Nick laughed, fitting in perfectly with the rough men around us, thin from Brimstone and too hard a life. Jax was on his shoulder, clearly familiar by their casual acceptance. I sat nervously and watched as Nick and the guy talked, both of them looking at the car. At us.

'I'd allow that Nick's car has a lot more levers than yours,' Pierce said, eying the dash.

'Nick's car goes faster than my mother's,' I said, sitting sideways so I didn't have to take my eyes off Nick. 'Don't touch anything. It might go boom.'

It wouldn't, but Pierce drew his hand away. 'I don't trust him.'

'Neither do I.' Nick took a metal cutter from a nearby bench, and I fingered my zip strip, eager to get it off.

'If you're not of a mind to trust him, then why are we still here? This is vexing, sitting like a fence post.'

I had to think about that for a moment, first to piece together what he was saying, and then to figure out why we hadn't left. I had nothing for Nick but bad feelings, yet here I was. 'I need to sleep,' I finally said, 'and I don't want to do it on a bus touring Cincinnati.' My gaze returned to Pierce, finding a surprising amount of tension in him. 'Relax. I've known Nick for a couple of years. We did okay until it fell apart. I don't trust him, but I think he loved me in his own way once. Even if he did sell information to Al about me.'

That last had been barely muttered, but Pierce had shifted to look at Nick. 'The lickfinger,' he said. 'You're a powerful more forgiving person than me, Rachel. I would have—'

His words cut off, and I looked at him sharply. 'What?' I asked, remembering his black magic—magic not only black in name but deed, too. 'What would you have done, Pierce?'

He dropped his eyes at my pointed look, silent, and I turned back to Nick in a huff. The more I knew about Pierce, the more I worried. And I didn't need a babysitter.

Out the back window, I watched Nick hand the garage guy the bag from the coffeehouse and shuffle our way. Pierce squinted at Nick when he opened the door and leaned to look in. 'You want those bands off?' Nick asked, holding the clippers up.

Immediately I shoved Pierce to get out, grabbing my bag in passing as I slid across and found my feet beside him. It smelled like acetylene torch and oil, and three ragged guys were watching us as I held out my wrist. The metal was cold against my skin, and I shivered when the zip strip was clipped through. The strand parted with a little thump, and I rubbed my wrist.

'God, that feels good,' I said as I reached for a ley line, realizing where we were in the process. Not far from the university. Cool. 'Thanks, Nick.' My chi filled, and my shoulders eased when I spindled a little bit extra in my head. It was easier now to stand confidently under the eyes of men talking in low tones and accents hard for me to follow. My knees felt better, too.

'Thank you,' Pierce said stiffly, and Jax zipped down in a bow of silver dust, catching Pierce's zip strip before it hit the stained concrete, taking both of them to a high shelf. I wasn't surprised that Pierce remained looking like Tom when his band fell away. He'd probably keep his true appearance to himself for the same reason I was holding my old-lady disguise back.

Nick glanced at where Jax had left the zip strips, then turned back to us. 'No problem,' he said, looking skinny as he tossed the clippers to the closest bench, where they slid to a noisy stop. 'You want to crash for a few hours? I've got a room across the street.'

I shifted nervously, feeling cold in a garage that had never seen the sun, surrounded by concrete, tools to strip a car to nothing, and the men messing around with them—and watching me. 'Sure. Thanks, Nick.'

My fingers slipped into Pierce's hand as we headed for the man door, shocking the hell out of him, but I wanted Nick to know that I didn't consider his helping us as anything other than a temporary encounter. The guys watching laughed at both men's reactions, but I didn't care. If they thought I was an insecure airheaded fluff, then all the better.

Pierce's brow furrowed, and suddenly the ley-line pressure between us eased as he drew on the same line and brought himself, holding an amount of energy, nearer mine.

Nick saw Pierce's fingers intertwined with mine. Expression unchanging, he pulled open the man door fixed in the garage door. 'Jax!' he shouted, and the pixy zipped back, tucking himself into the outside pocket of Nick's faded cloth coat just as the sun spilled in across our feet. 'Just across the street,' he said again, squinting at the bright spring sun.

Pierce and I followed. His fingers moved against mine, taking my grip more firmly, and I stifled a start when a budding sensation of warmth grew in the cup of my hand. What in hell is he doing? I thought, then yanked free. Pierce smiled, and I glared at him. It hadn't been a power pull, but it had been something. And I didn't like his jaunty new step either.

The building Nick was heading toward looked bigger than most. I was guessing it had once been a theater, with SALTY CHOCOLATE in faded letters where the movie titles would have been. Dinner theater? I wondered, changing my mind when we entered the barred door to find a wide foyer with an unlit neon sign proclaiming it was the Salty Chocolate Bar. There was another set of barred gates; beyond them were a quiet space full of tables, a dance floor with three poles, the smell of Brimstone, and a long bar. The bar had a stripper pole, too. No one was in there, but the dark light display made me remember Kisten.

'You live above a strip bar?' I said, and Nick gave me a sidelong glance, pulling a single key out from a pocket and unlocking a side door covered in thick paint the same color as the walls. It opened to a narrow stairway with faded carpet and bare walls going up what must have been three stories. I sent my gaze all the way up and winced. This was going to kill my knees.

'Upstairs, last door at the end of the hall,' Nick said, gesturing for me to go, and Jax flew up first, vaulting from Nick's pocket to make a steep, glittery ascent. It looked like the two of them had been working together since Mackinaw, and I wondered if it was only the fact that Nick was a thief that made Jenks and me that much different.

The stairs creaked, and it smelled old, like coal-stoves-and-pigs-roaming-the-streets old. The occasional window through the brick wall lit the way. Pierce was behind me, and I glanced up when footsteps started down. It was a very tall woman, and I stood aside when we met somewhere in the middle. She was wearing black lace and fur, both fake. Too much blush.

'Hi, hon, love your hair,' she said to me, her voice decidedly husky, then to Nick, 'Hey, lovey. Where's Jax?'

'Upstairs,' Nick said shortly, clearly not liking the woman, or man, I was beginning to suspect. I smiled noncommittally as she passed with her boots clunking, but before I could take another step, she made a sound of recognition.

'Tom!' she exclaimed, and Pierce threw himself against the wall when she reached for him. His expression was scared, and he grabbed his hat from his head when it started to fall.

'Hey, man!' the woman said, punching him on the shoulder to make Pierce's eyes go even wider. 'Tom, Tom, the magic man. That was some serious shit you did last time you were here. Where you been? Word was you got cacked by some broad under the city. Shoulda known it was nothing but salty water under the bridge. I didn't know you knew Nicky. You going to be here tonight? I got a table for you. You just say the word, and I'll have a couple of my best girls for you, too. No charge, no cleanup fee.'

No cleanup fee?

Nick watched Pierce's frightened expression. I, too, was surprised. Tom was a known face down here? Great. Just freaking great.

'You mistake me for someone else... ma'am,' Pierce managed.

The woman looked at me and laughed. 'Oh, right. Yeah. My mistake,' she said. 'See you around. Bye, Nicky,' she said, her voice shifting higher. 'You working tonight?'

Nick shook his head. 'Not tonight, Annie. I'll be showing my friends the sights.'

'Plenty of sights in the club,' she said deviously. With a little wave, she continued down. Her shoulders were wider than Glenn's and she carried herself with much the same easy grace.

'Annie owns the building,' Nick offered. 'Owns the club. Takes good care of her girls.'

'Takes your rent?' I guessed, and Nick nodded.

'Doesn't ask questions,' he added, passing me when I didn't move fast enough for him.

fit bet, I thought, sliding over when Pierce came up beside me.

'Law sakes' alive,' the shaken man whispered as he snuck glances down at the woman, still making her

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