be in reality again. Vivian’s expression eased, and I added, “I’m tired of being nice, though. If you
“That’s blackmail!” Oliver exclaimed.
Stiffening, Pierce turned to him, but before he could say anything, the van stopped with a tight squeal of brakes. My hand went out to stop my momentum, but Pierce was faster, holding me back from falling on Vivian. As one, we all looked to the front.
The unassuming-looking driver had unbuckled his seat belt and turned to us. His face was thin, and his expression from under his straggly brown hair severe. And his eyes…had gone vampire black. I shivered, feeling an ancient force take over the car, vampire incense filling me to overflowing. I stifled a shiver, a hand against my neck. Shit, this guy wasn’t a driver. This guy was I.S. Inderland Security.
“Oliver,” the man said, his voice causing ripples of sensation across my skin, “we at the I.S. think you’ve fucked this up far enough. If Rachel permanently eliminates the threat of this day-walking demon, no one will care if she’s the queen of the damned and eats live kittens for breakfast in front of kindergarteners. You will leave her alone, or you will find yourself disgraced.”
“Who the hell are you?” Oliver spouted, red faced, but he was scared. So was I.
Vivian flicked her eyes from Oliver to the driver, inching away from Oliver. Pierce, too, was staring with openmouthed awe. I just wanted to get out of this car before the vampire toxins sunk in my neck had me throwing myself at the guy. He was a living vampire, seeing as the sun was still up, but he was channeling a dead one. A really powerful, really old dead one.
“I’m your downfall, Oliver,” the man said, and I shivered. “If you push, I will be on you with bodies in your pool and satanic symbols etched into your children’s foreheads. But if all you put your faith in is titles, then I am the acting head of the I.S. west of the Mississippi, and as it stands, your coven is useless.” His eyes went to mine, and a small sound slipped out. “You need to replace them with people not afraid to get dirty for the greater good.”
I didn’t think he was talking about the rock dust, and I smiled, letting it fade when he glanced at me.
“We’re as close as we dare get,” he said, and my pulse pounded when he leaned between Oliver and Vivian to take my unresisting hand in his. Pierce bristled, and amusement danced in the man’s black eyes. “We at the I.S. wish you luck, demon. Letting you wallow amid mediocrity was our error.” He looked at Oliver, then back to me. “Our grave error. Good hunting, Rachel.”
It took me three times, but I stammered, “Th-thank you.” Oh God. If I could pull this off, the I.S. would be… well, they’d probably not be on my side, but I’d probably not be on their hit list anymore. They’d grant me respect, maybe? Oh crap. Did I want their respect? They’d probably want me to do stuff for them.
The vampire kissed the top of my hand—and a thrill of desire spiraled through me, pulled into existence by a slip of teeth and the scent of incense. And then…he was gone, his door thumping shut behind him and his quickly moving figure getting into the first car. It drove away fast, the car behind us following. Silence crept in my open window, and fresh air coming right off the bay. We’d passed the chocolate factory on the way in, and I thought I could smell it.
“I’m not getting out of this van,” Oliver said.
Vivian’s brow furrowed. “Got that right,” she said tightly, and then I gasped when she hauled off and hit him square in the jaw.
Pierce cried out, but it was over and the man had slumped to the door, out cold. Vivian was wringing her hand, eyes tearing as she held her red knuckles. A charm must have been involved because she hadn’t hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious. “That hurt,” she gasped, smiling. “Damn, I’m going to pay for that when the charm wears off, but it felt really good. He’s such a prick.”
A quiver went through me. It was time.
Twenty-nine
The rasp of the side door opening was loud, and heart pounding, I slid across the seat and followed Pierce out. We were at a sloping park where the streetcars turned around. The grass was cut and the bushes were manicured. Across the street, where the beach was, there was a small stone building that might once have been a public bathroom but was now boarded up. The wind was brisk by the water, and I sniffed, not bothering to tap a line.
It figured that Ku’Sox would be down here. Regular magic wouldn’t work well. Demon magic would, though, and I smiled grimly, feeling like a cupcake on a sparkling white plate.
My shoes hit the pavement, and I looked at them, wondering how they had found me a pair so fast when the city had come to a standstill. They weren’t new.
“Rachel, you said you had something for us to do?”
I forced the worry out of my eyes as I turned to Pierce. “Keep me alive when it’s over?” I said weakly, and he took my hand. It was a horribly romantic gesture, and it only made me feel worse. Things were clearer to me than they had ever been, and yet I gave his fingers a squeeze before I pulled away and turned to Vivian. There was a radio playing somewhere, and she was squinting up into the distant buildings, trying to place the sound. Otherwise, it was silent, rubble strewn about the edge of the shore. On the bay, it was beautiful, not a car on the bridge or a boat running out to Alcatraz.
I didn’t understand this. My entire life would be decided in the next five minutes, the lives of Ivy and Jenks, the safety of all good people, and here I was delighting in the smell of the seaweed and how the sun shone on the tiny little bugs darting on the hard-packed shore.
“Vivian,” I said, forcing myself to look back to her. “Oh, Vivian,” I said, softer when I saw her fear.
“I’m fine,” she asserted, her voice shaking. “Trent isn’t answering his phone. I’m sorry. I’ll keep trying. I think he flew back to Cincinnati with his little girl. What else can I do? I want to help.”
The woman was terrified, and my heart went out to her. She had fought Ku’Sox for three days, seen two of her peers
My hair lifted in the wind off the bay, and I smiled at the feeling.
“L-leave you?” she stammered, and I took her arm, leading her back to the van. “I can help!”
“I’m counting on it,” I said. “I need you to go back. Stop at every church you can find. There are people there, right? Get them to ring the bells for me.”
She stared, her blue eyes going wide. “For a collective,” she said breathily, realizing what I was asking. A city-wide collective hadn’t happened since the Turn. It was both a warning and a gathering. An act of trust. I didn’t know if they would help or not, but if they didn’t, then I would fail and they would suffer.
“I’ll do it,” she said, her voice trembling. “Rachel, if I have to light a fire in the middle of San Francisco, I will get you a collective. I promise.”
Somehow I managed a smile, and I stumbled when she gave me a quick hug. Her eyes were brimming when she stepped back.
I blinked fast, trying not to tear up. “Thanks,” I said, and her dusty shoes with the little bows scraped as she started to drift backward. “Don’t take too long.”
Nodding, she turned and went back to the van. The door creaked as it opened, and her slight figure made the jump inside. “At least there won’t be any traffic,” she said, and the door thumped closed.
The rumble of the van echoed against the abandoned buildings as the engine turned over. I felt Pierce’s presence beside me, and together we watched her pull away. The sound of the van quickly vanished, and we were alone. Sort of. Ku’Sox was here somewhere.
Nervous, I rubbed my palms together and breathed in the last of the exhaust fumes. “You don’t think they dropped us off at the wrong beach, do you?” I asked, and Pierce took my shoulders and turned our backs on the bay to look up to the hills of San Francisco. From here, everything looked normal, if a shade quiet and with the air
