'Oh, she's kin,' Al said, chuckling as he pulled me to him, his grip tightening as I struggled. 'Kin born not of us but of the elves. Stupid, stupid elves who forgot and fixed what they broke. You figured it out, and Minias stole the knowledge from you for long enough that I could realize it, too, and get her first.'
'She should be mine! Give her to me!'
But Al shook his head as Dali tensed behind his desk, the demon smiling as he breathed in the scent from my hair. I let him, numb and bewildered. Kin? Witches really were kin to demons? It went against everything I'd been taught, but damn it, it made sense!
I jumped at a soft pop of displaced air. Minias burst into existence, his sandaled feet on the old wood. He was wearing his purple robes, and I fingered my belt, starting to think that was the color demons dressed their familiars in when they were pleased with them. 'Newt!' Minias exclaimed, drawing back when he realized who else was here, giving Trent barely a glance. 'What are you doing here?' he questioned, then paled at her venomous look.
'You made me forget what she is,' she whispered. 'Come here, Minias.'
Red, goat-slitted eyes widening, Minias reared back and vanished.
'Wait!' I shouted, then turned to Al. 'I need him. You promised me Trent!'
Al's expression at my outburst was one of pure disgust, and when Newt turned to me, I wished I'd kept my mouth shut. 'You want that elf for a familiar?' she asked.
I licked my lips. 'He put me in a cage,' I said, trying to come up with a reason other than rescuing him. Trent got to his feet, the dinghy rocking until he steadied himself against the dock, whereupon Dali kicked him back to the bottom of the boat.
'He's the perfect familiar for my student,' Al interjected smoothly over my head, his grip on my arm telling me to shut up. 'Easily hurt, stubborn, prone to biting, but basically harmless. One must learn to ride a pony before tackling the stallion. He owes Minias a favor. I could press the issue since the elf is voluntarily wearing her smut, but honestly, it's easier just to buy a mark.' Al smiled with a delicious irony. 'Maybe I'll offer to tell him about my new student. That ought to be worth something.'
I tensed as Newt's eyes narrowed. 'You'll tell me again, if I forget?' Al nodded, and Newt's face grew ugly. 'The elf doesn't owe Minias anything. I give his mark to you.'
Trent groaned and fell back, his hate-filled expression chilling me.
Dali's brows rose. 'I didn't know you could do that.'
Newt spun, making her robe unfurl. 'He's my familiar, bought and paid for. I can claim anything of his. Even his life.'
Al cleared his throat nervously. 'That's good to know,' he said lightly. 'Important safety tip. Rachel, write that down somewhere as lesson number one.'
Her lips pressed tightly, Newt pulled her attention from the false horizon and found me. Ice seemed to scum my skin, and I felt myself pale. I had everything I'd come for. I had rubbed out Newt's mark, or at least I would when I gave Al his name back. I had saved Trent—I thought. So why did every instinct tell me everything was about to hit the fan?
'You will teach her?' Newt said to Al, looking at me with her black eyes.
Al nodded and pulled me closer, and I let him. 'As if she were my daughter.'
Newt dropped back a step, her hands clasped before her and her head bowed. She looked funny, and I got the feeling that something was being settled that I didn't understand. 'You're a good teacher,' Newt finally said when her head came up. 'Ceri was very skilled.'
'I know. I miss her.'
Her head moved up and down, and then she turned to me. 'When you're ready, come to me. Maybe by then I'll have my memory back and I'll know what in hell is going on.'
I clenched my hands so no one would see them tremble, but when I took a breath to answer her, she vanished.
Dali's exhale was loud and strong. 'I give Minias two days.'
Al's shoulders slumped. 'He's used to evading her. I give him…seven.' He shifted uneasily, looking at the sparkles in the surf. 'Rachel, collect your elf. I'm tired and I want to wash the cell-stink off me.' I didn't move and he gave me a shove in Trent's direction before turning to Dali. 'I'm assuming the charge of uncommon stupidity will be dropped?'
Dali smiled. 'Yes, yes, take your student's familiar and get out. Are you going to remind Newt as you said you would?'
Al smiled. 'Every day until she kills him. Yes.'
Unsure, I looked at Trent gazing murderously at me, then Al. 'Uh, Al?' I prompted.
'Get your elf, itchy-witch,' he said under his breath. 'I want to get out of here before Newt remembers a rule or something and comes back.'
But Trent was looking at me like he wanted to jam a pen in my eye. Taking a shaky breath, I strode to him, falling into a crouch and extending a hand to help him out of the bobbing boat. A low sound rose from him. I stared at him, frozen, as he lunged at me.
'Trent!' I managed before he got a grip on my throat. My back hit the dock, and he landed on me, pushing my air out. He was straddling me, his grip cutting off my air—and then he was gone and I could breathe again. I heard a thump, looking up to see that Al had backhanded him off of me.
Trent slumped to the dock, a leg hanging off it and threatening to pull him into the water. Shocked, I stared as he curled into himself and retched over the side.
'Lesson number two,' Al said as he yanked me up with a white-gloved hand. 'Never trust your familiar.'
'What in hell is wrong with you!' I shouted, glaring at Trent as I shook. 'You can kill me later, but right now, I want to get out of here!'
I reached out, and this time he did nothing when I pulled him to Al. I didn't know how to travel the lines, but I assumed Al would jump us, seeing as I had just saved his demon ass.
'Thank you,' I muttered, very conscious of Dali watching us with calculation.
'Thank me later, itchy-witch,' Al said nervously. 'I'm popping you and your familiar back to your church, but I expect to see you in fifteen minutes in your ley line with your spelling supplies and a new stick of magnetic chalk. I need some time to, ah, rent a room somewhere.'
My eyes closed in a long blink. Al really was broke. Swell. 'Can't we start this next week?' I asked, but it was too late, and I felt Trent's grip on me tighten as my body was torn apart by time, then melted back into existence. I was so tired, I could have cried.
I didn't even feel dizzy when the stink of the ever-after vanished. The acidic scent of cut grass hit me, and wavering on my feet, I opened my eyes to the somber gray and green of my graveyard. Slowly I slumped. I was home.
'Dad!' a tiny voice shrilled, and I jerked to find one of Jenks's kids staring at me. 'She's back! And she's got Mr. Kalamack!'
Blinking back the tears, I took a deep breath and turned to the church shining in the morning sun. It had to be later than that. I felt like I'd lived a lifetime. Seeing Trent at my feet, I reached to pull him up. 'We're back,' I said wearily, hauling on him. 'Get up. Don't let Ceri see you on the ground like that.' It was over. At least for now.
Still on the ground, Trent yanked on my arm. I sucked in my breath and tried to land in a front fall, but he pulled me off balance and I landed on my side instead.
'Trent—' I started, then yelped when he jerked me up, slamming my head into a tombstone. 'Hey!' I shouted, then howled when he twisted my arm.
Quicker than I could follow, he slammed my head into the stone again. My vision blurred as the pain swelled, and trying to figure out what the hell was going on, I stupidly did nothing when he wrapped an arm around my throat from behind and started squeezing.
'Trent…,' I managed to get out, then choked, feeling my face seem to bulge.
'I won't let you do it!' came his voice snarling in my ear. 'I'll kill you first!'
Do what? I thought, struggling to breathe. I just saved his ass!
Putting my heels to the ground, I shoved backward, but we only fell over. His grip loosened and I got a breath, and then his grip went tighter.
'Demon kin!' Trent exclaimed, his voice raw and alien. 'It was there in front of me, but I didn't believe it! My
