Unable to hold her gaze, I looked away. Id loved Kisten knowing that thered never be children between us. It hadnt seemed to matter, but I suppose when your species was barren, children would carry a lot of weight. Enough to end a war, perhaps.
Elves are dangerous, Rachel, Newt said, and I pulled my thoughts from Kistens smile. Wickedly clever. Powerful. Alluring. And in a moment of weakness, trust comes ill to the unwary. When they practice, their magic seeps into every corner of their soul, able to lift you up beyond what you ever imagined. Are you sure youve not had sex with your elf and just forgotten?
Unhappy, I shook my head. Hes going to be married by the years end. And then, it wouldnt matter.
To you? she said, shocking me.
No, another elf.
Newt settled back, dragging the plate of cookies closer to her. More elves. I dont understand this. You free us from KuSox only to enslave us again.
I shook my head, wondering what it might have been like to have Trent between my sheets, his hands on my skin, the feel of his muscles under my fingers. Sighing, I shook the image from me, hoping Newt couldnt see the goose bumps. He knows how to free you from the curse.
And yet he doesnt, she said, voice soft. It doesnt matter. I dont think we could leave our prison now even if we tore the walls from space itself. Were like fireflies in a jar. Head tilted, she picked up a nearby jar, eyeing it. What are you doing with all these jars, anyway?
Concerned, I looked at Trent and Al, and she tapped the table. Im watching them, she said sharply. What are you doing with the jars?
Feeling pity, I said, You were the one with the jars. Trying to catch fireflies.
Frustrated, she slumped in her chair, mood distant. I dont remember, she breathed, handing it to me. The glass seemed to tingle in my fingers, and she pulled herself together when it left her. Im so glad we had this chat.
I breathed a sigh of relief tinged with worry. Id learned everything, and nothing. Me too, I said as I stood, jar still in hand. Somewhere between sitting down and now, she had put on a long flowing white gown that might look good next to Al in his British lord finery.
Go collect your elf from Gally before the silly demon kills him. Youre going to want the pleasure of that yourself, she said. And, lovely, be sure to have sex with him before you do. Elves know what magic is good for.
B-But you said . . . I stammered, shocked when I felt the line pull through me and she vanished, leaving the sunshade and the spoiled tea to go bad. The cookies, though, shed taken.
Sighing, I looked at Trent and Al, both of them silent as they waited for me. This is so messed up, I whispered as I picked my way to them, my jar of nothing tucked under an arm.
Sweat streaks lined with red dust, Trent tried to take my elbow, and I jerked away. If you ever attack Al again, Ill never speak to you, I said.
Huffing in satisfaction, Al sidled closer, his burnt-amber-scented bulk domineering.
That goes for you too, I added, shoving him back with a finger on his chest. Honestly, youre both an embarrassment, rolling around in the dust, trying to see who has the biggest magic wand.
Scowling, Al dropped back. What did the crazy mother pus bucket say?
The concern in both of them was obvious, and I looked out over the baking dirt, trying to see it green and moist. That you loved Ceri so much you made a slave of her for a thousand years because that was the only way you could have her. That the Goddess was real and you all killed her. Not to have sex with Trent. That someone is pulling wild magic out of the lines and to find out who and stop them, I said, and Al growled something almost unheard.
Ill find out who, Trent said grimly. And we will stop them, Rachel.
I turned my back on the ruined earth and looked at the ugly nothing that the elves and demons had made of the ever-after. That we would find them and stop them was a foregone conclusion. What had me concerned was that Newt, dancing about catching fireflies, could feel the wild magic as well as I.
I wasnt the only demon sensitized to wild magic. Newt was too.
Ten
Jenkss kids laughing in the garden was like audible sunshine, keeping me awake as I lay on my bed and stared at my shadowed ceiling. The heavy covers had been kicked off hours ago to leave me chilly under just the sheet, my arms crossed behind my head and my foot moving slowly back and forth to make a moving bump that Rex occasionally patted. It was around four in the morning, but slumber had been elusive and I was beginning to think I might see the sunrise before I dropped off.
Just go to sleep, I moaned, dead tired, and the cat angled her ears to me and purred.
My mind wouldnt shut off, circling around and around what had happened in the ever-after. I was sure everything would make sense if I looked at it from the right perspective, but it never moved toward understanding: Newt with her jars of nothing, the feel of wild magic prickling over my skin intensifying as I took Trents hand, Al hurting me in his outrage that Trent was going to enslave them through my ignorance, Al spending a thousand years trying to find a way for elves and demons to have kids, Newt being sensitized to wild magicthe same wild magic that had set Al off.
Demons didnt practice wild magic, but clearly it was a cultural bias, not a physical inability. I thought it telling that Newt believed in the Goddess when much of the elven population didnt. Was she insane, or just aware of more than the rest of us?
Did Trent believe? I wondered. He was going to sacrifice two goats to her. Was it rote, or belief? Did it matter to the Goddess if he believed or not as long as the goats were dead? Did I believe?
I recalled the scintillating feel of wild magic prickling over my skin like the chime of a belland then last spring when a presence had acknowledged me and helped me invoke those elven slave rings. Cold, I pulled the covers up to my chin. And how did sex figure into it? My focus blurred as I pulled the grit-coated memory of Trent to me, imagining how he had looked with the ever-after dust running off him in the shower, the sigh of relief he must have made, the slowly dissipating red puddle under him and the soap bubbles among his toes, the glisten of water on his clean skin, both slippery and firm as he shook his head and the drops went flying. His hair would still look light under the water. Id seen it once. But his eyes would be a brighter green.
Oh God, stop it, Rachel, I moaned, rolling over and burying my head under the pillow. Just how long had it been since Id been with anyone? Much less someone I loved?
But I dont love Trent.
My breath grew stale, and in a sudden flurry of motion, I flung the covers off and sat up. Rex dropped down, going to the door with a hopeful meow of an early breakfast. The oak floor was cold on my toes, and I felt ill from the lack of sleep. Pushing my hair back, I looked at my clock blinking a slow four A.M. The sun rose at about ten after five this time of year, and giving up, I reached for my robe, angry almost as I stuffed my arms in the blue terrycloth sleeves and tied it closed around me. Maybe warm milk would help.
The church was silent apart from the pixies outside, and the air was cold on my bare legs as I padded to the kitchen. Ivy and Nina were sleeping, and the mental image of them spooned together, their hair mingling as they shared the same pillow drifted through me. I smiled and left the kitchen light off. Happiness was happiness wherever you found it.
Warm milk alone wasnt going to do it, and I quietly got out the hot chocolate mix. The coming dawn let in enough light to see by, and I found things by memory, fingers moving sure in the dim light as Rex twined about my feet and got in my way. Newts empty jar sat on the sill next to Als chrysalis and Trents pinkie ring. I knew it was empty, but it gave me the creepscatching the early light to make the edges of the glass glow.
My phone was in my bag, and I eyed it as I got out the sugar. If the pixies were up, Trent would be too. Squinting in the light from the fridge, I smiled as Jenks came in, probably drawn by the activity. Morning, Jenks, I whispered as I filled a mug with milk and added the cocoa.
Cant sleep? he said as he perched on the roll of paper towels.
A bright silver dust spilled from him. Morning and evening were truly his time. Feeling fuzzy, I shook my head and looked out the small kitchen window. Most of the red glow in the clouds was from the fires in Cincinnati. Sirens, too, had been a faint, almost nonstop background. Edden hadnt asked me to come in, and for that I was thankful. Today hed probably be screaming for help as he tried to cope with rising vampire violence.
Too much going on, I said as I put the mug in the nuker and hit go. I leaned back against the counter while the microwave spun, the square of light diffusing into nothing. Trent had once made me hot chocolate. Stop it, Rachel.
The seconds on the microwave counted down, and not wanting to wake up Ivy and Nina, I cut it short. Jenks was a quiet hum of accompaniment as I took the hot chocolate out onto the back porch. The door would thump if I closed it, so I left it open, carefully easing the screen door shut before padding over the slightly damp wood and sitting on the top step, my knees almost to my chin. God, I was tired, but sleep wouldnt come.
Mug held to warm my fingers, I looked over the garden to the glow of Cincinnati. The news last night had been awful, even if there were fewer misfires to focus on. Magic was being voluntarily curtailed above and beyond reason, creating almost more problems than the misfires. A bright spot was that the I.S. was beginning to function on a reduced level to try to contain the more aggressive living vampires. Nonvampire agents were teaming up with the FIB street force out of frustration as their living vampire managers became more and more circular in their thinking, unable to make a decision. It was scary how dependent they were on the undead.
The forensic and investigative teams of both factions were working together the best, giving weight to my theory that magic and technology were the languages of common sense. Still, there were more than a handful of ignorant good-old boys and girls on both sides of the fence resisting. Edden was in his personal heaven and hell as he got what hed been working toward the last three years. There was almost as much friction between the new interspecies partnerships as there was between unruly citizens and the authorities. There was talk of putting Cincinnati and the Hollows under quarantine in the fear that whatever was keeping the undead asleep might spread. We were truly on our own while the world watched.