night of sleep. And Minias, the demon from judicial hell, was not being helpful.
'What do you mean, you won't do the curse?' I said aloud so Ivy, sitting on the counter by the sink, could hear at least one end of the conversation. 'It was your idea!'
A ribbon of irritation-colored thought slipped through my mind, followed by the eerie sensation of words not mine in my head. Al cut a deal two days ago. He agreed to stand trial, so he's out on bail.
'Trial?' I yelped, and Ivy uncrossed her legs in a show of worry. But Al being out for two days would explain how he'd had time to create a disguise to look like my dad. I hadn't wanted to go to the demons but if Ceri twisted the curse, one of us would have to take on the smut—assuming she would still do it—and if I went through the demons, I could negotiate the smut away. That Minias was reneging on our unfinished arrangement ticked me off. 'When is his trial?' I asked, trying not to freak out.
I pressed my hand harder into the scrying mirror when Minias's presence seemed to fade while he presumably searched for the answer. I was very glad the calling glyph worked when the sun was up. Actually, this was the best time to use it since Minias couldn't follow the connection and simply…appear.
Here it is, came Minias's bothered thought, diving through my idle musings like ice water. He's down for sometime in the thirty-sixth.
I closed my eyes and struggled for strength. 'The thirty-sixth. Is that this month?' We only had thirty-odd days a month, but they were demons.
No. It's the year.
'Year!' I yelped, and Ivy's face pinched in worry. 'This isn't fair! You came to me. I said I'd think about it. I thought about it. I want to do it! He's terrorizing my mother.'
Not my problem. Al is functioning within the law, and everyone is happy. You'll get your say in court after he does, and if it's determined he broke his word to you, Newt will put him in a bottle and that will be the end of it.
'I won't survive twenty years waiting for him to come up on the docket!'
It's not an important case, and you'll have to wait, he said. I'm busy. Is there anything else you want to bitch about?
'You little will-o'-wisp of a ghost fart,' I snarled, borrowing one of Jenks's favorites. 'I know who's summoning him. I can't touch him because summoning demons isn't illegal.'
You should go into politics and get a law passed, Minias said, and when I took a breath to protest, he snapped the connection.
I jumped, catching a yelp of surprise at the abrupt sensation of half my mind vanishing. It wasn't really, but I'd been functioning with an expanded capacity and was back to normal.
'Damn it all to the Turn and back!' I yelled, then shoved my scrying mirror across the table to thunk into the wall. 'Al cut a deal. He's out on bail and free to harass me all he wants. By the time his ticket comes up on the docket, I'll be dead and he can say anything he wants.'
Ivy's expression took on a look of pity, and she drew her knees up to her chin. 'I'm sorry.' She had been treating me differently since our coffee in the mall. Not standoffish exactly, but a bit hesitant. Maybe it was because our relationship had changed. Or maybe the shift was because I had smacked her into the wall and almost fried her.
'It's not fair!' I exclaimed, standing up and stomping to the fridge. 'It's bloody hell not fair!' Furious at my helplessness, I yanked open the fridge and grabbed a bottled juice. 'I find out who's summoning Al,' I said as I turned and tried to get the stupid thing open. 'And then I can't arrest him. I agree to exchange names with Al, and they change their mind.'
'We'll work something out.' Ivy looked at the archway and put her feet on the floor.
'His court date is in the thirty-sixth,' I said, still struggling with the lid. 'I don't even know when that is. And I can't get the damn lid off this juice!'
Slamming the bottle down on the center counter, I stormed out, headed for the living room. 'Where's the phone?' I barked, though I knew where it was. 'I have to call Glenn.'
My bare feet slapped on the hardwood floors. The soothing grays and smoky shades Ivy had decorated the room in did nothing to calm me. I snatched up the phone and punched Glenn's number in from memory.
'I had better not get his voice mail,' I grumbled, knowing he was working today. It was the day after Halloween and he would have a lot of cleanup to do.
'Glenn here,' came his preoccupied voice, and then a startled, 'Rachel? Hey, I'm glad to hear from you. How did you do making it through Halloween?'
My first nasty words died in his concern. Leaning against the fireplace mantel, I let my tension go. 'I'm fine,' I said, 'but my mom spent the night with my favorite demon.'
The silence was heavy. 'Rachel. I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?'
I brought my head up when I realized he thought she was dead. 'She's alive,' I said belligerently, and I heard him exhale. 'I know who's summoning Al. I need a warrant for Tom Bansen. He's an I.S. boy, if you can believe it.'
There was no answer, and my blood pressure spiked. 'Glenn?'
'Uh, I can't help you, Rachel, unless he's broken a law.'
My hand, gripping the phone, started to shake. Frustration knotted my stomach, and that combined with the lack of sleep had me at my rope's end. 'There's nothing you can do?' I said softly. 'Nothing you can dig up on this guy? The coven is either trying to kill me under the I.S.'s blessing or Tom's a stinking mole. There's got to be something!'
'I'm not in the business of harassing innocent people,' Glenn said tightly.
'Innocent people?' I said, waving at nothing. 'My mom is going to be hospitalized in the funny farm because of last night. I have to stop him now. The freaking bureaucrats have him out on bail!'
'Tom Bansen?'
'No, Al!'
Glenn took a slow breath. 'What I meant was if you catch Tom in the act of sending Al to kill you, I can do something, but it's hearsay right now. I'm sorry.'
'Glenn, I need some help here! The only options left to me are really ugly!'
'Don't go after Bansen,' Glenn said, his voice carrying a new hardness. 'None of them, you hear me?' He sighed, and I could almost see him rub his forehead. 'Give me today. I'll find something on one of them. That widow is probably a good bet. Her file is as thick as her late husband's.'
Frustrated, I spun to the high window and the red leaves still clinging to the tree. 'My mother is sedated on her couch, and it's my fault,' I whispered, guilt just about breaking my soul. 'I'm not going to wait around for him to start on my brother. I have to be proactive on this, Glenn. If I'm not, everyone I care about will be killed.'
'I got you a warrant for Trent this spring,' Glenn said. 'I can do this. Call your brother and get him on holy ground, then give me a chance to do my job. Don't go after Mr. Bansen, or God help me, I'll be knocking on your door with a pair of cuffs and a zip-strip myself.'
Head bowed, I tightened my arm about my middle. I didn't like relying on other people when someone I loved was in danger. Let him do his job? That sounded so easy. 'Okay,' I said, my voice flat. 'I won't go after Tom. Thanks. Sorry for barking at you. I had a rough night.'
'That's my girl,' he said, cutting the connection before I could respond.
Worn out, I hung up the phone. I could smell coffee, and I headed for the kitchen and Ivy's ideas. I wouldn't go after Tom without a warrant—the man would have me in the I.S. lockup for harassment—but maybe I could lean on him a little harder. He obviously wasn't convinced I was a threat. Perhaps if I set fire to his lawn—by accident— he might wait a few days to summon Al again.
I jerked to a stop in the threshold of the kitchen, shocked to find Trent standing between the center island counter and the table, trying to look like he wasn't bothered by the angry living vampire staring at him. The shoes I had left by Quen's bed were cleaned and on the table, and Jenks was on the counter. My face reddened. Crap, I'd forgotten all about him.
'Hey!' the pixy snarled, red sparks dropping from him as he got in my face. 'Where the hell have you been? I was stuck in Trent's security office all night!'
'Jenks!' I exclaimed, dropping back. 'God, I'm sorry. I sort of drove right by.'
'You didn't drive by, you broke the moss-wipe gate!' His tiny features twisted with anger, he hovered before
