My stomach churned as the lift rose. Silence grew heavy, and I started to sweat as I noticed the officer looking at my slightly too-large middle, then the card and wire thing still in Nick's grip.
'Thank you... Marvin, for accompanying us,' Nick said, bringing the man's attention back to him.
Ivy stood stock-still in the corner, eyes down as she filled the car with the
Looking at the array of buttons, I leaned into Nick. 'I don't feel well,' I whispered, trying to make my voice wispy. 'Trenton, I need some, ah, feverfew.'
Ivy stiffened, and Nick turned to me.
'Feverfew?' he echoed as the doors opened to the familiar low-ceilinged, brown-and-gold opulence of Trent's bar, his living room and wide windows looking out onto the landscaped pool spread out before us. Into the lion's den. This was not going well, but I lurched out, at least knowing where we were. Ivy came with me, and Nick. And the security guy, of course. Damn it.
'I saw some from the car the other day as we drove into Cincinnati,' I said, babbling. 'Please, I need it now.' I put a hand to the belt pack to shift it to the middle as I walked, making a beeline for the kitchens and the garage beyond. 'It's for the baby.'
'The baby!' Nick exclaimed, his pale eyebrows raised, taking my elbow as he paced beside me. 'You there,' he said to the faltering officer. 'Call ahead for a car!'
Jeez, he was doing it wrong. Trent never demanded anything, unless it was for someone to kill me. Hunching close, Nick curved an arm around my waist, looking like he was leading as he followed my subtle motions, telling him which way to go. My face scrunched up in an ugly mask, and I would have slugged him if I could have gotten away with it. He was being too strong with the staff, thinking power and money meant you had to be a hard-ass.
Ivy stood beside us, blocking us from view from the main room. It was unlikely anyone would notice us under the bar's low ceiling, but the security officer had paused to talk to someone. I caught, 'I thought he was in his office,' and I moved faster.
Voices were echoing down from the unseen open walkways two stories above us. They were growing tense, and I silently prayed I wouldn't hear Trent's. 'Just keep moving,' Ivy said, her hand on my back, and I shivered. The twin doors to the kitchen were a relief, the empty stainless-steel counters even more so. Just fifteen more feet, and we'd be in the garage. I'd be willing to bet Nick could hotwire a car if it didn't have the keys in it.
'Sir?' a voice queried behind us, and Nick reached for the big door to the garage. It didn't move.
'Shit,' he said as he tugged, his worry looking wrong on Trent's face.
'It's locked?' I hissed, and Ivy's hand left me as she tried the door.
'Sir!' the voice came again, closer, and I stiffened. 'Let me get that for you. We went into lockdown. That's why your card isn't working. I've got a car coming up right now.'
I turned, and his face mirrored my relief. 'You're a blessing,' I whispered, holding my fake middle. Ivy and Nick went one way, and I went the other, allowing the security guard to run his card in the almost invisible card reader. Nothing happened. The little light stayed red, and looking nervous, he ran it again.
This time, it turned green with a friendly little beep, and Ivy pushed the door open. The scent of cold, dark garage and the sound of a running engine slipped in, cool around my ankles. 'You need to get that card looked at,' Nick said, lurching after us as Ivy strode to the driver's door and yanked it open.
I held my middle and ran forward, not waiting for anyone to open the door for me. I dove in, yanking Nick after me when I thought he was moving too slowly. God, he was taking this Trent thing too seriously. He slid in with a show of irritation, and I leaned past him to grab the door and slam it shut.
'Get out, or I'm going to break your arm,' Ivy said, discussing things with the driver. 'Ceri needs feverfew, and as her doctor, I'm going to see she gets it.' Too stunned to move, the driver stared until Ivy reached in, plucked him out, and tossed him to land ungracefully at the curb. The watching security officer ran to help him up, only now starting to look unsure.
'Go, go, go!' Jenks shrilled, darting from the front to the back of the car like he was on steroids. 'Communication is down, but they know what they're doing, and it will be up in three minutes! You gotta get through the gate by then!'
The security guy was fumbling with his radio, and Ivy hit the gas, maneuvering the big car in a tight circle to head for the faint patch of lighter dark that was the exit. Jax landed on Nick's shoulder, the winded pixy breathing hard and his wings drooping. Keeping up with his dad was harder than it looked. We were going to do this, and I started to laugh, taking the canvas off my back and laying it across my knees so I wouldn't squish it.
'We're not out yet,' Ivy said as Nick braced himself to keep from hitting the roof when we bounced out of the underground garage and into the dark. 'We have the gate to get through.'
'Piece of cake,' I said, remembering the flimsy gate I'd busted through the last time.
'Rachel, that was fantastic!' Nick was saying, his image blurring as the car's jostling made his aura shift. 'The stuff you could do. My God, you went right through that wall!'
Sobering, I pushed back to a corner. 'Yeah,' I said, looking at the bump in his pocket, and his expression looked wondering at my less-than-enthusiastic response. 'The stuff I can do. Is that all you see? How to use magic to steal stuff? I'm doing this to save my life. And I'm giving the picture back.' My eyes went to his pocket. 'I'm not a thief.'
The car grew quiet. Nick's pensive features made him look even less like Trent. Jax was on his knee, the pixy with his head between his knees as he tried to get his sugar levels back where they belonged until his dad threw a ball of something at him and he ate it.
'We've got people in the road,' Ivy said. 'And a big gate. What do you want to do?'
Shifting to the middle, I looked. The front gatehouse was all lit up with big lights to look like day. There was a new, much more substantial gate, and a big sign warning cars to stop to avoid tire damage. Swell. Trent had gotten a new gate. I should have guessed. 'Urn, stop?' I said, heart pounding as I shoved my belt pack in place.
Coming to a slow halt, Ivy rolled down the window. Nick sat quietly beside me, thinking, which was worrisome all by itself. Jenks and Jax had hidden themselves, but I knew Jenks, at least, could react in an instant. Jax was still recovering. Maybe he, at least, had learned something. The guard on duty, flanked by two more officers, came forward, each taking a door. The tension wound tighter.
'Dr. Anders?' the approaching man asked in surprise, the usual clipboard absent.
'We're going for a drive,' she said imperially, sounding a lot like the distasteful woman. 'Ceridwen needs a plant to stop her labor.'
'I'm not in labor!' I said, earning a quick glance. Jenks buzzed a hidden warning, and I pushed myself back into the shadows.
'I need to see some identification, Dr. Anders.'
Nick leaned forward. 'Do you know who I am?' he asked.
The officer's eyes grew predatory. 'No, sir, but seeing as I just talked to you and you were in your office, I know who you aren't.'
The click of safeties sparked through me, and I sank back into the cushions. Had I really believed I could do this? 'Job's over,' I breathed, seeing weapons pointed at the car. Twenty feet from us, the comforting black of the