Black Magic Sanction

'He'll go for it,' I said, worried. 'Can I keep the paperwork here? Visual aids help.'

Glenn nodded. 'You signed two originals,' he said as he took half the stack and tucked it under his arm. 'If you're ready, I'll send them in.' His gaze dropped to my dinner as I picked it up. 'Good?' he asked.

'Delicious,' I said, reaching for it. 'Thanks, Glenn. For everything.'

The man smiled wickedly. 'Any time, Rachel. Have fun.'

He left the door open, and I could hear Trent's beautiful voice in the hall. He was talking with Jonathan, and Jenks's wings clattered as my blood pressure rose. I hated the man. 'Jenks,' I said on impulse as I dug into my dinner. 'You go, too.'

'What?' Peeved, Jenks confronted me. 'Why can't I stay?'

'If you're in here, Trent might want a witness, too. I don't want Jonathan with him.'

The pixy turned in midair, hands on his hips. 'I could do a little dusting,' he said, and my lips curved up in a smile. Jonathan wouldn't know what hit him.

'You do that,' I said, then drew back as Trent pushed the door open. Oliver was behind him, all bluster and huff. The two men gave Jenks a cautious look as the pixy laughed, darting out over their heads singing 'London Bridge Is Falling Down.'

Watching me, Trent shut the door with the tip of his shoe, and the silence of a sort-of-soundproof room soaked into me. 'Please, sit down,' I said to the two men, gesturing with my chopsticks. 'I'm glad you agreed to see me. Do you want anything? Coffee? Subgum?'

Sitting on the green, thinly padded metal chair, Trent clasped his hands and rested them on his crossed knees. His face lacked all emotion, waiting. 'No thank you.' His eyes shifted from the paperwork to the statue, and I smiled. Thanks, Nick, even if you are a bastard. God! I couldn't believe he went behind my back to work a deal with Trent. On second thought, I could. And what was it with Trent not telling me he thought I might be able to do that elf trick of shifting realities using ley lines?

Oliver stood, his arms crossed. 'You are a black witch,' he started, his words harsh.

Going back to my subgum, I said mildly, 'And the coven of moral and ethical standards is corrupt, having a demon-summoning black-arts practitioner among their number. You sure you don't want a coffee?'

'We do not!' the man exclaimed.

'Wrong!' Taking a breath, I jammed the sticks in the takeout box, thinking they looked too aggressive pointing at him like that. 'Brooke tried to make a deal with me to put one of my demon children in her cradle and me off the lobotomy table intact and in her private army.'

Oliver's round face looked horrified.

Trent unclasped his hands and tugged his sleeves. 'Can we skip this part? I have an appointment in half an hour with the press.'

His hand fumbling for the back of a chair, Oliver sat. I didn't think he'd known that. Good. Maybe he would listen to me. 'Sure,' I said slowly, answering Trent's question. 'We can come back to it if we need to. Let me tell you what I want.' I'm going to make a deal with two men who tried to kill me. Was I stupid or really smart? Sidereal didnt have a problem with it.

Oliver scoffed. 'You're in jail. You're in no position to be asking anything.'

Trent hid a smile, and I picked through my dinner to find a water chestnut. 'I'm in jail because I choose to be. You don't think that performance in Fountain Square was anything other than to get the media's attention and you in front of me, do you? It's safe here, and the food's better than at Alcatraz.' I looked up, allowing a sliver of my irritation to show. 'Ever try it, Ollie? It's got this really tasty spice in the saturated fats.'

Oliver frowned, and Trent interrupted with a brusque 'Listen to the woman, or this will take all day. She'll make it quick, and then you can spout off all you want.'

Expression cross, the witch leaned back in his chair, and I eyed Trent, thoughts of his Pandora charm and the deal with Nick making me tense. His words about me being honorable had been a surprise, and I'd swear he hadn't known about the bug before then. But lying was one of his skill sets. Bringing my conflicted gaze from Trent, I pointed my chopsticks at Oliver. 'I want my shunning removed and the threats to my person stopped.'

He huffed, tugging his sleeves, making his cuff links twinkle. 'That action requires a full quorum, which we won't have until the next public meeting and we reestablish our number.'

Public meeting... the witches' conference? Nice stall. 'Give me something,' I said, 'or my next conversation will be with the press and it will come out that not only does a schism exist in the coven, but that some of you are corrupt and summon demons.'

'We're not corrupt!' Oliver exclaimed, making Trent wince. 'No one will believe you!'

My eyebrows rose. 'Talk to Brooke lately?'

Oliver's bluster evaporated. Honestly, they needed to pick these people more carefully. He might be a crackerjack witch, but he was telegraphing his entire thought process, and my estimation of the coven dropped more.

'I didn't know what she was doing,' Oliver said slowly. 'And Vivian, as a minor coven member, had her hands somewhat tied. Brooke has been officially shunned, stripped of rank.'

I dug into my subgum, saying, 'Good thing she's in the ever-after, or you'd brick her in the ground alive, huh? Who'd ever think being a demon's lackey would be a good thing?'

Looking up, I caught Oliver's shocked look. 'We will deny everything,' he said, and Trent sighed loudly. 'The words of a shunned witch are unheard!'

'How about the words of a coven member?' I asked. 'I have a recorded conversation of Vivian telling me you did know of the attacks, that you were reassessing my case, and that action might be taken against my family if I didn't submit to chemically neutering my ability to have children and work magic. It's on my phone, Ollie. I think she's pissed you called her a liar.'

The man looked aghast, and Trent cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the man's ineptness. I was kind of embarrassed, too, and I picked past the broccoli to find a squash slice. This was what our yearly dues bought?

'This is how it works,' I said, trying not to sound irate. 'I give you something, you give me something. We all go home happy.' Seeing him silent, I added, 'This is what is going to happen. If you don't rescind my shunning and agree to stop trying to kill me, I'm going to demand a fair trial of my peers, thanks to this pile of paperwork here. And the press running with the idea that the coven is corrupt means I'll get it. TV coverage, radio, everything.'

Oliver was eying my papers, and I rested my hand on them protectively. 'Even if you do manage to refute my claim that the coven is corrupt, the truth will come out that our history is based on ancient elf propaganda and our beginnings are rooted as stunted demons, the result of an elf curse. Ought to do wonders for our public image, both witches and elves.' I glanced at Trent. 'Not that anyone thinks they're still around, but hey, there it is. I'll probably end up in jail, but any time I want, I just talk to my demon teacher, and I'm out of there, leaving you to deal with the fallout.'

'You wouldn't!' Oliver said, appalled. 'It would mean genocide!'

'She would,' Trent muttered, clearly not pleased I'd brought the elves into it.

'I will,' I said, putting my dinner aside. 'Thanks to you gentlemen, I've got nothing to lose. You put me in this place, and I'm going for broke. If I'm going to be persecuted solely on the basis of being a stepping-stone between witches and demons, then I'm taking you down with me.' I glanced at Trent. His public persona was cracking, and he looked pissed. 'And if you don't go along with it, Mr. Kalamack, I'll tell them how I got that way.'

His focus on me sharpened. 'My father saved your life,' he said bitterly.

'Which doesn't give you the right to run it.' Tired, I fingered the fortune cookie's advice. I didn't want to bring this up in front of Oliver, but why not? 'Trent, I'd appreciate it if you would drop your attempts at trying to make me your property, okay? If you've got a problem you want help with, come talk to me. If you give me five minutes' notice, I'll even make sure the pixies are in the garden.'

Trent uncrossed his legs, the rasping silk loud in the hush. 'I didn't tell the coven, but I'll be damned if I don't capitalize on it. I am not anyone's familiar.'

'Trent... ,' I almost whined. 'I'm not going to make good on that. Will you let it go?'

Brow furrowed, he leaned forward, flicking a glance at Oliver. 'Listen this time. You claimed me. I don't care if you never enforce it. There is a mark on my shoulder. It matches yours. Get it annulled.'