Chapter 13

Chapter

13

I stood with my toes edging the yellow line before the counter, trying to look reasonable, not annoyed. The not-annoyed part was getting harder. My red, sequined shirt and bejeweled jeans were doing me no favors, and I wished I'd found something else to wear. I didn't look like a hooker trying to bail her friend out, but it was close.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Atakat," the woman behind the plastic window said, clearly not sorry at all. "You can't post bail on a Jane Doe."

"But she's not a Jane Doe," I insisted. "She's Elyse Atakat, my sister." Elyse was wisely going with Jane Doe, and I thought it prudent I use my birth father's name instead of my own—Donald Atakat, or as the world knew him, Takata. Not a big leap to figure out, but things were different back in the sixties when he took the stage name.

"If she independently confirms that that's her name, I might be able to help you. Until then, she is retained."

"For indecent exposure?" I said loudly, but there wasn't a hint of play in the stony woman's expression.

"For resisting arrest. She won't be released for bail until we can verify her identity."

"I told you who she is," I complained. But I was getting nowhere. "Can I talk to her?"

"Check back later." Done with me, the officer focused on her screen. "She has some paperwork."

"Okay." I dropped back, knowing I was only pissing her off now. Paperwork meant they had someone coming in to see her before they pawned her off on another city service—probably a mental health group, seeing as they found her half naked in the park claiming to be a member of the coven of moral and ethical standards. "Can I wait?" I added, and the officer glanced at the orange chairs lining one wall and nodded.

"Thank you." My voice was listless, and I scuffed across the worn tile. I'd made a mistake in letting the I.S. take Elyse last night, putting my own safety before the greater probability that the woman was going to make matters worse. My first instinct that a night at the I.S. might bring the proud woman down a peg had been vanity on my part. It was far more likely that the I.S. would identify her even if she kept her mouth shut, and that they might be contacting Vivian this very moment had me antsy.

Cincy's overnight bail office was on the ground floor in a corner of the I.S. building, giving it convenient below-street access to one of the city jails. A wide plate-glass window looked out onto the sidewalk, just starting to brighten up with the first hints of morning. Traffic was almost nil, and at six in the morning, the awkwardly small short-time parking lot across the street was empty but for a single dusty compact.

I felt the early hour all the way to my bones as I sat down and set my bag on my lap. Crap on toast, I was sitting in the orange chairs, and I closed my eyes and let my head thump back into the wall. Elyse was probably more comfortable than me, and I stretched my legs out, stiffening at the sound of pixy wings.

My eyes slitted, but it wasn't Jenks, and I felt a moment of loss as I watched the winged four-year-old in a tattered smock hunt for sugar in the nearby trash can. Four years old and on her own. Life was hard for pixies in the city.

But at least I knew where Elyse was, and my pulse slowed as I relaxed. I hadn't been sure, having detoured to a convenience store before coming here. My hair was still curly, but now it was blond, thanks to an amulet. That was the extent of my disguise. I would have done more, but I didn't know how much of a dent Elyse's bail would put in my finances. I had no sleepy-time potions, no doppelganger charms. Nothing.

Except what I have at my fingertips, I thought as I pulled on the nearest ley line and a hint of power flickered about my fingers. I made a fist and the glow vanished. The place might seem deserted with its empty chairs, one attendant, and no spell checker, but there were cameras on the ceiling and only two doors: one leading to the street and one to the temporary holding cells. It took an ID card to open the latter. I was stuck.

My shoulders shifted in a sigh as I settled in to wait. Trent's mom's ring caught my attention, and I fiddled with it, spinning it until the red stone was hidden in my palm. I didn't care if Newt offered me three wishes. She wasn't getting this.

It usually didn't take this long to bail someone out, but they probably hadn't processed her yet. Elyse wasn't drunk, and once they unspelled her and realized that, it would be down to indecent exposure and resisting. That, and her wild claim of covenship. They shouldn't hold her for that. That she was underage was an issue, and I closed my eyes.

Immediately Kisten's smile intruded. My eyes flashed open, and I stiffened, pulling my shoulder bag higher up my lap. If I had my days right, I would find Kisten at the curb outside of Piscary's this afternoon, tossed out like last night's garbage.

"I can't stop this," I said, feeling breathless and unreal. Kisten was going to die. I had seen it happen. I couldn't change it.

Throat tight, I blinked fast and stared out the front window, gaze going to the flash of someone's headlights as a car swung into the tiny parking lot. A tall man in a thin, fluttery overcoat got out, fumbling with the keys as he locked the door. Glancing both ways, he strode across the street, pace fast.

"Someone's bad night is going to turn into a bad day," I mused aloud, thinking the sixtyish man looked especially annoyed as he stiff-armed the door and strode in. There was a light stubble on his face, and his short black hair was flat as if he'd been sleeping on it.

Then I froze. Holy crap on toast. Scott?

I pulled my stretched-out legs back under me, the new soles hiccupping on the dirty floor. It was Scott. Coven member Scott. Not old, not young, but the exact age I saw him through the transposition charm.

Ahhh, mother pus bucket.

I glanced at the door to the holding cells, then Scott making a beeline to the attendant. She must have been waiting for him, because she was already on the phone, her intent expression clearly for Scott, not whoever she was talking with.

They must have gotten Elyse's prints and connected the dots, I thought. Damn. I had to get her out. I'd thought I'd have more time.

"She's on her way," the woman said, and Scott bobbed his head, immediately taking his phone from his pocket and beginning to scroll.

I sat up, glad he hadn't noticed me. Pulse fast, I slowly rose, pretending to stretch as I gently, ever so carefully pulled more strongly on the ley line, spindling it so he wouldn't notice the draw. Corrumpo, I thought as I flicked a tiny wad of it at one of the cameras at the ceiling.

With a tiny puff of smoke, the little red light went out.

That, he noticed, and I felt his gaze land on me even as the door to the cells opened and a woman officer came out. Her smile was tired but honest as she went to greet him. Scott's attention returned to her.

The door to the holding area was arching closed. I had one chance.

I gathered my resolve. "Corrumpo," I whispered, throwing another jolt of energy across the room. Scott spun, crouching as the gold and red ball smashed into the window, imploding it inward instead of out.

The officer's hand went to her sidearm as she shoved Scott behind her. Scott hit the dirty tile, a shimmering field of purple and green rising up from an undrawn circle to protect them from the falling glass. The counter attendant shrieked in alarm and dropped out of sight.

Desperate, I lurched for the door, just managing to get my hand in between it and the jam. Shoving it open, I slipped inside and pulled it shut.

"What happened?" someone shouted from the cells, and I pressed up against the yellow wall, my fear real as two uniformed officers ran toward me.

"It's a drive-by spelling," I said, hand shaking as I pointed at the closed door. "They need you out there. Front window is busted. I think someone's hurt!"

They pushed past me. I got a glimpse of the officer helping Scott up off the floor. Glass made an obvious ring around them where his circle had been, and I yanked the door to close it.

"Hey!" Scott shouted as our eyes met, and then I had the door shut.

"Sub frigido." I touched the door panel, a smirk finding me as a thin trace of ice ran from it. Frozen shut. If they broke the lock to get through, I wouldn't be liable for damages.

I turned, stifling a shudder at the cells lining the corridor. "Elyse!"

"You have got to be kidding me…" came a high voice, and then stronger, "Here!"

I jogged past the holding cells, feeling like a kid looking for their mom in a grocery store as I paused at each opening, scanning for a familiar face. An alarm buzzed from deeper in the building, and someone began pounding on the door.

"Elyse?" I called again, and then an arm waved from between the bars. "Thank God. Why did you tell them who you were? Scott is here."

"Scott?" she echoed, seeming insufferably young and questionably innocent in a pair of thin gray sweats and an equally ugly pair of white sneakers. They'd let her keep my jacket against the chill, and there was a strap of charmed silver about her wrist.

"I didn't tell them who I was," she protested in a high voice as I tried to remember what the spell to unlock a cell in an emergency was. "They said a woman had come to bail me out. I thought it was Vivian."

"You let them print you," I said. Apertus, I thought, and nothing happened.

"I didn't have a choice! You really think I want Vivian showing up here? She thinks I'm at coven camp." Elyse hesitated. "I am at coven camp."

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes, I tried next, glancing down the hall at a sudden pull of power. Little rills of purple and gold energy were slipping around the door, massing into a dangerous field. My spell wouldn't last much longer. "Coven camp? You really call it that?" Adaperire! I thought desperately, and in a sudden tinkling, every lock in the hall broke under the demon curse—including the one I'd put on the door to the holding cells. Son of a moss wipe…

"Out!" I shouted as the main door slammed open. Scott was silhouetted in a smoky haze, the light bright behind him.

"Oh, shit," Elyse whispered, then bolted out of the cell.

"Stop!" someone shouted, and suddenly the entire hall was full of fleeing people.

"Not that way!" I grabbed Elyse's arm and pulled her free of the mass exodus. "We have to get out of here before they lock down the building," I said as the escaping detainees flooded the wider hall in a doomed attempt for the street.

She looked desperate, and I tugged her in the opposite direction, pulse fast as we jogged up a narrow corridor. Multiple alarms were going off and people were shouting. I jumped at the thump of a spell taking someone down.

"It's a dead end," Elyse said bitterly as we found the locked fire door, and the three people who had come with us skidded to a halt.

"Just…trust me." Hands shaking, I punched in a code. It would tell them where we were, but we had a ten-second head start. I could do a lot with ten seconds.

Elyse's eyes widened as the door alarm went off, and I shoved it open. "You know the code?" she asked as the people with us fled onto the seldom-used loading dock, exuberant with the promise of freedom.

"I used to work here. No, wait!"

But she didn't listen, and she followed them as they made the long jump to the pavement. Grimacing, I shot a bolt of raw energy at the camera, then took the awkward jump as well, grabbing her arm and yanking her back and down to crouch against the cold cement behind us. There was a metal lip just overhead. It was only a few feet wide. I prayed it would be enough. This was not where I had intended to wait out the next two minutes, but our ten-second window was gone.

"Shut up!" I hissed as Elyse struggled, and her hot retort died at the sudden scuffing of shoes above us.

"Teneo!" someone shouted gleefully, and I put my arm across Elyse's chest like my mom used to do when she had to stop the car fast.

"Got 'em!" someone else said, and the three fleeing people cried out as black coils of energy wrapped around them, yanking them into an unmoving knot…a scant few feet from the sidewalk.

"Not bad. You actually saw daylight," the first voice said, and Elyse cringed when two officers hopped to the pavement, inches from us. "The last you're going to see for months, numb nuts!" he added derisively.

But they didn't spot us, and as they casually walked to the still-squirming people, I drew Elyse to her feet and we slunk behind the dumpster. Again, not my go-to hiding spot, but it would work. Please work.

"Can you tap a line yet?" I whispered as we wedged between the filthy container and the cold brick wall, and she shook her head, hand trembling when she held up her wrist in explanation. There was a strip of charmed silver around it, and she watched, anxious, until I dug in my bag for my clippers and cut it.

The snap was loud, and we both froze as the two officers continued to cajole and berate the three people shuffling back to detention.

"How about now?" I asked, truly concerned, and Elyse winced.

"Not yet," she whispered. "Two days, maybe."

It was about what I had expected, and I exhaled as I leaned to see if the camera was still out. It was.

The fire door shut, and the alley became quiet. I worked my cautious way out from behind the dumpster, scanning for any more cameras. There'd been only the one when I worked in shipping my first six months in the I.S., but that was ages ago, even if I was two years into the past.

"Like you really care if I can tap a line," Elyse muttered, and guilt pricked me.

"I didn't know that it would burn," I said. "And I don't remember asking you on this magic carpet ride to begin with. And yes, I do care. I've burned my synapses before, and it's awful. Two days sounds about right. Don't push it. You'll make it worse."

"I know how to handle sensory burns," she snapped, and frustrated, I started for the bright rectangle at the end of the alley, knowing she'd follow. I was her ticket home. I hope.

"Ah, we can get a cab at the corner," Elyse said, voice subdued as she joined me.

"And go where?" My voice was harsher than I'd intended, and I felt a surge of sympathy as she took a long step to come even. She was cold, and alone, and in an ugly pair of sweats.

Speaking of which… "Hey, hold up," I said as we scuffed to a halt, the sidewalk and the rest of the world three steps from us. "You are a moving target dressed like that. I can glamour you if your coven sensibilities can tolerate a demon charm." Yeah, it had sounded a little bitter, but I had yanked her ass out of I.S. lockup, and she hadn't even said thanks.

"Demon?" She looked at me as if I was trying to entrap her. "I'm not taking the smut."

I rocked back, arms over my chest. "Wow. Just wow," I grumped. But I didn't want to get caught, and she was in institution gray sweats. Irate, I motioned for her to stay where she was as I dug about in my bag to find the stone. A sudden prick of pain lanced my finger and I jerked back.

Jenks! I thought, utterly terrified as I pulled my bag open wider. But it was only Elyse's coven pin snuggled up next to the glamour stone, and my shoulders slumped as I took them both out. The pixy had stowed away before. It would have been awful if he had again—awful even as I desperately missed him. Fingers shaking, I handed the pin to her.

"I think this is yours," I said, and Elyse's eyes widened as she practically snatched it away. "Sharps found it in the water. I'm guessing it fell off when you lost your clothes."

"Oh, my gosh," she said, sounding all of fifteen as she rubbed the dried muck from it. "Thank you."

That's what I get a thank-you for? "You're not going to wear it, are you?" I said as she began to fasten it to her collar. It would look utterly ridiculous on a pair of sweats.

"I am the lead member of the coven," she said haughtily, and I eyed her until indecision pinched her features. "But I see what you mean," she added as she fastened it to the inside of her sweatshirt instead, hidden.

Satisfied she wasn't going to move, I looped the glamour stone over my neck and peered out of the alley, studying the passing people.

A woman in shorts and a tank stood across the street waiting for her dog to finish his business. She was about the right age, and knowing Elyse would try to find a way to use it against me, I tapped a line and peered through the stone at the woman. "A priori," I intoned, feeling the tingle behind my eyes as her image went into holding, so to speak.

I turned to Elyse, and her eyebrows rose in question. "A posteriori," I said softly, then blew through the stone. "Omnia mutantur," I finished, and a pulling sensation raked through me, stiffening my spine as a haze of my aura settled over her and soaked in, taking the image with it.

Elyse shuddered, clearly feeling it. " That is a glamour curse?" she said as I took a quick peek at her through the stone, satisfied by the result.

Head down, I tucked the stone behind my shirt. "Yeah. I didn't even have to kill anything," I said sourly. "You look like yourself to me, but everyone else will see her, right down to her shoes."

Elyse followed my gaze across the street. "The woman with the dog? That's got to leave a mark."

What she meant was smut, and I scanned the street, not liking how busy it was getting. "Your aura is clean, Madam Coven Leader. All the benefit, none of the cost. Your aura is safe ."

Okay, that last might have been a little bitter, but me taking the smut doing curses for their benefit was exactly her aim in trying to force me into the coven. Rachel, you are a fool.

Ticked, I pushed into motion, Elyse hesitating half a heartbeat before coming even.

"That's what you used to glamour that Reader's Digest into looking like a demon text," she said, and I eyed her, pretty sure what was going to come out of her mouth next. "I want that back. The deal was you look at it, not take possession of it."

"You holding my book hostage wasn't the deal, either," I said, my steps pounding the sidewalk. "Or you upping the June deadline for me to uncurse Brad. You broke it, so Scott and I made a new one. I walk out of your apartment free and clear, and in return, I don't retaliate for you trying to buy me with a curse that wasn't worth troll spit."

"You made him think the book on the table was my demon text ," she ground out from between her teeth. "You tricked him. Do you have any idea how long it's been in the coven's possession?"

"You mean stolen?" I barked. "How about you disguising your grab for demon knowledge under a fake invite into the coven?" My fingers tingled, and I looked down, embarrassed at the flicker of energy wreathing my fist. Jaw clenched, I shook my hand out. Calm your ass down, Rachel. You are better than this.

"You think I'm stupid?" I said, softly now. "That I don't know you'd shove me in a closet only to trot me out when you don't want to get your hands dirty? That my aura would get more and more smutty while yours stays perfect, and then when you're done with me, you throw me under the bus for it?" I ran a hand over my snarling hair to get it to lie flat. "Maybe you should count yourself lucky all I took was a book that never should have been in your possession and find something else to complain about." I exhaled to relax myself. "Unless you want me to bring Dali into this?" I finished sweetly. "He's generally the one who mediates the interpretations of a deal. But honestly, we specifically agreed that I walk out with my book, and you retained it." I looked at her, daring her to protest. You feeling lucky, punk?

Her lip twitched. "Fine. Keep the book. It will be back in my library come June anyway."

Right… I mused darkly.

"Scott said you could see through his curse with it," she added as if to change the subject. "The glamour stone?"

"And?" I kept walking, trying to outdistance the thought that I'd accidentally pulled energy off the line in anger.

"That sounds like more than a glamour curse."

"It is." I flicked a glance at her as we paced quickly to the big bus depot at the end of the street. "It also sees past transformations when I look through it. It won't work for you. I had to link it to my visual cortex."

Elyse lurched to keep up. "And you just used it. A spell stored in the demon collective."

"That technically makes it a curse," I corrected her, and she waved her hand as if it was one and the same, and maybe to her, they were.

"That means you are linked to the demon collective. Right now. Are you telling me you've been in the demon collective for two years?"

I hesitated, then deciding it really didn't matter, I nodded. Somehow her mix of horror and disbelief made me feel better. That she had agreed the book was mine didn't hurt, either.

"Since Friday…I think," I said casually, smug when her eyes went wide. And it was true. As of this morning, local time, I was in the collective with a brand-new summoning name in my effort to get Al from popping into reality to abduct me. And now that I thought about it, coming to this time might actually work better than my original five-year plan. Five years might have left me with fewer resources by far.

"I will not allow you to try to save Kisten. I know what day it is."

I jerked to a stop, my breath catching as she yanked my heartache from my chest and stomped it into the ground. Blinking, I took a slow breath, focused on the crosswalk flashing a warning red. The sun was up, and I had to squint through the low light. "You know," I said softly, carefully. "If you hadn't assumed I was running away and stuck your big nose in my business, I wouldn't be here. I'd be three more years down the timeline. I'm not here to save Kisten." Because I couldn't. I'd seen him die twice. That wasn't changing.

Elyse scoffed. "I doubt that."

"Yeah?" The light changed, and we stepped out together.

She peered up at me as we walked, arms swinging, her mood foul. "Yeah. It hurts too much. I'm not taking the pain on the way home."

My heart is breaking, and she is worried about a little pain? "I don't remember your ticket being round-trip," I said, refusing to look at her, instead studying the downtown bus depot strung out along an entire city block. There was a lot of activity, even for early rush hour. "If you don't want to take the long way home, you will stay out of my way and watch for when you can be helpful."

My hands were shaking, and I made fists of them. Totally uncowed, Elyse huffed.

"I'm not here to save Kisten," I said again as we stepped up onto the sidewalk. Though I wanted to. I ached to see him one more time. I wouldn't warn him. Just tell him I loved him and always would. "I'm here to find a mirror." Misery hit me with a cold slap. "That's it."

Elyse was tight at my heels. "I thought…Seriously? You don't want to stop him from dying?"

I jerked to a halt when I saw Scott and three officers going through a bus. Looking for us… The Turn take it, I was wearing red.

Adrenaline washed through me, pushing my heartache into the hidden folds of my brain to keep me awake at night. "Ah, change of plans," I said, taking her arm and turning us around. "Of course I want to stop him from dying. But anything I do would only put it off for another day. Piscary would give him to someone else, or Art would simply keep trying until he managed it. I'm not here for a rescue. I'm here to find a mirror and untwist Brad's curse."

My last words were bitter, and I didn't think I had ever disliked her more than at that moment, chaperoning her wanted ass through Cincy. I had gotten her out of jail, and she hadn't even thanked me.

"The ever-after hasn't been remade yet," Elyse said, voice distant. "My God. You're going to bargain with Newt?"

I nodded, shoulders easing when no one shouted for us to stop. I had to reorganize my day. The I.S. would be a major presence downtown for a while. Good time to catch some sleep. "I would have been home by now with that mirror if you hadn't butted in." I couldn't go to the church, but there were other places to catch a nap, and no way was I going to face Newt tired and fatigued. "This way."

Elyse's pace bobbled as she glanced over her shoulder at the bus depot before meeting me stride for stride. "Where are we going?"

"The library. Ancient book locker."

"For some spells," she guessed wrongly. "Good idea. But don't they usually keep them under lock and key?"

"Yep." Good thing I knew where Nick stashed it.