shoved at my dad as hard as I could.
I wanted him out of my head. Away, gone. Back behind his curtain. Farther back, if I could manage it. Back where I could no longer feel him. Back until he was no longer a part of me.
Yes, I was angry. And yes, I knew magic couldn’t be used when you were in a state of high emotion. But I wasn’t using magic against my father. This was nothing more than sheer willpower, determination, and stubbornness of who wanted control of my head and body more.
Believe me, it was me.
“Do you need to sit?” Violet asked.
I still had my eyes closed, my fingers rubbing at my forehead. I knew I had to answer, knew this shoving match with Dad was taking too long. Fine, if I couldn’t push him away, I’d shut him out. I willed a wall between my father and me, a black, thick wall of granite to replace the curtain between us.
For a brief moment, I saw him, dressed in a business suit like he was always dressed, but younger and stronger than I remembered him. His hair was black with no hint of gray, the lines on his face smooth. Death, apparently, did good things for one’s complexion. He scowled at me and raised his hand, as if to cast a spell-
I mentally took a step back, thinking,
.
“Allie?” A touch on my arm. I opened my eyes.
Stotts raised his eyebrows but didn’t take his hand off of my arm. “Are you sick?”
“Tired,” I said. Wait, I’d already said that. Great. “Sorry. It’s the Hounding. Proxy headache,” I lied again. I had to stop living the kind of life where it was better to lie to the secret magic police than to tell the truth. “Are we done?” I nodded toward the circle of ash.
“I’ll need your report on what you Hounded.”
“Right.” I stepped back, and he let go of my arm. The wall in my head sat like a real weight, as if I’d put on a hat made out of concrete. But the good thing was I couldn’t hear my father’s voice, couldn’t see him, and he wasn’t pushing at me. I could feel his emotions, but they were not nearly as strong. He was still angry, still betrayed, but with the Mt. Everest of don’t-give-a-damn between us, his motions were only a whisper of what they had been just a moment ago.
I took a breath and tried to get my feet under me again.
“Do you want me to come down to the station to give my statement?” I asked Stotts.
“Yes. But we need to wait until the cleanup team arrives.”
“How long is that going to take?”
“Ten minutes. Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?”
“Maybe.” I braced myself to look over at Violet, to be ready to fight my dad’s reactions to seeing her and Kevin again.
At least he didn’t know she was pregnant. And if I had anything to do with it, I wouldn’t think about that any time that he could hear my thoughts. Like when I was dreaming. Or when he was trying to mutiny in my brain.
Violet stood next to Kevin, staring pensively at the circle as if she was trying to get the right answer out of an ink blot test. She and Kevin weren’t touching, but Kevin radiated that overly protective bodyguard vibe.
Dad didn’t do anything. Or at least nothing I could feel.
“Violet?”
She looked up.
“I do need to talk to you. About the business.”
“Now?” she asked.
Frankly, here, in the rain, hell, in the driving ice and snow, would be fine with me, because at this moment, I had control over my dad and could tell her I wanted her to run the company instead of me without him getting all grabby with my brain.
As if on cue, the wind picked up, whipping rain into the gazebo, and stirring the ashes that refused to blow away.
“Is now good?” I said.
“I’d really like to get this sample back to my lab,” she said. “How about dinner tonight instead?”
“Sure,” I said. “When? Where?”
“If you don’t mind coming over to our-to my place, maybe around eight?”
I had to see Maeve today, but it wasn’t even noon yet. And I didn’t have anything else to do other than catching up with Nola to try to help her with Cody, which I still might be able to swing. I didn’t know how I was going to fit it all in, but I’d try. And if Maeve helped me get rid of my father, I wouldn’t have to deal with him in my head while I was around Violet.
“I can do that,” I said.
“Then I’ll see you tonight.” She smiled. “Kevin?”
They walked together, step in step, past me.
I caught a hint of her perfume, and sadness filled me.
I pushed that unwanted thought and the ghost of a life I had not lived back behind the wall in my head.
“You sure you’re okay?” Stotts asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Why?”
“You’re crying.”
Startled, I wiped the tear I had not felt off my face. “It’s just the wind,” I said.
I don’t know if he believed me, but he didn’t say any more as I watched, helpless hands deep in my pockets, as Violet and Kevin hurried through the rain to their car, got in, and drove away.
Chapter Six
“ I’m going to go talk to Davy before he catches pneumonia,” I said to Stotts. It was as good an excuse as any to get out from under Stotts’ notice. Plus, Davy looked miserable out there.
“If you need me-”
“I’ll be right over there. If I need you, you’ll know. But I won’t. Davy’s a nice kid.” I headed down the gazebo stairs.
“Even nice kids do bad things,” Stotts said.
I ignored him and took a deep breath. The sharp, wet air filled my lungs and hurt a little. It felt good. Cleansing. Too bad I couldn’t inhale with my brain.
Davy didn’t move as I approached, which was a little weird. I wondered whether he was asleep on his feet. I hurried, and was just a few feet away when he spoke.
“What is it with you and Hounding in the rain?” he asked.
“Nobody told you to stand in it,” I said. “You could just sit in your car. You did drive over, right?”
“Yeah.” The way he had the hood of his coat drawn up, I couldn’t make out more than his chin, lips, and the tip of his nose.
“What are you doing here, Silvers?” I asked.
He finally moved, tilting his head so the low morning light could cast gray pallor over his skin.
“My job.” He smiled slightly, then winced like it hurt. As well it should. There was a reason he was hiding his face. A black and red bruise spread across his right cheek, and his eye was swollen shut.
“What happened to your face?” I asked. “Start a brawl at the pub last night?”
“I don’t start brawls; I end them.” He tried the smile again, but thought better of it. “But no. I caught up with Tomi last night.” He shrugged, like that should explain everything. Problem was, I didn’t know very much about his ex-girlfriend except she was a Hound who didn’t like the buddy system Pike had set up. Oh, and she hated me.
“And?” I prompted.
“We didn’t agree on a few things.”
