I swallowed, and on my exhale, I loosened my hold. A trickle, a whisper, a breath of power ebbed between us with the slow pace of molasses. Energy slipped coolly from me to him, equalizing. It hadn't happened in a jolting flash, telling me Pierce had an amazing amount of control. There was no titillation, or at least not much. But there could have been. There were ways, and slow was often more excruciatingly pleasurable than fast.
I stared at him, pulse hammering as our palms touched and the energy hummed between us. 'I have no idea what I'm doing,' I whispered, not knowing if I was talking about how to travel the lines or my life in general.
Pierce's lips twitched. 'Then let me show you, mistress witch.' Palms never leaving mine, he leaned forward across the table. My pulse hammered, and I thought he was going to kiss me, when he suddenly pulled back, his eyes wide and his gaze unfocused.
'What did I do?' I asked, alarmed, and then the air pressure shifted.
'Stu-u-u-udent!'
Shit.
Fifteen
'What, by the two worlds colliding, are you doing!' Al shouted, ruddy face ugly. Pierce flung himself back. A sheet of green-tinted ever-after rose between us, and I stood, my chair crashing to the floor.
'Al, wait!' I shouted, lurching clear when Al dove across the kitchen for Pierce, shoving the table aside. My splat gun and Pierce's hat hit the floor, victims of inertia. Al's white-gloved hand smacked into Pierces hastily raised protection circle with an audible crunch.
'Bloody hell!' the elegantly dressed demon howled in his proper English accent and crushed green velvet as he shook his fist and danced back. 'You bloody hell sewer rat. I told you no teaching her!' Looking from his hand, his anger shifted to me. 'Hello, Rachel.'
Pierce's face was white as he stood ramrod straight behind a shimmering sheet of green-tinted ever-after. A flair of red washed through it, and was gone. His expression was both determined and frustrated. Clearly he wasn't happy about being caught teaching me lines.
Al backed up, his head bowed over his gloved hand until a shimmer of ever-after coated it. 'Maybe I should blame you,' the demon muttered, goat-slitted red eyes making me shiver. 'Using your feminine wiles to lead my familiar astray. If all you want is dangerous sex, I can give that to you better than he can, and I won't break your heart afterward.'
Insulted, I glared, ready to argue with a demon who could snuff me as fast as I could flip a switch—but wouldn't. 'He was just teaching me the theory on line jumping. More than you ever did! And I'm not too happy about you sending him to watch me. All he does is order me around, and it's not even good advice. He's part of the problem!'
Al's eyes narrowed. I had taken three steps back before I even realized it, the small of my back hitting the counter. Sure, as his student—the only one worth teaching in the last five thousand years—keeping me in good health and not bent into a pretzel was a plus, but if I went too far he might not be opposed to being known as the one who killed their chance at a rebirth of demons. Trent could make more of me, and Al knew it. Bastard.
'Pierce watching you wasn't my idea,' he said smoothly, his anger an icy thread in his voice. 'You'll learn line jumping when I say so.' He looked at Pierce over his glasses, and I shivered. 'And not from some runt with delusions of grandeur. You need a gargoyle.'
My anger hesitated, thoughts spinning back to last winter when he congratulated me on 'having my own gargoyle' and asking him to come share mortar cakes with Treble... 'Treble knows how to line jump?' I asked, and Al chuckled, the noise low and satisfied.
'Of course she does. She won't be teaching you, though.' Spinning on a heel he turned to give Pierce a derisive look. 'You're a mess. Get out of that circle. I won't kill you today. Brew me a coffee while Rachel and I talk.'
His face white, Pierce let his circle drop. Al saw the direction of my gaze, and he shook his head at me. 'You look even worse, itchy witch. You simply must take more care in your personal hygiene. I'll not have it said that I'm bringing you up poorly.'
'I've been a little too preoccupied to worry about what I look like,' I said.
'Pish posh. Appearance is all we have sometimes. Make it a priority.' I stiffened when he stooped to pick up first my splat gun, then Pierce's hat, but he only handed me my weapon. 'I smell pancakes,' Al said as he jauntily smacked Pierce's hat back on the witch's head. 'Did the runt make you breakfast?' Al said, leaning over the stove. 'Quickest way to a woman's crotch is through her gullet, eh?' he said, leering at Pierce, who was now rinsing out the percolator. 'Is it working? I'd be curious to know. I'd buy her a cake or something.'
Pierce was silent, his lips pressed tight as he washed the coffeepot. I didn't know what to do with my splat gun, so I tucked it in the back of my waistband. 'Al, I spent yesterday in Alcatraz,' I said, trying to sound reasonable. 'I want my name back. We had a deal.'
Ignoring me, Al turned to the rest of the apartment, the tails of his frock coat furling. 'Where are we?' he asked, flicking on lights as he passed into the living room. 'Cincinnati,' he said dryly, peeking through the blinds and gazing out the black windows, hands on his hips as he surveyed the street below as if he owned it. 'It stinks of trains and that chili with the chocolate in it. Ooooh, books!' he exclaimed suddenly, making a beeline for the small library.
I shoved the table back where it belonged and Pierce picked up my chair, draping his coat and vest over it and taking off his hat. The man was subdued, his anger simmering. He wouldn't look at me, ticked perhaps that we'd attracted Al's attention. Watching Al coo over the books like they were puppies, I realized he'd never been here before, which begged the question of whom Nick was summoning. The raised circle in the corner wasn't for playing marbles.
'This isn't your home,' Al said, pulling out a volume and laying it open across one thick hand. 'Nothing smells like you.' He gave me a questioning look over his round smoked glasses and snapped the book closed. Sliding it away, he reached over his head, not even looking where his hands were going as he found that ley-line knife resting out of his eyesight.
'Shiny!' the demon said, his lips parting to show his blocky teeth. 'I haven't seen this since I stuck it in Amenhotep.' The demon's eyes flicked to mine, his smile widening. 'This is Nicholas Gregory Sparagmos's room,' he said, and my breath caught. 'Delightful,
Pierce shut the cupboard door hard, and I jumped. 'She should have killed him, but she doesn't listen to me,' he muttered, and I gave him a dark look.
'Al, why are you here if it's not to give my name back?' I asked, and the demon sighed, breathing deeply of the knife's blade.
'It's after sundown. I'm assessing whether your worry is valid.' Eyes closing in bliss, Al ran his tongue up the length of the blade, a soft sound escaping him as he licked the knife clean of nothing I could see. 'I'm going to rub the little wizard's head from his skinny shoulders for summoning you. I'm the only one allowed to pull you about.' He put the knife away, fingers reluctantly slipping from it. 'Not that I ever have... '
'No, you just keep crashing my life. Look—' I said, and Al grunted.
'Here it comes,' the demon muttered. 'Listen. Listen to this, runt. She's going to have a list.' And Pierce shrugged, carefully filling the pot with fresh water.
'Hey!' I snapped, not liking either of their attitudes. 'If you're not going to make good on our deal, then you need to leave. And if you leave, you might better spend some time finding a good lawyer for breach of contract! I know people, you know.'
'No need to get nasty,' Al said, pouting. 'With this nonsense about being summoned, I felt you slipping into a line and came to check. Apparently you've exaggerated your trouble.'
'Excuse me?' I stood where I was, hands on my hips. 'I'm not exaggerating anything. I was in Alcatraz. I
