Nervous and fidgety, I opened the bag of chips Id bought for the weekendseeing as we probably werent going to have the expected Fourth of July cookout. Crunching through a chip, I rated a few more reports. The over-the-counter glass cleaning charm that had melted the glass and then moved on to the insulation in the surrounding walls got a seven despite no deaths. The charm to inflate a tire taking out the lungs of the man who had invoked it got a two simply because it didnt take much to explode lungs. He hadnt survived. Then there was the carpet cleaner in the Hollows where the charm ate the carpet away, foam and all. The homeowner had been delighted at the hardwood floor underneath. I wished they all had happy endings.
Weary, I pushed at the picture of the university floor, broken open like a ground fault from the small-pressure charm that was supposed to cut a molecule-thin section of fossil from the parent rock. It got a ten. How in hell was I supposed to rate these without taking into account the cost of human life?
You okay? Ivy flipped through a report until she found what she wanted.
Not really. I ate a chip, then went to the fridge for the dip. Everything was better with sour cream and chives.
Jenkss wings hummed at a higher pitch, startled when I dropped the chip dip on the counter. You really think vampires are doing this? he asked.
David seems to think so. I watched Ivys jaw tighten, already knowing what she thought about that theory. Me, Im not buying that vampires will use magic on a scale such as this, even if they think it will save the souls of their kin. Especially after reading that pie-in-the-sky flyer, and I glanced at it on the counter where Ivy had dropped it after Id showed it to her.
Ivy frowned, still bent over her work. Did you know they made a saint out of him?
Who? I ate a chip before dumping them into a bowl.
Kisten, she said, and I froze, remembering the Kisten look-alike on the bridge. That doesnt mean theyre responsible for it. Then I did a mental jerk-back. Kisten? A saint?
No shit! Jenks exclaimed, and I just stared at her. Our Kisten?
Only now did she look up, the love she once had for him mixing with the sour disbelief for the misled. Because of what he said to you, she added. They think he died his second death with his soul intact and unsullied by the curse. Her head went back down, leaving me to feel uneasy. Cincinnati has the highest concentration of Free Vampires in the United States. If they were going to try to eradicate the masters, theyd try it here first.
But why? Cincy is in shambles! Its not working! I said, scrambling to wrap my head around Saint Kisten. Saint Kisten, in his leather jacket, motorcycle, and windblown blond hair. Saint Kisten, who had killed and hidden crimes to protect his master. Saint Kisten, who willingly sacrificed his second life to save mine . . .
Nina says shes seen some of them, she said, and my attention fixed sharply on her. I thought she was making it up, but if David comes up empty, Ill ask her.
I rolled the top of the bag of chips down, not hungry anymore. Sure.
Taking the pen out from between her teeth, Ivy leaned in to the map. Jenks, what time did you and Rachel leave the golf course yesterday?
Id be offended, but Jenks was better than an atomic clock. We left the parking lot at twenty to eleven, he said, and I moved the bowl of chips before his dust made them stale.
And then you got on 71 and came home. She frowned, waving Jenks off when his dust blanked out the liquid crystal. No stops between? Good roads? Not a lot of traffic?
No, I said, wondering where this was going. A cold feeling was slipping through me. Traffic was fine until we got downtown. Then it was the usual stop and go. Worried, I dragged my chair around to sit beside her and stare at her huge monitor and the gently sweeping wave of blue markers. It looked just like every other wave map shed made, except it was the first and there werent as many violent crimes to go with it.
Okay. Ivy was clicking, and the city map was covered by a graph. This is the wave you got caught up in last night at the bowling alley. Its the first one that the FIB took note on the times associated with the misfires. Im guessing the wave has a top speed of forty-five miles an hour, but that can vary. That first one seemed to be slower, especially.
She had a page of math, and I gave it a cursory look. And? I asked, and she moved the mouse, bringing up a new map.
Last nights wave that ended at the Laundromat was straight. The one that came through this morning before dawn was too, but the tracks were slightly different. It dissipated before it got to the church, Ivy said. And since most Inderlanders are asleep about then
Im not, Jenks said, and Ivy sighed, bringing up a new map.
Most magic-using Inderlanders are asleep then, and it wasnt noticed much. But if you look at the one that hit you first at the golf course and then again at the bridge, you can see they do shift direction.
My eyes narrowed as she drew her line, making a slight angle shift obvious. If it had continued on its original path, it would have missed the bridge completely.
My eyes narrowed as she drew her line, making a slight angle shift obvious. If it had continued on its original path, it would have missed the bridge completely.
Ivy was quiet as she eyed me. Rachel, it shifted to follow you. They all are.
Panic iced through me. Oh, hell no! I said, standing up fast when Ivys eyes flashed black at my fear. You mean something is getting out of the line and is hunting me? I said, pointing at the monitor with my free hand.
But Ivy simply sat there, calm and relaxed, that pen back between her teeth. Its not very responsive. After you left the golf course, it took almost ten minutes before it realized you were gone and shifted to follow.
Feeling icky, I stared at the map, wishing Ivy wasnt so damn good at her job. Jenks hovered between us. So its more like a slime mold after the sun.
Jenks shrugged. You have the same aura signature as the line. Maybe its trying to get back to it. Whatever it is.
You think its alive?
They said nothing, and I stifled a shudder. I didnt know if I liked this better than Free Vampires trying to change the world. I have to call Al. Wheres my mirror?
Jenks spun in the air to look at the front of the church. He darted out, and from the front came a familiar-sounding boom of the heavy oak door crashing into the doorstop, followed by a womans voice raised in anger. Where are my children!
Oh my God. Ellasbeth. I flushed, the memory of that last kiss with Trent flashing through me.
You ever hear of knocking? Jenks said, his voice hardly audible from the distance, but his voice carried when he was ticked. Hey! You cant just barge in here!
I came up from my crouch behind the center counter, my scrying mirror in my hands. Ellasbeth? I said to Ivy as the woman stomped down the hall, her high heels clicking. What was she doing in Cincinnati?
Where are my children?
Ivy put her computer into sleep mode and turned her charts and figures over. If she wakes up Nina, Im going to be pissed.
She threatened to keep the girls, I said as I set the mirror down. My guess is Quen ran off with them.
So of course she comes here.
I brushed the hint of chip crumbs from my front. Were on the way from the airport.
Trenton? the woman called, eyes snapping as she came to a breathless halt in the archway to the kitchen. She was dressed in cream slacks and a white top, matching jacket, a wide-brimmed hat askew on her head. My eyes went to my ugly crime scene photos, and I left them there. Where are my children? she demanded, an indignant flush on her cheeks.
I dont know. I fell back against the sink to keep my distance. Jenks had followed her in, a few kids with him all shouting at the top of their lungs. Ellasbeth waved her purse at them, and Jenks pulled his youngest, the one with the cut, out of the womans way.
Is Trent here? she demanded, then blanched at the picture of the woman with no hair.
Im sorry, Ellasbeth, I said, rubbing my forehead. Is there a reason for you to walk into my house and scream at me, or is this some kind of elven tradition Im unaware of?
Immediately she glanced at Ivy, then back at me. Quen took Lucy and Ray last night. Ran off with no warning. Neither he nor Trent will answer my calls. Youre his best friend in this godforsaken dead zone of culture. Where has he hidden them?
Best friend? You shouldnt have threatened to keep them, I said as I looked for the phone, not seeing it in the cradle. It was somewhere under the mess, and I began lifting papers. I never should have kissed him back. Never.
Its not safe here, the woman said with a huff, and Jenks snickered. Magic is behaving erratically. Even you can see that theyre safer with me.
No, I cant. I moved the chip bag. No phone. Have you met my roommate Ivy?
The first hints of embarrassment tensed her shoulders, and she held out a thin, manicured hand. Ellasbeth Withon, she said by rote as Ivy rose, her motion both sexy and aggressive.
Ivy Tamwood, Ivy breathed, and Ellasbeth blanched. If you wake up my girlfriend, Ill let her eat you.
Ellasbeths lips parted. Then she thought some more, presumptions visibly tumbling through her head as she looked at Ivy, then me, then back at Ivy. I wouldve said something, but it really wasnt any of her business.
Maybe the phone is under Ivys mess. Ellasbeth, I dont know where the girls are. Hold on a sec. Let me call Trent.
He wont take my calls, she said, still by the door and now holding her purse before her like a little shield. Those girls are mine!
Not for the next three months they arent, I said, giving up on the landline and getting my cell phone from my bag on the table.
Jenks finally got his kids outthrough the hole in the kitchen window screen since they were too afraid to go past Ellasbeth. I hit Trents number and put the phone to my ear, noting Ellasbeths annoyance that I had him on speed dial. I could sympathize, and it probably didnt help that she was cranky from having been in the air the last six hours or so, but she shouldnt have threatened to keep the girls.
Ellasbeth glanced at my scrying mirror nervously, and the line clicked open on the third ring.