"The Gift" #15 (cont.)
He sits on the stage, reflecting on the consequences of events already set in motion and inevitably about to cause grief to someone somewhere. He seems to be speaking not just of Alison but of anyone who takes something he or she has no business having. Though he is, of course, primarily referring to the ring, his words have a sinister insight applicable to almost any perilously procured possession. As the fairytales and myths have long advised, an object of power is best left to its rightful owner. To steal a sorcerer’s magic or a god’s secrets can bring unforeseen danger to the presumptuous apprentice or upstart hero. Christina, the innocent finder of the ring, through no fault other than childlike curiosity, now wields power capable of hurting herself as well as the ones she loves.
Livvie, greedy for power, does not need the ring’s magic to create havoc but will unknowingly gain from its presence at the fashion show. She sees the fashion show as an opportunity to rid herself of the woman she perceives as a threat to her constricting hold on Caleb. Glancing at the picture of Caleb and Alison in the newspaper, she plots her vengeance. “You did go and see Caleb,” she mutters to the image of Alison. “And you were half-undressed, and, no, Alison, it was not an accident. It’s time for an accident of my own. Oh, yeah,” she smiles, picking up Alisons’s schedule and marking a time slot, “this is going to be one hell of a fashion show.”
Back at home with Caleb for a short time before the show begins, Livvie gleefully anticipates her attack on Alison. Although Caleb senses that she has something up her sleeve, he is too busy with his own preparation to worry about Livvie’s secret agenda. Chastising himself for his unwelcome, fortunately brief, “dabble in mortality,” he turns to his father’s book of magic as a reminder of his Morley legacy and inspiration for his spell to regain the ring.
Livvie is now also a part of his legacy, and even though his father may not have agreed with Caleb’s decisions regarding Livvie and entrusting her with the ring, Caleb realizes that his future, the Morleys’ future, is shared with her. “I’m proud of you,” he confides to her after rereading his family’s book. “The way you reacted when you saw that photo in the paper, I . . . ”
“You thought I was going to explode,” she says, finishing his sentence.
“Yeah, there was a time before when you would have,” he reminds her.
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