Ever After

Page 23

 

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I could feel gargoyle eyes on me as I began picking my way back to the church, taking the shortest path but giving their hulking shadows as much space as I could. The sun had gone down while I'd been in the ever-after, and I wondered if I had time to take a quick shower to get the stink of burnt amber off me before I started in on some charms. I wasn't sure what would be the most helpful, seeing as Ku'Sox could take anything I could dish out and throw it back to me with four times the power.

  "Don't let me down, Trent," I muttered, feeling as vulnerable as new skin. Damn it, why did I have to trust him? My life was a lot easier to understand when I didn't.

  Behind me, the gargoyles rumbled like elephants, and I ducked when a shadow arrowed over my head. It was a gargoyle, my first wild hope that it was Bis dying as she did a flip to lose her momentum and land atop a grave marker facing me. I knew she was female because her eyes were yellow and the tuft of fur at the tip of her tail was black instead of white. She was more slender than Bis, too, and had a definite grace to her motions as she resettled her wings.

  "I thought you were Bis," I said, trying to cover my surprise.

  "I'm Glissando," the young gargoyle said, her ears almost flat to her skull and her higher but gravelly voice rumbling. "Bis's friend. "

  Uneasy, I flicked my gaze behind her to the church, the glow from the uncurtained windows spilling out into the garden. "I'm sorry," I said as my attention returned to her. "A demon-"

  "Took him, yes," Glissando interrupted me, the slant to her golden eyes becoming angry. "His father would like to talk to you. "

  "He's out there?" I said, voice squeaking, and then I mentally kicked myself. Of course he was out there. Every gargoyle in Cincinnati was in my backyard.

  "I'll take you to him," Glissando said, and my pulse pounded. Damn it, how was I going to explain this to him? Why I had put Bis in such danger?

  "I should've tried to get ahold of Bis's dad right when it happened," I muttered, and Glissando ruffled her wings in agreement. I slowly turned, wondering which one of the pairs of watching eyes belonged to Bis's dad. What was I going to say to him? Did he know that I was a demon? That Bis was bonded to me? Bis had said he had talked to his dad just last week, but "Hey, Dad! I'm bonded to a demon!" isn't the kind of thing that came up in casual conversation.

  Glissando's ears swiveled, catching the sound of Jenks's wings before I did. The irate pixy dripped a weird mix of blue-and-green glowing dust as he arrowed across the damp graveyard. "Oh God, you stink worse than six-week-old pepper piss, Rache," he said as he hovered before me, eyeing Glissando suspiciously. "Everything okay?"

  I nodded, my hand touching my pocket where the slave rings sat. I was going to trust Trent with my life. I was an idiot. "I need to talk to Bis's dad," I said, and the pixy's dust flashed a surprised gold.

  "Ah, you don't mind if I come along," Jenks said, daring her to protest.

  But the cat-size gargoyle lifted her wings and shrugged.

  Muttering half-heard comments about the back of an outhouse, Jenks snuggled in behind my hair just under my ear. It was too cold for him to be out here, but I wasn't going to insult him by saying so.

  We turned back to the waiting gargoyles, and I flinched. It was one thing to tell yourself that the kid you took in is playing with demons to learn the lines, but another to tell his dad.

  "You sure you don't want Ivy?" Jenks asked as Glissando flew past us to land on the next tombstone and blink at us impatiently. "She's bigger than me. "

  "You saw her sharpening her knives," I said as I picked my way back the same way I came out. "You want that out here in the dark with this?"

  There had to be over two dozen pairs of red or yellow eyes turned our way, glowing in the twilight. Glissando shifted nervously as I passed her, hopping to a marker only a few feet ahead. "Can I talk to you?" she asked, and I hesitated, surprised.

  "Sure. "

  With a small jump, the gargoyle landed on my other shoulder, startling me and making Jenks swear. I braced myself, but there was no echo of the lines in my mind. Bis had bonded with me. His images were the only ones that could reach me now.

  "I was hoping Bis would be my life mate," she said, and Jenks made a pained whine.

  "Sorry," I said as I followed her pointing finger and shifted my path through the long, wet grass. "I didn't mean-"

  "It's okay," she said, interrupting me. "I simply wanted you to know that I've known him all his life. And now they're calling him the world breaker. The one we've been waiting for, who will set the lines ringing to a new song or destroy us completely. "

  My eyebrows rose. World breaker? The gargoyles that I'd seen when I'd popped in had all turned, and with a sinking feeling, I realized that's where we were headed. Can I make a good first impression or what? "Glissando . . . " I started, but heavy claws pinched my shoulder, bringing me to silence.

  "He's always been just my friend," she said, her voice gruff and yet feminine. "Now?" She hesitated, snuffing. "I mean, can the goyle who spends half his waking moments trying to spit on a bird in flight really be the one who's supposed to change everything?" she finished plaintively, making Jenks snicker. "He's a person, not the savior they all think he is. The stupid half-flat is so noisy he can't catch a pigeon off wing. "

  Savior? I thought, confused. They thought Bis was something out of their collective foretelling? How come this was the first I was hearing about this? "I'm, ah, trying to get him back. "

  "Back?" She snorted, and Jenks yelled at her when her tail whipped around my neck for support. "He's learning the line," she said sarcastically. "He can't do anything from here. "

  She really cared for him, and guilt tightened around me. Damn it, I'd really messed up his life, and now he was in real danger. "Glissando, I really like Bis. He's important to me because he's a member of my family, not because of an old wives' tale. We're going to fix that line. I won't let him down. "

  The small gargoyle took a deep breath. "Thanks," she said, her head down. "I'll tell them you're coming. That's them, right over there. "

  She spread her wings behind my head, and I stiffened. "Wait. If they are calling Bis the world breaker, what are they calling me?"

  Her tail slipped from around my neck, and her weight shifted. "You're his sword to break it with. "

  I blinked and gaped after her as she effortlessly took to the air.

  "Holy crap!" Jenks exclaimed. "I've been taking rent from the gargoyles' savior?"

  I swallowed hard, glumly forcing myself to keep moving forward. "And his sword," I said, thinking it was a lot to put on the kid. "What does that make you?"

  "It makes me the landlord!" he said in satisfaction. "Hurry up, will you? It's cold. "

  Unable to see the humor in it, I inched onto the small patch of unsanctified ground, marked by a red slab of cement and Pierce's grave. Six large gargoyles, male and female, lurked on the surrounding stones, their wings draped over their backs. Behind them, dozens lurked, watching as well. A huge gargoyle was perched on the angel statue, his claws leaving delicate scratches on the angel's face like tears.

  Nervous, I scuffed my feet, and his big red eyes narrowed at me. It was obvious they didn't like being this close to the ground, but it put them nearer to the one line in Cincinnati that was humming instead of screaming. "Uh, hi," I said, pulling one hand out of my jeans pocket to give him a little wave, and the rest of them shifted their wings in a leathery hush. I have two of the world's most powerful rings in my pocket, and I'm in danger of being squished. "Ah, you must be Bis's father. "

  "I'm Etude," the gargoyle on the statue said, his vowels grinding together low and deep in his throat. He shifted his claws, and a flake of stone broke from the statue, hitting the cement to shatter. His ears flattening for a second, he flushed a deep black. Suddenly I felt more relaxed, having seen Bis do the same thing when embarrassed.

&nbsp
; "Don't worry," I said. "I never liked that statue much. This is Jenks. "

  Jenks made a burst of dust but stayed on my shoulder. "I'm here to make sure none of you hulks hurt Rachel," he said loudly, and the gargoyles around us murmured, sounding like a distant avalanche. "I'm just warning you, is all," he finished, and I lifted my shoulder to get him to shut up.

  "Ah, about me losing Bis in the ever-after-"

  "Bis?" the old gargoyle said, and I sighed at the interruption. "Yes. Ah. Can I talk to you?"

  "Sure . . . " Confused, I stuffed my hands back in my pockets, not knowing what was going on anymore. This wasn't what I had expected.

  "There seems to be some confusion," Etude said, gesturing to the gargoyles surrounding us. "Everyone seems to think Bis is going to do this great thing. But this is my son we're talking about. We all know the mistakes he's made, the errors he sings. "

  The gargoyles watching nodded, their eyes showing impatience. Not liking their attitude, I cocked a hip. "He's saved my life more than once. "

  "All I'm saying is that it's a lot to put on someone so young," Bis's dad said. "He's only forty-seven. "

  "He told me he was fifty!" Jenks exclaimed.

  Etude's wings opened, and I backed up in alarm, but he was only making the jump to the flat slab of cement. My expression blanked as he came forward on widely spaced toes. My God. He was huge. I froze, and Jenks darted away when the gargoyle put a sinewy, lightly furred arm over my shoulders, towering over me. "You and I both know that Bis is a good kid, but he's just a kid," he said softly, shifting his wings to block the other gargoyles' sight of us.

  Unnerved, I let him move me forward back onto the softer ground and away from the others. "They're calling him the world breaker," I prompted, and Etude snuffed, his pricked ears going flat for a moment. He smelled like an iron bell, and somehow it made my teeth hurt.

  "He's my son," he said. "He's bonded to you-a demon. I can see it in your aura. This isn't what I wanted for him. Everyone wants their child to grow up a little better than they are," Etude continued. "Settle down, raise a few goyles. Sing songs that resonate with the universe. "

  "That's not what I want for my kids," Jenks said.

  "I accept his choices," Bis's dad said, far too reasonably to make me comfortable. "Even if it means that he might have to live in the ever-after and never see the stars again. "

  "I wouldn't make him do that," I protested, and his hand on my shoulder tensed, his claws pinching me for a bare second in warning.

  "But you and I both know that Bis is not a great hero. He is a lob-winged klutz. "

  My mouth dropped open, and I pulled out from under his wing. "Etude, I think you have sold your son short," I said, facing him squarely, not liking that I had to look up at him. He was the size of a small elephant. "Your son, at the tender age of forty-seven, found and pulled my soul out of the ley lines when I had hardly a scrap of aura left to find it. " I jabbed a finger up at Etude's bare, well-sculptured chest, and the gargoyle took a step back. "He jumped me to the only person possibly able to keep me alive," I said, following him, chin raised as I got into his face. "He sang me two resonances that exist in one line so I could repair it!"

  "Ah, Rache?" Jenks said, hovering over Etude's shoulder, looking worried.

  "That line right there," I said angrily, pointing. "The one that you are all clustered around like it's the last fire on a never-ending night! Right now, Bis is in the ever-after playing patty-cake with a psychotic demon who is trying to destroy the ever-after. He's trying to learn all the lines in an ungodly short amount of time so we can save your fuzzy asses!"

  "Rache?" Gargoyles were winging in from all over, their black shadows landing menacingly in a large circle.

  "If your son is the world breaker, I'm going to see him through it!" I shouted.

  Shaking, I dropped back, suddenly aware that glowing red and gold eyes watching me were backed by strong muscle that could wring dust from a rock like water from a sponge. But I wasn't done yet. "Now you all can stay in my graveyard because I know the lines suck right now, and if they are giving me a headache, you must be in agony. But if you ever call Bis a lob-winged klutz again, I'm going to hunt you down at noon and chip your ear off!"

  "Ah, Rache?" Jenks warbled.

  "What do you want, pixy?" I snarled, my knees shaking as I stood with my hands on my hips.

  "Never mind. "

  Etude was eyeing me, his big red eyes assessing, and my arms somehow got tangled up over my middle. I knew it made me look afraid, but I was trying for pissed. I was both. "Perhaps," Etude rumbled, his ears perking forward at me, "my son made a wise decision after all in his choice of weaponry. Can you keep him alive?"

  His voice had changed, becoming respectful. I took a breath, hearing it shake as I exhaled. "I intend to," I said softly, believing it. Everyone wants me to protect someone. Who's going to protect me? "Down to my last breath. "

  Etude looked me up and down again. Rising to his full stature, he gestured to someone behind me. I couldn't stop my instinctive half step back, but Etude was smiling a savage black-toothed grin at me when he looked back. "In that case," he said, shifting his wings behind him, "what do you want us to do with these two? We found them skulking about and think they're up to mischief. "

  "No fairy-farting way!" Jenks exclaimed, and I felt my face flash hot.

  "Nick," I said, not surprised, all my bile and anger distilled into that one word. I couldn't help my smirk as I looked at Nick hanging between two gargoyles, his toes inches from the soggy, chill earth. Jax was sitting on the palm of another gargoyle, his wings tattered and his back to us, clearly wishing he was somewhere else. The hand of the gargoyle holding him was radiating a visible gentle heat, and seeing him, Jenks swore loud enough to make his son's shoulders come up to his ears.

  I didn't care if Nick could read the emotions on my face. None of what I was feeling was particularly nice: satisfaction, maybe, that we-well, someone, anyway-had caught him; anger that he had slapped me; hatred that he had betrayed Ceri and Pierce to their deaths. That Ivy and I had downed him in the museum was only a minor consolation.

  He was here to steal the rings, and I felt my pocket to reassure myself they were still there. Thank God the garden was full of bright eyes tonight. Jenks's wings were turning blue from cold, but he hovered before Nick, looking as ticked as I felt. "Nick, Nick, Nick," I said, hands on my hips. "I wish I could say it was a surprise. "

  Sullen, Nick grimaced from the pain in his shoulders. His face had a swollen bruise, and I wondered if Ku'Sox had beaten him because he hadn't gotten the rings from us. He said, "Are you going to let me explain, or just assume you know what's going on?"

  The corner of my eye twitched. "Hold him," I said curtly. "Keep him on holy ground. Jenks, get a strap, will you?"

  "Holy crap!" the pixy said as he realized the danger Nick could turn into, then darted to the church, leaving an unsettlingly thin band of dust to show his path. Hearing his wing hum fade, Jax went scarlet. His wings were tattered beyond belief, but the main lines were undamaged. He'd recover. For all his anger, Jenks had been careful.

  The surrounding gargoyles moved their wings, whispering in elephant tones as they chuckled at my precaution. "He won't evade us," Etude said, his voice holding a mocking assurance, and I tapped the line to make every single gargoyle's ears prick.

  "That demon I told you about?" I said, pulling in the clean energy and filling my chi. "The one that has Bis? He can drop into this piece of crap like he's an old slipper. "

  Etude's tail curved up into a question mark, and Nick grunted as the sharp claws holding his shoulder pinched.

  "So you don't mind if I strap him, do you?" I added, walking a sodden heel-toe, heel-toe toward Nick over the grass. "Simply being on holy ground won't stop Ku'Sox from taking over Nick. A strap, though, will at least prevent Ku'Sox from using a line if he should feel the need to drop in and see how his favorit
e human is doing. Our agreement to leave me alone aside. "

  "Ku'Sox isn't possessing me," Nick said, and I shrugged.

  "Things change. " I stopped before him, feeling confident with my belly full of energy and fifty gargoyles backing me. "Are you telling me you don't do-o-o-o that anymore, Nicky baby? Forgive me if I don't believe you. " Maybe I shouldn't be so cocky, but I was so angry at Nick that I was beyond caring.

  The gargoyles had hoisted him up, giving me the impression of him being crucified. Nick squinted down at me, clearly hurting. "You were right," he said, his words thready from the pain in his back and shoulders. "Ow. I'm here to help. Will you stop hurting me?"

  The grinding sound of rocks had to be laughter, and a tiny thrill of anticipation dove through me. Oh, please . . . "I'm right, huh?" I said as I cocked my hip. "Right about what? I've said so many things about you. " Hurry up, Jenks. I'm no good at monologues.

  Nick's feet twitched, and a gargoyle hissed. "Trent is licking his boots," Nick said, unable to meet my eyes. "You were right. Ku'Sox doesn't need me anymore. I want to help you. "

  I leaned in, ready to smack his feet away if he tried to kick me. With two gargoyles holding his arms, it might be a really bad life choice. Because of him, Ceri and Pierce were dead. My eyes narrowed. "We don't need you either, Nick. "

  The door to the back of the church slammed into the siding, and I turned, backing up out of Nick's reach. A silver sparkle arrowed to us leaving a bright trail; the time inside had warmed Jenks up as I had hoped. It was too cold for him to be out here. Tomorrow wasn't going to be any better. How was I going to convince him to stay home? He would see through any excuse.

  Ivy was behind him, moving fast until she found herself among the hulking shapes and she slowed to a respectful pace. One of her katanas was in her grip, and she lowered the tip, becoming a slow-moving shadow as the gargoyles responded to her with pricked ears.

  "Strap the fairy louse," Jenks said as he dropped the flexible band of silver-cored plastic into my hand.

  I swung my hair off my shoulder to give Jenks a warm place to land, but he went to Etude instead, looking tiny on the giant's shoulder. A wave of heat was coming off the gargoyle. My eyes went to Nick, and I hesitated. I didn't want to touch him. He might jump me out.

  "Allow me," Etude said after Jenks buzzed discreetly into the giant's ear, and I gratefully gave the plastic strip to him. His clawed hands moved dexterously, and with a finger gesture, the two gargoyles holding Nick set his feet on the ground so they could strap his hands before him.

  "Thanks," I whispered softly, and Etude's ears flicked back.

  Nick grunted, shifting his shoulders in relief as the band tightened over his wrists with a sound that made me shiver. "I understand why you don't trust me. "

  "Oh, I doubt that. " I backed up to where Ivy waited, not trusting him when there was no one ready to rip his arms out of their sockets if he did so much as sneeze. "If you did, you wouldn't be here. "

  Free of his guards, I looked him over, seeing the wear and tear of living with a demon. His eyes darted. Stubble was thick on his cheeks. The suit was gone, and he was wearing a pair of black jeans, black shirt, dark sneakers, shivering in the cold. Scars covered his neck and wrists and had turned his ear into a soft mess of scar tissue. If I didn't know he'd gotten his scars as a rat in Cincinnati's illegal rat fights, I'd say he was a vampire junkie. Either that, or a brimstone addict. "Where's your suit?" I asked, and his eyes met mine, blue and haunted.

  He didn't answer me, and Ivy sidled close, whispering, "Did you get them fixed?"

  Nodding, I touched my pocket. "Is that what you came for, Nick-k?" I said, and Ivy's eyes went black. "Trying to buy your way back into Ku'Sox's good graces? Might be expensive. More than a thief like you is willing to pay. "

  "Ku'Sox will kill me if he sees me again," Nick said, and Ivy sashayed closer, the tip of her sword making a soft hush in the spring-long grass.

  "So will we," she murmured.

  I couldn't help my smile. She was always so honest with her emotions. It was truly refreshing. Even better, Nick was falling for it. It didn't matter if he was lying to us and Ku'Sox has sent him to sabotage. It didn't even matter if he was telling us the truth and he really wanted to help-which I didn't entertain for a second. What mattered was Nick believed us, that we thought we had the strength to stand up to Ku'Sox. If he believed, Ku'Sox would, too. My ifs were disappearing, and Bis was a freaking world breaker. How could we lose?

  I glanced at the church, wondering why none of them had perched on it, clearly a more comfortable place for them than a cold stone a foot off the ground. "Let's go in," I said, shivering in the damp. "Everyone who fits, that is. It's cold out here. "

  "You want to take Nick inside?" Ivy asked, and Jenks's dust turned an ugly red.

  "He's lying," the pixy said, looking severely at Nick and Jax.

  I couldn't help my snort. "I know. But it's cold out here. We can do this inside. " Leaning toward Ivy, I whispered, "Besides, I want to see how far this goes, and we can't when we're standing around out here in the garden. "

  "It's going right to Ku'Sox, that's where," Ivy said.

  Shifting foot to foot, I winced. "Ivy, I'm cold. Jenks is cold. As soon as Jax gets off that gargoyle's hand, he's going to be cold. Nick is strapped and the risk is minimal. Can we please go inside? I have to save the world tomorrow, and I don't even know what I'm going to wear yet. "

  Ivy eyed me, then pointed at Nick with her sword. "Move," she said, and Nick blew his breath out in a long sigh before he started walking. Jenks clattered from Etude's shoulder, shedding a thick dust over Nick as he followed him. I hoped he wasn't pixing him. I didn't want to have to deal with a sullen, itchy Nick. A sullen, tricky Nick was bad enough.

  Seeing them headed for the church, I turned to the gargoyle who had Jax, hesitating when I realized Etude had taken the pixy and was extending him to me as if he was a gift.

  "Thank you," I said as I held out a hand, and Jax made the short, wobbling walk, his head down and clearly ashamed. "For everything," I added, so Etude would know I wasn't just talking about the pixy.

  Etude grimaced, his long canines making him look fierce. "Bring Bis home," he said, and then his wing circled around me as if in protection. "He might be the world breaker, but he was my son first. "

  I looked up at the craggy face, wishing things were different. Al had once told me that the demons were responsible for the beginnings of the gargoyles. They were a young race, nearly as young as witches. We'd been created as magically truncated demons, twisted and lied to until we believed what the elves told us. The gargoyles had been created to serve demons, shaped to the demon's needs. Both smacked me wrong.

  "I will," I said, then curved my free hand over Jax when he sat in my palm. "If you'd like to perch on the church, that would be okay. "

  Etude looked at the steeple. "This is my son's home. I need his permission. "

  I had no idea what to say, and still holding Jax, I turned away. The gargoyles shifted to let me pass, and I hastened to catch up with Ivy. I could hear Jenks berating Nick long before I reached them, and I hoped he wouldn't be so harsh with Jax. The pixy still hadn't said anything, and I was torn. "You know your dad loves you," I said, not knowing why.

  "He has a funny way of showing it," the pixy muttered.

  "So do you. "

  Jax's head came up. "Yes but," he started, then seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry, Ms. Morgan," he said, his long hair shifting to hide his eyes.

  I waited another moment, then realizing he wasn't going to say anything more, I curved my fingers around him to try to keep him warm.

  "You want me to lock them in my closet?" Ivy said when I caught up, her sword tip never wavering from Nick's kidneys as she stepped over the wall. "It's soundproof. "

  I hadn't known that, but I shook my head. I didn't know what to do with them, but I was cold, and I wanted to get inside
.

  "We should just stake them. " Jenks darted back to us, and Jax shifted against my fingers. "Right here in the garden. Let the spring fairies make nests in their insides. "

  That was just nasty, understandable but nasty. I replied, "Not that I want to spend time with Nick, but I'd rather know where he is, wouldn't you?"

  Ivy frowned, her concern clear in the porch light as we went up the wooden steps. "He makes one move I don't like, I'm going to give him to Nina to bleed dry, even if it will set her back a week. "

  It was the best I could hope for, and I hung back on the bottom step as Nick opened the back door and went in, Ivy tight behind him. "Shoes off," I heard her bark, but it was more to put him off balance than to keep the floors clean.

  Then again . . . I mused as I came in to find her scowling at Nick, the man leaning against the wall to wedge his shoes off without using his hands. I debated whether to change the zip strip for one encircling one wrist, not two-then decided not to. I was sure he was Ku'Sox's ace in the hole. Otherwise, he'd be dead by now.

  "Okay, we're inside. Sit," Ivy said tightly, and Nick dramatically fell into the soft leather sofa to send up a puff of vampire-incense-scented air.

  "I came to help!" he protested when she poked her sword tip at him to move down, and I set Jax on the top of the couch so I could take my coat off. It smelled of ever-after, and in a splurge of motion, I tossed it out on the back porch to air out.

  "Help?" Ivy leaned forward, stinking of angry vampire, her fangs showing as she gripped his shoulder and put her head right next to his. "You want to help yourself. "

  She shoved him into the cushions, and Nick flicked a nasty look at me for not stopping her. He was a big boy. He could take care of himself. "I was coming to talk to you when the gargoyles grabbed me," he said. "I was on the front walk. I wanted to tell you I was sorry. "

  "But you're not. " Jenks nearly spat it, his wings transparent as he hovered at eye level.

  Nick turned to face me as Ivy pointedly sat in the chair across from him. "I made a mistake. I'm trying to fix things," he said, but his tone was too hat-in-hand.

  Jenks laughed bitterly. "So is Rachel. Actually, she's trying to save all the demons and the entire ever-after, so what's your point, crap for brains? Didn't you expect the deranged, freak-of-nature demon to turn on you?"

  I didn't like Jax being so close to Nick, and I put my hand down for him to climb on so I could move him to the end table. "I'm sorry, Ms. Rachel," he said as he got on and sat down, tattered wings tickling my palm. I said nothing, mad at all of them as I set him under the table lamp and turned it on to warm him. Still angry, I sat in the chair beside him and snatched up the remote, turning the TV on for any news that would indicate we were in worse trouble than before. Setting the remote clattering onto the end table, I traced my cheek where Nick had slapped me. Not hurting him for the hell of it was harder than I thought it would be.

  "I knew you wouldn't believe me," Nick said, and Ivy shoved the coffee table into his shins to get him to shut up. "I want to help. "

  This time it was belligerent, and Jenks laughed. "Help!" Jenks exclaimed, and Jax hunkered down under the light, his back to his dad and looking miserable. "No fairy-farting way!" he yelled, and his kids who had been hovering vanished. "You are not switching sides. You are lying! Rache, why are we even listening to this? Nick put the lie back in believe. "

  "I don't know," I said listlessly. "Maybe because if he's sitting in front of me, he's not coming behind me with a knife. Besides, there's nothing on TV. "

  Nick pushed the coffee table away from his knees, and Ivy pushed it back. Clearly at the end of his patience, he tossed the hair from his eyes and held his wrists up, asking to be released. I shook my head, and he lowered his bound hands. "Ku'Sox dying is the only chance I have of surviving this. "

  "You think?" Jenks said, but I could feel Nick's eyes on me as I watched the news-nothing so far about surface demons at the park, not even a teaser for the end of the broadcast.

  "I was mad," Nick continued. "I thought . . . " He hesitated as my teeth clenched. "I was trying to get back at you, okay? It went too far. "

  My eyes flicked to his, holding. Jenks's wings clattered, and he rose. "Too far?" he said. "Destroying the ever-after and magic to tell your old girlfriend-who doesn't even like you-that you were mad at her was 'too far'?"

  I didn't have to say a word. Jenks was doing all my yelling for me. I appreciated it. It freed me up for more important things, like watching the latest insurance commercial. But even so, my anger grew. Because of him, Ray would never know her mother.

  "I was wrong," Nick said staring down at the table, his hands in his lap. "You were right. "

  At that, I couldn't help myself. "I'm the better bet now, huh?"

  Relief slipped into his expression as I finally talked to him. "I'm trying to survive. "

  "Rachel doesn't owe you crap, you lying sack of toad shit," Jenks said.

  I put the arches of my feet on the edge of the coffee table. "I don't owe you crap, you lying sack of toad shit. " That one, I wanted to say.

  Nick pressed his thin lips together, his stubble showing strong when he flushed. "Fine. I'll leave. "

  He shifted forward to stand, getting no more than three inches before Ivy stood, the pointy part of her sword touching his chest. Looking at it, he sank back down. The tension was getting thick. I didn't have a clue what to do with him, much less what I was going to wear tomorrow. "Let him go, Ivy," Jenks said bitterly. "We don't need him. "

  "He can't go," I said as three of Jax's sisters brought the miserable pixy a blanket. Damn it, he was crying silver tears. I was going to smack Nick into the next dimension for having misled Jax so badly. "He'll run back to Ku'Sox and tell him how I'm going to smear him into demon pate. "

  "Is that what you think I'd do?" Nick said, his words clipped. "Go back to Ku'Sox?"

  I leaned over the table. "If the crap stinks, wipe your ass. "

  "I made a mistake!" Nick's gaze was fixed on mine, and his words were precise. "Throw me a goddamned life preserver, will you?"

  My eyes went to the low ceiling, remembering thinking that myself so many times before. His mistake had cost Ray her mother. Lucy, too. "Nick? Shut up. "

  Sullen, he pushed back into the cushions. Jax was staring across the room at Belle. She'd come in and was standing beside Rex at the archway, her bow strung and her expression severe. Rex had been Jax's cat, and I'd give a lot to know what Jax was thinking, both about the cat and that Belle, a fairy, was living under his father's roof.

  "Rache, this is dumb," Jenks said, wings going full tilt as he landed on my knee. "Call the I. S. to come pick him up so we can get on with what we have to do. "

  Standing before Nick, Ivy shrugged, which told me she agreed with Jenks. I thought for a moment, my gaze lingering on Jax, miserable as he huddled under a blanket his mother had made. "I'm not happy about this either," I said, "but the I. S. can't hold him if Ku'Sox can pop him out. "

  "I told you-" Nick started.

  "Shut up!" I snapped, and Jenks dusted a heavy black to pool on the floor. "I used to listen to you, but you lied and I walked. " Leaning forward, I caught his eyes and held them. "Tell you what. I'll keep Ku'Sox off you if you stay in the church. That's it. "

  "Rache . . . " Jenks complained, and I held up a hand. Like I believed for one second that he would stay in the church?

  "Set one toe out of it, and I don't care anymore. "

  Nick exhaled loudly, clearly wanting more. He wasn't getting it.

  "I have stuff to do. " Heart pounding, I looked at the clock on the cable box. "Excuse me. "

  Nick's expression became alarmed at the prospect of my leaving him with Ivy, and sure enough, Ivy smiled to show her teeth, her motions slow and sultry as she almost crawled over the couch to sit beside him. "Can I leave you two alone for five minutes?" I asked as I looked down at her, not altogether kidding, an
d she smiled even wider.

  "I want to talk to you," Jenks said, rising up with an aggressive wing clatter.

  "Sure," I said, the memory of Jax's tattered wings swimming up. Behind me, I heard Nick tell Ivy to fuck off. Either she would kill him or she wouldn't. To be honest, I was more concerned about what I was going to wear tomorrow than Nick's survival. "How are you doing, Jenks?" I said as went into my room, despairing over finding anything in my closet.

  Wings clattering, Jenks landed on my dresser, his gaze on the wall as if he could look through it to see his son. "Peachy damn keen," he grumbled.

  I could hear the gargoyles in the garden rumbling like elephants as I shut the door. A feeling of pity swept through me. Ivy was annoyed-but Ivy often was. I was angry-again, understandable. Jenks had parental guilt mixed with a strong streak of protection, and he was having the hardest time. "I'm sorry about Jax," I said as I opened my closet door and shoved everything to one side. Maybe there was something at the back that I'd missed, but the only things there were the clothes my mom hadn't wanted to take with her and were of too high a quality to give away.

  Jenks's expression lost its anger, and he sat, slumped on a perfume bottle, wings drooping. "I didn't think I'd have to face Jax again," he said softly, and my heart nearly broke.

  "I imagine that's what he's thinking," I said, and Jenks met my eyes. I pulled out a filmy scarf, drawing it through the air and letting it settle on my bed, thinking it might make a good sash. Maybe I should start with the boots and work my way up.

  "I just want to . . . smack him," Jenks said, gesturing weakly. "He doesn't know how short life is. He's throwing it away. He could be so much if he'd . . . "

  "Come to the dark side?" I said, trying to lighten things up. Jenks was silent, his wings slowly regaining their usual color. Not the white leather dress. Not the black leather pants. My fingers trailed reluctantly off my usual leather. I'd be the same person I was before in it-I had to be different tomorrow. I felt different. My clothes should reflect that. I wanted something that said power, and everything I had said power and sex. Maybe Newt had the right idea with her martial-arts outfits and androgynous hairstyles. I wasn't going to shave my head, but something more masculine might get the demons to stop looking at me like I was nothing but a pair of X chromosomes.

  "Why don't you ask him to come back to the church?" I said as I lingered over an off-white linen leisure suit of my mom's from the '70s, the entire era a bastion of post-Turn fashion freak-out. It had bell-bottoms, but it was also form fitting and flowing, the vest showing off my curves without screaming sex. In sudden decision, I pulled it into the light. "For good. "

  "What?"

  Draping it across the bed, I kicked off my boots to try it on. "If he's through with Nick, ask Jax to come back. Maybe he's afraid you don't love him. "

  "Don't love him . . . " Jenks's eyes were wide, and his mouth gaped.

  There was a pop of air from the back of the church, both familiar and surprising, and I froze, Jenks and I looking at each other. Al? I wondered, and then my heart pounded at Newt's voice screaming Latin. Newt?

  Oh God, they'd come for me.