"Oh." She lifted her head from the cushion. "Do you think I'll need that? Because, really, I'm more of a lover than a fighter.”

And wouldn't he like to find out if that was true.

He shrugged. "Better safe than sorry. We're not sure why the Duskoff wants the demon circle drawn. Could be they'll come after you with guns blazing. Could be they'll let the Coven have you, thinking you're too much trouble to deal with." He pursed his lips. "But I'm betting on the former. They don't let witches like you go very easily.”

"Great. I'm stuck in this apartment for the next year. Fantastic.”

"Look, I don't like it any more than you do. But Monahan has the Coven on the situation. They think you're safest here right now and so do I. There's no leaving this warded, protected area. Not until Monahan says it's time.”

She sat up and blew out a frustrated breath. "Am I going to have to run and hide forever because of my special brand of magick?" She winced and bit her lip. "I hate to whine, but really ... I don't want to do this for the rest of my life. I just want things to be normal, stable." She sighed. "That's all I ever wanted—normality.”

Jack set his glass down and smiled. "You have no idea of the power you wield, do you? Once you're in control of your abilities no one is ever going to be able to hurt you again." He shook his head. "There will be no more running, no more hiding. In fact, Crane might be running and hiding from you.”

She blinked. "Oh. Then how do you explain what happened to my parents?”

"Ah. Well, no one is ever completely invulnerable. By the way, Thomas thinks you'll be more powerful than either of your parents.”

"Okay," she said with a shrug. Clearly, she didn't believe him. "Maybe after all this is over I can go into some kind of magickal witness protection program.”

"One day you'll have stability again. It will just be a different kind of stability. It will be a house in the burbs with two-point-five kids and magick on the side type of stability.”

She grinned. "An I Dream of Jeannie or Bewitched kind of stability.”

He grinned back. "Something like that. As for being normal, Mira, you've never been that. Not from the day you were conceived.”

She shot him a dirty look. "Gee, thanks.”

"That was a compliment.”

She just sighed.

She truly did have no idea of her power. For now, since she was untrained, that was a good thing. He didn't want any unexplainable tornadoes ripping through downtown Minneapolis in the dead of winter, or any of the other innumerable accidents that could occur with uncontrolled air magic.