My toes were cold, and I hid my left foot under my right. The chocolate was beginning to scum up, and I blew it to the far side of the mug before I took a sip. It was quiet, and neither Jenks nor I said anything as we listened to Cincinnati slowly shift from fear and sirens to an exhausted quiet as the day approached.
Jenks hummed a warning, but I felt Bis long before he dropped from the steeple, landing with an almost unheard thump. I turned, smiling at the serious adolescent as he shifted his batlike wings and blinked sleepily. Kind of pushing it, arent you? I asked him, seeing as he had a hard time staying awake when the sun was up.
He glanced at the steeple. I got about an hour yet. Put me in the belfry if I zonk out, will you? he said, the vowels grinding together like rocks. We had six patrols drive by, but most everyone is minding their own turf.
Especially when the worlds only day-walking demon lives on your street, I thought sourly. Well get it figured out, I said, wondering how I was going to get through today on the scant sleep Id managed. Trent wanted me to come out tonight around six to talk to Bancroft. That might be difficult with the curfew Edden had going, but perhaps if I got a note or something from him I could get through the roadblocks.
Or I could call Trent and tell him I cant come. I didnt like that hed adroitly sidestepped telling me what he and Al had discussed. But then again, I hadnt offered to tell him about Newts and my conversation, either.
You gonna call him? Jenks said, somehow knowing where my thoughts were. Hes probably awake.
Bis looked behind me into the church, and the soft sound of footsteps intruded. Everyone is awake, I said as I turned to Ivy looking rumpled and sexy in her black silk top and bottom pajamas. Expression listless, she pushed the screen door open and shuffled out, squinting disparagingly at the horizon. She looked half dead, and I slid over a few feet to make room for her. Still not having said a word, she sank down, her feet on the step below mine. Shes wearing nail polish? Bis shifted his wings, and we all settled in again. Seeing she needed it more than me, I handed her my hot chocolate.
Thanks, she rasped, her voice uncharacteristically rough.
Tinks little pink rosebuds, Ivy. You look like hell, Jenks said, and she gave him a black-eyed stare over the mug. The spicy, nose-prickling scent of vampire incense became stronger, and Bis wrinkled his face. I was starting to be able to pick out Ninas characteristic scent off her. It was lighter, almost flowery compared to Ivys darker shadow scent, but lacing it was a thread of blacknessFelix.
Nina okay? I asked, thinking it was odd we were all out here on the steps while Cincinnati shook off the night.
A smile made Ivy look almost alive. Shes sleeping likeah, a rock, she said. Thank you. For caring, I mean, she added, unable to look at me.
Nina is a good person, I said. Jenks darted off, unable to handle the emotional, flowery crap, as he put it, and I gave her a sideways hug. Shes good for you, and youre good for her. If they cancel the fireworks, you want to have a cookout when its all over? When was it ever over?
Ivy took another sip. Or sleep, she said, focus distant. I could use some sleep.
Me too, Bis said. I woke up yesterday when a fire truck went by. That never bothers me.
Maybe youre just getting older, I said, and he smiled, his black teeth catching the light. Giving me a nod, he took to the air, and my hair flew as he went back to the steeple to talk to Jenks. A lonely hoot of a train pulled my attention back to Cincinnati, and I wondered if they would continue to stop if we were put under quarantine. Though the waves were still occurring with no discernible pattern, the misfires were under control. Id noticed an odd, unexpected sense of superiority from humans that their science was holding up in the face of no-magic.
The brum of a motorcycle roaring to life echoed in the quiet street behind us, and I sighed again. So much for my idea of catching a few more winks.
Ivy straightened, her expression shifting from alarm to fear when Jenks made a wide arching path around the garden, arrowing to us. That was Ninas bike, Ivy said, pale.
Someone is stealing it? I said in disbelief, and Ivy stood, the mug of hot chocolate spilling down the steps.
Nina! she cried, racing inside.
Nina is gone! Jenks shouted, and I froze at Ivys cry of heartache. It iced through me as I stood on my back porch, falling to the pit of my soul and tightening into a black knot.
I bolted inside. Ivy! I called, running through the back living room and into the hallway. Their bedroom door was open, and I came to a sudden, breathless halt when Ivy almost ran into me. Her eyes were black, and fear had made her beautiful. A pixy girl hovered over her, tears slipping like sun from her eyes as she wrung her dress and apologized in high-pitched, fast words. Wheres Nina?
Ivy shoved past me on the way to the kitchen. Her katana was in her hand. Jenks and I followed her as the pixy whod been on watch wailed, a black dust slipping from her. Gone, Ivy said as she pulled out a drawer for her set of throwing knives. He took her. He waited until I left, and then he walked her right out of the church.
Felix? Her voice had no inflection and her movement was vampiric fast as she jerked to a stop, stymied from tucking her knives away when she realized she was in silk pajamas, not leather pants.
Ivy turned, expression riven with grief. He must have been there all the time, waiting for me to leave.
Im so sorry! the pixy girl wailed. She looked okay. She talked to me and looked okay. She said she was going to get some ice cream to surprise you.
Im so sorry! the pixy girl wailed. She looked okay. She talked to me and looked okay. She said she was going to get some ice cream to surprise you.
Ivy stood shaking, one hand full of knives, the other holding her katana, her hair falling to hide her eyes. I cant let him destroy her. Not now.
She said it was a surprise! the pixy cried, and Jenks hovered helplessly.
Its okay, I said to the little pixy. Go back to the lines. But she didnt, clearly upset. I gave Jenks a pleading look, and he darted down to take the crying girl outside.
Hes going to kill her, Ivy said in the new quiet. I cant lose her, Rachel. Not to that madness!
Her head came up, and my resolve strengthened. Give me five minutes to get dressed.
She could be dead in five minutes! Eyes black, she ran for the hallway.
I stumbled out of her way. Fear hit me hard, and my heart gave a pound as I heard her throwing on clothes, her breath coming in quick, almost sobbing pants. Felix was awake? Ivy didnt have a chance.
Ivy.
I found her in the hallway, katana in one hand, stakes in the other, the knives now tucked away.
This is a vampire issue, she said, then turned her back on me and walked steadily to her death.
Do something! Jenks shouted from the ceiling, and I ran at her.
Ivy gasped as I tackled her, and we slid into the sanctuary. You are not going without me! I shouted, and then the world spun as she shoved me off her.
I cant leave her to that! she screamed, pinning me to the oak floor, straddling me with her sheathed blade under my chin and her hair mingling with mine. Rachel, I love her!
The hard leather was cold against me, and her hand on my shoulder warm. Ivy, I said softly, tears blurring my vision. Look at me. He didnt call her to him to kill her. He wants her alive. He needs Nina alive in order to see the sun.
Ivys face twisted in fear, and the scent of vampire incense poured over me, making my neck tingle. I was losing her.
Ivy! I called, and her gaze came back to mine. He wont kill her unless by mistake. We have some time. We can get her back. Give me a chance to get dressed and grab my charms so I can come with you. Youre not alone. Well do this together.
Fear showed in her eyes, and she took a heaving breath, the blade beginning to shake against me. Jenkss dust glowed in her hair, and for some dumb reason, I felt more lovemore loved, maybethan I ever had before.
He probably took her to Cormels, I said to give her something to focus on so she could find herself. Thats where Felix has been staying. You have to figure out how we are going to get in. Thats what you do.
Her hand shook, and with a thump, the sword hit the floor and slid four feet. My breath came in a gasp as she spun away off me. Shaking, I sat up. She was huddled on the floor, her knees to her chin as she held herself together and cried great gasping sobs of heartache and frustration. How can I save her? she moaned. How? Its like heaven in his arms. Hell in his mind . . .
I glanced up at Jenks, then pretty much crawled over to her, pulling her to me so she didnt have to cry alone. She was real and solid, her fear and grief shaking in her. The world had shifted. I didnt need her anymore. She needed me, and I wouldnt fail her.
We will get her back, I said, my arms holding her against the tremors, my words a breath in her hair as she shook. I promise.
Eleven
Phone to my ear, I sat in the passenger seat of Ivys moms big blue Buick and listened to the background FIB office chatter as Rose, Eddens secretary, looked for Edden. I hadnt had any luck getting a hold of David, his voice mail full and his cell going unanswered. It wasnt unusual for him to let it ring, especially when working, but I didnt like that the last time Id talked to him, hed been investigating the Free Vampires.
We were parked outside of Cormels, Ivy fiddling with her scarf as she stared at the unassuming, two-story tavern turned residence, filling the car with the intoxicating scent of frustrated vampire. As we waited for Jenks to return from his recon, the memory of our trip out west bubbled up from the recesses, pulled into existence by the faint scent of elf from the back. The two aromas were combining to make my libido run a tingling path from my neck to my groin and back again.
Vampire pheromones and curiosity once drew me into a possible lifelong path with Ivy, but we were truly better apart. She needed to be needed, and I couldnt be that person anymore. I was too much a demon, and not enough witch.
A huge Free Vampire glyph had been spray-painted on the twin oak doors, making me wonder if it was coincidence or if the cult had fixed on Felix as something special, seeing as he was awake and no other undead vampire was. The sun would be up soon, and a bright glint hazed the pristinely clean windows on the upper floor. If he was still here, Felix would be trapped in the more elaborate underground apartments, making him more aggressive in his madness. I wasnt about to ask Ivy to wait for reinforcements, though. I agreed that the longer Nina was there, the harder it would be to not only pull her out but separate their minds.