I hesitantly pulled my hair up off my neck and held it atop my head. 'Whoa,' I breathed, when it turned me from sophisticated to elegant. Looking this good outweighed the embarrassment of letting Kisten know he could dress me better than I could dress myself.
Digging in a drawer, I found and invoked my last amulet to tame the frizz of my hair, then put my hair up, pulling a few strands to drape artfully before my ears. I dabbed on a bit more of my new perfume, checked my makeup, hid my hair-taming amulet behind my shirt, then grabbed a small clasp purse, as my shoulder bag would ruin everything. The lack of my usual charms gave me a moment of pause, but it was a date, not a run. And if I had to fight Kisten off, I'd be using ley line magic anyway.
My flat-heeled boots were subdued as I left my room and followed the soft give-and-take murmurs of Kisten and Ivy into the amber-lit sanctuary. I hesitated at the doorway, looking in.
They had woken the pixies, who were flitting everywhere, concentrating about Ivy's grand piano as they played tag among the wires and stops. There was a faint hum of sound shifting the air, and I realized the vibrations from their wings were making the strings resonate.
Ivy and Kisten stood by the archway to the foyer. She had that same uneasy, defiant look on her that she'd been wearing earlier when she refused to talk to me. Kisten was bent close, clearly concerned, with his hand on her shoulder.
I cleared my throat for their attention, and Kisten's hand fell. Ivy's posture shifted back to her usual equanimity, but I could see her shattered confidence underneath.
'Oh, that's better,' Kisten said as he turned, his eyes lighting briefly on my necklace.
He had unbuttoned his coat, and I ran my eyes appreciatively over him as I approached. No wonder he had wanted to dress me. He looked fabulous: navy Italian pinstripe suit, shiny shoes, hair slicked back and smelling faintly of soap…and smiling at me with an attractive self-assurance. His usual chain was a quick flash hidden behind the collar of his starched white shirt. A tasteful tie was snugged up to his neck, and a watch fob ran from a vest pocket through a buttonhole and then to the other vest pocket. Looking at his trim waist, broad shoulders, and slender hips, there was nothing to argue with. Nothing at all.
Ivy blinked as she took me in. 'When did you buy that?' she asked, and I smiled widely.
'Kist picked it out of my closet,' I said brightly, and that would be the only admission of my lack of polish he was going to get.
It was a date, so I went to stand beside Kisten; Nick would have gotten a kiss, but as Ivy and Jenks were hovering—and in Jenks's case, literally—a little discretion was in order. More importantly, he wasn't Nick.
Jenks landed on Ivy's shoulder. 'Do I need to say anything?' the pixy asked Kisten, his hands on his hips to look like a protective father.
'No, sir,' Kisten said, entirely serious, and I fought to keep a smile from me. The picture of a four-inch pixy threatening a six-foot living vampire would have been ridiculous if Kisten weren't taking him seriously. Jenks's warning was real and very enforceable. The only thing more unstoppable than fairy assassins were pixies. They could rule the world if they wanted.
'Good,' Jenks said, apparently satisfied.
I stood by Kisten and rocked back and forth on my flat heels twice, staring at everyone. No one said a word. This was really weird. 'Ready to go?' I finally prompted.
Jenks snickered and flitted off to corral his kids back into the desk. Ivy gave Kisten a last look, and walked out of the sanctuary. Sooner than I would have expected, the TV blared. I ran my eyes over Kisten, thinking he looked as far away from his biker image as a goat is to a tree.
'Kisten,' I said, putting a hand to my necklace. 'What does this…say?'
He leaned close. 'Confidence. Not looking for anything, but naughty behind closed doors.'
I stifled a thrill-invoked shudder when he pulled away. Okay. That…works.
'Let me help you with your coat,' he said, and a sound of dismay came from me as I followed him into the foyer. My coat. My ugly, ugly coat with the fake fur around the collar.
'Ouch,' Kisten said, his brow furrowed in the dim light seeping in from the sanctuary as he saw it. 'Tell you what.' He shrugged out of his coat. 'You can wear mine. It's unisex.'
'Now wait up,' I protested, taking a step back before he could put it on me. 'I'm smarter than that, fang-boy. I'll end up smelling like you. This is a platonic date, and I'm not going to break rule number one by mixing our scents before I even step out of my church.'
He grinned, his white teeth glinting in the dim light. 'Got me dead to rights,' he admitted. 'But what are you going to wear? That?'
A wince pulled my face tight while I looked at my coat. 'All right,' I agreed, not wanting to ruin my new facade of elegance with fake fur and nylon. And there was my new perfume…'But I'm not putting this on to intentionally mix our scents. Understand?'
He nodded, but his smile made me think otherwise, and I let him help me slip into it. My gaze went distant as its heavy weight eased over my shoulders, comforting and warm. Kisten might not be able to smell me, but I could smell Kisten, and his lingering body warmth sank into me. Leather, silk, and the barest hint of a clean-scented after-shave made a mix I was hard-pressed not to sigh into. 'Will you be okay?' I asked, seeing he had only his suit jacket.
'The car is already warm.' He intercepted my reach for the door, his hand touching mine atop the handle. 'Allow me,' he said gallantly. 'You're my date. Let me act like it.'
Thinking he was being silly, I nevertheless let him open the door and take my arm as he helped me down the steps lightly dusted with snow. The snow had started shortly after sundown, and the ugly gray splotches kicked up by the snowplows were covered in pristine white. The air was crisp and cold, and there was no wind.
I wasn't surprised when he maneuvered to open the car door for me, and I couldn't help but feel special as I arranged myself. Kisten shut the door and hustled around to the front. The leather seats were warm, and there was no cardboard tree hanging from the rearview mirror. I took a quick look at the discs in the console as he got in. They ranged from Korn to Jeff Beck, and he even had one of singing monks. He listened to singing monks?
Kisten settled himself. As soon as the car started, he flipped the heater on full. I sank into the seat, relishing the deep rumble of the engine. It was markedly stronger than my little car, vibrating through me like thunder. The leather, too, was of a higher quality, and the mahogany on the dash was real, not fake. I was a witch; I could tell.
I refused to compare Kisten's car to Nick's drafty, ugly truck, but it was hard not to. And I liked being treated special. Not that Nick didn't make me feel special, but this was different. It was fun to get dressed up, even if we ended up eating at Mickey-d's. Which was a very real possibility as Kisten had only sixty dollars to spend.
Glancing at him sitting beside me, I realized I didn't care.
Eleven
'So,' I said slowly as I fought to keep myself from reaching for the handle of the door to keep it from swinging open when we went over a railroad track. 'Where are we going?'
Kisten gave me a sideways smile, the lights from the car behind us illuminating him. 'You'll see.'
My eyebrows rose, and I took a breath to press for details when a soft chirping came from his pocket. My playful mood faltered into one of exasperation as he gave me an apologetic look and reached for his phone.
'I hope this isn't going to happen all night,' I muttered, putting my elbow on the door handle and staring at the dark. 'Just turn around and take me home if it is. Nick never took a call when we were on a date.'
'Nick wasn't trying to run half the city, either.' Kisten flipped the silver top up. 'Yes,' he said, his sharp annoyance pulling my elbow from the door and my attention back to him. The muted, tiny sound of pleading filtered out. In the background I could hear thumping music. 'You're kidding.' Kisten flicked his attention from the road to me and back to the road. His eyes held a mix of hassle and disbelief. 'Well get out there and open the floor.'
'I tried that!' the tiny voice shouted. 'They're animals, Kist. Bloody savages!' The voice subsided into an unrecognizable high-pitched panic.
Kisten sighed as he looked at me. 'Okay, okay. We'll stop in. I'll take care of it.'
The voice on the other end gushed in relief, but Kisten didn't bother to listen, flipping the phone closed and
