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"Black car at the curb," Jenks said, his hand on the hilt of his garden sword "It's Trent"

My adrenaline pulsed, and I allasses intoup Trent and I had an appointment for me to annul his familiar mark, but that wasn't until five The curse wasn't ready yet, and the kitchen was a ht be in it

Ju, and we all turned to the back of the church as if we could see through it to where Trent was standing on the front porch The bell was one of those big farhborhood could hear it "Maybe he'll go away if we don't answer," I said, and Jenks rose-sixty feet in a mere second In another second, he dropped back down

"He's coh lasses

Damn it back to the Turn "Pix the sucker," I said, then waved ht I was serious The s literally

Jenks flew backward as I twisted, yanking on the back of the chair until it slid forward and I could sit etme Trent's virtual slave in the process To co Ivy-a distinct possibility He knew she'd be here tonight, and his spies had probably told him she was out now

Jenks's wings clattered, and I flicked aze to his "What do you want ate My kids arehim"

My jaw clenched, and I forced it to relax I had a nice silk blouse picked out to wear tonight So professional and classy And here I was in a bikini and with a dirty kitchen "Let him come back," I finally said "If this is about that paper of his, he can suck my toes and die"

With a nod and a wing chirp for Jumoke to accompany him, Jenks and his son darted to the side of the church and the slate path there I settled back, tiltingobvious about it Trent's voice-his beautiful, resonant, soothing, political voice-slipped over ate, and I touched the braid that Jenks's kids had putI hated that I liked his voice, but it was a fao

The wooden latch to the tall gate lifted, and lasses off Eyes half closed, I pretended to be sleeping

Wreathed in pixy kids, Trent caarden, histhe noisy, winged escort Keeping my expression bland, I took in his slim form In the months since I'd last seen him, Trent had deepened his tan, and his baby-fine, alht the dappled sun Instead of his usual thousand-dollar suit, he had on a lightweight gray short-sleeved shirt, dress slacks, and shiny dress shoes Itbut And as he doing here alone? Quen never let him out by himself

Trent made his way down the fern-laced slate path with the pixies chatting at hi his true des and Briain?

I a almost naked If I didn't annul the fa, Trent would start trying to kill ain, and as much as I detested theto put round

Feeling like a big fat hypocrite, I closedto one of Jenks's kids as his steps scraped on the broken patio tile My heart beat faster If it had been anyone other than Trent, so hard not to look like the crazy witch living in a church with a gargoyle in the belfry, pixies in the garden, and a cat on the fence-even if I was No as he getting into my kitchen Not with candles all over the place and half-crushed herbs and netic chalk everywhere

"You'll never guess who I found digging through our trash, Rache," Jenks said snidely, and I stretched, shivering as a cold shadow slipped over me

"I thought we got rid of those raccoons," I said, openingmore than a black silhouette with the sun behind him The scent of cinnae? Curious If Trent was uncomfortable, then maybe I could keep the upper hand even if I was only half dressed That would be a nice switch He was good at putting me on the defensive