I stepped back, wringing my hand as if I could erase having touched it. Damn, Id touched a banshee tear. Double damn, it was probably evidence.
It felt furry? the pixy said, and I nodded, eyeing my fingers. They looked okay, but it had been a banshee tear, and it gave me the creeps.
Eddens expression of confusion slowly cleared. Ive heard of these, he said, tapping it with his pen tip. Then he straightened to his entire height and looked me directly in the eye. This is why theres no emotion here, isnt it.
I nodded, deciding this was why it looked like a home, but didnt feel like it. The banshee tear explained everything. The love had been sucked right out. They leave them where theres likely to be a lot of emotion, I said, wondering why Ivy had gone pale. Well, paler than usual. Sometimes they will tip the scales and make things worsesort of push everyone to a higher pitch. The tear soaks everything up, and then the banshee comes back to collect it. And I had touched it. Euwie.
A banshee did this? Edden said, his anger slipping through a crack in his veneer of calm. Made that man hurt my son?
Probably not, I said, thinking about what Matt had told me and glancing at Ivy. If Mrs. Tilson was cheating on her husband, thats reason enough for a banshee to leave a tear. I bet she got it in here by posing as a babysitter or something.
I looked at the tear, heavy and dark with the stored emotion of Glenns maulingand I shivered, remembering how warm it had felt. The I.S. has a record on every banshee in Cincinnati, I said. You can analyze the tear, find out who made it. The banshee might know where they went. They usually choose their victims carefully and will follow them from place to place if the pickings are good. Though they prefer to feed passively, they can suck a person dry in seconds.
I thought that was illegal. Edden slid the crystal into an evidence bag and sealed it.
It is. Ivys voice was mild, but I thought she looked ill.
Jenks was picking up on her mood, too. You okay? he said, and she blinked her softly almond-shaped eyes once.
No, she said, her gaze falling to the tear. Even if Mrs. Tilson was cheating on her husband, the suspect knew exactly where to hit Glenn to hurt but not maim. The house is clean to the point of obsession, but theres too much money being spent on the little girl and the wife for him to be a wife beater. The man doesnt even have a remote for the TV, for Gods sake, she said, pointing to the unseen living room, yet they have silk sheets and a baby computer.
You think the woman beat him up? I interrupted, and Ivy frowned.
Edden, though, was interested. If she was an Inderlander, maybe a living vampire, she could do it. Shed know how to induce pain without damage, too.
Ivy make a noise of negation. Id be able to smell it if a vampire had visited, much less lived here, she said, but I had my doubts. Last year, I would have said it was impossible to make a charm to cover an Inderlanders scent from another Inderlander, but my mom had spelled my dad into smelling like a witch for their entire marriage.
I stood there and tried to figure it out, both Jenks and me jumping when Edden clapped his hands once. Out, he said suddenly, and I protested when he manhandled me into the hall. Ivy, you and Jenks can stay, but, Rachel, I want you out.
Wait a minute! I complained, but he kept me moving, yelling for someone to bring the vacuum. Ivy just shrugged, giving me an apologetic smile.
Sorry, Rachel, Edden said when we reached the activity of the living room, his brown eyes glinting with amusement. You can poke around in the garage if you want.
Excuse me? I exclaimed. He knew I hated the cold. It was an offer that really wasnt one. How come Ivy gets to stay and help?
Because Ivy knows how to handle herself.
That was just rude. You suckwad! Im the one who found the tear! I said as I stood in the archway to the living room and watched everyone buzz about the new development. Several heads turned, but I didnt care. I was being gotten rid of.
Eddens face darkened with emotion, but his next words were postponed when Alex, the officer he had sent to watch my car, came in, cold on his breath and snow on his boots. Ah, they wont be able to have a dog out to look at your car for a couple of hours, he said nervously, seeing Eddens anger directed at me. Theres a big Brimstone bust out at the Hollows airport.
I jumped as, suddenly, Ivy was next to me. Whats wrong with your car? she asked, and I let my air out in a huff.
Tom Bansen was standing next to it, I said. Im being paranoid.
Ivy smiled. Dont worry about him, she said. Youre under Rynn Cormels protection. He wouldnt dare.
Unless the vampires want me dead, I thought, then turned back to Edden. Edden, I complained, but the squat man put a hand on my shoulder and moved me to the kitchen.
Alex, take Ms. Morgan home, he said. Rachel, Ill call you if we need you. If you dont want to leave, you can wait in the kitchen, but its going to be hours. Probably not until tomorrow. You might as well go home.
He wasnt telling Ivy to go home. I took a breath to whine some more, but someone had called his name, and he was gone, leaving only the faint scent of coffee.
A familiar wing clatter drew my attention to Jenks, sitting on top of a picture frame, and he dropped to me. Sorry, Rache, he said, and I slumped back into the wall, disgusted.
Im staying, I said, loud enough for everyone to hear, and Alex exhaled in relief, going to stand over a heating vent. How come Ivy gets to help? I asked Jenks, already knowing the answer and envious of how she, a vampire who had once beaten up an entire floor of FIB guys, was fitting in better than me, a witch who had helped them bring in the citys master vampire in their own back room. It wasnt my fault Skimmer killed him.
Hell, I thought. Maybe I should take some classes on crime scene protocol. Anything would be better than standing on the sidelines and watching everyone else play. I was not a bench warmer. Not by a long shot.
Jenks landed on my shoulder in a show of support. I knew he wanted to help, and I appreciated his loyalty. At his movement, Edden looked up from his cell phone. Is your finger okay? he asked suddenly, and I glanced at it. It looked fine.
Not answering him, I pushed from the wall and stomped out. Jenks rose to follow me at head height into the empty kitchen. Rache, he started, and I grimaced.
Stay with Ivy if you want, I said bitterly, zipping up my coat and wrapping my scarf around my neck. I wasnt going home. Not yet. Ill be in the garage.
His tiny features became relieved. Thanks, Rache. Ill let you know what we find out, he said, slipping a trail of gold dust as he zipped back to the nursery.
Its so unfair, I thought as I took my blue booties off. So my protocol sucked dishwater. I was getting results faster than a houseful of FIB agents. Leaving, I slammed the screen door and stomped down the cement steps. Home. Yeah. Maybe Id make cookies. Gingerbread men with little FIB badges. Then Id bite their freaking heads off. But when my feet hit the cement floor, I slowed. Oh, I was still mad, but Edden had said I could look through the garage. I thought hed offered only because he knew it was too cold, but why not?
Hands on my hips, I used a boot tip to unwedge the informal closure on the nearest box. It popped open to show a mishmash of stuff that looked like classic post-yard-sale clutter: books, knickknacks, photo albums, and several cameras. Expensive ones.
Photo albums? I questioned, looking at the silent walls. Who keeps their photo albums in the garage? Maybe it was temporary, for Christmas, to make room for all the baby toys.
I moved to the next box, slipping on my gloves for warmth as I opened it to find more books and clothes from the seventiesexplaining their living room, perhaps. Under it was another box that contained last years styles. I held up the firsta dress that I might find in my mothers closetthinking that Mrs. Tilson must have been heavy once. The dress was way bigger than me, but not a maternity cut. It didnt match Matts description. It didnt match what Id seen in the open closet, either.
Frowning, I put the dress back, digging to the bottom to find a stack of yearbooks. Bingo, I whispered, kneeling to feel the cold cement go right through my jeans. I didnt have to wait until Eddens office dug up a photo of them. I could see for myself.
My knees were cramping, so I pulled the kiddie sled over and sat on it, knees almost to my ears as I leafed through a yearbook with Clair Smith penciled on the front flap. Clair had graduated from a high school a few hundred miles upstate, and was apparently popular if the overwhelming number of signatures meant anything. Lots of promises to write. Apparently she toured Europe before going to college.
There was another yearbook from a local college where shed gotten her four-year journalism degree, majoring in photography, and had met Joshua, according to the hearts and flowers around his signature. My gaze slid to the box of albums. So maybe it was school stuff. It might explain the cameras, too.
She was a member of the photography club in high school, and had graduated in 82. I stared at the picture of the young woman standing on the bleachers surrounded by awkward teenagers, my finger resting on her name. Unless there was a misprint, Clair was a rather round young woman with a cheerful smile, not the slight, mild woman Matt had described. She wasnt fat, but she wasnt my size either. And if shed graduated in 82, that would make herover forty now?
I felt my face lose its expression, and I turned to look at the wall of the house as if I could pull Ivy out here with my thoughts. Over forty with one kid and wanting five more? Spacing them five years apart?
She had to be an Inderlander. Witches lived a hundred and sixty years and could have kids the entire span, apart from twenty years on either side. Maybe that was the source of strife? Mr. Tilson found out his wife was a witch? But it didnt smell like a witch lived here. Or a vampire. Or a Were.
I exhaled, setting the book aside and shuffling until I found one with Joshua Tilson printed on the front cover. His school had splurged for real fake-leather bindings. Nice.
Joshua had graduated from Kentucky State the same year as Clair. I thumbed through the pages, looking for him. My lips parted, and a chill tightened my muscles. Slowly I brought the page closer to my nose, wishing the light were brighter out here. Joshua didnt look anything like the photo Edden had shown me.
My eyes went to the surrounding stuff, then remembered Eddens comments about Mr. Tilson retiring. Then Matts complaint that the same man ought to be able to mow his own lawn, the rage Mr. Tilson had fallen into, how young his family was, and how they were going to have lots more kids. Stuff in the garage they didnt want in the house but couldnt risk throwing away.
I didnt think Mr. and Mrs. Tilson were the people who lived here. They were someone else and couldnt risk being found out by calling the ambulance, so they had fled.
I shivered, the motion reaching all the way to my fingertips. I-i-i-i-i-vy-y-y-y-y! I shouted. Ivy! Come see this!
I listened to the silence for a moment. She wasnt coming. Annoyed, I got up, book in hand. My knees were stiff from the cold, and I almost fell, jerking myself straight when Ivy poked her head out.
Find something? she said, amusement in her dark eyes.
Not Are you still here? or I thought you left, but Find something? And her amusement wasnt at my expense, but Eddens, who was now behind her.
I smiled, telling her I had indeed found something. Glenn wasnt beaten up by Mr. Tilson, I said smugly.
Rachel, Edden started, and I triumphantly held up the yearbook and came forward.
Have you gotten your fingerprints back yet? I asked.
No. Its going to be almost a week
Be sure to check them against known Inderland criminal offenders, I said, shoving the book at him, but Ivy took it. You wont find them matching up to Mr. Tilsons record, and thats assuming he has one. I think the Tilsons are dead, and whoever is living here took their names along with their lives.
Five
Thanks, Alex! I shouted, waving to the FIB officer as he drove down the shadowy, snow-quiet street to leave me standing on the sidewalk outside our church. Ivy was already halfway up the walk, anxious to be on her own turf where she had her ironclad ways of coping. Shed been quiet all the way home, and I didnt think it was from us needing a ride because I was too chicken to open my car door and see if I exploded.
Alexs taillights flashed as he rolled through a stop sign at the end of the road, and I turned away. The church that Ivy, Jenks, and I lived in was lit up and serene, the colors bleeding out of the stained-glass windows and onto the untouched snow in a fabulous swirl. I studied the roofline to try to spot Bis, our resident gargoyle, but there was nothing between the white puffs of my breath. The church was pretty with its Christmas and solstice decorations of live garlands and cheerful bows, and I smiled, glad to live in such a unique place.
This last fall, Jenks had finally fixed the spotlights angling onto the steeple, and it added to the beauty. The building hadnt been used as a church for years, but it was sanctified-again. Ivy had originally chosen the church to operate our runner firm from to tick off her undead mother, and wed never moved to more professional digs when the opportunity had arisen. I felt safe here. So did Ivy. And Jenks needed the garden out back to feed his almost four dozen kids.
Hurry up, Rache, Jenks complained from under my hat. Ive got icicles hanging.
Smirking, I followed Ivy up the walk to the worn front steps. Jenks had been silent on the ride home, too, and Id have almost been willing to find out what happened on the ninth day of Christmas just so I wouldnt have had to keep the conversation going with Alex all by myself. I couldnt tell if my roommates, Ivy especially, had been thinking or just mad.
Maybe she thought Id shown her up by discovering that the Tilsons were impostors before she had. Or maybe she was upset that I wanted her to go out to Kistens boat. Shed loved him, too. Loved him more deeply than me, and longer. Id have thought shed be eager for the chance to find his killer and the vampire who had tried to turn me into a blood toy.
Ivys pace ground to a stop on the salted steps, and my head came up when a soft curse slipped from her. Halting, I sent my gaze to follow hers to our business sign, over the door. Damn it all to the Turn and back, I whispered, seeing the spray-painted Black Wit and a half-scripted c trailing down the brass plaque to drip onto the twin oak doors.
What is it? Jenks shrilled, unable to see and tugging on my hair.
Someone redecorated the sign, Ivy said blandly, but I could tell she was mad. We need to start leaving some lights on, she muttered, yanking open the door and going inside.
Lights? I exclaimed. The place is already lit up like aa church!
Ivy was inside, and I stood there with my hands on my hips, getting more and more pissed. It was an attack on me, and I felt it to my core after the hint of FIB animosity at the crime site. Son of a bitch.
Bis! I shouted as I looked up and wondered where the little guy was. You out here?
Rache, Jenks said as he tugged on my hair. I gotta check on Matalina and my kids.
Sorry, I muttered. Pulling my coat tight about me, I passed into the church and yanked the door shut. Angry, I let the locking bar thump down, though technically we were open until midnight. There was a soft lifting of my hat, and Jenks darted off into the sanctuary. I slowly took my hat off and hung it on the hook, my mood easing at the high-pitched chorus of hello-o-os from his kids. It had taken me four hours to scrape the paint from the brass the last time. Where in hell was Bis? I hoped he was okay. The artists had clearly been interrupted.
Maybe I should spell the sign, I thought, but I didnt think there was a charm to make metal impervious to paint. I could put a black spell on it to give whoever touched it acne, but that would be illegal. And despite what the graffiti said, I was a white witch, damn it.
The warmth of the church soaked into me as I hung my coat on a peg. Past the dark shadow of the windowless foyer was my desk, at the back of the sanctuary where the altar used to be, the oak rolltop currently covered with plants and serving as a winter home for Jenks and his family. It was safer than hibernating in the stump in the backyard, and since I didnt ever use my desk, it was only a matter of enduring the indignity of finding pixy girls playing in my makeup or using the hair in my brush to fashion hammocks.
Across from my desk was an informal grouping of furniture around a low coffee table. There was a TV and a stereo, but it was more of a place to interview clients than a real living room. Our undead patrons had to come around to the back and the unsanctified part of the church and our more private living room. Thats where Ivys Christmas tree was, with one present still under it. After ruining Davids coat trying to tag Tom, Id had to get him a new one. He was in the Bahamas right now, at an insurance seminar with the ladies.
One front corner of the church held Ivys baby grand pianoout of sight from where I now stoodand across from that, a mat where Id taken to exercising when Ivy was out. Ivy went to the gym to keep her figure. At least thats where she said she was going when she left anxious and came home rested, relaxed, and satiated. In the middle of it all was Kistens battered pool table, rescued from the curb whereas Kisten himself hadnt been.
My mood slowly shifted from anger to melancholy as I took off my boots and left them under my coat. A passel of Jenkss kids were in the open rafters singing carols, and it was hard to stay upset with their ethereal three-part harmony mixing with the smell of brewing coffee.
Coffee, I thought as I flopped onto the couch and pointed the remote at the stereo. Crystal Method filled the air, fast and aggressive, and I tossed the remote to the table and put my feet up, out of the draft. Coffee would make everything better, but I probably had at least five minutes until it was done. After that close ride in the cop car, Ivy needed some space.
Jenks dropped down onto the elaborate centerpiece Ivys dad had brought over one night. The thing was all glitter and gold, but Jenks went well with it, standing on the painted sticks that looped in and around. He had one of his kids with him; the little pixy boy had his wings glued shut again, tear tracks giving away his misery.
Dont let it get to you, Rache, Jenks said as he sifted dust from himself and wedged it in the fold his sons wings made. Ill help you clean the paint off tomorrow.
I can do it, I muttered, not relishing the idea that whoever put it up there would probably do a drive-by to see me busting my ass on a ladder. Jenks helping me was a nice thought, but no way would it be warm enough.
I dont get it, I complained, then did a double take at the tiny cut-out snowflakes now decorating the windows. Thats why the glue. They were the size of my pinkie nail, and were the sweetest things Id ever seen. No one cares about the good stuff I do, I said as Jenkss son squirmed under his dads attention. So what if I had to summon a demon if it all ended well? I mean, you tell me Cincinnati isnt better without Piscary. Rynn Cormel is a way better crime boss than he was. Ivy likes him, too.
Youre right, the pixy said as he gently pulled his sons wings apart. Behind him, Rex, Jenkss cat, peeked in from the dark foyer, pulled from the belfry by the sound of her four-inch masters voice. Just last week, Jenks had installed a cat door in the belfry stairway, tired of asking one of us to open the door for his cat. The beast loved the belfry with its high windows. It made easy access for Bis, too. Not that the cat-size gargoyle came in much.
And Trent, I said, watching Rex since Jenks was preoccupied with a flightless child. Beloved city son and idiot billionaire goes and gets caught in the ever-after. Who has to bust her butt and make a deal with demons to get him back?
The one who got him there? Jenks said, and my eyes narrowed. Hey, kitty, kitty. Hows my sweetest fluff ball? he crooned, which I thought risky, but hey, it was his cat.
It was Trents idea, I said, foot bobbing. And now its my tail in the ever-after paying for his rescue. Do I even get one thank-you? No, I get trash painted on my front door.
You got your life back, Jenks said, and an end to Al trying to kill you. Got an understanding in the ever-after that any demon messing with you is messing with Al. You got Trents silence as to what you are. He could have brought you down right there. It wouldnt be graffiti on your door but a burning stake in the front yard, with you tied to it.
I froze, shocked. What I am? Trent kept silent as to what I am? I should be thankful he didnt tell anyone? If he told anyone what I was, hed have to explain how I got that way, which would put him on the stake next to me.
But Jenks was smiling at his son, oblivious. There you go, Jerrimatt, he said fondly as he gave the youngster a boost into the air where he hung, shedding bright sparkles to pool on the table. And if glue should somehow end up in Jacks mittens, I wont have any idea who did it.
The small pixys wings fanned into motion and a cloud of silver dust enveloped both of them. Thanks, Papa, Jerrimatt said, and his tear-wet eyes took on a familiar glint of deviltry.
Jenks watched his son fly away with a fond look. Rex watched, too, tail twitching. Turning back to me, Jenks saw my sour mood. Trent kept silent as to what I am, eh?
I mean, the pixy backpedaled, what Trents dad did to you.
Mollified, I took my feet from the table and put them on the floor. Yeah, whatever, I muttered as I rubbed my wrist and the demon mark there. I had another on the bottom of my foot, since Al hadnt traded it back for his summoning name yet, enjoying my owing him two marks. I lived with the worry that Id be pulled into someones demon circle some night, but no one had summoned Al and gotten me insteadyet.
The demon marks were hard to explain, and more people than I liked knew what they were. It was the victors who wrote the history books, and I wasnt winning. But at least I wasnt living in the ever-after, playing blow-up doll to a demon. No, I was just playing his student.
Leaning my head back and looking at the ceiling, I shouted, Ivy? That coffee done?
Rex skittered under the pool table at my voice, and at Ivys positive call, I clicked off the music and lurched to my feet. Jenks went to help Matalina break up a fight about glitter, and I paced down the long hall that bisected the back end of the church. I passed the his-and-her bathrooms that had been converted into Ivys opulent bathroom and my more Spartan facilities that also boasted the washer and dryer. Our separate bedrooms were next, my best guess putting them originally as clergy offices. Though the dark hallway didnt change, the feeling of the air did as I entered the unsanctified back end of the church, added on later. This was where the kitchen and private living room were, and if it had been sanctified, I would have slept here.
Put simply, I loved my kitchen. Ivy had remodeled it before I had moved in, and it was the best room in the place. A blue-curtained window over the sink looked out on the small witchs garden. Beyond that was the graveyard. That had bothered me at first, but after mowing the site for a year, I had a fondness for the weathered stones and forgotten names.
Inside, it was all gleaming stainless steel and bright fluorescent light. There were two stovesone gas, one electricso I didnt have to do my spells and cook on the same surface. The counter space was expansive, and I used it all when I spelled, which was often, since the charms I used were expensive unless I made them myself. Then they were dirt cheap. Literally.
In the center was an island counter with a circle etched into the linoleum around it. I used to keep my spell books in the open rack under it until Al had burned one in a fit of pique. Now they were in the belfry. The counter made for a secure place to spell, unsanctified or not.
Up against the interior wall was a heavy antique farm table. Ivy was sitting at the back corner of it, near the archway to the hall, with her computer, printer, and stacks of carefully filed papers. When wed moved in, I had the use of one end of it. Now I was lucky if I got a corner to eat on. So of course Id taken over the rest of the kitchen.
Ivy looked up from her keyboard, and I dropped my bag on yesterdays unopened mail and collapsed in my chair. You want some lunch? I asked, seeing as it was nearing midnight.
She shrugged, eyeing the bills. Sure.
I knew it bugged her, so I left the mail where it was under my bag, and I lurched back to my feet with tomato soup and cheese crackers in mind. If she wanted something more, shed say so. A pang of worry went through me as I pulled a can of soup off the pantry shelves. Glenn liked tomatoes. God, I hoped he was okay. That he was unconscious had me concerned.
Ivy clicked through a couple of Web pages as I made good with the can opener. I hesitated at the sight of my copper spell pots, then reached for a more mundane saucepan. Mixing spell prep and food prep wasnt a good idea. Research? I asked, hearing in her silence that she was still upset about something.
Looking up banshees, she said shortly, and I hoped she didnt know how coy she looked with the end of the pen between her teeth. Her canines were sharp, like a cats, but she wouldnt get the extended ones until she was dead. She wouldnt get the light sensitivity or the physical need for blood to survive until then either. Ivy still had a taste for it, however, and though it made her devilishly hard to live with, she could do without.
The lid came off with a ting, and I sighed. Ivy, Im sorry.
Her foot moved back and forth like an angry cats tail. For what? she said mildly, then stilled her foots motion as she saw me notice it.
That my methods are getting faster results than yours, I thought, but what I said was, For sending you out to Kistens boat?
I hated the question in my voice, but I didnt know what was bothering her. Ivy looked up, and I studied the rim of brown around her eyes. It was wide and full, telling me she had control of her emotions. I can handle it, she said, and I frowned, hearing something else.
Turning my back on her, I shook the congealed soup into the pan with a dull thwap. I dont mind going out with you. I did, but I was going to offer.
Ive got it covered, she said more forcefully.
Sighing, I searched for a wooden spoon. Ivy dealt with the uncomfortable by ignoring it, and though I wasnt averse to avoiding issues to maintain a pleasant living space, I tended to poke sticks at sleeping vampires when I thought I could get away with it.
The phone rang, and I caught Ivys dark glare as I whipped around to answer it.
Vampiric Charms, I said politely into the receiver. How can we help? I used to answer with my name, until the first graffiti incident.
Rachel, its Edden, came the FIB captains gravelly voice. Glad youre home. Hey, were having trouble getting the fingerprints out
Re-e-e-eally? I interrupted, making a mocking face at Ivy and turning the receiver so she could hear him with her extraordinary vamp hearing. Imagine that.