She lifted a brow at Mac. "But?"
"I wonder if, on the other side of the scale, what you'll have to deal with is more, well, insidious. Nell had Evan Remington, a man. "
"He was a piece of shit," Ripley corrected.
"Be that as it may, he was human. She had to find the courage to face him, to defeat him and embrace her gift. I'm not saying any of that was a walk on the beach, but it was pretty tangible. If you're following me. "
"A m
an with a knife. " Sam spoke for the first time since Mac had begun, and drew everyone's attention.
"A sociopath, psychopath, whatever the term might be for that kind of evil, in the woods, in the dark of the moon. No, not a walk on the beach. It took great courage, deep faith, and a formidable power to do what Nell did. But it was an evil whose face she knew. "
"Exactly. " Mac beamed as if Sam were a prized student. "In Ripley's case - "
"In Ripley's case," Ripley repeated, "I had to accept a power I'd rejected, and walk the line when part of me wanted to cross it. "
"Emotional turmoil," Sam agreed. "It can affect the tone of power in the same way it can affect the tone of your voice, the tone of your actions. The gift doesn't protect us from flaws, or mistakes. That kind of turmoil was tailored toward you, and Nell's was turned toward her as a potent weapon. With - "
He broke off, glanced at Mac.
"No, keep going. " Mac waved a hand. "It's good to hear it from someone else's point of view. "
"All right. The force that was unleashed centuries ago used Remington as a conduit and fed itself into the reporter who followed Nell's cross-country route to the Sisters. "
"You've kept up," Mia said quietly.
"Yeah. I've kept up. Holding the line, power against power, without crossing that line isn't a simple matter. It requires conviction, compassion, strength. Even so, in the end Ripley, like Nell, faced a man. Whatever was inside him, he was flesh and blood. "
"It looks like Sam and I have circled around to the same theory. "
"Then why the hell don't you punch through to the point of it and stop circling?" Ripley complained.
"Okay. " Since Sam gestured the go-ahead, Mac took over. "What came at Mia today wasn't flesh and blood, not a living thing, but a manifestation. That tells me a couple of things. Maybe, just maybe, because the circle's intact, because twice now it's been defeated, its power's diminished. It can't possess, but can only deceive. "
"Or it hordes its strength. Waiting for its time, and its place. "
"Yes. " Mac nodded at Sam. "Waiting for the right circumstance. There isn't that much time - when you measure by three centuries - left on either side. It's going to keep pushing, trying to weaken the circle, and Mia most specifically. Undermining the bedrock of your power. It'll use your fears, doubts, any weaknesses that trickle through the chinks. Tailored to you," he added with a nod to Sam. "That's just exactly right. It'll try to prey on you as it did on her three centuries ago. Through her loneliness and loss, her despair at the thought of living without the people she loved, and needed most. "
"I'm aware of that," Mia acknowledged. "But I'm not lonely, and I've lost nothing. My circle holds. "
"Yes, but . . . I don't believe the circle can be considered complete, and whole, until your step is taken. "
Since this was tricky ground, Mac took his time. "Until then, there's a vulnerability, and that's where the pressure will be the greatest. It only needed to break Nell, and it failed. To seduce Ripley, and it failed. With you . . . "
"It needs to cause my death," Mia finished calmly. "Yes, I know. I've always known. "
When she started to leave, Nell held on to her.
"Don't worry so, little sister. " Mia pressed her cheek to Nell's hair. "I know how to protect myself. "
"I know. I just wish you'd stay. I know how stupid that sounds, but I wish you'd stay with one of us until this is really over. "
"I need my cliffs. I'll be fine, I promise. " She gave Nell one last squeeze. "Blessed be. "
She'd lingered longer than the others, hoping to avoid any more conversation. But when she stepped outside, she saw Sam leaning against her car.
"I walked over. How about a lift back?"
"It's a pleasant night for a short walk. "
"Give me a lift, Mia. " He took her wrist as she started to move past him. "I want to talk to you, for a minute anyway. Alone. "
"I suppose I owe you a favor. "
"Do you?"
She circled the car, slipped in behind the wheel. She waited until she'd started the car. "For cleaning up my mess on the coast road this morning," she said as she eased into a U-turn. "Ripley told me she ran into you. Thank you. "
"You're welcome. "
"Well, that didn't hurt too much. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I wondered about you and Mac. There's something there. "
"Really?" Deliberately she took her attention away from the road long enough to bat her lashes. "Do you think I'm trying to tempt my sister's husband into a wild, illicit affair?"
"If you were, he'd already be there. "
She laughed. "What a lovely compliment, even if you're wrong. He's sweetly, madly in love with his wife. But you're right about one thing, there is something between us. You've always been good at picking up atmosphere and emotion. "
"What is it?"
"We're cousins. "
"Cousins?"
"It happens that the granddaughter of the first sister married a MacAllister - Mac's mother's side of the family. "
"Ah. " Sam did his best to stretch out his legs in the little car. "So he's of the blood. That explains a number of things. I felt a connection the minute I met him, but couldn't pin him down. Just as I felt one for Nell, even when she wanted to drop me into a dark pit and leave me there to rot. I like your friends. "
"Well, I'm so relieved. "
"Don't snipe at me, Mia. I meant it. "
Because she knew it was true, she sighed. "I'm tired. It always make me cross. "
"They're worried about you. How you'll handle things. "
"I know. I'm sorry about it. "
"I'm not worried. " He paused when she pulled up in front of the cottage. "I've never known anyone, witch or woman, more vital than you. You won't give in. "
"No, I won't. But I won't say I don't appreciate the confidence, particularly after a long, difficult day. Good night, Sam. "
"Come inside. "
"No. "
"Come inside, Mia. " He slipped a hand through her hair to rub the back of her neck. "And be with me. "
"I'd like to be with someone tonight," she continued, "to be comforted and soothed. To be touched and taken. So I won't. "
"Why?"
"Because it wouldn't make me happy. Good night, Sam. "
He could have pressed, they both knew it. But some of her glamour had slipped, and he saw fatigue breaking through to haunt her face. "Good night. "
He climbed out, watched her drive away. And kept her in his mind until he knew she was safely inside the house on the cliffs.