thirty-eight

“Do you think this is going to help?” Leah yelled. “You’ve been poisoned. You have no idea what it is. You get that, don’t you? Please don’t tell me you’re going to get all noble and sacrifice yourself to save the countless innocents I might kill if I’m allowed to live.”

She laughed. “No, Paige hasn’t rubbed off on you that much. You’re still your mother’s daughter. You don’t give a damn about my future victims.”

I held my breath as she walked past me.

“Do you really think I’m going to go on a killing rampage?” she continued. “You know me better than that, Savannah. I don’t enjoy killing. I just don’t mind it. If no one gets in my way, I’ll be happy to live a nice, boring, murder-free life. I even tossed you a bone with Cody, by killing him and making it look like a suicide. I left evidence at his house that’ll finger him as Claire’s killer and will suggest he offed the trailer trash twins, Ginny and Brandi. Then he came here and shot the guard before killing himself. He’ll get blamed for everything—hell, probably even for his wife—and he won’t be around to argue. All the murders are solved and little Kayla can stay with Granny. That’s what you want, right?”

She walked a few more steps.

“You don’t believe me about the poison, do you? You think it’s not fatal. You think you have enough time to get away.”

Her voice kept moving away. I tensed, ready to dart out and get farther. Just get far enough away to start my sensing spell and find Adam.

She’d stopped talking, though, so I couldn’t tell where she was. I strained for the clomp of Jesse’s boots on the concrete. Then I heard the swish of fabric moving along the floor. A thump. Then another. Leah was dragging someone.

My heart stopped. She passed me, dragging the bound-and-gagged body of the homeless guy. I could breathe again and sucked in air a little too hard. She stopped and looked around.

“Close by, I think. Close enough to watch a demonstration? I hope so.”

She pulled a syringe from her pocket. I knew what was coming. And I knew I shouldn’t do anything about it.

Paige would do something without a second thought. Lucas would pause to analyze the situation, but he wouldn’t sit by and watch an innocent man die.

But I was my mother’s daughter and I could analyze this situation in the cold light of reason and say, “There’s nothing I can do. Nothing I should do.” I was too sick and too helpless without my spells.

Save myself. Save Adam. Whoever this guy was, I couldn’t save him.

It was so simple. Logically, it was so simple. And yet, as the man struggled, his eyes rolling in terror, I realized I wasn’t completely my mother’s daughter. Not anymore.

She pushed the needle into the man’s neck. I leaped forward. The blur spell broke and she twisted out of the way, fingers still on the syringe, pressing down the plunger as I cast a binding spell. It failed. I cast again. It failed.

I ran at Leah. She backhanded me, sending me flying off my feet again.

“Damn,” she said as she walked over to me, lying on the floor. “As much as I liked being a chick, there are definitely advantages to having a guy’s strength.”

She stomped on my stomach and I let out a howl. She hauled me up by my hair and I threw up, splattering the floor with everything in my stomach.

“That might make you feel better, but the poison’s in your bloodstream.”

She whipped me around to see the homeless guy convulsing on the floor. His eyes rolled and I was sure he was screaming, but all that escaped the gag was a horrible mewling sound.

“Doesn’t look too comfortable, does he? It’ll all be over soon, though. For him, at least. That was a double dose.”

I fought to get up. She let me, then delivered a right hook to my stomach and I went down again, doubled over in agony.

She grabbed my hair again and forced me to look at the homeless guy, dead now, wild eyes staring, face and body contorted.

“Kids these days don’t take anyone’s word for anything,” she said. “You need proof. So I provided it. I’m hoping that will be enough, but if it isn’t, I’m willing to indulge you with a second lesson. I have someone else in the back room just dying to help me out.”

Adam. I looked at the homeless guy and threw up again.

“Don’t like that idea, I see,” Leah said. “Really got it bad for Fire Boy, don’t you? Can’t see the attraction myself. A nice guy, but nice isn’t right for you, Savannah. Too vanilla. I’d be doing you a favor, you know, getting rid of—”

“What do you want?” I rasped, throat raw from retching.

“I’ve already told you. Call Mommy Dearest.”

“My cell doesn’t work in here.”

“Still haven’t lost your bite, huh? You’re right. It doesn’t. Handy thing, a cell phone blocker. But this call will get right past it.”

“If you think I have a spell to contact my mother—”

“Then draining your spell power would have been really dumb, wouldn’t it? Just concentrate really, really hard and call Mommy.”

“You’re nuts.”

“Mmm, possibly. But I’m pretty sure it will work. Eve is out there right now, looking for me, and she’s always looking out for you. That made things tough, I’ll tell you—getting close to you while she’s hunting me. Luckily, I have two addresses these days. Jesse Aanes and a gal in Connecticut. I let Eve find hideout number two, and she’s been chasing that body ... while I keep popping back here. Now it’s time to give her the forwarding address. You call, she comes, we negotiate.”

“What if she doesn’t hear me?”

“Then you’d better try harder.”

When I said nothing, she yanked my hair again. “Don’t even think about getting noble on me, Savannah. I’ve got Adam, remember?”

I squeezed my eyes shut as I doubled over, concentrating with everything I had.

She relaxed her grip on my hair a little. “That’s better. Now just let out a big old mental distress call and Mommy will come—”

The chattering of metal cut her short. I didn’t open my eyes to see what was happening, just kept focusing, drawing on my power the way I had only once before, when Leah had told me my father had had Paige killed. I pretend that I don’t remember that day, but I do. All of it, as much as I try to forget.