unscrewed the top to find it full of a bluish liquid.
'That's the one,' Ivy said, and I dropped them in. They floated, and when I went to stick my pinky in to sink them, she added, 'Just put the top on and give it a shake. They'll sink.'
I did just that, dropping the vial into her purse and setting it beside her.
'Thanks,' Ivy said. 'The time I 'lost' mine, he grounded me for a month.'
I gave her a weak smile, thinking it was kind of like losing your glasses or retainer…or maybe your diaphragm. Oh God. Did I really want to know all this?
'You still wear caps?' I said, curiosity getting the better of me. She didn't seem to be embarrassed about it. Maybe I should just go with it.
Ivy shook her head, signaling an instant before she crossed two lanes of traffic to get to the expressway's onramp. 'No,' she said as I clutched the door handle. 'Not since I was seventeen. But I keep them in case—' She cut her words off. 'Just in case.'
Just in case what? I wondered, then decided I didn't want to know. 'Uh, Ivy?' I questioned as I tried not to figure out where she was going to force herself into traffic. I held my breath while we merged and, from behind us, horns blew. 'What the heck does bunny ears and 'kiss, kiss' mean?'
She stared at me, and I made a peace sign and crooked my fingers twice in quick succession. An odd smile quirked the corners of her mouth. 'Those aren't bunny ears,' she said. 'Those are fangs.'
I thought about that, then flushed. 'Oh.'
Ivy chuckled. I eyed her for a moment, then deciding there would be no better time, I took a slow breath. 'Um, about Skimmer…'
Her good mood vanished. She shot me a look, then put her eyes back on the road. 'We were roommates.' A faint flush came over her, telling me it was more than that. 'We were very close roommates,' she added carefully, as if I hadn't already figured it out. Ivy hit the brakes hard to avoid a black BMW that wanted to pen her in behind a minivan. Accelerating quickly, she darted around to the right, leaving him behind.
'She came out here because of you,' I said, feeling my blood quicken. 'Why didn't you tell her we aren't like that?'
Her grip on the wheel tightened. 'Because…' She took a soft breath and tucked her hair behind her ear. It was a nervous tic that I didn't see very often. 'Because I didn't want to,' she said as she settled in behind a red Trans-Am doing fifteen over the posted limit.
Eyes worried, she looked at me, ignoring the green minivan that both the Trans-Am and we were roaring up on. 'I'm not going to apologize, Rachel. The night you decide taking and giving blood isn't sex, I'm going to be there. I'll take what I can until you do.'
Horribly uncomfortable, I shifted in my seat. 'Ivy…'
'Don't,' she said lightly as she yanked the car to the right, hitting the gas to dart ahead of both of them. 'I know how you feel about it. I can't change your mind. You're going to have to figure it out for yourself. Skimmer being here doesn't change anything.' She slipped in front of the van, giving me a soft smile that convinced me even more that blood was sex. 'And then you'll spend the rest of your life kicking yourself for waiting so long to take that chance.'
Eighteen
The commercial cut in, the volume jarring me as I sat on the couch. Sighing, I pulled my knees to my chin and hugged my legs. It was early, just after two in the morning, and I was trying to find the gumption to go make something to eat. Ivy was still on her run, and even with the awkward conversation in the car, I was hoping she'd be home early enough so we could go out. Warming up a potpie and eating alone had all the appeal of pulling the skin off my shins.
Grabbing the remote, I muted the TV. This was depressing. I was sitting on the couch on a Friday night watching Die Hard, alone. Nick should have been there with me. I missed him. I think I missed him. I missed something. Maybe I just missed being held. Was I that shallow?
Tossing the remote down, I realized a voice was coming from the front of the church. I sat up; it was a man's voice. Alarmed, I tapped the line out back. Between one breath and the next, my center filled. With the force of the line running through me, I gathered myself to rise, only to sink down when Jenks flew into the room at head height. The soft hum of his wings told me in an instant that whatever was up front wasn't going to kill me or put money in my pocket.
Eyes wide, he landed on the lampshade. The dust sifting from him floated upward with the rising heat of the bulb. He was usually tucked in my desk asleep at this hour, which was why I was having my pity party now so I could sulk without interference. 'Hey, Jenks,' I said as I let go of the line and the unfocused magic left me. 'Who's here?'
His face became worried. 'Rachel, we might have a problem.'
I eyed him sourly. I was sitting alone watching Die Hard. That was a problem, not whatever had come waltzing in our door. 'Who is it?' I said flatly. 'I already ran off the Jehovah Witnesses. You would think living in a church, they might get the idea, but no-o-o-o.'
Jenks frowned. 'Some Were in a cowboy hat. He wants me to sign a paper saying I ate that fish we stole for the Howlers.'
'David?' I jerked out of the chair and headed for the sanctuary.
Jenks's wings were a harsh buzz as he flew beside me. 'Who's David?'
'An insurance adjustor.' My brow furrowed. 'I met him yesterday.'
Sure enough, David was sanding in the middle of the empty room, looking uncomfortable in his long coat and hat pulled down over his eyes. Pixy children were watching from under the crack of the rolltop desk, their pretty faces all lined up in a row. He was on a cell phone, and upon seeing me, he muttered a few words, closed the cover, and tucked it away.
'Hello, Rachel,' he said, cringing as his voice echoed. His eyes ran over my casual jeans and red sweater, and then went to the ceiling as he shifted from foot to foot. It was obvious he wasn't comfortable in the church, like most Weres, but it was psychological not biological.
'I'm sorry to bother you,' he said as he took off his hat and crushed it in a tight grip. 'But hearsay won't stand up in this case. I need your partner to verify he ate that wishing fish.'
'Holy crap! It was a wishing fish!' There was a chorus of shrill cries from the desk. Jenks made a harsh sound, and the faces lining the crack scattered back into the shadows.
David took a trifolded paper from a pocket of his duster and unfolded it atop Ivy's piano. 'If you could sign here?' he said, then straightened, his eyes suspicious. 'You did eat it?'
Jenks looked scared, his wings a blue so dark they were almost purple. 'Yeah. We ate it. Are we going to be all right?'
I tried to hide my smile, but David grinned, his teeth looking white in the dim light of the sanctuary. 'I think you'll be fine, Mr. Jenks,' he said, clicking open a pen and holding it out.
My eyebrows rose. David hesitated, looking from the pen to the pixy. The pen was the larger of the two. 'Ummm,' he said, shifting on his feet.
'I've got it.' Jenks zipped to the desk, returning with a pencil lead. I watched him carefully write his name, the ultrasonic chatter from the desk making my eyes hurt. Jenks rose, pixy dust sifting from him. 'Hey, uh, we aren't in any trouble, are we?'
The pungent scent of ink assailed me, and David looked up from notarizing it. 'Not from our end of things. Thank you, Mr. Jenks.' He looked at me. 'Rachel.'
A soft rattling of the windows from an air-pressure shift brought both our heads up. Someone had opened the back door to the church. 'Rachel?' came a high voice, and I blinked.
It was my mom? Bewildered, I looked at David. 'Ah, it's my mom. Maybe you ought to go. Unless you want her to bully you into taking me on a date.'
David's face went startled as he tucked the paper away. 'No. I'm done. Thanks. I probably should have called first, but it is normal business hours.'
