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"I&039;ve got to get a car," I whispered as I lurched off the bus steps I snatcheddoors and held ine roared to life and the bus lu closer
I hadn&039;t slept well in days Salt had dried all over o fivethe blister on h, Jenks was cranky In short, ere very good cohtened the eastern sky, giving the thin blue a beautiful translucence The birds were loud and the streets were hushed The chill in the air uess the sun was only an hour froolden hour when all good vampires are tucked into bed and wise humans hadn&039;t yet poked their noses out to find the early edition of the paper "I a, Ms Morgan," ca into a crouch
Jenks"It&039;s the neighbor," he said dryly "Jeez, Rache Give , I slowly stood, feeling as old as I was supposed to be under , rather," I said, stepping even with Keasley&039;s gate He was un in his rocker, his face shadowed and unseen
"Been shopping?" He wiggled his foot to tell me he noticed my boots were new
Tired, I leaned on the top of the chain-link fence "Would you like a chocolate?" I asked, and he motioned for me to enter
Jenks huer than my sense of smell, Rache"
"He&039;s a lonely old ate "He wants a chocolate Besides, I look like an old hag Anyone watching will think I&039;ht I saw Keasley hide a sh slipped fro on the porch and sat down on the upper, I pulled a paper sack from my coat pocket and extended it
"Ah" he said, his gaze on the horse-and-rider trade your life for" As I expected, he chose a dark piece A dog barked in the distance Jaw , he looked past me into the silent street "You&039;ve been to theother places"
Jenks&039;s wings fanned my neck "Rachel"
"Cool your jets, Jenks," I said, peeved
Keasley got to his feet with a pained slowness "No He&039;s right It&039;s late"
Between Keasley&039;s obtuse comments and Jenks&039;s instincts, I becaain, and I lurched to hts returned to that pile of splat balls outside raveyard, disguised or not
Keasley moved with a pained slowness to his door "Watch your step, Ms Morgan Once they know you can slip past thee tactics" He opened the door and went inside The screen shut without a sound "Thank you for the chocolate"
"You&039;re welco he could hearas I crossed the street and headed for the linted on its chrootten her bike back from the shop
"Maybe she&039;ll letIt was all shiny and black, with its gold tri Yu a smear where I wiped the deay
"Rache!" Jenks shrilled "Drop!"
I dropped Heart pounding,overhead where I had stood Adrenaline surged,the bike between me and the opposite street
I held rown bushes I pushedinside
"Stay down," Jinks hissed His voice was tight, and a purple glow laced his wings
The prick of the finger stick jolted me to my toes My sleep charm was invoked in 45 seconds; ood if whoever it was stayed in the bushes Maybe I could throw it at hiht want to invest in a splat gun I was more of a confront-the in the bushes like a sniper was cheesy, but when in Roripped the charm by the cord so it wouldn&039;t affectas ere abruptly surrounded by a host of darting pixy children They swirled over us, talking so fast and high I couldn&039;t keep up "They&039;re gone," Jenks added "Sorry about that I knew they were there, but - "
"You knew they were there?" I exclai barked, and I lowered rinned "I had to flush theot to my feet "Great Thanks Let ri as I realized I&039;d squishedby my ear "If I had told you, your reactions would have been off and the fairies would have just waited until I wasn&039;t watching"
My face went slack "Fairies?" I said, chilled Denon must be off his rocker They were expe-e-e-e-ensive Perhaps they gave hi incident
"There&039;re gone," Jenks said, "but I wouldn&039;t stay out here for long The word is the Weres want another crack at you" He took off his red bandanna and handed it to his son "Jax, you and your sisters can have their catapult"
"Thanks, Papa!" The s the red scarf around his waist, he and about six other pixies broke froroup and zipped across the street
"Be careful!" Jenks shouted after theht as I clutched my arms about me and looked over the quiet street Crap
The remainder of Jenks&039;s kids was clustered around hi him around back "Ivy&039;s with someone," Jenks said as he started to drift upward, "but he checks out okay You lancing at the bike It wasn&039;t Ivy&039;s after all "And, uh, thanks"
They rose like a swarm of fireflies Close behind theether to carry a catapult as ss and shouts, they flew up and beyond die church, leaving a hard silence in thestreet
I turnedacross the road, I saw a curtain fall against the single litShow&039;s over Go to sleep, Keasley, I thought, tugging open the heavy door and slipping inside Easing it shut, I slid the oiled dead bolt in place behindmost of the IS&039;s assassins wouldn&039;t use a door Fairies? Denonwearily, I leaned back against the thick ti All I wanted was to take a shower and go to bed As I slowly crossed the empty sanctuary, the sound of soft jazz and Ivy&039;s voice raised in anger filtered out fro room
"Damn it, Kist," I heard as I entered the dark kitchen "If you don&039;t get your butt out of that chair right now, I&039; you halfway to the sun"
"Aw, lighten up, Ta," came a new voice It was masculine, deep but with a hint of a whine, as if who I paused to duerator They were still good, but I knew better than to leave active a around
Thesuddenness "Out," Ivy said softly "Now"
"Ivy?" I called loudly, curiosity getting the better ofrooer We had never discussed it, but I assumed that until the price was off my head, ould try to keep a low profile
"Ooooh," the unseen Kist mocked "She&039;s back"
"Behave yourself," Ivy threatened him as I entered the room "Or I&039;ll have your hide"
"Pro rooer vanished, washed away in a surge of primal instinct A leather-clad vaed His immaculate boots were on the coffee table, and Ivy shoved theust She moved quicker than I&039;d ever seen before She took two steps froressively The mantel clock ticked loudly
Kist couldn&039;t be a dead varound and it was almost sunup - but burn my britches if he didn&039;t coerated slowness The indolent look he gaveover ut And yeah, he was pretty Dangerously so My thoughts jerked back to Table 61, and I sed
His face was lightly stubbled, giving hi, he tossed his blond hair out of his eyes in a race that must have taken him years to perfect His leather jacket was open to show a black cotton shirt pulled tight over an attractively littered fro-healed tear Otherwise, he hadn&039;t a visible scar anywhere I wondered if I would be able to feel theer down his neck
My heart pounded, and I dropped ain Ivy didn&039;t scare overned by whi himself up in the chair "She&039;s cute You should have told " I felt hiht "She reeks of you, Ivy love" His voice dropped in pitch "Isn&039;t that the sweetest?"
Cold, I clutched the collar of my coat closed and backed up until I was in the threshold
"Rachel," Ivy said dryly "This is Kisten He&039;s leaving Aren&039;t you, Kist"
It wasn&039;t a question, and race Kist stretched, his hands reaching for the ceiling His lean body eous curve of muscle on him I couldn&039;t look away His arms fell and our eyes met They were brown His lips parted in a soft s hihoul He was a living va vamps couldn&039;t bespell the wary "You have a taste for vamps, little witch?" he whispered
His voice was like wind over water, and my knees went loose at the compulsion he put in it "You can&039;t touchat him as he tried to bespellfroned any papers"
"No?" he whispered His eyebroere raised in sultry confidence He eased close, his steps soundless Heart pounding, I looked at the floor I felt behind er than roin would drop him like any man
"The courts won&039;t care," he breathed as he drifted to a stop "You&039;re already dead"
My eyes widened as he reached for me His scent washed over me, the musty scent of black earth My pulse pounded, and I stepped forward His hand cuppedainst his chest Anticipation of an unknown pro His lips parted A whisper of words I couldn&039;t understand came from him, beautiful and dark
"Kist!" Ivy shouted, startling both of us A flash of ire filmed his eyes, then vanished
My will flowed back with a painful swiftness I tried to jerk away, finding o," I said, alo!"