Lee got in my face. 'Stupid, stupid girl,' he sneered, touching his forehead under his short dark bangs where a new cut spread.
He pulled his hand back, and I forced myself to not move, taking it as he backhanded me. Seething, I pulled myself straight where the momentum had shifted me. The surrounding men laughed, but my hands behind my back were moving, the splat ball rolling to find my palm as I finished. My eyes flicked from Lee to my splat balls on the cobbles. Someone bent to pick one up. 'You're wrong,' I said to Lee, breathing hard. 'I'm a stupid, stupid witch.'
Lee's attention followed mine to the splat balls. 'Consimilis,' I said, tapping a line.
'Get down!' Lee exclaimed, pushing the men around him out of the way.
'Calefacio!' I shouted, elbowing the witch holding me and rolling to the ground. My circle snapped into existence around me with a quick thought. There was a sharp pop, and a scattering of blue-colored shrapnel peppered the outside of my bubble. The plastic balls had burst from the heat, sending superheated sleep potion everywhere. I looked up from between my arms. Everyone was down but Lee, having put enough men between him and the flying potions. In the garage, Ivy stood panting over the last three vamps. We had gotten them. All that was left was Lee. And he was mine.
A smile curved over me as I stood and broke my circle, taking the energy back into my chi. 'Just you and me, surfer boy,' I said, tossing the splat ball I had used for a focusing object and catching it. 'Care to throw the dice?'
Lee's round face went still. He held himself unmoving, and then, without a glimmer of emotion, tapped a line.
'Son of a bitch,' I swore, lunging. I slammed into him, knocking him flat on the cobbles. Teeth gritted, he gripped my wrist, squeezing until the splat ball rolled from me.
'You will shut up!' I shouted from atop him, jamming my arm into his throat so he couldn't speak. He fought me, bringing his hand up to smack my cheek.
My breath hissed out in a pained gasp as he hit the bruise Al gave me. Catching his wrist, I snapped my cuffs on him. Spinning him over, I wrenched his arm out from under him. Knee on his back, pinning him to the pavement, I snapped the other ring about his other wrist.
'I am tired of your crap!' I exclaimed. 'Nobody tries to put a black charm on me, and nobody traps me in a boat with a bomb. Nobody!You hear me? Who in hell do you think you are, coming into my city and trying to take over?' Rolling him over, I snatched David's paper from behind his coat. 'And this isn't yours!' I said, holding it high like a trophy.
'Ready for a little trip, witch?' Lee said, his eyes dark with hate and blood leaking from his mouth.
My eyes widened as I felt him pull more from the ley line he was already linked to. 'No!' I shouted, realizing what he was doing. The cuffs were FIB issue, I thought, kicking myself. They were FIB issue, lacking the core of solid silver that the I.S. issue cuffs came standard with. He could jump. He could jump to a line if he knew how. And apparently he did.
'Rachel!' Ivy shrieked, her voice and the light cutting off with a terrifying suddenness.
A sheet of ever-after coated me. I choked, pushing Lee away, clawing at my mouth, unable to breathe. My heart beat wildly as his magic raced through me, etching the lines both physical and mental that defined me. The blackness of never flooded me, and I panicked as I felt myself exist in splinters everywhere but nowhere sure. I teetered on madness, unable to breathe, unable to think.
I screamed as I snapped back into myself with a wrench and the blackness retreated to the pit of my soul. I could breathe.
Lee kicked at me, and I rolled away to my hands and knees, thanking God I had them again. Cold rock bit through my nylons, and I sucked in the air, gasping, gagging at the choking smell of ash. The wind whipped my hair into my face. My exposed skin went icy. Heart pounding, I looked up, knowing by the ruddy light coating the rubble I knelt in that we weren't in Lee's drive anymore.
'Oh…crap,' I whispered as I took in the setting sun glowing through the remains of shattered buildings.
I was in the ever-after.
Thirty-two
The frost-rimmed rocks beside me slid, and I jerked out of the way before Lee's foot could connect with my ribs again. Red and small, the sun crept behind the shadow of a broken building. It looked like Carew Tower. Nearby were the remnants of what might be a fountain. We were at Fountain Square? 'Lee,' I whispered, frightened. 'We have to get out of here.'
There was a ping, and Lee brought his arms out from behind his back. His suit was dirty and it looked out of place amid the destruction. The soft and certain clink of a falling rock pulled my head around, and he threw the handcuffs at it. We weren't alone. Damn.
'Lee!' I hissed. Oh God. If Al found me, I was dead. 'Can you get us home?'
He smiled, brushing the hair out of his eyes. Slipping on the loose rubble, he scanned the ragged horizon. 'You don't look well,' he said, and I winced at how loud his voice was against the cold rocks. 'First time in the ever-after?'
'Yes and no.' Shivering, I got up and felt my scraped knees. I'd put a run in my nylons, and blood was seeping out. I was standing in a line. I could feel it humming, could almost see it—it was that strong. Clasping my arms about myself, I jerked at the sound of sliding rock. I wasn't thinking of tagging him; I was thinking of escape. But I couldn't travel the lines.
Another rock fell, bigger. I spun, eyes searching the frost-smeared rubble.
Hands on his hips, Lee squinted up at the red-bottomed clouds as if the cold didn't bother him. 'Lesser demons,' he said. 'Fairly harmless unless you're hurt or ignorant.'
I inched away from the fallen rock. 'This isn't a good idea. Let's go back and we can finish this like normal people.'
He brought his gaze to me. 'What will you give me?' he mocked, thin eyebrows high.
I felt like the time my date drove me to a farmhouse and stranded me, telling me if I didn't put out, I could find my own way back. I broke his finger to get the key for his truck and cried all the way home. My mom called his mom and that was the end of it except for the endless ribbing I took at school. Maybe I'd have gotten some respect if my dad had beat up his dad, but that hadn't been an option at that point. I didn't think breaking Lee's finger would get me home this time. 'I can't,' I whispered. 'You killed all those people.'
Shaking his head, he sniffed. 'You hurt my reputation. I'm going to be rid of you.'
My mouth went dry when I realized where this was headed. He was going to give me to Algaliarept, the bastard. 'Don't do this, Lee,' I said, frightened. My head jerked up at the rapid scrabbling of claws. 'We both owe him,' I said. 'He can take you just as easily.'
Lee kicked chunks of rock from his feet to make a clear spot. 'No-o-o-o, the word on both sides of the lines is he wants you.' Eyes black in the red light, Lee smiled. 'But just in case, I'm going to soften you up a little first.'
'Lee,' I whispered, hunched from the cold as he started to mutter Latin. The glow of the line energy in his hand lit his face with ugly shadows. I tensed in sudden panic. There was nowhere to run in the three seconds I had.
My breath caught at the sudden clatter of things hiding. I jerked my attention up to see a sphere of energy headed right for me. If I made a circle, Al would feel it. If I deflected it, Al would know. So like an idiot, I froze, and it smacked right into me.
Fire rippled over my skin. My head flung back, mouth open as I fought for air. It was simply line energy, overflowing my chi. Tulpa, I thought as I fell, giving it somewhere to go.
Immediately the fire died, racing to the sphere already up and waiting in my head. Something in me seemed to shift, and I knew I had made a mistake. The things around us squealed and vanished.
I heard a gentle pop. Heart pounding, I straightened. My breath caught, and I slowly let it out in a steaming ribbon of white moisture. Al's jaunty silhouette was black against the setting sun as he stood atop a broken
