I went alone to the rendezvous. Stupid? Yeah, probably. I knew I was walking into a trap. I could have recruited help. But in this Mom was right. I needed to distance myself from the family as much as I could if I was going to follow through on my plans to kill the Dumont brothers.

As I steered my bright blue Mini up the hillside on that long and lonely drive, choosing mundane means over magic so I'd have time to gather my thoughts, my hands clutched the wheel so tight I was ...