when Nick came in, dirty and smelling of grease. Jax was on his shoulders, immediately abandoning him to see how his new pets were doing.
My hand slid across the table, brushing the salt circle into my hand and dropping it into the sink. I wondered how bad it smelled of extinguished candle, burned hair, and burnt amber.
There was a thump from the back bedroom, and Ivy came out in her bathrobe, hair in disarray, and hunched like a bridge troll. Snarling at Nick about the noise, and with a hand over her face, she limped past Jenks and me to vanish into the bathroom. Immediately the shower went on. The clean scent of oranges slipped under the door with the steam. I didn't want to know what she'd done last night to be limping today. I didn't.
Guilt-strewn and weary, I sat at the table. Jax found the ounce-sized container of sea monkey food, and Jenks stopped him, explaining he couldn't feed them since they hadn't hatched yet. Jax belligerently pointed out two bouncers, naming them Jin and Jen. The small pixy started to glow, which attracted the brine shrimp, and Jax had a fit of delight when they bounced closer. I couldn't help but smile. It was still on me when I turned, finding Nick awkwardly waiting for me. My smile faded, and he clenched his jaw.
'The truck is set, Ray-ray,' he said with a false cheerfulness. 'It will look like a defect when the air bag doesn't work.' He winced. 'I, uh, couldn't let a truck run into me—even if I knew I was going to wake up alive.'
'Trust is the difference between you and us Inderlanders,' Jenks said loudly, popping the lid to the sea monkey food. Jax grabbed a handful the size of a pinhead and dropped it in with encouraging words, enticing Jin and Jen to the surface with a bright glow. This was a hell of a lot safer pet for a pixy than the kitten, and I wondered if that was why Jenks had bought them.
I stifled a sigh, turning it into a yawn. I knew Nick wasn't keen on his truck being the sacrificial vehicle, but it wasn't as if he would be able to drive it again. He was going to be playing dead for the rest of his life. Coward.
'Thanks, Nick,' I said, leaning away with crossed arms and preparing for a fight. 'Now would you go out there and hook it back up? I'm riding with Peter. If I'm going to kill him, I'm not going to let that poor boy die alone.'
Thirty-one
Ivy stood just outside the bathroom, wrapped in a white motel towel, short black hair dripping from thin spikes. 'You aren't going to be riding with Peter, Rachel. No fucking way!'
I pressed my lips together and fought to not back up. Okay, so she does swear, but only when extremely pissed.
Jenks had retreated to the living room, looking like he wished he had never barged in on Ivy in the shower, terrified into playing the tattletale when I told him he was going to be running into me right along with Peter. Nick stood beside him in his grease-stained overalls, and they gave the impression of two boys who had jumped in the creek wearing their good go-to-church clothes five minutes before Pa hitched up the horse.
'Nick,' I said, and he started. 'We have four hours before we meet Audrey and Peter.' Four hours. Maybe I could get some sleep. 'Can you have the air bag fixed by then? I'd feel better if I had it to supplement the inertia- dampening curse.'
'Ivy's right,' he said, and I frowned. 'There's no reason for you to risk your life.'
Ivy laughed bitterly. 'She isn't. Rachel, you are not getting in Nick's truck.'
I turned to my spells on the table, pulse quickening. Her pupils were dilating, but it was in anger, not hunger. I knew this game of arguing with a vampire. 'Everything is set,' I said. 'I made a second pair of inertia-dampening amulets for me, so there's no problem.'
Ivy pointed, unaware I could see the new long scratch on the soft part of her arm running from her wrist to her elbow. 'It's not going to happen, Rachel!'
'It will work,' I said. 'It's only a joke spell.' Curse, actually, but why bring that up?
Jenks sat on the edge of the bed, white-faced. 'Don't ask me to do this.'
Nick shuffled nervously, looking like a garage repair guy in his blue overalls. Frustrated, I rubbed my temples. 'The Weres won't believe I let Nick run off with it and we're trying to catch him,' I said. 'Especially if there happens to be an accident. I'm not stupid enough to let Nick swipe the artifact, and they know it.'
There had been a spike of pleasure saying that. He would look back on the incident when it was over and know I had been thumbing my nose at him. But nervousness returned when I caught sight of Ivy. Scooping up Rex, I sat in a kitchen chair. 'It's no big deal,' I said, fingers moving to lull her into staying. 'The charms will keep me safe. You can follow in the van, and we'll say we're on the way to the drop site in two vehicles. Telling them Nick ran off with it will only get them going after him themselves. They might catch him.' Not that I really cared.
Ivy shook her head. 'This is asinine. I've already got it worked out. Peter and crap for brains trade places. We tell the Weres Nick ran off with it and that Jenks went pixy-native to try and catch him. Jax takes his place on your shoulder, and while under a disguise, Jenks runs the Mack truck over Peter by 'accident' while we try to catch him. Truck explodes. Fake statue is destroyed. Peter gets carted to the morgue or the hospital, where we can pull his plug if we need to. Weres go away—we go for a beer. I spent hours coming up with this. Why are you screwing it up, Rachel?'
Rex jumped off my lap, back nails gouging as she skittered to hide behind Jenks's ankles. I stood, angry. 'I'm not screwing it up! And I'm going to ride with Peter! I'm not going to let him die alone,' I said, coming out with what was really bothering me.
Ivy huffed, clutching the towel higher about her. 'You're alone when you die, even if you're surrounded by hundreds.'
Her arm was oozing to stain the white towel, and only now realizing it, she flushed. Angry, I rounded on her. 'Have you ever been there when someone dies?' I asked, shaking. 'Have you ever held their hand while their strength left them? Have you ever felt the gratitude in their touch that you were there when they stopped breathing? Have you!'
Ivy's face went white.
'I'm killing him, Ivy! It is my decision. And I'm going to be there so I understand what it means.' I caught my breath, hating myself when my eyes filled. 'I have to be there so I know if it was a good thing when it's all done.'
Ivy went still as a pity born in understanding reached her eyes. 'Rachel, I'm sorry….'
Clutching my arms around myself, I bowed my head so I couldn't see anyone. Ivy stood in her towel and made a wet spot on the floor as she dripped. The scent of the citrus shampoo she used became pronounced, and the silence grew awkward.
From across the room, Nick shifted his weight and took a breath.
'Shut up,' Ivy snarled, hitching her towel higher. 'This doesn't concern you.' Her gaze went to my stitches, and I lifted my chin. I wasn't bound to her. I could do anything I damn well pleased.
Jenks was pale. 'I can't do it,' he said from the bed. 'I can't hit you with a truck.'
'See?' Ivy said, catching her towel when she gestured. 'He's not going to do it. I don't want you to do it. You aren't doing it!' She started for her room, Nick moving out of her way.
'This is a better plan!' I exclaimed, heading after her. 'I'll be fine!'
'Fine?' She lurched to a stop, spinning. 'That Mack truck is going to roll over Nick's little blue Ford like it's a cup-cake! And you're not going to be in it. The run is off.'
'It's not off! This is how we're going to do it!'
Ivy turned. Her eyes were full black. A shiver of fear took me, rocking me to a halt. But I wasn't going to let Peter die alone. I gathered my nerve, and Nick stepped forward.
'I'll do it,' he said, his eyes flicking from Ivy to me. 'I'll drive the Mack truck.'
Ivy's anger hesitated, and I ran my eyes over him in surprise. 'No,' she said flatly. 'Absolutely not. You're going with Audrey and staying out of it. I don't trust you.'
Nick clasped his hands, then let them go. 'Rachel's right. This is a better plan. They won't be watching Audrey's motel room. After Peter switches places with me, I can leave under a regular disguise charm, cross the bridge, get the truck. Hell, it's DeLavine's truck. Audrey can give me the key.'
