Black Magic Sanction th-8

by Kim Harrison

  "Holy crap! How about some warning?" I exclaimed, but I turned in his arms, not letting him go. This might be my last chance. "I'm sorry, Jenks," I said, giving him another hug. "Take what time you need. Ivy and I can finish this coven thing. I've got an idea."

  He gave me a squeeze, then space appeared between us. "Just tell me where to fly, Rache. That's what I'm here for. I'll be ready."

  Ivy was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, her hand on her hip. She could just stand there for a few moments more. Pierce, too. "This is hard," I said, sniffing.

  "I'm not going anywhere," he said, his roving eyes returning. "You're going to be all right?"

  Jenks looked across the garden to the sound of his children. "I think so. I've never done anything like this before."

  I touched his arm, trying to smile. "You're good at doing new things."

  Finally he looked at me, and the full force of his heartache hit me. My smile faltered, and tears threatened. "I... I'd better get Pierce," he said, and in a clattering of wings, he was gone.

  Blinking hard, I looked at the fastened cat door. Where's Rex?

  The stairs shook, and I stumbled when Ivy clomped up them. "You changing?" she asked quietly, but before I could answer, she opened the screen and interior door both.

  An exuberant howl pulled my attention up to see Jenks flying past with Pierce dangling.

  "That's something you don't see every day," Ivy muttered as they vanished into the hall and presumably to my bathroom where Ivy had put his clothes.

  My kitchen looked awe inspiring from my new vantage point, and Ivy stayed behind me as I hugged the wall to my room. "I've got this!" I shouted, and she looked at me.

  "I lost track of Rex," she said, not hearing me, but my waving hands were clear enough.

  "Oh." Suitably subdued, I waited by the nicked floor molding while she pushed my door open and did a quick look for felines. "Uh, she's under the bed!" I exclaimed when a pair of yellow eyes looked at me from beside the laptop Ivy had given me last summer.

  Ivy didn't hear, her head in my closet, and panic iced through me when the cat stood and started pacing forward. "Non sum qualis eraml" I shouted.

  The breath in me turned inside out, and I reached for something, anything. Dizziness roared in, and I was already mumbling, "I take the smut, I take it," before even the hint of it could lay me out. Unlike an earth charm that changed a person, a demon curse didn't hurt—unless you refused the smut. My vision swam in a nauseating swirl, and I took another breath, my lungs starved for air as they formed, empty and slack.

  "You okay?" Ivy asked, close and worried.

  Blinking, I found she was holding my arm to keep me upright. Rex was at my feet, tail twitching in confusion. And I was stark naked, as hairy as an orangutan. "Oh, for God's sake," I muttered as I snatched my pillow and covered myself. Eaten by a cat. Wouldn't the coven love that?

  Ivy grinned, her eyes black because of the emotions I was kicking out. "Welcome back," she said wryly, letting me go and sauntering out my door. I heard a thump and a sigh as she leaned her head back against the wall in the hall next to my door, and when I went to shut the door—which she'd left open—Ivy put a long hand in the way. "I want to talk to you," she said from the hall.

  I hesitated, then tossed my pillow back on my bed before I yanked my top drawer open and pulled out a bright red pair of undies. Yeah. Red would be good today. Rex jumped up on my bed, chirping for attention, but I couldn't bring myself to touch her yet. A soft bong from the belfry told me the sun was down. Bis had taken to tapping it when he woke. My thoughts drifted to having gotten my own summoning name back, and I smiled. I could lounge around in my robe, or shower, or even shave, maybe, without worrying about being jerked out. Slowly my smile faded. I was not feeling bad for Al. No freaking way.

  "Can I come in yet?" Ivy asked from the hall.

  I pulled a camisole over my head, red to match my underwear. "I'm not dressed."

  The click of my door closing pulled me around. "I said I'm not dressed!" I exclaimed, seeing Ivy with her back to it, her eyes a nice steady brown, but her expression grim.

  "I, ah, looked Pierce up on the Internet," she said, and my anger shifted to worry.

  Oh. Avoiding her, I dug around in my top drawer for a pair of ankle socks. My feet, once cold and dirty, were clean. My scars were gone again. Apart from the hair thing, demon curses were better than a shower. I glanced at my snarled hair in the mirror over my dresser. Almost. The neurotoxins from my vampire bite were still there, and the tweaking to my mitochondria, too. My ears, too, needed piercing. Again.

  "How bad is it?" I asked, yanking open a lower drawer and pulling out my TAKATA STAFF shirt. I figured she would look him up, and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear this. I was starting to like Pierce, which meant he was bad news. "Bad enough."

  The shirt scraped my nose as I pulled it on, and feeling a little less exposed, I went to my closet for a pair of jeans. Ivy was sitting on my bed with Rex, her long fingers between the smiling cat's ears. "He told me he's a former coven member," I said, shoving first one leg, then another into the fresh cotton and zipping it up. Much better.

  "Once a member, always a member," Ivy murmured when I turned around with my socks and sat on the end of my bed.

  "Even when they kill you for knowing black magic." Sure, you could kill a busload of people by perverting a white spell, but they'd shun you for doing a harmless black one. Damn hypocrites. Twisting my foot up, I marveled at the pristine smoothness of its underside. "Pierce told me they blew his cover because they didn't like him summoning demons, but he was doing it to kill them."

  "That's what I found," she said slowly, "but there's more."

  There was always more. "He knows about the demon thing," I said, seeing her eyes downcast and clearly reluctant to say anything. "He's not going to hurt me."

  But my confidence trickled away at her expression. "Ask him about Eleison."

  I bent to reach my running shoes, under my bed. They'd cost me a fortune, but were the most comfortable pair of shoes I had since Alcatraz had one pair of my boots and my other was split between here and the ever-after. I had to talk to Al, tell him the gun wasn't my idea. What an ass, shooting at Al. "Is Eleison his girlfriend?" I asked. Dead girlfriends, I could handle.

  Looking ill, Ivy shook her head. "It was an eighteenth-century southern town."

  Was? Oh. My eyes went to the wall as if I could see through it to where Jenks was with Pierce. My breath tight, I asked, "What did he do?"

  Ivy let Rex drop to the floor, and the cat waited impatiently under the doorknob. "He used black magic to vaporize it while trying to kill a demon."

  "Mmmm." Good thing I didn't like the guy. "Are you sure it was him?"

  Ivy nodded. "Four hundred innocents. Dead."

  My fingers tying my shoes were slow. "I guess putting four hundred people in the ground might explain why he was in purgatory."

  I looked up when Ivy shifted closer. "Rachel, I don't care if you sleep with the guy, but do it fast and get it over with. He's going to get you killed. He won't mean to, but he will. People die around him."

  People die around me, too. Depressed, I let my foot hit the rug. "I'll be careful." Eyes rising, I found hers pinched in an inner pain. "I'll be careful, okay?"

  She stood up as I did, her smile thin. "Okay."

  I'll ask him about it. Get the whole story, I thought, feeling refreshed in my clean clothes and the entire night spreading out before me. I'm in control and not upset. I can work with this.

  "Do we have anything to eat?" I asked, thinking about the now-useless sleepy-time charms I'd made last night. "I've got spelling to do tonight." Maybe find one that lowered your blood pressure. "I have an idea of how to get Trent and the coven off my back."

  Ivy gave me a look before opening my door. "The coven isn't going to give up on you."

  "I have to try," I said as I followed her down the dark hallway. Pierce was talking to Jenks behind my closed bathroom
door, and my chest tightened. Good thing I didn't like him.

  "I'll talk to Rynn," Ivy said, her voice wispy as she entered the kitchen and thunked the light on with her elbow. "Maybe he'll help now. Sending fairies to burn our church isn't right."

  "My idea doesn't involve Rynn Cormel," I drawled as I headed for the fridge. Coming out with a carton of cottage cheese, I caught the spoon that Ivy threw me. "Do you have David's cell number? I need him to bird-dog some legal stuff for me."

  Ivy smiled. "Way ahead of you," she said as she went to her computer.

  I shoveled a huge spoonful of cottage cheese into my mouth, eyes closing in bliss at the soft bite. God, I was hungry.

  But my eyes flew open at a soft tremble from under my feet. Ivy's eyebrows rose, and then a rumble rolled over the church like distant thunder. From the belfry, the bell bonged, and a shiver cascaded through me. The big mojo amulet on my bag flashed red, then went quiet. Holy crap. Someone had just rung the bells.

  The bathroom door crashed open, and from the back of the church, I heard Ceri's steps as she came in from the garden. Jenks flew in, his dust carrying a hint of gray, but his wings were bright red in excitement. "It wasn't me!" I said as the pixy landed on the center island counter.

  "That was an explosion!" Jenks said.

  Ceri slid in with her hand to her hair to keep the fair strands from floating. "It was a magical explosion!" she said breathlessly. "Someone just rang the bells!"

  Pierce came in behind her, and my heart clenched. He had shaved and was back in his usual dark pants and vest, his eyes wide and his hair tousled. He looked entirely in control, and yet... like he belonged in my chaotic life. Eleison, echoed in my thoughts. Four hundred people.

  Looking away, I downed more cottage cheese, not knowing when I'd get another chance to eat. "I think it was Brooke," I said as I dug my spoon in. It was after sunset. She'd tried to summon me. Stupid woman. But I could make it work for me—twice over.

  Pierce edged past Ceri to stand beside me. I eyed him, then put my attention on my lunch. "She summoned Al," he said flatly. "The fool." Pushing from the counter, I ate one more spoonful and put the lid back on. Ivy's eyes were on me as I opened my charm cupboard and pulled out a pain amulet. Yeah. I'll need this.

  "What are you doing?" Ivy asked.

  Not turning, I pondered whether I could do this without my splat gun, deciding I'd have to. "Al is on this side of the lines. Brooke summoned him," I said.

  "Rachel!" Ceri said brightly. "You don't have to worry about the coven coming for you anymore. Isn't that wonderful?"

  I turned, an invoked pain amulet dangling. "Brooke summoned him, not the coven, and since everyone knows Al is my demon, I'm going to get blamed for it." I hated saying that, but it was true. This sucked. But I was going to make it work for me, damn it. Don't reject, rejoice? God help me, I'm in trouble.

  One by one, they reacted as they figured it out. In a flash of dust, Jenks was on my shoulder, ready to go. Telling him he couldn't come wasn't going to be fun. There was only one person joining me. One person I was sure would be okay.

  "Bis?" I called, and Jenks's wings hummed as the lumpy shadow above the fridge lost the yellow of the walls and became the young gargoyle. He was really getting good at this. Ivy started, and even Pierce seemed surprised, but I'd known he was somewhere close. I could feel the lines better when he was around.

  Ceri's expression was worried as Bis crawled down the fridge like a bat and made the hopping flight to the counter beside me.

  "What are you doing?" Ivy said, her pupils dilating.

  "Trying to save Brooke's ass," I said shortly, then turned to Bis and wiped my fingers off on the dish towel. "Think you can jump me there? Can you follow Al's aura signature?"

  The gargoyle nodded, but I didn't hear what he said as everyone protested at once.

  "Have you been sniffing fairy farts?" Jenks shouted.

  "You can't jump. You don't know how," Pierce said.

  "You're going to get yourself killed!" Ivy said, more angry than afraid. "Al's going to think you gave Pierce that gun, and you want to parade in, telling him he can't have Brooke?"

  "Yup." I put my elbows on the counter to have my head even with Bis's. "I might be able to create some goodwill between me and the coven if I'm not too late. They can't help Brooke—they probably don't even know she's in trouble."

  Ceri was standing at the back of the kitchen, her uncertainty clear. "I'm coming with you," Pierce stated, coming around the center counter to join me.

  "You're going to help me save Brooke?" I said. "From Al? After you tried to shoot him? I don't think so. You're staying here. I don't need you when I'm with Al."

  Pierce went to protest, and I raised a pain amulet. "Unless you want to take your beating like a man?" I said, and he dropped back. I'm no one's ward to be babysat.

  "You can't jump," Pierce warned me. "Bis can, but not with you!"

  "What can it hurt to try?" I said confidently, and Bis shivered his wings, clearly eager. "Al himself said I was slipping into a line, and I didn't have a gargoyle helping. It's just a local jump. It's not like I'm trying to shift realities."

  "Rachel...," he growled, but I wasn't listening. Ivy wasn't happy, and Ceri looked just as worried. I had to get out of here or they were going to sit on me.

  "Glad we got that settled," I said brightly. "Bis, we're out of here." Jenks rose, horrified as Bis took to the air. "Rache! Pierce says you're not ready—"

  But I didn't want to wait. I didn't have to. I had been snatched, jailed, drugged, and treated as less than a person. I doubted very much I could save Brooke, but the attempt might be enough to get the rest of the coven to listen to me. Besides, I did have to talk to Al.

  Bis landed on my shoulder, his light weight barely recognizable. His tail wrapped around my neck, and his wings cupped behind my head, unexpectedly funneling the shouts of protest. I reeled—every line in Cincinnati was singing, and through Bis, I could hear them.

  "We can do this," I said, reaching out and touching a thought to the nearby ley line. If I could shift my aura to match the tone of it, I'd be inside it, even though I stood in my church's kitchen. I could feel the line outside myself, warmer than I was, tasting of chlorophyll, sour like dandelion sap. My entire soul vibrated, and I let the line pour through me, trying to match its resonance. Warmth, taste, sound, they all blended, and with a gasp, I felt the line take me.

  Bis's tail tightened, and I felt him do that curious step-the-mind-sideways twist that Al always did when he pulled me to the ever-after. Yes! I thought exuberantly as I mimicked it and felt my bubble snap into place around me as my body dissolved.

  And we were gone.

  Twenty-six

  Listen, I thought, feeling the ley line within me, tasting it. I was everywhere, in every line on the continent. Or at least I had the potential for it. Bis's presence was with me. His mental texture slipped through my protective bubble, bringing with him the discordant sensation of another line. It was as if I could see, taste, hear, the lingering aura that Al had left behind on it, shifting the sound a little deeper, the taste a little more bitter. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever felt. Bis brought the taste of the new line in with him. Otherwise, I'd never be able to sense it past my own bubble. And now that I knew what it sounded like, I could find it.

  Confident from success, I reached a thought past my bubble to pick out the line he'd used from the myriad lines crisscrossing the Cincinnati mindscape.

  That was a mistake.

  Shock vibrated through me—and then the pain hit.

  I had no breath, but I screamed. Fire poured through my veins to illuminate my soul—the entire line filled me, unfiltered. My mind rebelled, and my thoughts went white. Tulpa! I screamed, but there was too much. I couldn't spindle creation, and my neurons burned.

  Al! I begged in my thoughts, but he couldn't hear me. I'd done something wrong. My memory was charring, flaking from me in sheets of thought.

  I had t
o get out before I burned to nothing. There had to be a way. I had... to listen... through the pain. Where was Al?

  Somehow I found him. Somehow I found Al's sarcastic thoughts, bitter and old. Tired, angry, bored. Alone.

  Whimpering, I shifted what was left of my aura, modifying it to match the line he had used, and with a last gasp, I shoved myself into it. With the feeling of spiderwebs made of ice, and fog made of fire, I tore my way back into reality.

  My face hit a dirty flat carpet, and I dropped my pain amulet.

  "Oh. Shit." I breathed, arms shaking as I tried to push myself up, failing. That's okay. It's nice just to lie here.

  "Rachel!" I heard Bis cry. Al snarled something, then bellowed in pain. And then Bis was with me. "Rachel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

  "It's okay," I said, hoping he didn't touch me. I'd freaking pass out. My eyes were shut, and slowly my mind was rebuilding itself. A savage smile curled my lips up. I had done it. Damn it, I had jumped the lines!

  "Brooke, there's two of them!" I heard Vivian exclaim, but I couldn't move yet.

  "Only one of them is Rachel," Brooke snapped. "Which one?"

  Bis hissed, and I heard a scraping of claws. A sharp sound of a smack, and a feminine hand grabbed my wrist. "Ow!" I yelped as Al, looking exactly like me, jerked me up.

  "I'd say the one not in charge," Brooke said, sounding smug.

  My breath came fast, and I scanned the dirty, rectangular room as I found my balance: wood floor with a glowing pentagram laid down with salt, cement-stone walls, low ceilings, really small windows, and a broken table shoved against the big archway leading to a balcony barely big enough to stand on. I could hear water running over rocks somewhere in the dusk. Bis was slumped against the far wall by the stairs, shaking off Al's blow. Brooke and Vivian were standing before us, Vivian looking like she wished she were somewhere—anywhere—else, the skin around her neck red and blistered from being pixed, her clothes a mess, and her heels scuffed. She'd been taking a beating the last couple of days, and it showed.