Reg helped Francesca carry the cats to her car in a couple of boxes. Since they were half-grown rather than small kittens, they couldn’t all be corralled in a shoebox. They scrabbled around in the large boxes, their claws slipping on the slick cardboard. A couple of them started meowing, protesting their situation. They put the boxes on the back seat of the car. Reg smiled at all of the inquisitive black furry faces looking back at her. She pushed a couple down when they tried to climb up out of the boxes and sent them calm, reassuring thoughts. Eventually, they all settled.
Francesca nodded and got into the driver’s seat. “Thank you, Reg! I will be in touch when I have had a chance to talk to some of the potential buyers. Then we can sort out which one to send where.”
“Okay. Sounds good. Drive slow.”
“I do not want to have any accidents with this cargo,” Francesca agreed, taking a look over her shoulder at them.
After Francesca’s car pulled out, Reg became aware she was being watched. She looked around and saw a white compact car. Not a surprise, since the town was full of white compacts, but she knew by the feeling that started to grow and thicken around her precisely who it was.
Corvin extricated himself from the small car and approached her. His handsome face was sullen. “I’ve been waiting half the day for you to get rid of that woman and her cats.”
“Oh?” Reg gave a careless shrug. That was another bonus of a houseful of cats—it kept Corvin at a distance. “I don’t remember you calling or mentioning that you wanted to come over.”
He looked like he had tasted something sour. “That would probably be because you’ve blocked me on your phone.”
Reg smiled. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”
“But I still know where you live. All that means is that I have to come over here in person, which is not exactly a hardship. I would rather see you face to face.”
That was a drawback of cutting off phone communications. Reg would have to rethink that. It wasn’t like she could get a restraining order to keep him from hanging around her house. He wasn’t doing anything to threaten or harm her. Reg also had no desire to stand before a judge and plead her case. She made it a policy to stay as far as possible from police and courtrooms.
Corvin’s eyes roamed around. “Why don’t we go for a walk?”
He knew, of course, that she wouldn’t allow him in her house. Not with his track record. It was dangerous to invite any unknown warlock into the house. All that much worse, one like Corvin whose dangers were known.
“I’m not going for a walk with you. Spit out what it is you want because I’m going back to my house and you’re not going to stop me.”
“There’s no need to be so vehement about it.”
“There is every reason.”
“I just wanted to talk. You know I don’t have very many options of who to talk to right now.”
“It’s not my fault you are being shunned.”
“Well…” He raised his brows. “It is sort of your fault.”
“You’re the one who attacked me. If you mean it’s my fault because I testified against you, then fine. It’s my fault you’re being shunned.”
He didn’t look pleased that she had agreed with him. He was looking for a fight. Looking to engage with her. Reg couldn’t afford to let him work his wiles on her. She looked at her phone to see what time it was.
“So, what did you want to talk about? Do you actually have a purpose here, or are you just hanging around because you’re bored?”
He took a step closer to her, into her comfort zone. Reg took a step back and tried to raise her psychic defenses against him. Sooner or later, he would make his move. She needed to be ready for it. He wouldn’t be able to resist trying to magic her.
“I didn’t say I was bored,” Corvin said, staring into her eyes, his manner confidential and intense.
“Well, good. Then I guess you have plenty to do and don’t need to bother me.”
“Regina,” he crooned her name, correctly pronouncing it, Reh JEE nah, not like the Canadian city. “When are you going to stop this dance? Just admit that the two of us are fated. Stop fighting every word and every move. I don’t want to hurt you. I want us to be friends.”
“You want a lot more than friendship, and I’m not going to give it to you.”
He shifted his feet, looking for a more comfortable position. But he wasn’t going to her cottage, they weren’t going for a walk, and he was too far away from his car to lean casually against it. He could only stand there, out in the open where everyone could see him, talking with Reg. Because that was all she was going to let him do. As handsome as the dark warlock was, and however enticing he could become when he exercised his charms, she couldn’t give in.
Corvin leaned closer. “You realize that things could change very quickly.”
She didn’t like his proximity. Was he making a threat? Having gained so much more power in his fight with the Witch Doctor, who knew what he could do now. Or was he suggesting something else?
“What things could change?” she asked cautiously.
“The Council is considering commuting my sentence.”
Reg felt like she had been punched in the gut. After all of the pain and suffering she had gone through, after having to face the humiliation of testifying against him, they were going to let him get off that quickly? They had said that they would shun him until he proved he could be a positive member of their society. His sentence was indefinite, and Reg had thought that meant it would be long, not short.
“How can they do that?” she asked breathlessly.
“Our encounter with the Witch Doctor proved that I am a valuable asset to the magical community. We saved countless lives and bound a dark force that could have done unimaginable harm.”
“You didn’t exactly do it for altruistic purposes.”
“Who is to say?” he countered with a smug smile. “When I tell the story to the Council members, it certainly will be.”
“The only reason you went into that warehouse was so that you could have access to the magical artifacts and consume their powers.”
“Not the only reason.”
“And to prove that you could defeat a powerful being. An immortal, or whatever he was.”
Corvin’s smile just grew. Reg shook her head, sickened by his attitude and the thought that the warlock council might reinstate him so quickly. It was beyond belief. How had he been punished for what he had tried to do to her? He had gone against all of the rules imposed on his kind and tried to steal her powers from her by force. If they reinstated him so quickly, it would be a sign that they didn’t care what he did. He could go on doing whatever he liked; they didn’t care a bit about his victims.
“Reg…” He cocked his head, looking at her like she had hurt him by not being excited about his news. He made a pouty face. “Don’t be that way. I don’t harbor ill will toward you. We can be friends. Forget the past, and look forward to the future.”
“To a future where you can have whatever you want because you’re the strongest? Where you can break all of the rules and no one cares about it one bit?”
“Obviously, people care, or they wouldn’t have disciplined me to begin with. But I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t let my appetites get away from me again.” He blinked and smiled encouragingly. “You and I can get along. Our powers are synergistic. They go together so well, matching each other strength for strength. The two of us together could defeat any foe.”
“Oh, that’s your new line, is it? Now that you’ve got the power, you’re ready to use it. And it’s not to protect all of the innocent citizens of Black Sands anymore. Now it is to defeat all foes and get what you want.”
“That isn’t what I said. Think of how many people could benefit if you and I combined our powers. Think of all of those people that you would like to be able to help. The two of us together could do almost anything. Think about all of your lost and broken dreams. All of those things that you used to want that you’ve given up on. You could have them all.”
Reg shook her head, trying to rid herself of his influence, like a fly buzzing in her ear. He didn’t understand anything about her childhood and her lost and broken dreams. He thought that she had dreamed of money and power. But in reality, she had dreamed of a loving family, stability, enough to eat, and a future. She was doing well in Black Sands, but it was only a matter of time until that dream ended too. They would come for her and she would have to run again if she wanted to avoid incarceration. She would be on the skids once more, looking for a home and a stable income somewhere else where people had never heard her name.
“Reg.” He reached out to touch her cheek. “You look so sad. You can have anything. Think about it. Whatever you want.”
She could feel his warmth even before his fingers touched her skin. She swallowed and closed her eyes, wishing that she could swim into the warm, safe feeling that he promised. But she knew how she would feel if she surrendered to him. When he was done with her and had stripped away all of her gifts, she would be left an empty husk, with a hollow, echoing space in her head that used to be filled with voices. She would be more alone than she had ever been before. She pulled back from his touch, forcing herself to withdraw instead of leaning into him.
“Corvin…” She rarely addressed him by name, rarely told him anything about her past or how she was feeling. “You have no idea what it’s like for me.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. Corvin frowned, wrinkle lines forming between his eyes. He pulled back his hand. “Then tell me. I know what it’s like to hold those powers. I don’t know how you could be unhappy with the richness of the powers in your possession.” It was his turn to look at her longingly. He had untold powers after consuming many of the magical artifacts at the warehouse and the powers of the Witch Doctor himself. Anyone else would have been satisfied with that. But not Corvin. He had to have it all. He had to have Reg’s powers too.
“How could you still be hungry?”
He shrugged and chuckled. “You know how you can spend a couple of hours eating at a buffet, until you’re absolutely stuffed, and still want the dessert afterward?”
“And I’m your dessert?”
“Well, not you, but your powers.”
“It’s the same thing. I don’t want to be consumed. You don’t know what it feels like.”
“Oh, but I do,” Corvin reminded her. He had told them all at his hearing how his father, also a power-drinker like him, had consumed his powers multiple times. Because Corvin could gain power from other people and magical objects, then unlike most of the practitioners in existence, he could have his powers stripped away more than once. Reg looked away from him, embarrassed to remember his vulnerability.
“If you know what it’s like, then how can you do it to someone else?” she demanded. “How can you do that, knowing how empty they will feel after you take their powers?”
“Because I need to do it to survive. Do you like the fact that animals are killed for your consumption? That to survive, you kill other living creatures?”
“Well… I don’t like to think about it, no. But it isn’t like I’m killing them myself. And if it weren’t for the agricultural industry, I wouldn’t eat them at all. It’s just because… they are there. If I stopped eating animals, it wouldn’t change anything in the industry.”
“So if you won’t stop killing other creatures to fill your appetites, then why would you criticize me for doing what comes naturally for me? I need to consume others’ powers for my survival.”
“I could decide to be vegetarian; then I wouldn’t be eating animals. You could choose to just consume the powers from objects, not from people.”
“Think of the pain you would be inflicting on the plants you ate. Is that any better than killing animals? You consume them alive!”
“Plants don’t have feelings!” Reg rolled her eyes.
“Tell that to a nature guardian. Those who tend to the plants know better.”
Reg shifted uncomfortably. She looked at him, squirming. “You don’t need my powers right now. You don’t need anyone’s powers right now. You’re still full from the buffet. With the amount that you filled up before the Witch Doctor gave up, you shouldn’t need to feed again for about a century.”
“You don’t know anything about how long it will last,” Corvin pointed out grumpily.
“I know that you’re full right now.”
“And did I say I was going to consume your powers? I suggested that the two of us could work together. That’s all.”
“And that you would still like dessert.”
“A man always wants dessert.”
“I’m going inside. I really don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’m not about to become Bonnie to your Clyde, so you can forget about that. You’re on your own.”
He mouthed the words, Bonnie and Clyde, like he had no idea what she was talking about. The magical world could be so isolated from the real world. They just lived in their own little pockets, ignoring the rest of the world. Some of them didn’t have any electronics. No phones. No TVs. Reg had no idea how they could survive without modern conveniences. It was a modern world.
“The answer is no, Corvin. I’m not teaming up with you. I wasn’t happy about being forced to team up with you against the Witch Doctor. I’m done.”
Corvin blew out his breath, frustrated. “You owe me. You just remember that. We are bonded together until you repay me your part of the covenant.”
Reg swallowed. “You took my powers. The contract was fulfilled.”
“I returned them to you. That means you still owe me. You agreed. You made a covenant. And until you fulfill it, we will be fated to cross paths.”
“Ick. I’m going home. You can sit in your car and wait for me to come out again. Or you could go home and do whatever warlocky things are on your magical to-do list.”
Reg pulled back, forcing herself to leave his circle of influence. The cooler air caressed her skin and she was able to take a full breath again. She had failed to notice just how much he had been stifling her.
She went back to her cottage, looking back once or twice to make sure that Corvin wasn’t following her. He stayed out in front of the main house.