A Little Night Magic (23 page)

“Outside, having a smoke.” Tobias kept his eyes on me, and even in the dark, I could see the intensity in his expression as he watched me. “How are you feeling?”

I took a moment to check myself. I wasn’t cold anymore. My throat was still a bit raw, but definitely improved. My muscles felt weak and sore, but other than that …

“I think I might survive.”

Tobias cleared his throat. “For a while there, we weren’t sure you would.”

“Oh.” I swallowed. “Sorry.”

His every muscle seemed taut with tension, making him look like an animal on alert for an attack. “Wanna tell me what the hell happened?”

I looked at him, surprised by the sudden ice in his tone. “You know what happened.”

He got up from the chair and went to the window, staring out of it as he spoke. “I know that I asked you to stay home and wait for me, and I know that you didn’t. What I don’t know is if my advice even entered your mind when you were running off to get yourself killed.”

I pulled myself up to a sitting position, and it made me a little dizzy, but lying down while getting yelled at made me feel too vulnerable. “Peach got attacked. I panicked. I just wanted the magic gone, I wanted it out of me. So I sent for Davina.”

He turned to face me. “Why didn’t you send for me?”

“Because…”

He waited for a moment for me to elaborate, and when I didn’t, he let out an exasperated sigh. “Because
why
?”

I shrugged, annoyance creeping through me as he made me feel more and more like a kid in the principal’s office. “Because I wanted it gone, and you couldn’t help me with that. Davina could.”

He let out a harsh, mirthless laugh. “Yeah. The same way she helped your sister, leaving her dead in the middle of a forest? Is that what you wanted? Because ten more minutes, and you would have had it.”

“I didn’t know that at the time. I thought Cain killed Holly, and I thought Davina was my friend.” I put my hand to my spinning head. “Tobias, I’m in rough shape. Any chance the grilling can wait for a while?”

“Sure.” He sat down in the chair, leaning back and pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. He looked like hell, which made me feel like hell, but there was nothing to do but sit there and let the tension set around us.

“I thought you were dead,” he said finally, but when I looked at him, he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at the ceiling. “I saw you lying there … you were so still. When I touched you, you were cold and all I could think was that you were dead and I had killed you.”

“Tobias, that’s ridiculous.”

He shifted his focus to lock his eyes with mine. “I didn’t want to crowd you. Had you just been a job, I would have shadowed you every minute. I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if you were mad at me or if you didn’t like it. I would have protected you.”

At this, my ire rose. “What, just because I’m a woman, I can’t take care of myself? I need a man around to protect me all the time? Sexist ass.”

He gave me a dull look. “Not because you’re a woman. Because someone wants to kill you, and I have more experience with that than you do.”

My ire deflated. “Oh.”

He let out a huff of annoyance. “Yeah.”

“So … I guess I’m the sexist ass in this scenario, then?”

“Yep.”

“Just checking.” I yawned, unable to help myself, then breathed deeply and immediately regretted it. “Jeez, I need a shower. I smell like stinky gym sock.”

He was silent, staring off into space. I sat forward, leaning my elbows on my knees.

“Forgive me for what I’m about to say, because I know every girlfriend in the world says this and it’s awful but … what are you thinking?”

He watched me for a long moment, then said, “I’m thinking that you’re not my girlfriend.”

I felt the stab of that hit me hard in the gut, and I took a breath and sat back. “Ow.”

“Liv—”

“No, I got it.” I blinked hard, and took in a deep breath. “Message received.”

“There’s no way to make it work,” he said, his tone flat. “One of these days, I’m going to disappear, and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“Stop protecting me,” I said. “I’m a grown woman. I get to decide what I can handle and what I can’t.”

“What if I can’t handle it?”

He said it so quietly that I almost wasn’t sure if I’d heard him right, but when I looked at him, I knew I had. He was drained, both physically and emotionally, and he was coming off two days of panic and worry and very little sleep, if he’d gotten any at all. I put myself in his shoes for a moment, imagining how I would have felt if the roles were reversed. The very thought of finding him half-dead, of not knowing whether or not he would survive, of believing that I could have protected him but had failed … just imagining it made me feel sick.

I was still trying to figure out what to say when the front door opened, and Cain walked in. I hugged my arms around myself, digging my fingers into my sides and trying to concentrate on the physical pain, which was tough, but at least bearable. Tobias shot up off the chair and went out the door, letting it close quietly behind him.

“I see you’ve been winning friends and influencing people,” Cain said wryly.

“Can I go home now?” I looked up at him, trying to focus my anger on him rather than deal with what had just happened between me and Tobias.

Cain watched me for a moment, then glanced toward the door through which Tobias had disappeared. When he looked back at me, his expression was not friendly, exactly, but it wasn’t antagonistic, either.

“Yeah,” he said. “If you can walk, you can go home.”

I pushed myself up from the futon and took a step. My muscles felt wobbly, but I managed to put one foot in front of the other and not fall down, so I chalked that up as success. Cain walked over to me, took my hand and placed it on his shoulder, and I pulled it away.

“You either lean on me or him,” he said, motioning his head in the direction Tobias had gone. “But you’re not making it down those steps without help.”

I sighed and gripped his shoulder, letting him put one hand on the small of my back to help guide me. We stepped outside onto the metal exterior steps that led down the side of Happy Larry’s to the alley. Tobias, who had been sitting on the top step, got up.

“We’re going back to her house,” Cain said. He and Tobias exchanged a glance, and Tobias stepped out of the way to let us by. I kept my eyes on my feet as we navigated the rickety metal staircase, and managed to ignore the fact that Tobias was right behind us as we made our way home.

15

I was sitting on my couch, freshly showered and in blissfully clean clothes, when there was banging on the front door, and I heard an aged voice hollering, “Livvy?”

Betty.

“In here!” I called out, too tired to even think of getting up to answer the door.

“Liv?” Betty came into the living room and looked at me, her hand over her heart. “I swear to god, if I survive this, I’m going to kill you. I am too
old
for this, Livvy.”

She made her way over to the couch and sat next to me, pulled me into a hug, then pinched my cheek, kinda hard.

“Ow!”

“That’s what you get for scaring the hell out of me.” She leaned back on the couch, hand over her heart. “I need a drink.”

“What happened?”

She turned her eyes to me. “Ginny Boyle told us that you were there when Peach got attacked, and then I called and called and called and all I got was voice mail.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” I said. “I turned my phone into a bat.”

“So, I came here last night to check on you, and you weren’t here.” She picked up my cell phone, which was still charging on the coffee table where I’d left it two nights ago. “I left you a thousand messages. Where were you?” Before I could answer, she said, “Oh, god, Stacy!” She flipped open her phone, hit a number for speed-dial and then said, “Stacy, I’ve got her. Yes, she’s … fine.” She eyed me warily as she said it; I guessed I didn’t look quite fine. “Okay, come by in the morning, and you can yell at her then.” She tucked her phone in her pocket and sat next to me, grabbing my hands in hers. “Honey, you look awful. Do I smell bacon?”

“Oh. Yeah. Um…” I hesitated for a minute, wondering how to explain why Cain was in my kitchen cooking for me, but I was too tired to explain, so I just said, “Cain’s making eggs.”

Betty froze and her voice went low.
“Cain?”

“He’s okay,” I said. “Davina tried to steal my magic last night. He saved my life.”

Betty opened her mouth, then closed it, then looked at me, her face all confusion, but I had to give her credit—she didn’t argue, and she didn’t say
I told you so.
“And now he’s making you eggs?”

“Everything’s in the wash,” Tobias said, stepping into the living room. “I set it to cold, like you said. Hey, Betty.”

He sat down in the floral love seat across from the couch, and Betty raised a brow at me.

“One man cooking for you, another doing your laundry.” Betty smiled at me. “How do I get your job?”

I managed a half-smile, and Tobias cleared his throat stiffly. Betty looked from me to him, then back to me. Her expression softened as she picked up on the not-too-subtle tension between me and Tobias; her response was to squeeze my hand gently.

“Now eat this slowly,” Cain said, coming around the corner into the living room, a plate in his hand. “Little bites. If you hurl, I’m not cleaning it up.”

Cain paused for a moment when he saw Betty, then walked over to stand across the coffee table from me. Betty stiffened, making it clear she was not happy about Cain’s presence in my house. Cain, either not noticing or not caring, handed me the plate and a fork and repeated himself, as though I was a third-grader. “
Little
bites.”

“Betty … this is Cain.” I said, motioning toward Cain with my fork. “He’s a conjurer, a…” I hesitated, choosing my words carefully, “… friend of Holly’s. Cain, this is Betty. She’s my boss. Also, she makes magical pastries.”

Cain gave a brief nod, and Betty shifted closer to me on the couch. I poked at the food on my plate and my stomach protested, so I turned to Betty.

“How’s Peach doing?”

“They let her go from the hospital this morning,” she said. “She had a minor concussion, but other than a few bruises, she’s okay. Nick’s with her next door. Neither one of them can remember what happened.” Betty looked at me pointedly. “I’m assuming you know.”

I sighed and put the fork down. “Millie. Walnuts. Only it wasn’t just Millie. She was surfing Davina’s power.”

“She’ll tell you about it later,” Cain said, picking up the fork and putting it back in my hand. “Right now, she needs to eat, and then she needs to rest.”

Betty shot an annoyed look at Cain, and turned her attention back to me. “So, I take it Tobias knows … everything?”

I nodded. “He’s Magical security. Holly sent him to watch over me, a year and a half ago.”

Betty straightened in surprise and looked at Tobias. “ASF or RIAS?”

“ASF,” he said.

“What’s that?” I said.

“Allied Strategical Forces,” Tobias said. “Name of the firm.”

“Better than RIAS,” Betty said. “You can’t trust those bastards. They get ahold of you, no one will ever hear from you again.”

“RIAS?” I asked. “What’s RIAS?”

Tobias looked at me. “Regional Initiative Action Services.”

“Oh.” I thought for a beat. “So, Magicals are as fond of bullshit acronyms as everyone else, then?”

Betty looked at me. “We’re Magical, but we’re still human.”

“But Tobias is with the good group, the … whatsit?”

“ASF,” Tobias said.

Betty let out a huff of disgust. “To say they’re good is a bit of an overstatement. They’re better than RIAS, but that’s a pretty low bar.” She looked at Tobias. “No offense.”

“Trust me, none taken.” Tobias stood up and looked at Cain. “I’m gonna take watch out front.”

Cain nodded, and Tobias left without looking at me or Betty. I watched him go until the front door shut behind him, and it took a moment before I realized someone was saying my name.

“Olivia.”

I pulled myself out of my distraction and looked up at Cain, who motioned toward my plate. “Eat.”

“Right.” I took a few bites, chewing slowly and swallowing carefully, until the thought of taking another bite made my stomach turn in protest. I handed the plate back to Cain; it looked as though I’d barely touched it.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I can’t…”

“It’s okay.” He took the plate back, and Betty said, “So, Cain, you were friends with Liv’s sister?”

There was ice in her voice when she said his name, but I was too tired to defend him, not that he needed me to; I got the sense that if Cain was comfortable with anything, it was hostility.

“Yeah,” he said simply.

“So…” Betty put effort into covering her distrust with sympathy. “Can you tell us what happened there? And what it all has to do with Liv?”

After a moment of assessment, Cain finally sat in the chair across from us and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.

“Davina’s got one MO; come to town, pretend to be a friend, take what she wants, and step over the bodies on her way out.”

Betty reached out and took my hand, but kept her eyes on Cain. “Well, you stopped her. She didn’t kill Liv.”

Cain shook his head. “Davina’s no quitter. She’s gonna keep coming at Liv until she gets what she wants.”

“So … what are we gonna do?” I asked, my voice sounding feeble even to my own ears.

Cain looked at me and said, “Right now? You’re gonna sleep and heal up. I got a plan, but I need you strong to make it work.”

“What’s the plan?” Betty asked.

Cain picked up my picked-over plate of eggs, and stood up. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” And then he walked back into the kitchen.

As soon as he was gone, Betty spoke, her voice low and panicked. “Liv? What the hell is going on? Wasn’t he trying to kill you twenty minutes ago?”

“No,” I said. “That was Davina. It was always Davina. Cain was trying to stop her, not hurt me. And then, after the attack with Peach, I just wanted the magic gone, so I called Davina and…” I let out a bitter laugh. “God, I was so stupid. I offered her my magic. It was exactly what she wanted. She set that whole Millie attack up just to get me desperate enough to turn to her, and I fell for it.”