'I think you would!' I exclaimed. 'You want me dead!'
'There are at least five people I can think of off the top of my head who want you dead.'
I heard him take a breath to say something, then pause as if in sudden thought. 'I have to go,' he said abruptly. 'You're okay? Right?' he asked, and I looked at Ivy, knowing she could hear both ends of the conversation as well as Jenks, on my shoulder.
He cared if I was all right?
'Good, you're okay. I'll talk to you later. I have to check on something. Ah, sorry about the charm.'
My breath came in fast, and I sat up. 'Trent!' I shouted, but the phone went dead. 'He hung up on me,' I said sourly, then flipped the phone closed and handed it to Ivy.
Jenks took off from my shoulder, and a shiver coursed through me. 'That sounded like real surprise to me,' he said, hovering before the tight-lipped vampire.
'Me, too,' she said, looking worried as she leaned back against the
'Even so, I wouldn't trust him,' Pierce said. 'His father was a devious sort, and I've seen nothing to convince me he's any different.'
'Yeah. I know.' Exhaling, I pressed my knees together so no one would see them shake.
'I don't care if Rynn complains,' Ivy said dryly. 'I'm going to kill Trent. Slowly.'
Pierce was nodding his agreement, but my damned intuition had me clenching my jaw in doubt. Trent had killed people before, one right in front of me. And once he had pulled out a gun and shot me with a subjugation spell, the decision made and acted on in a second. It wasn't that Trent couldn't kill me, but if he was going to do it, it would be over and done within an hour of his decision. Not like this. This smacked of cowardice. It wasn't his style.
I rubbed my wrist where he had grabbed me, feeling it as if it had just been today. He'd violated my person to see if I was as dangerous as his father had warned him—and I had thrown him into a tree the next day, proving it. He was good and bad all at the same time. God, I hated Trent. Or maybe I just hated that I didn't know if I could trust him or not.
'I opine it wasn't a curse,' Pierce said as I fingered the smooth rope. 'It was a spell crafted to not cleanly break. Death by something designed as innocent so as not to invoke your lethal-charm amulet. Powerful tricky. But you didn't make a die of it, and that's what matters.'
My eyes went to his, and Pierce dropped his attention to the hat in his hands, his ears going a faint red. 'Thanks, Pierce,' I said softly. 'I owe you. Big.'
Jenks snorted and Ivy sighed, making motions to try to leave. Sheesh, Pierce had pulled a line through me to burn the malfunctioning charm to nothing. No wonder he was embarrassed.
His eyes met mine. 'It was what any decent man would do. You owe me nothing,' he said, and Jenks groaned from the overdone drama. But Pierce had probably saved my life.
Orange dust falling from him, Jenks dropped to my knee. 'Well, what did you remember?' he asked, wings going full tilt. 'Hope it was worth dying for.'
Ivy crossed her arms over her middle to look both aggressive and pensive. 'This was my fault. I convinced her to try the charm, thinking it might tell her if she didn't trust Trent because of a grade-school tiff or because he's a bastard.'
'I think we can safely answer that now,' Pierce muttered, but I wasn't sure, and it made me angry.
'It was just something from the Make-a-Wish Camp,' I said, and Jenks buzzed his wings for more, but I wasn't talking. I was remembering all sorts of things now. Stuff like Lee being trapped in the cistern for three days shortly afterward. He was half dead when they found him, suffering badly—apparently Trent had taken my advice with an overly aggressive vengeance. And Jasmine finding flowers on her pillow every morning in contrast to the fox scat I kept finding in my shoes. I'd thought it was cabin razzing, but now I wondered if it had been Trent trying to get his hoof pick back. My stuff kept going missing that year, invariably showing up a few days later in the cabin toilet. Uncomfortable, I swung my feet to the floor, and Jenks took off. 'Yes, he's a bastard all right,' I said softly, not meeting anyone's eyes.
'Tink's contractual hell, you still think he's telling the truth about the coven?' Jenks exclaimed at the whisper of doubt in my voice. 'He just tried to kill you!'
'I know!' I shouted, and Jenks flew backward in surprise to Ivy. 'Don't you think I know that? But I can't figure him out!'
'What's to figure out?' Nick said dryly. 'He's a liar. He's always been a liar, and he will always be a liar.'
Frustrated, I opened up the box and took out the hoof pick, looking at it like it was a puzzle box. 'Trent was that same mix of ruthless bastard and sympathetic best friend at camp that he is now. And I think I helped make him that way. Apparently I won the bet, though.'
I lifted the exquisite hoof pick and handed it to Pierce, figuring he'd be interested in it. I wondered if Trent sneaking in to take my ring last year was because I had stolen his pick. Maybe he wanted it back? He
Nick shook his head in warning and I gave him a mirthless smile as I rubbed my aching arms. It was as if my childhood fatigue had soaked back in and wasn't leaving. I was so messed up. And what was it with Trent's pattern of taking my stuff only to give it back?
Ivy picked up the empty plate and moved to the door. 'Are you sure you're okay?'
'Yeah, you were blue, Rache,' Jenks chimed in.
Flexing my fingers, I felt the lack of strength. Cripes, she'd almost broken them.
Without warning, a high-pitched barrage of near-ultrasonic pixy voices rose, shrill at the front of the church. In a flash of silver dust, Jenks darted out. My eyes touched on Pierce's, and he was gone as well, his feet thumping on the oak flooring to the front of the church. Ivy was a step behind, almost shoving Nick out of the way.
Eyes wide, I stared at Nick, jumping when I felt two people tap into the ley line out back. This wasn't pixy mischief. We were being attacked!
Pierce's voice rang out from the front of the church, and then a crash of glass. Shit. He was yelling in Latin.
In a spurt of motion, I got to my feet, pushing past Nick to reach the hallway. It was empty, but a heavy thump from the sanctuary filled me with dread. 'Ivy?' My knees gave a hard twinge, and my run turned into a shuffle. Breathless, I came to a halt at the end of the hall, leaning on the open frame. The bright glare of late- morning sun spilled into the empty sanctuary, stripped ages ago to walls and a wooden floor. The light over the pool table was swinging, and my heart seemed to stop when I saw Ivy flat out beside her grand piano, face turned away and hair spread.
Pixies were a dangerous cloud surrounding Vivian and Pierce, both of them standing on broken colored glass. Vivian's produce-stained coat gave her some protection from pixy steel, but blood was about her face and neck where she'd been nicked. She didn't look too happy about it. A red haze glowed around her hands, growing darker as her fingers manipulated magic and her lips moved to give it strength. I had no doubt that it would be both white—and deadly.
Pierce was grappling with her, holding her wrists with a black-and-green glow hazing out from his entire body. I had no idea what he was doing, but his face was creased with strain. The scent of ozone was heavy, and the morning air drifted in, almost too cool for the pixies.
With a cry, Vivian kicked out to shove Pierce off her. Pierce hit the floor, seizing when his magic backlashed into him. Angry, Pierce tossed his hair from his eyes and looked up at the ugly smile of anticipation coming over Vivian, widening as she finished her charm and held it, a glowing ball of who knew what.
'Hey, Strawberry Shortcake!' I shouted, pushing myself upright.
Vivian's pretty lips parted, and swearing, she shifted her aim to me.
Crap. When would I ever learn?
