Chasing Power (34 page)

“I won’t let you take it away from me. And if you’re not in this for the magic … then I’ll take yours too.” Aiming the gun at Dad, Amanda squeezed the trigger.

The gun obliterated all other sound. Every bird fled. Every insect was silenced. But Kayla had reacted even faster. As Amanda squeezed the trigger, Kayla threw her mind at the bullet. As it exited the barrel, she knocked its tip. It veered off course and slammed into a tree on the opposite side of the swimming hole.

Moonbeam was screaming, but Kayla barely heard her. She felt as though every fiber in her body were vibrating. She clenched her hands into fists and held herself still. Ready.

Amanda fired again—this time, Kayla hit the bullet in the air before the sound even registered in her ears. The bullet ricocheted and embedded itself in the rocks. Walking forward toward her father, Amanda shot again, and Kayla plucked the third bullet out of the air. She let it fall to the ground.

Amanda pivoted and shot at Kayla.

Without any hesitation, Kayla smacked the bullet to the ground. She then lifted it up with her mind. It arched through the air and landed gently in her palm. “Enough, Amanda.”

“You’re really taking me on, little sis?” Laughing, Amanda tossed the gun into the bushes. “Okay, then, let’s play.”

“I’m not fighting you,” Kayla said. “I just don’t want you to shoot anyone.” But Amanda wasn’t listening. She lifted one of the tires out of the muck and flung it at Kayla as if it were no heavier than a Frisbee.

Kayla dove to the ground as her father charged out of the pool. He was followed closely by Moonbeam. Switching her attention to them, Amanda flicked her hands, and Dad flew across the water to land in the trees on the opposite side. Moonbeam flew after him, crashing down on top of him in a tangle of limbs. For good measure, Amanda also grabbed Evelyn and chucked her as well. She landed beside them. Using Amanda’s distraction, Kayla scrambled behind the large rock that they’d first hidden behind. She’d need to fight smarter—

The rock shifted, wiggled like a loose tooth, and then rose into the air.

Crap
, Kayla thought. She retreated fast and smacked backward into a pair of waiting arms. The world flashed white then green. Instantly, she was home in the garden. The torn-up bushes were in front of her, and the garden gnomes lay at her feet. She spun to face Daniel. “Take me back,” she ordered.

“She’s trying to kill you!” Daniel said.

“You jump our mothers out of there while she’s distracted with me,
then
come back and save me.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Queen Marguerite barrel out of the house.

“Did they start the spell?” the voodoo queen asked.

“Yes. There’s blood on the stones. What do I do?”

“All of them?”

“Only two.”

“Then it’s not too late.” Drawing a pouch out of her pocket, Queen Marguerite tossed it to Kayla. “Cleanse the blood off the stones with water and salt, then bring your mother safe to me. You hear me, girl?”

Catching it, Kayla said, “Now, Daniel.”

And the world flashed. Instantly, they were back. This time, Daniel had deposited them behind a different, larger rock.
Clever boy
, Kayla thought. He was learning to be careful. About damn time.

Kayla peeked around the rock. Dad was on land, but Amanda, Evelyn, and Moonbeam were hip-deep in the water. Each held a stone. Amanda had a knife in her other hand.

The gun was floating in the air, aimed at Moonbeam’s head.

Dad’s eyes were fixed on the gun, but Moonbeam’s were focused on the knife. Kayla thought of Queen Marguerite’s relief that only two stones had blood. She had to act before the spell was complete.

Amanda might have brute strength, but Kayla had precision.
You can do this
, she told herself. She spotted one of the discharged bullets on the ground, lifted it up, and jammed it into the barrel of the gun. And then she waited for her moment.

On the edge of the pond, their father was pleading, “Don’t do this! You could die! One in three chance.” His face was contorted in anguish. Kayla tried to imagine what it would have been like to be raised by him. Had that twisted Amanda, or had she always been like this?

“And a one in three chance of true power.”

“Amanda, don’t—”

Without another word, Amanda sliced the palm of her own hand
with the knife. Ready, Kayla caught each drop of blood and veered them away from the stone. They landed in the water instead. “Not funny, Katydid!” Amanda called.

Kayla stayed hidden behind the rock. She focused on the water trickling down the rock face. She carried it in a steady stream toward the stones, washing the blood from Evelyn’s and Moonbeam’s stones. She then opened the pouch of salt and sent the grains flying toward the stones. The stream of grains split, some for each stone.

“You shouldn’t have come back,” Amanda said. A rusted car door rose out of the water and flew at the trees. It impacted and shattered only a few feet from Kayla. She kept the salt flying. “I know you’re near. You’re not as clever as you think. There aren’t many places to hide.”

Salt landed on the stones, mixing with the water, cleansing them.

A tree cracked and crashed on the other side of Kayla, and Kayla flinched. Other trees began to fall, one after another. Taking advantage of Evelyn’s preoccupation, Daniel appeared in the water, clapped his hand on his mother’s shoulder, and they both vanished—with Evelyn’s stone.

“Amanda, please, don’t!” Moonbeam said. “She’s your sister.”

“My sister’s dead,” Amanda said. “She died when you stole her from me!” Shoving, she knocked Moonbeam back. One of the tires flew toward Moonbeam and landed on her, pushing her down. Water closed over her face.

Kayla screamed. “Mom!” She burst out from behind the rock. “Amanda, stop it! Leave her alone. Come on, you know you really want to go for me.”

Dad tried to yank the tire off Moonbeam, but Amanda was
holding it in place. He strained as he pulled, shouting at Amanda to release it.

Grabbing a bubble of air, Kayla forced it into the water. She pushed it through the water and into her mother’s mouth.
Distract her
, Kayla thought,
and she’ll let go
. Amanda couldn’t hold multiple things at once—even the corpses in the catacombs had flown one at a time. “You hate that our father wants to change you. You hate that you aren’t enough to make him happy. You hate that he kept looking for me even though he had you.”

“You little—” Amanda reached out with her mind and grabbed the rocks on the cliff. In order to do this, as Kayla had hoped, she released her hold on the tire that was drowning Moonbeam. Moonbeam burst to the surface. Kayla’s father reached for her, and Moonbeam lunged away—into Daniel’s arms.

Moonbeam and Daniel vanished as Dad yelled.

Amanda didn’t seem to notice. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She hurled rocks at Kayla. One of them clipped Kayla’s shoulder as she tried to dive for cover. She cried out and fell to her knees. Several other rocks were hurtling toward her.

Kayla’s father launched himself into Amanda, knocking her over. Her control over the rocks broke, and Kayla ducked as the other rocks smashed harmlessly around her. She popped up again to see that Amanda was crying harder—and hitting her father over and over again with her right fist. He was holding her back, and her fist landed only lightly on his chest.

Daniel appeared beside Kayla. “You all right?”

“I don’t know whether to help him, or help her,” Kayla said. She got to her feet and dusted off her knees. They ached from where she’d hit the ground, and her shoulder throbbed.

“Why not leave them to each other?”

Her father caught Amanda’s wrist. She sagged against him, still crying, still clutching the third stone. Dad stroked her back and murmured to her as he looked up at Kayla. His eyes met hers.

“Okay, let’s go,” Kayla said to Daniel, and the world flashed around them.

Kayla blinked fast, trying to force her vision to steady so she could see where she was. She recognized the room in seconds: she was in Selena’s house, specifically the media room. The TV was on, paused in the middle of a random car chase scene, and a bowl of edamame was on the coffee table. The shells were littered over the rug, as if they’d been spilled. Moonbeam and Daniel’s mother were there, collapsed on a couch and wrapped in towels, their backs to Kayla and Daniel. In front of the TV, Selena was pacing back and forth.

“Smart,” Kayla said softly. Neither Amanda nor Queen Marguerite knew Selena’s house.

Selena rushed over to her. “Not smart. What if my parents come home early? What if your father comes here?”

Moonbeam jumped to her feet. “Kayla! You’re alive!” Beside her, Daniel’s mother twisted to see her and asked at the same time, “What happened? Is Jack all right?”

Talking over them in her loud-as-a-trumpet voice, Selena continued, “Why are they here? And why are there gobs of algae on my couch? Kayla, what is going on?”

Kayla faced her mother. She plucked the stone out of Moonbeam’s hands. Moonbeam didn’t resist. She reached her empty hands toward Kayla. “Kayla …”

“We’ll talk later,” Kayla told her mother. She asked Selena, “Do you have a sledgehammer? I want to destroy these puppies before they do any more damage.” She waved the stone in the air for emphasis.

Clutching her stone to her chest, Evelyn stroked it as if it were a baby. “It won’t work. They’re indestructible. That’s why they were split up in the first place.”

“Excuse me if I don’t believe you,” Kayla said. “I’ve lost track of who’s lying to me.” She tried to take the stone. Evelyn tightened her grip. “Sorry, but I’m really not interested in arguing with you about this.” Without a pause, Kayla lifted a dozen edamame shells with her mind and tossed them in Evelyn’s face. Startled, Daniel’s mother flinched and loosened her grip. Kayla snatched away the second stone. “Selena?”

“Sledgehammer’s in the garage.”

Dropping the towels, Evelyn shot to her feet. She lunged to take her stone back, but Kayla danced backward around the couch.

“How do we know we can trust you with the stones?” Evelyn cried.

Stepping forward, Daniel blocked her path, placing himself directly between Evelyn and Kayla. “Mother. Stop. You can trust Kayla. And me.”

Evelyn touched his face lightly. “Oh Daniel, I know you mean well, but you don’t understand. It’s a complicated issue—”

“It’s
not
complicated. The stones are evil.”

“Powerful isn’t automatically evil! Surely, you can’t be so simplistic—”

“Sometimes there are shades of gray,” Kayla said. “This is not one of those times.” Carrying the two stones, Kayla strode out of the media room. Everyone chased after her.

“Kayla, we need to talk,” Moonbeam said. “Your sister—”

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with,” Evelyn said at the same time. She tried to grab Kayla’s arm again, but Kayla walked faster. Selena flanked her, forcing Evelyn to trail behind. Evelyn called, “Those stones are ancient artifacts of immense power—”

“Any chance of an explanation?” Selena asked Kayla. “Why are they here? How did you get two of the stones? What happened with your father? Are you okay?”

Before answering, Kayla glanced back at Evelyn. Daniel had begun arguing with her a few paces back. “Short summary: Turns out my dad didn’t kill my sister, Amanda. She’s alive. She’s telekinetic like me, and a psychopath like him.”

Evelyn interrupted. “Just because Jack—”

Ignoring her, Kayla continued. “I stopped the spell. Daniel got us out. But Amanda’s pissed. She really, really wants the stones back. And Queen Marguerite is also pissed. She really, really wants the stones too—for different reasons, she says, but we’re not sure we trust her anyway. So I’m going to destroy them myself and then go around and tell everyone to calm the hell down because it’s over.”

Moonbeam gasped. “You know Marguerite? Kayla, how do you know—”

At the same time, Selena said, “Your sister’s
alive
? But I thought the whole reason you—”

“Yeah, my mom lied.” Kayla charged up the stairs. Everyone thumped up the stairs behind her.

“I can explain,” Moonbeam began.

Daniel’s mother called, “She had reason. Your father wanted to—”

“My mother sent us to the voodoo queen,” Daniel answered Moonbeam.

“Evelyn! Why?” Moonbeam cried. “And how did my Kayla—”

“You could have left a less cryptic note,” Daniel told his mother. “If you’d just told us to go to Tikal in the first place—” Kayla reached the top of the stairs and strode through the hall toward the foyer.

Evelyn said, “You needed information she had—”

Moonbeam nearly stopped walking. “You’ve been to Tikal?”

“And Peru and Mexico and Spain,” Selena supplied helpfully.

A housekeeper dropped a pile of laundry as they all marched by. Her jaw fell open but she didn’t say a word. Kayla marched toward the front door without glancing at her. Sunlight streamed into the foyer, making all of this seem surreal. She couldn’t have just been with her father and sister. Her sister couldn’t have tried to shoot her and her father—but it had happened, all of it. And she was going to end it.

“So I was right? About Seville?” Selena said.

“One hundred percent brilliant,” Kayla said. “I owe you.”

“Damn straight.”

“Which is why, when this is done, I am going to help you with Sam,” Kayla said. “He likes you, and you like him, and everything else is crap.”

Selena shook her head, slowing in a swath of sunlight in the foyer. Sun caught the crystal vase on the antique end table. “You don’t understand. I can’t. I’m not strong like you—”

Daniel interrupted. “Is this really what we’re talking about
right now? Her relationship drama? Can we please save it for later?” Passing them, he pushed the front door open and led the way outside. Everyone spilled out onto the marble steps.

Evelyn blinked up at the sky. “Palm trees? Where are we?”

“California,” Moonbeam told her. “Evelyn, how could you involve my daughter? You know everything I did—”

“I had no choice,” Evelyn said. “He found me—”