by Kim Harrison
I gave Quen a wry smile as I took the last stair. “Seriously? I can’t even jump a line,” I said, remembering how vulnerable I had been just this afternoon in Ivy’s kitchen.
Quen drew me to a halt. “Any demon can jump the lines. You’re good at things they aren’t.”
“Like fitting in?” I said, then warmed at Landon’s angry shout coming from the loft.
“Your voice will never have weight in the enclave if you continue to associate with a barren woman, Kalamack. Give up your claim to someone who really wants it.”
Oh, God, just strike me down now. “I can’t stand that man,” I said, miserable at the knowledge that I was making Trent’s bid for the enclave harder. “Why is he still in Cincinnati?”
“Because you are here,” Quen said. “And he can’t bring down Trent when you’re beside him.”
“Me?” I looked at him in surprise. “This is all about Trent, isn’t it.”
Quen’s eyebrows went high in amusement. “No, Tal Sa’han. If it was, it would’ve been finished six weeks ago.” He hesitated as Trent’s muffled voice cut off Landon’s tirade. The prickling of line energy drawn into existence skated over my skin, and I looked at Quen. Trent had a nasty, seldom-seen temper. And magic. The two were not a good mix.
“Excuse me, Tal Sa’han. I need to extricate Trent from that vile priest,” Quen said, worried.
Tal Sa’han. My shoulders slumped. Somehow I’d become Trent’s “most valued adviser,” and I looked past Al and the girls to where Ellasbeth stood, perfect and professional, clearly unhappy as a demon played with the girls. It should have been her.
“Sure. Go,” I said, but Quen was already on the stairs. Ray watched him, her thoughts unknown behind those green eyes so much like her mother’s that it hurt. Al, too, was watching, drawn away by Lucy’s demands. Forcing a smile, I headed to Ellasbeth. Even with a lace-and-velvet demon in the mix, they looked like the perfect family. Ray’s shoes and socks were missing, and Lucy’s hem was damp, evidence of their quick departure from the park. I would’ve worried she was cold, but elves never seemed to feel it, even in winter.
Ellasbeth gave me a thin smile in return as she shifted to make room for me beside her. Not for the first time, I wondered what I was doing here, trying to fit into Trent’s world. Ellasbeth was the ideal politician’s wife with a life and status of her own, a respectable job at the university, everything I wasn’t. I couldn’t help but feel my lack as I stood in my jeans and light sweater beside her casual precision. He had the perfect family—or he would if he took Ellasbeth back. Me? I couldn’t commit to anything longer than a weekend. The girls deserved better than that.
“Hi,” I said as I fidgeted beside Ellasbeth. “Uh, sorry about this.”
A weary shrug shifted her narrow shoulders, and Al interrupted with a cheerful “Look, my little ladies. Go say hi to your aunt Rachel.”
His eyes were glinting in mischief, and I dropped down, almost in self-preservation, as Lucy ran for me, her knit hat gone and her fair hair streaming behind her to show her pointy ears. “Aunt Rachel!” the little girl called joyfully, and then she was with me, her chubby arms wrapping around my neck in a fast hug before dropping back, her green eyes bright. “Look what I can do.”
My eyebrows rose when Lucy snapped her fingers, and a colored bubble appeared, delighting the little girl and making her mother stifle a sigh.
“That’s marvelous, Lucy,” I said, wondering if Al had sent them over to rub Ellasbeth’s nose in the fact that the girls knew me better than her. Yep, I thought at his devilish smile when he set Ray down and she ran to me, her favorite blanket with the horses tight in her grip. “Can you make them different colors?” I sat down right on the floor, and Lucy plopped herself into my lap.
“Blue! Red! Yellow!” Lucy exclaimed, springing right up again to smack them into puffs of colored smoke.
But my lap didn’t stay empty long, and Ray wrapped her thinner arms about my neck and gave me a little-girl kiss. She smelled like a snickerdoodle, and I hugged her back, settling her in my lap with her blanket. “How is your riding? Have you jumped Ginger yet?” I asked, and Ray lost her disapproving stare at her sister as she grinned at me.
“It looks as if you were in the pond,” I said, trying to get her to talk. With Lucy around, she seldom had to, and it was my mission to make sure the little girl had a voice.
“Sharps was spitting at the ducks,” she said, her charming voice high as she played with my curling, snarling hair. “Daddy and Abba said it was okay.” Her gaze went to the upper balcony, searching until she found Quen coming down the stairs with Jenks and Trent.
“Well, trolls are allowed to do that sort of thing.” I stood her up so she could go to her dad or abba . . . or whatever. A woman in a business dress was with them, and I got up off the floor at her startled blink. She was probably the station manager, seeing as Trent had his wallet out and Quen had knocked down the studio door.
Jenks was on Trent’s shoulder, looking as right as rain in the desert. There was a disk in Trent’s hand, and a sour look on his face that vanished when the girls joined them. There had to be at least a dozen colored bubbles drifting about, and Al picked Lucy up to distract her from making more. It also got him in on the conversation, and feeling left out, I folded Ray’s blanket.
“Sorry for ruining your afternoon,” I said to Ellasbeth. “It wasn’t my intention.” This time, I mentally added, recalling busting in on her marriage to Trent, effectively ending it.
Much to my surprise, Ellasbeth touched my shoulder, her warmth sincere where there’d only been a prickly distaste before. “No need to apologize,” she said, her faint Seattle accent making her sound even more polished. “I have them all weekend, thanks to you.” She smiled, eyes dropping when they began to glisten. “Thank you for that,” she almost whispered.
“It was Trent’s decision, not mine,” I said uncomfortably. It was a lot easier to hate her than understand her. Understanding her might lead to liking her, and that would be intolerable.
She made a sound of disbelief. “Nice of you to give him that illusion. No, this is coming from you. I know he doesn’t trust me.”
Tal Sa’han, echoed in my thoughts, scaring me. I held the ear of the potentially most powerful man east of the Mississippi. “Ellasbeth—,” I began, and she cut me off.
“I’m trying devilishly hard to convince Trent of my sincerity,” she said, her eyes on the girls. “He’s as stubborn as my father. I made one mistake that led to several, but when I realized what Landon was doing, I did try to stop him.” Her lips pressed. “Only to end up tied to a chair. I’m not much good to him. Prissy lab tech ignorant of even the most basic spell.”
Shocked, I turned to her. “That’s not true.”
She looked at me, clearly not believing me. Silent, she shifted to make room for Trent and Al, each one holding a little girl. Behind them, Quen went to the lobby desk with the manager. Pulling herself straighter, Ellasbeth said loudly, “Thank you for shaking some sense into him regarding Landon and his lies.”
“Right,” I said, wondering if that hand gesture Ray was studiously trying to force her fingers into looked familiar.
“I’m glad you spoke up,” Ellasbeth continued as I caught Al coaching the little girl, and he shifted to hide it from Trent. “Landon has been publicly calling for Trenton to be brought up on charges. If he can find something in the law that lets him, he will succeed.”
“He won’t.” Trent jiggled Lucy as the little girl twisted in his grip to keep Jenks in view.
“Trent.” Ellasbeth’s voice became more formal. “I don’t think you want to see the ramifications of letting these lies stand. Rachel does.” I winced as everyone looked at me and she added, “Landon still has half the enclave looking to him, and the entire dewar.”
“Not the entire dewar. Jenks, land somewhere, will you?” Trent ask
ed as he struggled with Lucy, and Jenks alighted on my shoulder.
“Enough to cause problems.” Ellasbeth picked up her purse, clearly wanting to leave. “I respect that you have your own way of handling things, but if you don’t give the people something to choose between, you can’t blame them for following Landon.”
“I’ve got this, Ellasbeth,” Trent said tightly.
“Yeah, he’s got this, Ellasbutt,” Jenks echoed, and I frowned, no longer sure what side of the let’s-hate-Ellasbeth fence I was on. Crap on toast . . . I don’t have time for another life lesson.
But Trent was clearly at his limits. Seeing it as well, Ellasbeth tucked her purse under her arm and held out her hand for Ray’s blanket. “Well, I have said my piece and you have heard me,” she said as she stuffed it into the diaper bag. “Thank you for the girls this weekend. I’ll bring them back Sunday afternoon.”
Trent’s anger evaporated as he kissed Lucy good-bye, her chubby arms wrapped around his neck. “Good-bye, my Lucy,” he said, focused on her eyes until she looked at him. “Be good for your mother.” And then to Ellasbeth, he said, “There’s no need. You’re taking the Mantis, yes? So you don’t have to move their car seats? I’ll bring your car back when I pick them up.”
“If you like,” she said stiffly.
But Lucy was opening and closing her hands, clearly wanting me to take her, and smiling, I did. Jenks flew up and away as I got a little-girl kiss before handing her to Ellasbeth. I could see the hurt Ellasbeth was trying to hide that Trent wouldn’t let her on the grounds, and my foolish need to help the underdog rose up.
“Good-bye, my Ray,” Trent said as he kissed Ray. “Let Lucy make her mistakes, okay?”
Ray grimaced with a wisdom beyond her apparent years. She reached for me, next, and after a snickerdoodle-scented hug, I handed her to Quen. Quen immediately let her slide to the floor to walk on her own, bare feet and all, but his hand never left hers. Ray was trying to make that finger glyph again, turning it into nothing when Quen glanced down.
I squinted suspiciously at Al, but the thought evaporated when Ellasbeth gave me a hug. Lucy was on her hip, getting mixed up in there somewhere. Startled, I put my arms around them both, feeling how narrow Ellasbeth’s shoulders were and the alien flavor of her aura brushing against the gaps of my own.
“Thank you for jerking Trent out of his silence,” she said as she pulled back, a new understanding in her eyes. “It’s been bothering me, and I have no right to say anything.” With a sharp nod, she gave Trent a last look and walked away.
Quen picked up the abandoned diaper bag. “Trent, Rachel, Jenks,” he said, eyeing us in turn. “Al-l-l,” he drawled, and the demon made an overdone flourish.
Ellasbeth was already at the door and headed for Trent’s big-ass SUV parked at the curb. I could just see it beyond the glass doors. “Ladies, would you like to do some shopping downtown with Abba and me?” she asked the girls, looking like a different person.
Trent slipped up beside me, and we both yearningly watched them leave. I still didn’t know what abba was, exactly. Number two daddy? Most valued protector? Seed father?
“Can we have ice cream?” Lucy asked, and Trent smiled.
“Twice in one day?” Ellasbeth said as the automatic door opened and the wind gusted in. “I can see why you ask. It would taste good, wouldn’t it? How about a banana? We could be monkeys.”
“Monkey!” Lucy crowed, yelping when Ray reached up and pinched her dangling foot.
“What else do monkeys eat?” Ellasbeth asked, not having noticed the exchange, and I grinned when Ray piped up, her clear voice stating, “Ice cream.”
“Ellasbeth is really good,” Jenks said from beside my ear with a wistful sigh.
“Being a mom?” I said, knowing Trent was listening. “Yes, she is.”
Trent’s smile vanished. He turned away, unfortunately missing Ray looking back to wave good-bye to us. Tongue between her teeth, she made that finger gesture again. My eyebrows rose when Al nodded, beaming proudly at the girl as the door shut.
“Isn’t that the symbol for—,” I started.
“Yes,” Al interrupted stiffly, clearly not happy I’d caught the exchange.
“What?” Jenks asked, and I hid a smile.
“Communication glyph,” I whispered, wondering if this was how Al had shown up when Lucy had thrown that tantrum. My smile was still in place when Trent gestured to the door. “She gave me a hug,” I said, thinking it was the most weird thing in my very weird day.
Trent’s hand went pleasantly to the small of my back. His aura, so similar to my own, soaked in, bringing my shoulders down. Finally, I thought, feeling in his touch that everything was going to be okay. “I think she likes you better than me,” he grumbled. “This is hard, Rachel. I don’t trust her.”
Al strode beside us with an air of importance. “If she harms them, I will rip her head off.”
“Not before I give her a lobotomy,” Jenks added.
Trent glanced at the building behind us. “Landon isn’t interested in them anymore. Where are you parked? Do you mind dropping me at the overlook? Ray’s shoes are still there. I should get Ellasbeth’s car, too,” he finished faintly as if not caring if it got towed.
“Ah . . . ,” I hedged, warming as Jenks laughed at me. Ellasbeth, Quen, and the girls were pulling out into traffic, and the wind was chill in the late sun.
Trent’s hand on me slipped away. Head cocked, he eyed Al. “Don’t you have work today?” he asked, clearly trying to get the demon to leave.
Al scuffed to a halt, his eyes on the blue sky. “I do not,” he said, his light voice and the direction of his gaze reminding me how pleasant it was to exist outside the hell the elves and demons had made of the original ever-after in their war.
“He’s babysitting Rachel,” Jenks said, pressed close to my neck for warmth.
Trent, who had been looking up and down the street for my car, brought his wandering attention back. “He’s not doing a good job. Your aura is patchy.”
“She’s alive,” Jenks said, not helping.
Trent tugged me sideways into him, and I whispered, “Thanks,” when my headache eased.
Al put a hand formally before his middle, the other behind. “It was Rachel’s choice to jump to the radio studio with a compromised aura.”
Trent’s brow furrowed, and my headache returned when our bodies parted and he reached to his back pocket for his phone. “No car? I’ll call one.”
“Hers is two miles back,” Jenks said, and Trent nodded, his head down over his phone.
“Rachel twisted a common but aura-debilitating curse this morning,” Al said stiffly, hearing blame in Trent’s words when there really wasn’t any. “For the next sun cycle, I’m her sword, mirror, and shield.”
I winced as Trent looked up from his phone, the wind shifting the hair from his eyes as I saw our weekend plans ruined. “Seriously?” he asked, and Al put a hand on my shoulder as if claiming me—until I glanced at it and he hid it behind his back instead.
“Unless you agree to watch her. And she doesn’t leave your compound.” Al made a show of looking at his watch. “A sidhe of fairies and a pixy clan should be able to keep you alive for a few hours,” he said as if not caring, but I knew better.
“I don’t need babysitting,” I complained.
“Agreed,” Al said. “But Dali thinks I’m careless with you. I’m not leaving unless there’s someone with you who can call me if there’s trouble.”
“I can do that.” Trent closed his phone with a snap and tucked it away.
“Wi-i-i-i-ill you, though?” Al intoned, already knowing the answer.
“If I need to,” Trent said, smiling to make Al draw back in consternation.
“Good.” Al glanced at his watch again. “I have something I need to check on. If any harm comes to her, I
will rip your head off, as well.” He hesitated, looking at our fingers, which were so close they almost touched. “Which would make Rachel’s life far easier, now that I think about it.”
He vanished with a slight pop, and I sighed, glad that he was gone, and that it was Friday, and once I got Jenks with his kids, it would just be Trent and me for two glorious days. “Good thing you like me then, huh? Huh?” I said, elbowing him, and Trent tugged me close, smelling like leather and horse under the cinnamon scent of elf.
“Yes, I like you. Stop poking me. And why is Al so concerned?” he asked as Jenks went to check the dying annuals beside the door while we waited for the car. “Your aura has been worse.”
“Dali reamed Al out for leaving me alone without being able to do ley line magic.” I turned and wrapped my arm around Trent’s neck so I could play with his ears. They were pointy, like the girls’, their cropped state having unexpectedly reverted when I twisted a curse to replace the fingers Al had torn off. Cars were going by, but it was unlikely anyone could see us tucked in by the station’s door, and a delicious feeling of daring filled me. “Keeping me alive is his job, you know,” I said, pulling him deeper into the shadow. “We make a good team. When I was in the ever-after, I made tulpas, and he lifted my mind out of them and kept me alive until I recovered. I kept us both in cheese sandwiches for a couple of weeks.”
“Mmmm.” Trent’s attention came back to me as he smiled. His hand at my waist felt right, and his aura, so close to mine, was soothing my headache.
“He must think your magic is improving if he’ll let you babysit me,” I added, staring at his lips, knowing how soft they’d be on mine, how cool the air would feel on my mouth when we parted.
“Mmmm,” he said again, but it was a different sound, and his grip on my waist had tightened into a hint of possessiveness. I liked it. Eyes shiny with daring, he leaned in. God, we were out on the street, where anyone could see, and though I didn’t care if our picture landed on the front page of the Hollows Gazette above a tawdry tagline, Quen would have a hissy.