Chasing Power (33 page)

Daniel nudged Kayla and nodded at the gun. Kayla shook her head. Much too heavy. Besides, what was she going to do? Threaten to shoot her own father? She was here to stop anyone from dying, not cause anyone to die, even though she was sure
her father was to blame. Reasonably sure. Sort of sure. She scanned the area for items that she
could
lift. Whatever she did needed to be subtle. Amanda was nearby, and Kayla had no desire to go up against someone who could toss tires with such ease.

In the water, Kayla’s father drew a knife out of his shirt pocket. He was reciting words, melodious words that drifted and dissipated over the murky water.

“That’s my knife,” Daniel whispered. His lips were only an inch from her ear, and his breath tickled her skin. “We have to stop them.”

“How?” she whispered back.

“Improvise.”

He was right. Sitting here afraid to act simply because her sister was near wouldn’t help anyone. She mentally grabbed the fishing line from her pocket, and she sent it into the water like a snake. She wound it around her father’s ankles and knotted it. She then took one of the scraps of metal, a small sliver with a needle-sharp point, and slid it into the water too. “I’ll distract him,” Kayla whispered. “You jump to the mothers. Get them out of here.”

“I can’t jump both at once.”

“Then I’ll distract him a lot,” she said grimly. “Don’t jump them anywhere Queen Marguerite can find them. Or their stones.”

Her father grabbed Moonbeam’s wrist, and Kayla froze. Twisting her hand up, her father cut Moonbeam’s palm. He squeezed her fingers closed into a fist and held them over the stone. Blood dripped onto the stone and into the water beneath, the red dissolving into the green. He then turned to Daniel’s mother and began reciting more words.

The second he released Moonbeam and before he could cut Daniel’s mother, Kayla acted. She jabbed the sliver of scrap
metal into her father’s leg. He flinched as it hit his skin, and the fishing line caught his ankles. He fell backward.

Daniel appeared in the water. He put his hand on his mother’s arm—

And then he was ripped away from her and lifted into the air.

Amanda
, Kayla thought. She threw her mind toward the trees, searching for her. She had to be near! Daniel was tossed out of the water and into the bushes.

Dammit, Kayla couldn’t fight someone so powerful! She crept farther around the rock, trying to see what was happening, and she “felt” Amanda. She was only a few yards away, hidden in the woods. She wondered if Amanda sensed her too.

A second later, Daniel jumped to his mother again. This time, a tire hit him in the back. Splashing into the water, he fell forward. As Daniel caught his balance, Kayla’s father twisted Evelyn around and held a knife to her throat. “Stop!” Dad roared.

Daniel froze, kneeling in the muck.

Instantly Daniel was lifted out of the water and tossed not-too-gently back onto land, only a few feet from where Kayla hid. And then Amanda stepped out of the woods with a smile. She held out her hand, and the gun flew into it. “Who do you think is faster? A disappearing boy or a speeding bullet?” In two strides she was next to him. Kneeling, she pressed the gun against his temple. “How about at point-blank range? Think you can disappear fast enough? Go ahead, test it.”

“Don’t!” Evelyn cried.

Finishing the words, Kayla’s father took Evelyn’s wrist. He cut her palm. She didn’t flinch. She kept looking at Daniel. Blood dripped onto the stone.

Amanda stalked around the edge of the pond. “Katydid, I
know you’re here too! Come on out! You don’t need to be scared.”
She hasn’t sensed me yet
, Kayla thought.

Hiding behind the rock, Kayla barely dared to breathe.

“Kayla, run away!” Moonbeam shouted.

Her mind was running in tight circles. There were other things she could grab, more cans, leaves, dirt, small sticks. She had her new razor blade. But with Amanda here … Kayla couldn’t outmagic her. Amanda outclassed her in power, and they’d lost the element of surprise. Blood dripped from Evelyn’s hand, but she seemed not to notice, her eyes still glued to her son. Moonbeam cradled her hand to her chest. Dad was reciting words again, preparing to cut his own palm.

So Kayla did the only thing she could think of. She stood up, hugging the photo album, and walked toward the water. She halted at the edge. “Hi, Dad.”

Her father broke off the spell.

Moonbeam’s face paled so fast that it looked as if she’d been dunked in chalk dust. Every freckle and sun spot stood out stark on her white cheeks.

“What are you doing?” Kayla asked, casual, her eyes fixed on her father.

“Don’t interfere, Katie. You don’t understand. Amanda, subdue the boy.”

Amanda lifted Daniel up and chucked him against a tree. He slumped down silently, unconscious. Evelyn shrieked but didn’t move, the knife back at her throat.

“My name’s Kayla now.” She kept her voice even, calm, friendly. Her eyes darted to Daniel. He seemed to be breathing. She’d help him later. Immediate problem first. “And you’re right. I don’t understand.” Kayla opened the photo album. “Look at
what I found in Daniel’s house. It’s you and Mom and Daniel’s mom.”

“How nice,” Amanda said. “Let’s get on with this.”

Kayla ignored her. “Look how happy you all are. See this one? It’s here.” She gestured at the swimming hole. Her voice was shaking, but she continued. “Your arm is around Mom. You’re happy.” She turned the page and pointed to another picture. This one had Kayla’s father with Daniel’s mother. They were sitting on a picnic blanket. “So carefree and happy.” She turned the page.

“Katie, I promise you’ll understand after—”

“You look like you’re going to prom in this one.” They were in tuxes and gowns. The two girls had corsages on their wrists. There was an extra boy in the shot, but he stood a few inches away from the rest of them. All of them had awkward, frozen smiles on their faces. “I can’t believe you went for a pink cummerbund. And who is that boy with the ruffles? Mom looks beautiful, though, doesn’t she? Did you dance together? Slow dance? Cheek to cheek? Did you go to an after-prom party?”

“This is hardly relevant,” Amanda said. “Why isn’t anyone telling her to shut up? Oh, wait, yes,
I
am. Katie, shut up.”

Still ignoring her, Kayla turned another page. “Ooh, look at this one. Graduation? I bet you guys tossed your hats in the air and then promised to stay friends forever, didn’t you? I bet you promised that nothing would ever change between you.” She lifted the album higher, holding it over her head, so that all of them could see. “Selena and I made promises like that too. Even shared blood once. Blood sisters, that’s what we were. Is that what you were? Best friends? More? Well, there’s blood now, but if you go through with this, one of you will die.”

“It’s the price that must be paid,” her father said.

“Is that what these people would have wanted?” She shook the album. “Is that what
you
wanted? You didn’t know about the ‘price’ then. You do now! One of you will die!”

A wind whipped against her, and the album was yanked from her hands. It flew into the murky water and was submerged. Algae closed over it as if swallowing it. Amanda waved the gun in Kayla’s direction. “Nice try, Katydid, but you don’t understand. You’ve been living a lie for years.”

Kayla met Moonbeam’s eyes and then looked back at her father. “Then enlighten me. Explain to me why it’s okay to murder my mother, the woman you once loved. Or Daniel’s mother, your best friend. Do they mean so little to you now?”

“Of course not,” Kayla’s father said. “They mean the world to me.” He looked as if he wanted to say more. His eyes slid to Amanda and then back to Kayla. His expression was pleading, but he didn’t say anything else.

“See, that’s what I don’t understand. If you care about them or even care about the memory of caring about them, why do this? Do you really need this power so badly?” She kept her eyes glued to her father’s face. She had his blue eyes, she noticed. Amanda had Moonbeam’s green. “Are you planning to found an empire? I really don’t think the world needs a new empire. Besides, power isn’t all that. Look at me. I use my ‘special skill’ to rob ATMs and jewelry stores. Really noble, right?” Moonbeam’s eyes widened. But Kayla ignored her and plowed on. “And look at Amanda. She’s Superman-strong, yet she uses her power to be a super-powered thug, nothing more.”

“Excuse me, I am
not
a thug,” Amanda said.

Kayla nodded at the still-unconscious Daniel. “Tell that to
him.” He’d started to moan and shift, but his eyes hadn’t opened yet. “Getting more power isn’t going to solve whatever personal issues you have. You’re still going to be a messed-up dad and a horrible husband. Dad, please, think about it. Best case: It works and you’re the one who gets the magic slam. Now you’re an all-powerful murderer. Yay! Do you really think you’ll be happy full of power stained with the blood of someone you used to love?”

Dad opened and then shut his mouth, and for an instant, Kayla thought she was reaching him. He was listening to her, which had to count for something. At last he said, “This is the only way to make things right.”

“By killing someone you love? How’s that right?”

“Father, don’t listen to her,” Amanda said. “This is your destiny. This is what we’ve worked so long and so hard for. This is our chance at greatness! Every great achievement requires a great sacrifice.”

“What fortune cookie did you read that in?” Kayla asked. “Destroying someone you love doesn’t sound like such a great achievement to me.”

Lowering the knife a few inches, Dad covered Moonbeam’s hand with his free hand. Kayla tensed, ready, though she wasn’t sure what she was ready for. She didn’t have a plan.

“Jack, listen to her,” Moonbeam said softly.

“You’re afraid,” he said to Moonbeam. “But you don’t have to be. Once we do this, you don’t ever have to be afraid again. We’ll have everything we ever wanted, the way it was supposed to be.”

“Not true,” Moonbeam said. “One of us will be dead.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, just do it!” Amanda cried. “I don’t
understand why you’re all even talking. If it would help, I’ll shoot her.” She swung the gun to point it at Kayla.

“Amanda, no!” Kayla’s parents both rushed forward to the edge of the pool. Free from the knife, Evelyn raced out of the water to Daniel. She cradled him in his arms. She called his name, but he didn’t wake.

“See?” Kayla said. “Amanda just proved my point. Thanks, sis. You
do
care about me, Dad. You care about your family! You stop this, and we could be a family again. You do this, and you lose that chance forever.” She held her hand out toward her father. “You lost years with your wife. You lost my childhood. Do this, and you lose again. Stop, and maybe we can make things better. Now, we have a chance to begin again!”

Amanda scowled at her. “That is really screwed up.”

For once, Kayla agreed with her sister. But she continued to smile hard, as if she thought reconciliation was possible, as if she ever wanted to see the psychopath who had threatened her mother again. As soon as she had Moonbeam safe, she was going to ensure they never saw him again. They were going to flee to the farthest reaches of the world and hide themselves more thoroughly than ever before. But for now, she smiled, as if she believed they could all be one big happy family, like the family in Mexico. “Please, Dad, haven’t you lost enough?”

Moonbeam touched his arm. “Jack.” She put a world of emotion into that one syllable. “You don’t have to do this. We can find another way.”

He stared at the knife in his hands as if seeing it anew.

“Are you serious?” Amanda asked. “Are you freaking serious? Because I did not do all of this, all the training, all the … everything, so you could be a coward at the last minute.”

“Does she even know about the side effect?” Kayla asked. She turned to face Amanda. “Do you know if he completes this spell, we lose our powers? It doesn’t summon new magic. It takes our magic and puts it into one of them.”

Amanda’s mouth dropped open. “You’re lying.”

“Tell her the truth,” Moonbeam urged. “Why are you doing this? Why take this risk?”

He locked his eyes on Moonbeam. “I want to fix what we broke.”

Kayla felt her jaw drop open. He wasn’t doing this to make himself powerful? He
wanted
to take their power?

Amanda’s voice was a shriek. “Dad?”

“You need to trust me,” Jack said. “This is for the best.”

Amanda began to sputter. Her face reddened. Kayla understood what she was feeling. Both of them had misjudged Dad. And Kayla wasn’t sure this was any better. He was endangering her mother and Daniel’s out of some messed-up sense of regret.

Jack looked at Kayla, then Amanda, then Daniel. “This will fix you. All three of you.”

“But it won’t,” Moonbeam said gently. “It won’t turn back the clock. Their power is part of them now. You can’t take it from them. This isn’t the way.”

Kayla couldn’t believe it was Moonbeam saying this.
Moonbeam
. The one who always made her hide her power. The one who made her pretend it wasn’t part of her.

“This is the only way! It took me a long time to see that. A long time to see what the magic has … what
I
have … done to our daughter. To both our daughters and to Evelyn’s son.”

Moonbeam shook her head sadly. “It’s too late.”

“You’re lying.” Amanda’s hands were shaking. The gun
wavered. “You’re all lying! This is for more power! So you can fulfill your dreams! So we can make the world better, help the helpless, all of that, all the things you used to say! Not for taking
my
power! The spell grants magic; it doesn’t take it!”

“Completing the spell will reallocate the magic, consolidating it into a single person,” Evelyn said. “Or at least that’s the theory, and it’s supported by—”

Amanda swung the gun toward her. “Shut up. All of you, shut up.”

“Amanda, put down the gun.” Their father began to wade out of the water. Kayla held her breath. “I can explain. Years ago, Evelyn, your mother, and I cast a spell that we didn’t understand and it had consequences we didn’t—”