banging in my chest, and my own panicked breath wheezing in and out.
I waited, standing guard, but really, what the hell was I going to do if Cain stepped out of the shadows and attacked? It was night. I was helpless, and Davina was down. I thought about Tobias and felt in my pocket for my cell phone, but it went dead right after I turned it on.
“Damnit, I have to learn to charge this stupid thing!” I cried to myself, my voice sounding high and panicked. I tucked the phone back in my pocket and turned around and around, trying to catch sight of Cain in the dim moonlight, hoping Davina would wake up before I might have to defend us, because if it was left to me, we were dead meat.
Then, finally, I saw him. His outline was faint and dark, but as he moved closer, I knew it wasn’t my imagination. It was Cain, and he was heading straight for us. I glanced around at my feet, kicking at the small branches there, looking for something, anything I might use as a weapon. There was nothing. I closed my eyes tightly for a second, just a second, and when I opened them, he was right there, looking down at Davina.
“Get out of here,” he said, not taking his eyes off her.
“No,” I said, my voice audibly shaking. “I’m not leaving her.”
He looked at me. “This is between me and her. It’s got nothing to do with you.”
I had nothing. No branch, no power, nothing. Except the knowledge that, according to Davina, he couldn’t kill me yet and still get what he wanted. I stepped over Davina, putting myself between her and Cain.
“You want her? You’re going to have to go through me first.”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “Why are you protecting her?”
Before I could answer, I heard a creaking above us. A second later, there was a thud as a big branch, probably loosened by all the gray smoke havoc earlier, fell to the ground between us. I lunged for it, and grabbed it at the end like a baseball bat. I splayed my feet on the ground, bracing myself as I gripped the branch in my hands. Cain watched me, his stance calm and seemingly unworried by any threat I might present. I swung as hard as I could. There was another thud as it connected with his shoulder, sending him sprawling backward.
“Son of a bitch!” he grunted.
I swung again, and the branch made a whooshing sound as Cain dodged the blow. “You’re not getting near her!”
“Put that damn thing down.” There was a growl in his voice that might have scared me on a normal day, but at the moment, all I saw was red. I swung again and missed, and as I was setting up to go for him again, he lunged at me, sending the branch flying as his shoulder connected with my midsection, throwing me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. My head connected with something hard, probably a rock, and for a moment sparks exploded in my vision. When my sight came back, I scrambled backward, glancing around frantically until I saw Cain. He was standing nearby, not advancing on me, but simply watching me.
“You okay?” His voice sounded mildly concerned, which I had to admit, threw me a bit. Then I remembered; he needed me, and that gave me leverage.
“Get away from us,” I said.
“She’s not your friend,” Cain said. “She’s—”
Davina groaned loudly, and I turned away from him.
“Davina?” I could see the outline of her form putting her hand to her head. I looked back to Cain, then scrambled on all fours to Davina’s side.
I touched her gently on the shoulder. “Are you all right?”
She sat up. “I … I think so.”
“Good.” I looked back behind me, but Cain was gone, and I could hear the faint crackling sounds of twigs crunching under his retreat. My heart started beating furiously then, and my shaking got more violent. My arms and legs felt weak, and I sat on the ground next to Davina, trying to breathe.
“Baby?” Davina said, concern in her voice. “What happened?”
“You lost consciousness,” I said as though that were news.
She rubbed my back. “Olivia? You’re shaking. What did he do to you?”
“He…” I began, but realized … he didn’t do anything. No gray smoke, no magic. He knocked me down in self-defense; that was it.
Only because he needs you, I thought. Otherwise, you’d be dead.
“I don’t know. You were knocked out, and then I hit my head on a rock…” I swallowed, the panic taking over now that he was gone. “I’m just a little freaked out.”
“It’s okay,” Davina said, rubbing her head. “That was quite a storm he set on us.”
“Yeah. Are you okay?”
Davina moved her neck slowly from side to side. “I think so. You?”
I checked myself, then nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good. Help me up?”
I got to my feet, then reached down and helped her to hers. She glanced around and let out a long breath.
“He’s gone.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Thank you. You saved my life.”
“No problem. Can we go now?”
“You bet, baby.” She watched me for a long moment, and then she nodded in the direction of my house. “Let’s go.”
12
The walk home was short, but it was long enough that by the time we got back, the cold hollow inside me had filled itself with fury. Once we got inside, I settled Davina on the couch, grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket, and flipped it open.
“What are you doing?” Davina asked.
“I’m calling nine-one-one,” I said. “You need to go to the hospital and I need to report that asshole and have him put in jail.”
I flipped it open, but it was still dead. Damnit. I walked over to the charger and plugged it in. “I always forget to charge this stupid thing.” I glanced around. “And my other phone’s a dead bat.”
“Calm down, Olivia. We need to talk.”
“With the police,” I said. “We need to talk with the police.”
“One thing you need to learn,” she said, her eyes suddenly hard and angry. “Police don’t work for people like us. The police belong to them. We”—she motioned her hand between us—“need to take care of our own.”
“He attacked us,” I said. “If he’s so magic let him magic himself out of a goddamn jail cell. Just give me a minute, and my phone will charge, and—”
Davina took in a breath, and her face looked strained as she closed her eyes and put her hand to her head.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just need a minute.”
“I’ll get you some water and some aspirin.” I went into the kitchen and filled a glass with ice water and grabbed a bottle of Advil. When I got back to the living room, Davina was lying on the couch with her eyes closed. I was going to step out, let her rest while I fumed quietly to myself, but she opened her eyes and reached for the water.
“Thank you,” she said.
“No problem.” I gave her the water and put the bottle of pills in her hand, then collapsed into the easy chair. Davina sat up to drink the water and take the Advil,
then fell back again and let out a long breath.
“Oh, that’s much better,” she said.
“Okay, you ready to explain to me why we’re not having his ass thrown in jail?”
Davina looked at me, and a small smile graced her lips. “Because he didn’t break any laws.”
“He attacked us. We don’t have to tell them about the gray smoke. We’ll say he hit you in the head with a branch. That’s the truth.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She smiled up at me. “You handled him just fine.”
“No, I didn’t, and I’m not fine,” I said. “I just don’t understand why we can’t call the police.”
“No,” she said, her voice firm. “I’m serious. Police don’t work for people like us. If we call the police, and they see—or sometimes, just think they see—something weird, the next thing you know, we’re gone.”
I felt a chill run down me at the word. “Gone? What do you mean?”
She stared at me, her eyes hard, and then she said, “‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.’ Exodus 22:18. You think people don’t believe that?”
“Well, sure. Crazy people.”
Her eyes got beady with anger. “They use religion, they use science, they use national security, whatever they need to use to justify it, but if you think there aren’t a million little Salems happening every minute of every day, then baby, you’re just being naive.”
I took that in for a moment, then shook my head. “No. This is Nodaway, it’s not like that here. Betty’s been here for, god, thirty years—”
“And she’s open with her magic?” Davina asked. “Everyone knows about it?”
“Well … no. I mean…” I sighed, regrouped my argument. “Look, I know the sheriff. His name is Mickey Taylor, and he’s really nice and he’s known me since I was a kid. I went to school with his son. He would never hurt me, or let anyone else hurt me.”
Davina closed her eyes and shook her head as though lamenting my stupidity, but when she looked at me again, her expression was kind. “That’s how it used to be. That’s not how it is now. You can’t trust anyone, and things are only going to get worse.”
“Worse? Worse than being attacked by a homicidal maniac?”
She met my eyes and said simply, “Yes.”
“I don’t understand how—”
“You think he’s bad now? Imagine how he’ll be when he gets your magic. He could have this kind of power at his disposal, day and night. Someone like that … well, you just can’t stop someone like that. Not the police, not anyone.”
Except … maybe … Tobias. I thought about it for a moment, but then decided not to tell her about Tobias right now. She was already very agitated, and I didn’t want to make things worse. I could tell her tomorrow. “Okay. Fine. No cops. So, what’s your big idea, then?”
“We need to get you strong, and you need to fight Cain.”
I shot up from the easy chair. “Are you insane? I can’t fight him. I do the magical equivalent of balloon animals, Davina.”
Her voice was raspy as she spoke. “Right now, yes. But soon, you’re going to have all manner of power.”
“How do you know that? Just because my father’s power evolved, or Holly’s did, doesn’t mean mine will. What if this is it, this is all I do? I can make a chicken out of a Tupperware dish; how is that going to defeat a guy like Cain?”
“Well, you’re right,” she said thoughtfully. “If all you can do in the next few days is make balloon animals, then … well … we’ll figure something else out.”
“Like what?” But I’d barely gotten the words out before it hit me, so clearly, like the solution had been there all along, only I hadn’t seen it. I pulled back from her and said, “What if I gave you my magic?”
She stared at me blankly. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You. But you wouldn’t have to force me to give you my magic, I’d do it willingly. Godspeed and god bless, take it.”
“Oh, really? And have me end up like him? Going crazy every twelve hours, living on potions to keep me hanging on?” She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“Well … what if…? What if you just took it and spit it out? Like with snake venom? You’re a conjurer, like him. You’re smart. Can you do that?”
Something flashed over her face and I grabbed her hands.
“You can! You know something.”
She sighed. “I don’t. Not really. There’s a possibility that I could do something like that but…”
“That’s great, let’s—”
She held up her hand. “This stuff is very dangerous, baby. Your magic … if someone takes it from you, you’ll be weakened. You could die. Holly died, and I will not see that happen to you, I will not!” She sighed, reached for my hand, and smiled. “Don’t worry. You can do this. I will help you, I’ll—”
I hopped up off the couch. “You don’t understand. I can’t.”
Davina smiled. “You did well tonight. You were very brave.”
“We’re only alive because he didn’t want to kill us yet.” I took a deep breath. “I know myself, Davina. I know what I’m capable of, and I’m telling you, I’m not the kind of girl who fights magical battles. I wanted excitement in my life, sure, but the kind that involves flirting with some guy wearing a kilt, not … not this.”
“Life isn’t a drive-through,” Davina said. “Sometimes you get things you didn’t order.”
“Okay, I don’t need a motivational poster right now.” I breathed deep, trying to allay the panic, not getting very far. “Look, maybe it only kills if it’s taken unwillingly. I mean, I leaked magic to Peach, right? And that didn’t hurt me at all. Hell, I didn’t even know I was doing it. If I can do that, I bet I can find a way to give it to you. Maybe not all of it, but enough that I won’t be useful to him anymore.”
“Calm down, Olivia.” She patted the space next to her on the couch. “We don’t have to figure it all out tonight. There’s time. We’ve still got some time.”
I sat down next to her and stared into space, suddenly exhausted. I let my head loll back on the couch, and didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep until I felt a pat on my knee, and my head shot up.
“What? Huh?”
“Time for me to go, baby,” Davina said, smiling softly. “And time for you to go to bed.”
“Why don’t you stay here tonight?” I said, rubbing my eyes and yawning. “I have an extra bedroom. Actually, I have four.”
“No, no, I feel much better now, really.”
She started to get up, and I hopped up to help her stand, but she managed it on her own, pretty easily, considering how wobbly she’d been on the way home.
“Wow,” I said. “You heal fast.”
“Yes.” She smiled brightly. “I’m feeling much better now.”
“Are you sure you won’t stay?” I said, walking her toward the door. “It’ll take me two seconds to put fresh linens in one of the guest rooms.”
“No, no, I’m okay. I’m going to walk. The fresh air will do me good.”
“But…” I glanced out the panel windows by the door. “What if he’s still out there?”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure he spent what he had tonight,” she said. “I’m not worried.”
That makes one of us, I thought. I followed her to the door. “Hey, where are you staying? I can call you tomorrow, maybe we can go out to lunch.”
“That’s a fine idea,” she said. “Just send the crane for me. I liked that.”
And with that, she headed out the door. As soon as she was out of sight, I glanced up and down my street, and then heard Davina’s voice echoing eerily in my head.
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
I shuddered, then shut the door and hit the dead bolt.
*
I woke up early the next morning, tossed and turned for a while as the animated orange paper crane flew around my room, possibly still looking for Davina. When the sun finally rose, I caught him in my fi
ngers and whispered for him to stick close to Gibson, sort of a Seeing Eye crane. I let him go, and he floated down to Gibson’s box, covered Gibson protectively with one wing, and … I think … fell asleep.
I headed out to CCB’s at seven, and found Betty behind the counter. I sat down near the cash register, and she quickly finished pouring coffee for Ray Skipp, then zipped over to me.
“Hey,” she said, her voice low. “How are you? I was worried when you didn’t come by last night.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” I met her eye briefly, but couldn’t hold it for long. I’d been jumpy all morning, and I couldn’t shake it. “We got … detained.”
Her expression got serious. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You’re not going to like the reality of it, either,” I said. “So let me just say, we’re fine, Davina saved us.”
“Saved you? From what?”
“Well … he kind of … attacked us.”
“Excuse me? What the hell happened?”
I told her the story, abbreviated but hitting all the major points, and when I finished she was watching me, her expression grim and determined.
“I don’t want you spending time with Davina anymore.”
“It’s not her fault.”
“It’s been nothing but trouble since she got here.”
“Betty—”
“I don’t trust her.”
“Stop it.” I leaned forward, keeping my voice down. “She ran right out in the thick of it, all his dark magic, gray smoke everywhere. She almost got herself killed trying to protect me.”
“I don’t care if she swallowed dynamite and shot rabbits out of her ass, you are not to spend any more time with her. I don’t trust her.”
“Well, I do. I even wanted to give her my magic, and she—”
“You what?” Betty’s whisper was harsh. “Are you crazy? What if your magic is exactly what she wants?”
“She wasn’t going to take it, take it. Just spit it out, like a snakebite.”
Betty made a face. “Ew.”
“It doesn’t matter, anyway, she refused. Too dangerous.” I put my hands to my pounding head. “Look, Betty, please. It’s been a hell of a few days, and I need you to just trust me, okay?”
She watched me for a long moment, then slowly nodded, although her shoulders didn’t seem to relax at all. “Fine. If you say she’s all right, I believe you.”