Chapter 3

Chapter

3

Eyes closed and reins held loose, I enjoyed the sedate, soft thuds of Red's hooves beating the soft, grass-covered ground. The rocking motion was soothing and I was tired. Trying to mesh my natural body rhythm to Trent's crepuscular one made for early mornings. I'd been up since an ungodly eight thanks to Lucy and Ray, but it was hard to complain when morning meant real maple syrup, waffles toasted over a fire, and a ride through the ever-after to an unwatched ley line with two little girls. I had Ray before me, and the dark-haired, studious three-year-old was as comfortable on a horse as in her car seat.

The tall autumn grass of the ever-after tickled the horses' bellies, and the sun was shining. White-capped mountains rose to one side, a flat, tree-spotted plain ran on the other, and not a sign of civilization in between. Al was right. The ever-after needed a wild herd.

Tulpa's bluster behind me was a soft complaint, and I pulled the younger mare up, smiling as Trent and Lucy came even on the old gray. Trent looked fabulous on a horse at the worst of times. Today, though? His blond hair was almost white in the sun, his green eyes dark under the shade of his cap. He'd once had his ears docked—as all elves of his generation had—but a spell had returned them to their natural, pointy-arched elfness to match both Lucy's and Ray's. Slim and confident, he brought Tulpa even with us. Two trendy princess-and-rainbow-decorated backpacks sat behind him, holding what the girls would need for their weekend at Ellasbeth's.

Seeing him there, not just dealing with his life going off the rails, but thriving, my stomach gave a little hop. I loved him, and he loved me. Sometimes, it was that simple.

Trent guided Tulpa closer until our legs touched. "We should be seeing the ley line soon. Quen said it was clear of any FIB presence in reality." He frowned, squinting at the slight rise. "Eden Park would have been more convenient. This was a good twenty-minute ride."

"Perhaps, but you can't leave your car unattended there." I tightened my grip on Ray when the little girl pointed at the distant rise.

"See?" she said, her high voice clear, and I nodded, having brought up my own second sight. Not too far away, a ribbon of hazy red swayed and undulated at chest height. The ley line went deep into the ground as well as into the air, leaving only this narrow band that could be seen, shimmering like a heat mirage over the tall, unspoiled grass.

The sun seemed to dim as I used my second sight, and the hint of a cityscape wavered into existence within the tall grass; traffic and people moved silently amid the hard corners and dull colors. Grimacing, I dropped my second sight and reality vanished. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought that the demon's ever-after would be an improvement from reality—but it was now.

"I need to walk." Trent gracefully slipped from his horse and helped Lucy to the ground. "Go pick some flowers for your mother," he said softly, and the little girl ran off, her straight blond hair streaming behind her. Still smiling, he reached for Ray, the quiet, dark-haired girl already leaning down to him. "You too," he added as he set her gently on the earth, and she beamed up at him before following her sister. The two girls shared not a drop of blood, but between Trent, Quen, and Ellasbeth, they were being raised as siblings, raised in love.

For a moment, I sat atop Red, feeling tall as I scanned the open grassland. Despite the ever-after belonging to the demons, there was nothing here to harm them, and I swung my leg over to hit the ground hard. I hadn't been riding for a while, and I felt it. Trent's hand found mine, and horses in tow, we followed the girls as they raced from flower to flower.

Again, the beauty of the ever-after hit me, and I leaned into Trent until our shoulders bumped. It was probably the only place that the girls could run free like this, seeing as the ever-after was out of reach now unless you were an elf or a demon. And whereas the demons might enjoy making my life hell, they'd been giving me some slack lately. A thank-you, perhaps, or some respect after I had convinced them to bounce the witches' exile curse back onto its makers. It was the witches who had suffered, not the demons. All because, in their fear, the witches had broken the most important rule: first, do no harm.

"Rachel?" Trent lifted my hand and gave it a kiss. "I've said it before, but the ever-after…is amazing."

I swished my free hand among the grassy seed heads. My pearl pinky ring glinted, shining from its mate on Trent's hand being so close. "Thanks. I think most of it was from Bis. I never would have put in mountains like that."

An odd look of longing settled on Trent. "When Al has an afternoon, I'd like him to come to the stables. If he wants a semi-wild herd, he would probably appreciate choosing the lead stallion."

My smile was unstoppable. I hadn't known the demon's love of horses until recently. Perhaps it would bring the elves and the demons closer. God knew they needed something to fix the cracks as big as a canyon. "I think he'd like that," I said, my gaze rising to find the girls. Lucy was pulling a flower apart, singing at the top of her lungs, oblivious that she was re-creating a scene that had played out over the millennium, if not the exact words.

"Spelling on a Mon-day! Time is washed and hung. Little girls are run-ning. All work done. Black pot in the sun. Sparkle magic lady. Run, run, run!"

"Little girls are coming," Ray corrected her, but Lucy had thrown away the denuded flower head and was chasing a dragonfly.

It was a little piece of heaven, and I sighed as my head flopped onto Trent's shoulder. I loved him, I loved my life—even if it was a little wonky at the moment.

And then my smile faltered as I remembered the corpse I had cremated to stall a murder investigation. Not to mention the illicit magic book Elyse wanted to see—the one that could land me in Alcatraz.

"Little girls are coming," Ray said, red-faced as she stood before her more vocal sister.

"Running," Lucy demanded.

"Coming!" Ray shouted.

"Running!"

I gasped, reaching out when Lucy shoved Ray down, the little girl landing with a thump on her butt amid the tall grass, her green eyes wrathful as they found her sister.

"Wait." Trent pulled me to a halt, focus intent. The girls had spells at their fingertips, thanks to Al. They were growing up elven, and the world would never be the same.

"Sparkle lady said coming !" Ray shrilled from the ground. "Say ‘I'm sorry'!"

Lucy made a face, then relented. "I'm sorry," she said as she helped Ray up and gave her a hug that almost sent them down again. "Sparkle lady said running."

"Nu-uh." Ray gave Lucy a flower, then the two of them ran off together.

Grinning, I gave Trent a little punch on his arm. "I'm impressed. You let them handle it."

Trent exhaled, his gaze fixed on them as they ran to the ley line. "It's harder than it looks," he admitted.

"No, you're wearing how hard it is all over your face. Who is sparkle lady?"

"I have no idea." His shoulders lifted and fell. "The host of a kids' show? They've been singing it since coming back from Ellasbeth's last week."

"Mmmm." I relaxed against him, feeling good about myself and where I was. The line was right there, but it was hard to leave. He had a long ride back with Tulpa and Red, and then he would be alone again. It was a blessing, I suppose, that he had an entire reality to escape to if he needed. "It's Saturday," I reminded him, and he turned to get the girls' bags. "Any plans?"

"I'm thinking…getting dressed up this evening, an overpriced dinner, mingling, then checking out the renovations at the new apartment." His shoulders slumped.

"Sure." I tugged him close in a sideways hug. "What will you really be doing?"

His gaze went to Lucy and Ray, both standing in the ley line and giggling as their hair rose in the magic's static. "Probably puttering about in my mom's old office behind the fireplace. I'm going through her books, winnowing out which ones need to go into the vault and which I can donate to the university."

"Sounds like fun."

"Sure, for the first fourteen hours," he grumped, then smiled when Lucy ran to us.

"Aunt Rachel? I picked you a flower," she said as she jammed the broken black-eyed Susan into my grip. Mystics from the line sparked between us, and I felt my own hair lift.

"Thank you!" I enthused, but she was already gone.

"You, ah, want to come over this weekend?" Trent asked hesitantly, his attention on my staticky hair. "I've enough in the fridge for two. Quen always stays with the girls when they're at Ellasbeth's. You and I will have the entire estate to ourselves now that the staff is gone. I could use some help with the books. You have a feel for them."

I twirled the broken flower, watching it flop from side to side as the mystics lost interest and returned to the line. They were the eyes and ears of the elven Goddess, and that they didn't recognize me anymore was a, ah, godsend. "Sure. If I'm not in Alcatraz."

Trent laughed—until he realized I was serious. "Because of Brice? I would have thought that Constance…"

"Yeah, no," I said, flower dangling. "Brice is fine. No one cares. Which is irritating all on its own. It's Elyse. I think she wants to show me that spell to bring back the undead." I hesitated. "Today, at three thirty."

"Mmmm." Trent's hand found mine again. "I thought only a coven member could see that particular spell."

"Which is why she wants me to bring the book with Brad's curse in it."

"Rachel," he started, and I cut him off.

"Relax, I'm not going to abdicate my subrosa position to become a coven member. I'd have no voice and end up doing their dirty work. But I am going to show her the curse I used on Brad. I owe it to Vivian." Vivian, who died because I wasn't honest with her, when a word from me might have given her the warning she needed. It was one of my largest regrets.

"Are you sure that's—" he started.

"If they try to put me in Alcatraz, I will take them apart." I leaned in and gave him a little peck on the cheek. Trent dropped his gaze, clearly not happy. "There's only four of them, and not one is older than me. Sorry in advance for any damage I do to the building. Did you know they are renting space from you?"

He nodded. "Perhaps what they want isn't such a bad idea," he said, surprising me. "If you're coven, anything you do will be sanctioned. Past, future."

From the ley line, Ray sang, "All work done. Black pot in the sun."

"Sounds easy, doesn't it?" I said. "Maybe in a decade or two, but Constance isn't ready to run a city even with Ivy's and Pike's help. Besides, the coven doesn't want me. They want what I know." They wanted me to betray my demon kin.

Trent was silent. "I'm sorry about Brice."

I couldn't look at him. "The I.S. doesn't care, and the FIB doesn't have jurisdiction. It's done."

He took my hand to pull my attention up. "I wasn't sorry about the legal ramifications. I know you. Are you okay?"

My breath came in slow, and I nodded. "I am. Thank you." Taking Brice to the morgue and cremating her without process was a warning to any other upstart vampires that challenging Constance would not be tolerated. It was effective even as it raised the question of how I was keeping the peace. Constance might be holding court, but I was the one in charge. Supposedly. That I had covered up Brice's death bothered me.

Or had I? There had been no attempt to hide what Constance had done. Ivy had taken Brice in the back door, sure, but she went through the entire building. Doing so had made Constance's actions public, in essence, divorcing Ivy from the actual killing. Ivy was saying, "I didn't kill her, but I will see that she is taken care of." And because I was with her, I was included in that.

My gut eased a little as I saw the sense behind Ivy's actions. "I'm okay," I said again, feeling Trent's warmth as he tugged me closer. Together we stared at the ley line, each of us reluctant to part. Like a tingling bolt of electricity hovering at chest height, the line would drop me and the girls downtown, right beside the parking lot where Quen had left Trent's SUV. I could almost hear the traffic.

"I used to stay at the estate for months without leaving it. Now I can hardly stand three days," Trent said.

"This, too, will pass," I encouraged him, and together we moved to the line.

"Quen is trying. We're hitting unusual roadblocks. I can't get my assets unfrozen, and what little I do have on hand is being treated like Monopoly money."

"Want me to make a doppelganger charm for you? We could go out to a movie."

"Yes," he said immediately, then, "No. But thank you. I can ask Quen to go with you to the coven if you like."

I could tell it bothered him that he couldn't come himself, and for a moment, I considered it. The dark elf had been Trent's security since before he was born, but Quen reacted too fast and too hard for my liking. "No. I'll be okay," I said, and I would be…until I wasn't.

"Let him know if you change your mind." We scuffed to a halt, the line so close I could hear it humming, feel it lifting my hair with the mystics who existed within it. The girls were impatient to cross, but Trent tugged me closer for a good-bye kiss. "Give me about an hour to ride back and get to my office so my phone will work. You'll call me, right? Before you talk to the coven?"

Still in his arms, I nodded. "Yep. And afterward, too, so you know how it went." Because if they put me in Alcatraz, he would help bust me out, warrant for trafficking in illegal genetic treatments or not. I reached for him and pulled him down to give him a lingering kiss. My breath quickened as a dart of sensation went right to my groin.

Shuddering with pent-up desire, I let him go. Trent was smiling. "You are amazing, you know that, right?" he said, and I flushed.

"Only on my good days. Ready, girls?"

Chattering, Lucy ran up to him, Ray quick to follow as they gave Trent little-girl kisses and promises to be good for their mother and not spell her cat into a frenzy.

"I appreciate you taking the girls to Ellasbeth," he said as he put their backpacks on them, and I smiled, trying to pretend it didn't bother me to walk away and leave him to make his solitary way back. "Quen will bring them home."

"My pleasure," I said. "Let's see. They have their things, I've got your keys, the girls. Car is there. Good to go." Unfortunately my reality was that after getting these two to their mother, I'd be doing a lot of soul-searching that would end up with me exactly where I was now: taking that book to the coven, showing it to them, then probably telling them to go Turn themselves in the nicest way possible. There might be a way to resurrect the undead, but Elyse was trying to bribe me into being their unpaid, underappreciated muscle. Easy always bites me on the ass.

"Okay, Ray, Lucy. Hands, please. Let's go!"

"Bye, Daddy!" they chimed out, and after bringing up my second sight to make sure we weren't going to appear in traffic, I took a step into the line, changing all of our auras to match the ley line. One more step and I released my hold on our auras, and the line spat us out, right into reality.

That fast, the whispering grass was gone, replaced by the familiar sounds of Cincinnati. One moment, we were there, and now we were here, walking briskly down the sidewalk to where Quen had left the car. It was cooler with the sun behind a thick cloud layer and the wind whipping up from the nearby river. November weather was fickle in Cincinnati, and I hustled, eager for Trent's heated seat and steering wheel.

"Spelling on a Mon-day!" Lucy chanted, jerking my arm as she skipped, one hand in mine, the other clenched around her wilting daisies.

"Time is washed and hung," I said, and she beamed up at me through her wildly whipping hair. My heart seemed to swell. I'd thought Trent might never trust me with the girls again, seeing as the first time he had, I'd been attacked by a Were intent on city domination.

"Nice transition, girls," I said, swinging their arms to get them to pay attention. "Let's get in the car. If we hurry, we have time to stop for a coffee at Junior's."

"Drive-through!" Lucy sang out.

"Hot chocolate?" Ray asked, and I nodded.

"Little girls are run- ning !" Lucy shouted, her hand slipping from mine as she jumped over the cracks in the sidewalk. The almost-three-year-old took after her mother but had the inborn magical ability of her dad. And maybe the cunning, seeing as she really wasn't the feckless, loud, energy-sucking kid that she pretended to be.

So when Lucy went utterly still and sent her gaze across the street, so did I.

All work done, I thought as I studied the man in jeans and a leather jacket watching us. Our eyes met, and he pushed off from his parked car. A flash of fear hit me when he looked both ways and crossed in the middle of the street.

"Damn it back to the Turn," I muttered, taking Lucy's hand again.

The whoop of a FIB siren echoed in the narrow street, and the man seemed to slump, hands going into his pockets as a Black man in a suit got out of the squad car and headed our way, pace fast.

I spun to the ley line, a quick check with my second sight telling me Trent was gone. It wasn't that far away. It might be better to simply jump back.

Until the FIB officer raised his hand in greeting and relief found me. It was Glenn.

"Aunt Rachel?" Ray asked, and I dropped down to put my face beside the girls'.

"It's okay," I said, my smile real. "It's Detective Glenn. He's from the FIB. He knows your daddies."

But even so, Lucy hid behind me when I stood, the little girl shy as the two men closed in on us.

"Stop right there," I said when the unknown man reached the curb, and he did, his youthful face holding a pleasant expression that I wasn't buying into. Annoyance was a quick flash over him when he glanced at Glenn, and that gave me strength.

"Hey, Rachel." Glenn scuffed to a halt beside us. His suit was cut for ease of movement, and his FIB detective badge was clipped to his pocket. He kept his hair cut close, and he had no beard. An earring gave him some bad-boy bling, but other than that, he could be the poster boy for the FIB force: collected, confident…and distressingly vulnerable when it came to dealing with Inderlanders. "I'm sorry about this. You go on about your day," he added as he turned to the man who had crossed the street. "This has nothing to do with you."

"I just need a moment," the guy said, his pale features and light brown hair making him utterly unremarkable. The worn amulets around his neck, not so much, and I didn't like that one of them was glowing. He had way too many rings, charms obviously. His pockets were weighted down, too. "Ms. Morgan, yes?" he added, voice pleasant.

Glenn pushed in front of me. "You don't have to answer that," he said tersely, adding, "Laker, I saw your warrant come through, and it has nothing to do with Kalamack's kids or his kids' driver."

Driver? I thought, then nodded. That was exactly what I was doing.

Laker stood with his hands in his pockets. He was human. He had to be. An Inderlander would know better than to accost me in the street when I had the girls. "I wanted to ask Ms. Morgan a few questions is all," he said, forced smile still in place.

Glenn grimaced, then eased his features when he realized the girls were staring at him.

"I won't take much of your time, Madam Subrosa," Laker added mockingly.

Damn wizards. There was nothing more dangerous than a magic-using human. They didn't know the meaning of the word restraint , always going too far and often miscalculating the effect of their magic. Eyeing him, I let go of the girls' hands.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Glenn said, rightly reading my mood.

"It's just Rachel," I said, glad the girls had moved to stand behind Glenn of their own accord. Quen had taught them well. "Or Ms. Morgan. We keep the demon subrosa thing low-key when I'm escorting Mr. Kalamack's children to his, ah…" My words faltered. I wasn't sure what Ellasbeth was. She wasn't his ex, but she did have visiting rights with Lucy, and where one girl went, the other followed.

"How about you start by telling me what you want?" I said, my grip tightening on the ley line when Laker took his hands from his pocket.

"Just getting my documentation," Laker said when he saw my hair beginning to float. "What's with all the suspicion?"

"Kalamack's girls have been made into bargaining chips before," Glenn said, and I sighed when Laker handed me an official notice.

"I don't work like that," the nondescript man said, actually waving at them. "I don't need to. Rachel, would I be correct that Trenton Aloysius Kalamack is on the other side of the ley line in the ever-after?"

Glenn stiffened. "You don't have to answer that."

"He was," I admitted, fully aware that the girls were clustered behind me. "But he didn't stick around."

"Thank you." Laker seemed surprised I'd answered him. "How much to escort me over there?"

A laugh escaped me. "What, so you can bring him in?" I said as I gathered the girls' hands. "Not happening, Mr. Laker. If you will excuse me, I need to get the girls to their mom."

"One of them doesn't have a mom, if I understand it correctly." He simpered at me when I froze, aghast. "At least that's what my research says."

"Your research is wrong," I said, angry now as I walked away. Ray had a mother. Yes, Ceri was gone, but that didn't mean Ray didn't have a mother.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Glenn practically growled as he pushed Laker toward a light pole with his mere presence. "That woman does more in one week to keep Cincinnati's crime numbers down than the I.S. does in a month. You need to give her more respect or she is going to correct you."

"That sounds like a threat, Detective," Laker said, and I skidded to a halt, the girls' feet pattering as I spun. "Are you interfering with my attempts to bring Trent in on bail?"

Glenn's shoulders were hunched. "Not at all," he said, wincing when he realized I had stopped. "It's a public service announcement from me to you. You can sit at the curb. You can watch the church. But if you approach her door, or follow her, or show up at her favorite coffee spot, I'm going to drag you in for harassment, and your license to collect bail jumpers in Ohio and Kentucky goes away." He hesitated, lips pressed. "Say something so I know we have an understanding."

Laker frowned, peeved as he played with his amulets' lanyards. "Leave the witch alone."

The girls' hands felt small in mine, and I forced the energy from the line down before it could flow into them. "I'm a demon, Mr. Laker," I said. "Witches can't cross the ley lines anymore."

Laker shifted his weight to one foot, eyeing me in evaluation. "That's what I heard."

"And beyond what Glenn has said, if you touch either of these two girls, or talk to them, or try to ask them questions, I will give you exactly what you want."

"Yeah?" he said. "And what is it that I want?"

I felt tall with the girls beside me. "I will take you into the ever-after," I said. "And leave you there with the demons." I cocked my head while that soaked in. "Have yourself a great day, Mr. Laker," I added, then walked away, the girls' heels pattering along beside mine. He seemed a little cowed but not nearly enough.

"Sit tight," I heard Glenn say over the traffic. "I want to talk to you."

I sighed as Glenn's dress shoes quickly rasped behind me. "Rachel?"

Glenn came even with us, and I slowed. The girls were silent, and I smiled down at them as I gave their hands a little squeeze. Ray blinked up at me, clearly relieved.

"Rachel, I'm sorry about Laker," Glenn said. "I knew he was looking for Trent. How come he's not using the ley line at the church?"

I took a slow breath. Held it. Let it out. "Al is camped out in it, and Quen had their car seats here."

"I would have let you handle it, but you've got the girls…" he started in explanation.

We had reached the car, and I let go of Lucy to unlock the SUV with the fob. "No, your intervention is appreciated. Thanks." I glanced down the street to see that Laker was gone. "Is he going to be a problem?"

Glenn shrugged, embarrassed. "I don't know. He's new. From Chicago."

"Mmmm. They have a big wizard population there, don't they."

He nodded. Wizards were humans who used premade witch charms. The man who had raised me had been a wizard, using the spells my mom made to fool everyone into thinking he was a witch. Nick, one of my ex-boyfriends, had been a wizard, too, and it had ultimately killed him. Actually, pretending to be a witch had killed both of them.

Grimacing, I took Lucy's backpack off and lifted her into the back, where she scrambled into the second car seat. Ray was next, silent as I helped her in and buckled her up. Lucy, as she loudly informed me, could do it herself.

"Laker isn't FIB, but he does have jurisdiction to serve warrants and bring in bail jumpers," Glenn added, and I moved the girls' things into the car.

"Good to know." I didn't mean to be short with him, and I tried to soften my tone. That Trent was basically a prisoner in his own estate grated on me.

"Let me know if he harasses you," Glenn said as he waved to the girls. "Not to say you can't take care of it yourself," he added. "Good-bye, Ray and Lucy."

My lips parted when he lurched forward, leaning into the car to give them little sticker badges. "That makes you official FIB deputies," he said as the girls giggled and kicked their feet. Then to me, somewhat embarrassed, "It's a community outreach thing."

"Elves working for the FIB?" I questioned as I got into Trent's SUV and started it up. "I like it."

Glenn grinned, and I rolled the windows down so the girls could say good-bye again, but worry dogged me as I drove off. When I had seen Laker, I had assumed he was coming for me. That he was after Trent wasn't a surprise, really.

Sparkle magic lady. Run, run, run.