They’d finally gotten back to the Abbott house, their arms full of bags from their trip to the salon. Everything from charmed styling gel to killer heels. Callie dumped her purchases on her bed in the guest room, flopping in the nearest chair with a sigh.
Harrison pushed the bags out of the way and sat on the bed, watching Callie warily. “I don’t know, Cal. I swear. That was not supposed to happen.” She grimaced. “I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately. All I wanted was for you to have enough magic that you would be recognized as one of us. Jenner…” She hesitated, as though there was something bothering her, before shaking her head with a resigned laugh. “What I want to know is what were you and Tyghe fighting about?”
Callie’s brow furrowed and guilt had her looking away from her friend. “Why do you think we were fighting?”
Harrison held up her hand, counting off on her fingers as she spoke. “First of all, you two are always sniping at each other. Secondly, I saw him in the lobby on his way out, and if looks could kill I’d be a dead debutante right now. Plus—” she looked at Callie, the worried, wary, almost guilty look returning to her eyes, “—that kind of power burst usually only comes from intense emotion. Anger. Fear…”
Or hot, sweaty lust, Callie finished the thought in her head. She ran a shaky hand through her hair, distractedly thinking that it had never felt or looked better. It was amazing what a little magic could do.
She tilted her head, a thought suddenly occurring to her. “Would the spell make me act differently? I mean, did you add some sort of Magian aphrodisiac in there or something?”
“Aphro—no.” Harrison’s eyes went wide, her head shaking back and forth. “No, Callie, tell me you don’t mean what I think you mean.” At Callie’s blush she snorted in disbelief. “You and Tyghe?”
“No. I mean, we were just…practicing…for Triune.” It must have sounded just as lame to Harrison as it did to her, if her friend’s expression was anything to go by. “I don’t know what came over me. I really don’t. I mean—Tyghe? The boy who turned my face green the night before the first day of eighth grade? The one who cursed my bicycle to chase George Anderson home from school everyday?”
Harrison held up her hands, tears of mirth flooding down her cheeks. “Even you have to admit, that was funny.”
“George didn’t think so. The poor guy was traumatized, and he never asked me out again.” Callie buried her face in her hands. “I was hoping it was your spell.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with that. I also didn’t have anything to do with the level of power you described.”
Callie didn’t like the sound of that. She looked up. “There’s more. I only told you about the energy going crazy. I didn’t tell you what I did to Tyghe.”
Harrison’s smile was hopeful. “Tell me you slapped him for touching you and my faith in womankind will be restored.”
Callie shook her head. “I made him leave.” Harrison started to interrupt her, but Callie spoke before she could. “I mean made him, Harry. I told him to get out and he left like…like he didn’t have another choice. He was pretty steamed about it too.”
Harrison stilled, her smile disappearing. “Callie, you said Charity gave you some new information about the attacks.”
The abrupt change in topic threw her for a moment. “Yeah. She told us that the women had some sort of compelling power that was fairly rare. She was surprised so many Magian’s had come out with it at the same time.”
Grey eyes narrowed on Callie. “What color was your energy, Cal?”
“Violet. Why?” But she understood. Compelling. She’d compelled Tyghe to leave. “Is that the power you gave me, Harry? The power of compulsion?”
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. I just gave you a generic magical camouflage and pulled out your own, natural gifts. I couldn’t give you compulsion if I wanted to. Like Tyghe said, I’m not that good. You’re exhibiting all the signs of a mentalist, someone who compels others through suggestion. You’re strong, too, if you can affect a Magian as gifted as Tyghe has always been.” Harrison bit her lip worriedly. “I really need to talk to Jenner. I think we should call this off.”
Callie jumped up from her chair, grabbing Harrison’s arm before she could leave. “No way. Tyghe’s the one who suggested I was bait, right? Well, if Charity’s right, I just became an irresistible lure. We have a better chance now to catch this guy, to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else. Who knows? Now that he has a taste for violence, he may not want to stop once he gets everyone with this ability. He might move on to other powers. Other women. Poor, innocent Veronica. You.” Callie shook her head. “I’m not going to let that happen.”
Harrison looked like she wanted to argue, but something in Callie’s expression must have told her it wouldn’t work. “I should have called Tucker home. He has a compelling magic too, though his is more physical in nature. Did you know that?” Callie shook her head and Harrison sighed. “Okay, Cal. Let me go fill Jenner in, see what we can do to make sure you have the protection you need by the time Triune rolls around. If we’re doing this, I don’t want you put in any more danger than you have to be.”
She left Callie alone with a soft click of the door as it latched behind her. She looked around the room without seeing a thing. She didn’t understand. Harrison hadn’t meant to give her the compulsion ability? That meant it had to be something latent inside her.
Every being has a little magic inside them, isn’t that what she had said? But surely that wasn’t hers. She’d never been able to make anyone do what she wanted them to. Her gift had always been at deduction, at getting people to tell her their secrets. That was a sort of compulsion she supposed, though she’d always thought she just had one of those trustworthy faces.
Tyghe had been surprised. Upset. She hadn’t meant to force him to move against his will. She’d been embarrassed, confused. Scared by the power of her climax and the magical energy flowing through her. She’d wanted him to go, yes, but not that way. Not by controlling him. It was a disconcerting ability to say the least.
What if she hadn’t been able to send him away? He would have touched her again, she knew. Taken her, right there in the changing rooms, where anyone could have seen them…and Callie wouldn’t have cared.
In one day, it seemed, so much had changed. She had power. Since her experience with Tyghe she could still feel it, a steady hum beneath the surface. Waiting. And Tyghe. Had she ever thought of him as more than the gorgeous, but troublemaking older brother of her best friend? He’d gotten under her skin easier than anyone she’d ever met. A look from him was all it took to set her on edge. Had it been there even then, attraction disguised as irritation?
If so,
she was in serious trouble. It seemed she was doomed to spend her life drawn to men she couldn’t have. Magians. Abbotts. First Tucker. Now Tyghe.
After this adventure was over and she graduated from the academy, she might use the money she’d been saving for a rainy day and take a cruise. Somewhere warm and tropical. Away from Boston. Away from temptation. But first, she had a criminal to catch.
It was a moment before she realized she couldn’t move. Panic was instantaneous. Was this another strange side effect of having powers? Her brain was screaming at her hands and feet to move, but her body was not responding. She opened her mouth to shout but no sound came out.