The Witch With No Name

by Kim Harrison

My shoulders tensed. “Quen gets custody first? That’s a great idea. No one can kill him.”

  Trent made an embarrassed sound. Glancing behind me to the cowed vampire, he winced. “Ah, not exactly. I made you Lucy’s legal guardian if I died or was missing for more than six months. If we both go, Al gets her. Ellasbeth probably doesn’t know about that clause.”

  Shocked, my head snapped up. “A-Al?” I stammered. “Why not Quen?” But what I really wanted to know was why Al?

  Trent was swooping about the kitchen, jamming charms and Ivy’s bottled water into my bag. “Making Quen Lucy’s guardian would make him a target, and I won’t risk Ray. Al being Lucy’s guardian will create a custody battle long enough for Quen to run off with both Lucy and Ray. Besides, if Al has custody, no demon will dare touch her. Or Ray.”

  I dropped back a step as I looked for the logic. It made sense—sort of.

  Trent handed me my bag. The sill was empty, and I looked in my bag to see Al’s chrysalis among the rest. Really? “I’m sorry,” Trent said, jaw tight. “We have to go.”

  Crap on toast, we were going to leave them the church. I started as Trent took me in a quick embrace, my arms pinned between us as he gave me a squeeze. The vampire was watching, but Bis gouging the counter with his nails kept him unmoving.

  “I should have seen this coming,” Trent whispered, his breath making tingles against my neck. He sighed, his grip beginning to loosen. “I thought that by bringing Landon in close, I could out-think him. You were right. Is Ivy okay?”

  Jenks darted in, his dust telling me everything I needed to know. They were advancing. “She was when I called,” I said as I reached behind me for my splat gun. The vampire’s eyes widened when I smoothly pulled it out and shot him. He started to rise . . . then fell back, slumping all the way to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.

  “Jeez, Rache!” Jenks complained as he rose up and down. “Give a pixy some warning!”

  If there hadn’t been umpteen more coming our way, I would’ve shoved the window open to air the place out. Frustrated, I faced Trent. “We need to get the girls. Both Lucy and Ray.”

  Trent shook his head. “We need to play dead.”

  “Huh? Why?” I said, taking the tablet Trent was handing me and shoving it into my shoulder bag.

  Frowning, Trent stepped over the vampire to look out the window. “If we play dead, Landon will have to admit he can’t bring their souls back. Support for him will fall apart. All we have to do is wait.”

  “Let the vampires bring Landon down.” And Ellasbeth, I added silently, knowing Trent was upset she’d taken this drastic step. God knew I was disappointed. He must be crushed.

  “But the church . . . ,” Jenks said, and Jumoke and Izzy flew in, each of them holding a bundle and looking tragic.

  I swallowed hard. If we were going to play dead, something was going to get busted up really bad to sanction it. “It’s just a pile of rock, right?” I said, voice breaking. “Is Rex outside? Belle?”

  Jenks nodded, scared. “Belle won’t leave. Rache, we shouldn’t either.”

  Trent gestured to Bis, and the gargoyle jumped to my shoulder, his tail wrapping tightly around me to secure his hold. The kid could jump only one at a time on his own, but if I warped everyone’s aura to look the same, we could all go together. Probably. “I’ll try to contain the damage, but if worse comes to worst, Jumoke and Izzyanna can move into my gardens. You, too, Jenks,” he added, and Jenks frowned, a black dust falling in the center of the golden sparkles. “Belle doesn’t have out-of-season newlings to look after,” he added, and Jenks stiffened.

  “I’m wherever Ivy and Rache are.”

  Trent’s arm slipped around my waist. “I don’t want any of you hibernating. Can you get them there safely, Jenks? We can’t go. It’s the first place they’ll look for us, and I can’t take this to my girls.”

  Looking even more disgusted, Jenks nodded again, his expression softening as he saw Izzy holding her tiny middle. “Call me.”

  Trent’s expression relaxed, making me love him all the more. “Thank you,” he said, looking over the church as if it was his own. “Have Quen escort Ellasbeth out and close the grounds. He’s to go into hiding if he has to, but Ellasbeth is not to leave with the girls.”

  My gut hurt at the thought of damaging the church. It’s just a pile of rocks, I told myself, but it was my pile of rocks.

  “It’s going to be fine, Rachel,” Trent said, but the pinch to his brow said differently. “Ellasbeth will be years contesting it in the courts. We’ll be back long before that.” I met his eyes, and he added, “The trick will be to die convincingly without doing too much damage.”

  “You think a modified heat charm?” I said, knowing there was a firewall between the old part of the church and the new.

  Trent shook his head, his eyes on the vampire at our feet. He took a breath to say something, then froze. His eyes went to the hallway.

  Jenks’s wings clattered. Jumoke and Izzy darted out, wings silent. “See you in a few days,” Jenks said as he circled me, his dust falling as if in protection. “Trent, if she dies, I’ll cut your pointy ears off and eat them in front of you.”

  I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but Bis had tightened his grip. “Where do you want me to jump you?” he asked, clearly worried and smelling of iron and pigeon.

  The tunnels? I thought, but it was too late, and we ducked below the counter at the soft scrape of shoe in the living room. “Go!” I mouthed to Jenks, and he gave me a last disparaging look as he darted out. This was going to be tricky. We had to destroy the back of the church and get out before it took us with it, and do it all so whoever was attacking would think we were caught up in it.

  “Victor?” a masculine voice hissed, and I glanced at the vampire, his legs still in view of the hallway. Oh yeah. What about him?

  “Now!” Trent shouted, and we stood, my hand reaching for my splat gun.

  What in hell am I supposed to do? I wondered, shooting at the vampire in black.

  Apparently it was the right thing as the man snarled, showing me his teeth as he rolled in to make room for the rest. The window over the sink exploded inward, and I swung my gun, little puffs of air unnoticed in the howl of attack.

  Someone touched me. It wasn’t Trent, and I loosed a blast of energy through my body, sending the vampire screaming in pain to fall backward into two of his buddies.

  “That’s right!” I yelled, shooting at them, but they darted back and my spells broke harmlessly against the cupboards. “Run, you little chip-fanged wannabes!”

  My heart thundered. Eyes wide, I found Trent. He looked magnificent, magic arching from hand to hand as he blasted anyone who got a foot inside the kitchen. There were six down already, and he took out the two I’d missed even as I watched. Breathless, I smiled as he shouted and blew a hole right through the wall and four more crashed backward into the fireplace. That was okay. Ivy had been talking about opening the two rooms up.

  “Trent!” I shouted, realizing Bis was still on my shoulder, his wings open as he kept his balance. “I think we can do this!” I wouldn’t have to leave my church. I wouldn’t have to abandon the only place I’d ever felt was mine.

  His expression was wild. He met my eyes, and something plinked through me. He loves me, I thought, knowing he’d do anything if it would keep me safe, even if that meant letting me do something stupid like try to save my church.

  A head poked up behind the smoldering couch, visible past the broken wall. There was a sudden flurry of motion, and five bodies dove out of the open back door. The one remaining slowly stood. Smirking, he dropped something heavy. I watched it fall as if in slow motion.

  Trent grabbed me, spinning me down and around. Bis’s wings flapped madly as we hunched into a ball.

  The last vampire launched himself at the door, fleeing.

  I gasped, trying to figure out what was going on.

  “Now, Bis!” Trent shouted, and the world exploded.


  The roar of fire washed over us, eating away at the bubble Trent had thrown up.

  And then it was gone, the pulse of heat vanishing into the hum of the lines and then evolving into the shush of water on a beach. Bis had jumped us, and I had no idea where we were.

  My heart thudded as we slowly stood from our crouch. It was dark, hours before dawn. My feet sank into cool sand. We were on the West Coast? Behind us was the great blackness of the Pacific, before us the extravagant lines of a modern two-story home, wall-to-wall windows facing the beach. The wind lifted through my hair and pulled the heat from the bomb away.

  My church, I thought, forcing the lump down. Everyone I loved was safe.

  “Ah, where are we, Bis?” Trent said, and I let go of his hand.

  Bis shifted his claws, and I winced, not wanting him to know he’d broken skin. “Uh, I hope you don’t mind,” the clever kid said, his wings arching up behind my head in his version of a shrug. “I had to pick somewhere the sun hadn’t come up yet.”

  “It’s not Lee’s,” Trent said, and a knot of worry eased as I heard a piano playing the same phrase over and over until something sounded right.

  “Alice, what do you think about this?” a familiar voice called out, faint over the surf as the phrase was hammered out again, and I smiled.

  “It’s my mom’s,” I said, starting forward, eager and trying not to cry. Bis had taken me home. He’d taken me to my mom.

  Chapter 12

  I woke for the second time in the same day with a smile on my face. Eyes closed, I stretched a foot down to find Trent’s, feeling his arm over me tighten as I nudged him awake. My mom was cool. The thought of offering us two rooms hadn’t even occurred to her as she fussed and burbled over getting us settled, finding us toothbrushes and me a nightgown. The shower had been heaven, and the cool sheets better than death, as Ivy would have said.

  My eyes opened. A deliciously masculine arm was resting on me. Beyond the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, the sun was nearing noon by the slivers of light leaking in past the half-open blinds. Trent, too, was just waking up, having spent some of his morning talking to Takata before slipping in behind me for a couple of hours. Our usual sleep schedules weren’t compatible at all, but that didn’t seem to matter when you were fighting time-zone shifts and an all-nighter.

  All I cared about was that I woke up with Trent beside me for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, and it felt . . . right.

  Warm and content, I rolled to face him. The silk of my mom’s nightgown was a soft hush, and when Trent pulled me close, I snuggled in, wishing I had more mornings like this.

  “Hi,” I said softly, and his eyes opened. They were brilliant green from behind his tousled hair, clear and rested even if his stubble was thick. It made me feel good to see him that close. His thumb traced tingles down my bare arm, and I tilted my head, finding the soft skin under his throat with my lips and giving a gentle pull.

  Suddenly he was a lot more awake. The bed shifted as he found my mouth with his, the kiss lighting through me with a shocking pulse. His hand pressed my shoulder, and my fist tightened at the back of his neck. I was suddenly a lot more awake, too.

  “Donald?” echoed in the hallway. “Do we have any more strawberries? They’ve got to come out of there eventually. It’s after noon!”

  Breathless, I pulled back. Our lips parted with a sharp smack, and I realized his leg had slipped between mine, almost pinning me—not that I minded. His smile was content as we listened to Takata’s rumbling voice answer my mom, and I snuggled into him. I didn’t particularly want to get up, but even as my mom might have bunked us together, she also wouldn’t have any hesitation about knocking on our door.

  My pulse slowed. I listened to Trent’s heartbeat, breathing him in and reluctant to move. I liked waking up like this, but was it realistic to even hope it could last? As in a permanent situation? I knew better than to look for a happily ever after. My track record spoke for itself.

  “Still can’t see it?” Trent said.

  My lips quirked. “How do you do that?” I asked softly, and his hand traced tingles on my shoulder as he slipped the thin strap down.

  “It’s inevitable,” he said, as sensation raced from his touch. “We do well together. For example, what do you want to do today?”

  My schedule was already full of handling the unknown, but I sat up, willing to play the game. “Oh, I don’t know,” I said, knowing Trent would be recognized anywhere the moment he set foot in public. “Have strawberries for breakfast, lay out on the beach, maybe do some bikini shopping. A little light dinner on a boat. Go to bed before the sun comes up. Wake around noon and do it again.”

  Propped up on an elbow, he smiled and tucked my snarled hair behind an ear. His stubble caught the light, and I wanted to feel its roughness. “See what I mean?” he said, the sheet slipping to show a new and very nice angle of him. “That’s exactly what I want to do.”

  Smirking, I scooted down and tucked myself next to him. My real list was a lot different: check the news to see if our fake death gamble worked, make a soul bottle for Ivy, dodge uncomfortable questions from my mom.

  Suddenly I realized Trent’s hand was moving, ever moving, against me, running behind my ear with a comfortable security, as if he’d been doing it for years. “There’s absolutely nothing I can do,” he said around a sigh, gazing past me to the private beach. “And a hundred things I should.”

  He was worried about his girls, but I couldn’t resist letting my fingers drift downward over his chest. His body tensed, and I smiled. “We should play dead more often. This is the nicest morning I’ve had in a long time.”

  “There’s always room for improvement.” Trent’s weight shifted as he leaned over me. His hand made a delicious path of tingles as it slipped up under the hem of the short nightie, settling in a tight grip on my waist. I smiled and reached for him, pulling him down into another kiss.

  My eyes closed as I breathed him in. The hint of my mom’s soap made him even more familiar, and my hand made steady progress down his side and thigh before I drifted inward to find him. His breathing changed, and I lingered as his lips left mine, skating down my neck and to my breast.

  “Alice, they’re still asleep.” Takata’s voice jerked through me, and Trent jumped.

  “They’re three hours ahead of us,” my mom protested. “We’ve got to go, and I’m not going to sneak out of here and leave them a note!”

  “So you knock on their door,” Takata grumbled. “Why are you making me do it?”

  “Oh, for God’s sake, I’ll do it,” she said, and the sound of her steps rang loudly on the tile. “Watch the waffles, will you? They need to get up.”

  Trent looked down at me, his interrupted passion shifting to amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I am up. They need to go away.”

  “Sorry,” I said with an apologetic wince, and he rolled to sit up, settling himself beside me with the blankets pulled across his lap.

  “Good morning, Ms. Morgan!” Trent said loudly as he stared at the ceiling, and I gave him a backhanded smack.

  “See, they’re awake,” I heard her admonish Takata. “Go check the waffles.”

  She barely knocked before pushing the door open, and I yanked the blanket up as she peeked in, bringing the scent of maple syrup and cooked batter with her. “Good morning!” she called happily, her hair pulled back and looking more like my sister than my mom in casual jeans and a classy sweater. “Breakfast is ready. You can eat it while it’s hot or let it get cold, but I didn’t want to leave without at least saying good morning.”

  “You’re leaving?” I said, grabbing the blanket when Trent threatened to drag it off me.

  My mom bustled forward, heels clicking as she went to open the blinds all the way. Sunshine poured in, and my eyes hurt. “We’re catching a flight out this afternoon. Big day today!” She turned, beaming at us. “Damn, you look good together. Rachel, if you screw this up, I’m go
ing to be pissed. Trent has—”

  “Mom!” I shouted, and she blinked, turning a slight shade of red. Trent wasn’t helping, and I gave him a pinch to keep quiet when he opened his mouth, presumably to ask what she thought he might have that I might be interested in.

  “Sorry,” she said, surprising me. “I just wanted to see you before we left.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked again. “I’ve got some spelling to do, and I thought you might be able to help. With the shopping if nothing else.”

  “A-A-A-Alice?” Takata shouted. “Where’s the cinnamon?”

  Her eyes lit up, and then she frowned, clearly torn. “Oh, I can’t, sweetheart,” she said as she scooped up my jeans from the floor and folded them. “Donald and I have a flight to Cincy in a few hours. I’ve got your funeral to plan.”

  “It worked!” Trent exclaimed, and I smiled as my mom’s eyes glowed in anticipation.

  “This is going to be fantastic!” she gushed as she fiddled with the fringe on the seventies lamp they had stuck in here. “If I can’t plan your wedding, I can at least arrange your funeral. Donald has a song and everything. You’re going to love it!”

  Oh God, she was going to do the eulogy. “Ah, Mom?”

  “Get yourself up,” she said as she backed out of the room. “We leave in ten.”

  The door clicked shut, and I thumped my head back. I’d never be able to leave my church again. If I had a church to go back to.

  Trent threw the covers back and swung his feet to the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said as he stood, every yummy inch of him catching the light from the beach. “Your mom is . . .”

  “Is what?” I looked at the slowly rising spot in the bed where he’d been and sighed. Just twenty minutes more. Was that too much to ask?

  “Fun,” he said, stretching.

  “Uh-huh.” I sat up and wrangled my hair back into a scrunchy. “Picture fun on prom night or a PTA meeting. My mom was an active parent.”

  Head down, I scuffed past Trent toward the attached bathroom. I’d told Ivy we were bugging out, and I hadn’t called her since, not wanting to blow our story of being dead. But now, after a handful of hours, I probably should tell her we were okay. Even the six hours it would take for my mom to get there was too long to have her worry.