night beckoned. Twenty feet. It might as well have been the moon. We'd tried. I didn't want to give up, but I didn't want us dead either. There had to be a way, but if I brought Al into this, he'd say he'd won the bet, and it would be over.
'Out of the car, please,' the man was saying, backing up to give us room, and my breath came faster. 'Fingers laced above your heads. Now!'
We couldn't get through the gate. Not in the car. But maybe we could make a run for it if we got over it. Sweet, sweet adrenaline pounded into me, and my head started to hurt.
'Rache?' Jenks whispered. He, at least, would be safe.
Nick reached for the handle. 'Get yourself out, Rachel,' he said. 'I'll take care of this.'
'What are you doing?' I said, bewildered. 'They know it isn't you!'
'Something I should have done a long time ago,' he said, and I blinked when he leaned over to give me a chaste kiss. 'Do what you need to do. I'll make a distraction so you can get away.'
'What?' Ivy barked, and from outside, the security officer demanded we get out.
'I'll be fine,' Nick said, opening his door. 'I always am.'
Stunned, I did nothing as someone opened my door and I was yanked out to the tune of Ivy fighting. A band of silver was slipped over my wrist, and I still did nothing. I felt a wash of ever-after flow out of me, but the curse was demonic, and I still looked like Ceri. Small favors.
'Rachel?' Jenks said, hovering before me.
People were shouting—mostly Ivy—and someone shoved me to the ground. My arms went out instinctively, and I caught myself. Staring at the shiny shoes to my right, something ignited in me. It was not going to end like this. I tensed, playing passive, hearing Ivy resisting.
'Rachlel!' Jenks cried again. 'What do you want me to do?'
There were only two people watching me, the rest occupied with Ivy. 'Tell Ivy to give them hell and meet me on the road,' I said, and he darted away trailing silver dust.
Face scraping on the pavement, I looked the other way. Nick was on the ground, men screaming at him. I mouthed the words 'Thank you,' and he smiled. His attention went up, and I followed his gaze to Jax, looking like a silver mote high above it all. As I watched, the pixy dropped something.
'Ivy!' I shouted, clenching my eyes shut. 'Down!'
I heard her drop, and the grunt of someone falling on her.
A boom of sound ripped through the night, shaking the ground I pressed into. My ears went numb, and I looked up, my hearing muffled. The two men watching me had collapsed to the pavement, out cold. Dust hung in the air, and what movement there was, was scattered.
I got up, awkward and clumsy. Ivy was pushing men off her, knocking them senseless as they tried to figure out what had happened. 'Let's go!' I shouted, not hearing myself. People were starting to get up. We had seconds.
Staggering, I reached her. 'Let's go!' I shouted again, almost getting hit when she didn't recognize me right off. Then I shrieked when she grabbed me and threw me over the gate.
I screamed, landing hard on the road. 'Son of a bitch!' I said, only to be jerked to my feet by Ivy, her cast not slowing her down at all. 'Are you trying to kill me?'
Her eyes were black, and without a backward glance, she started hauling ass, dragging me until I found my pace at her side. Damn it, the painting was still in the car. But we were out and running. Memories of being chased by Trent and his hounds slammed into me, and I ran faster. The pavement seemed to rise up to hit my feet, every strike felt clear through my thin-soled running shoes. We couldn't make it back to Cincy, but the alternative was not pretty. I prayed Jenks was okay. My hearing was coming back. I could hear a claxon honking behind us, and someone was shouting to get the gate open, but I'd bet the circuitry was dead. I felt a surge of hope and started to angle into the woods, but Ivy grabbed my arm, stopping us.
'Car,' she panted, and I looked up into the glow of approaching headlights.
'You want me to lie down in the road, or should you?' I said, only half kidding, freezing when the car swerved to the right, spinning in a wobbly, terrifying half circle around us. I could have cried when I saw Pierce in the front seat, covered in pixies. He was saving my ass again. Even so, I swear, if he did any black magic, I would give him to Newt myself.
p>'Get in!' he shouted, the squeal of pixies and their darting shapes adding to the mess.
I opened the front door, shoving Pierce to the passenger side only to have Ivy shove me to the middle of the long front seat of my moms Buick. 'How did you know we were in trouble?'
'You're always in trouble, Rachel,' he said, fixing his hat firmly back on his head.
'You'd think she wasn't glad to see you,' Ivy said, pushing the accelerator down even before her door was shut.
Pierce only grinned as he leaned me upright. 'No magic, Rachel. I promise. I opine I can make a fist of saving you without any at all.'
Jenks dove in the open window as we tore down the road, all of his kids shrilling in excitement. My hands went over my ears, and I cowered. 'Jenks!' the hyped-up vamp shouted as she waved her hand in front of her face. 'Get your brats under control! I can't see!'
A sharp whistle reverberated through the moving car, and I gasped. Crap, we were headed for a tree! 'Look out!' I screamed, and Ivy jerked us back on the road.
'Holy shit!' Jenks shrilled. 'Watch where you're going, Ivy! My kids are in here!'
'Really? I hadn't noticed!' she said, rolling the window up with one hand as she awkwardly drove with the one in a cast.
My elation shifted to dread. 'Nick,' I said, turning to look behind us at the fading glow of Trent's guardhouse. 'We have to go back!'
'Are you nuts!' Jenks shouted.
Pierce was silent in the corner, but Ivy wasn't saying anything either. The car jostled into the night, never slowing. 'We are not going back for Nick,' Ivy finally said.
'How can you?' I admonished, looking back at the black road. 'He sacrificed himself so we could get out. Damn it, we left Jax, too. We wouldn't have gotten out without them!'
'I think you wouldn't have gotten caught without them either,' Pierce said sourly.
'I don't believe this!' I shouted. 'You're ditching him! After what he did?'
Jenks landed on the dash, glowing brightly. All his kids were in the back, adding to the noise. 'Turn it on, Ivy,' he said grimly, and I hesitated in my feeling of frustration.
'Turn what on?' I asked, and Ivy twisted, unbuckling her belt pack and tossing it to me.
'Just hit the button,' she said, eyes glued to the black night. No one was following us, but I wasn't surprised. They had Nick, and all they had to do was radio ahead.
Feeling sick, I found a small recorder in her stuff. 'This?' I asked, holding it up, and Jenks flew to me, kicking a small recessed button. The device warmed in my hand, and a soft squeal came from it, almost unheard, hitting the bones in my ears, not my eardrum. 'What is it?' I asked, and Jenks's wings sifted a gold sparkle and all his kids complained.
'The bug we put on crap-for-brains.'
My eyebrows rose, and Jenks wrapped his arms around a dial, turning it until the static cleared. I heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and Jenks hovered backward, expression angry. Clearly Nick wasn't wearing his demon-born disguise anymore either. I didn't think they'd smack him if he still looked like Trent.
'Enjoying yourself?' I heard Nick say, almost laughing. He had been tortured for days by fanatic Weres. Being slapped by Trent's security officer wasn't going to scare him. My heart gave a thump. We had to go back. Maybe not this instant, but soon.
'Leave off,' came a high voice, followed by Nick's raw cough. 'Mr. Kalamack's here.'
I held the device tightly, staring at it when the unmistakable creak of a door opening came from it. 'Leave us,' Trent's cool, confident, and ticked voice said softly. I shook my head at Nick's ever trying to duplicate it.
