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Chapter Four

If looks could kill, hts The irate pixy was sitting on the rearview lass and scowling atin the sun before it hit the dash toto the floor Ivy was in the front passenger seat, talking softly to Quen about the success he’d had with Trent’s highly experimental treatment to make vampire neurotoxins dor the illegal, high-risk procedure, and the only reason it didn’t bother me was because it wouldn’t help Ivy in her quest to be free of her va the neurotoxins dormant in her wouldn’t save her soul when she died

No, she expectedthrough a weird , and I felt cut off The light ly, and itat us We were just another black car That made me uncomfortable, too

From the far side of the backseat, Trent said, "Quen, could we have the roof open?"

Their conversation never hesitated as Quen touched a button and the small square of roof slid back to let the wind and sun roll in I couldn’t stop h of relief, and I settled back into the coraphtoa deep breath, I tucked a stray curl behind my ear and looked at him I’d called his bluff and was still alive It must irritate hi any illusion Imiffed with me Damn it, he had warned me that I wouldn’t be able to fly, and it rankled that I’d have to ad easy Easy like a demon curse, and those always ca of that curse I owed hi him, and he would push back eventually That he wasn’t dressed for revenge, having gone extremely casual today, made me feel better, and whereas Quen was in his usual black outfit that looked somewhat like a unifor jeans and a lightweight short-sleeved shirt Instead of his thousand-dollar boardroom shoes, he had on brown boots, scuffed from the stables and coly contrived to re we had ridden over his fields His nuht for having atte an ene a new relationship, but that Trent had run his own man down like some perverted version of the Hunt left me cold Trent had insisted that it hadn’t been Jonathan out there and stayed with s bayed, but I hadn’t seen Jonathan since

Green was truly Trent’s color, and I wondered if the buttons of his shirt were real silver The wind shifted the collar to shoisp of hair, and I looked away, ht, and it had been wonderful riding as Trent tried to shohat it was like to rule creation with dogs singing for the blood of the one who had hurt oes and does black ic in my kitchen? My attention flicked back to Trent, his expression open and wondering, clearly curious as to where h the quietly hed and said loudly, "Okay I can’t fly You toldon your jet And I’ to remove your familiar mark until I’m free of the coven"

Jenks s

Trent shifted in his seat, inadvertently giving away his mood "I never offered the use of an"

My runner instincts kicked in, a soothing adrenaline starting to flow Trent was trying to look relaxed when he was al to conclusions is my only option when every third word out of yourto kill you for standing up their daughter is a good story, except I know she walked out on you, not the other way around You’re still lying to me No"

Quen’s eyes flicked to mine by way of the rearview mirror His conversation with Ivy had cut off, and the tension in the car spiked "You don’t need to knohy I need to get to the coast," Trent said softly, and Quen’s grip tightened on the steering wheel Crap on toast, whatever it was, it was bad "All you need to do is geta warning, and even Ivy looked worried as she turned in the front seat so she could see me Hermade a soft sound as she cracked it

"You’re the only one Quentrusts," Trent added, his gaze on his fingers in the shaft of early sun, gray through the tinted s

There was that word again, and I grimaced as I looked to Quen and he inclined his head at ement Damn it, I didn’t want to be responsible for Trent I didn’t even like Trent "Just get your little elf butt on your private jet and go," Ieasy for him

"I can’t," Trent explained patiently "I can’t take the train, either Tradition says I have to go by land, and I need to be there by Sunday night"

"Two days!" I yelped "By car? Are you nuts? What do you need to do on the West Coast in two days that you can’t do by phone?"

Jenks’s wings hu to join us in the back, but a look from Ivy stopped hi in to touch my knee without warmth Trent leaned back into the shadows, reluctant to answer "What’s on the West Coast?" I asked again "Trent, if you want my help, treat me like a professional I need to know Especially if lahed heavily, and at the sound Trent seelancing at the back of Quen’s head "No one will be hurt by it, and it doesn’t touch on your upco trial"

"It’s not a trial, it’s a pardon," I said quickly, but we all kneas right

Trent looked at reen eyes alet me there by Sunday, I should have ti a bark of laughter froone by then"

Carrots Sweeter than vinegar but still unpalatable, I thought, re-laced carrots I’d eaten once while a ?

"Get me there after Sunday, and I’ll miss myof opportunity," Trent added "Three days, and there is no reason for o at all If we leave immediately, we can ht, and I met Jenks’s and Ivy’s eyes This had all the ear Trent was in trouble with the biggest elf fah he hadn’t blaht have had some part in it Guilt licked atabout this

"Will you do it?" Trent asked He sounded angry but not at uh Trent was the boss, Quen ran Trent’s life, had since Trent’s father died It had to rankle when the only way Quen would let hihter "The last tily, the boat blew up That water was cold"

"Atta girl, Rache!" Jenks exclaimed, and Ivy leaned over to whisper a question to Quen

Trent’s expression was empty "I kept you alive, didn’t I?"

"Only so you could poundlot we’d turned into The sun shifted to hi his embarrassment easy to read

"I had just saved your life!" I said "And you try to killI hadn’t done and wouldn’t do No, I don’t think so You’re spouting pretty words like ’trust,’ but you don’t give it I’et to the West Coast so you can run your personal errand Especially if you are playing around with black er easy to read as he put one ankle on his knee, looking both cold and professional "Ceri does black ic You like her"

I squinted at hiht not understand theot the the motion into a quick point "I don’t trust you"

"You needit like it was his last card, desperate despite his attempts to hide his stress "If I’m with you, the coven will be less inclined to take potshots at you I’ll ads with you to date have been less than aboveboard" His jaw clenched "I’e that If not for me, you wouldn’t even have this chance to clear your name I swear, Rachel, thatto do with you"

My foot braced against the carpet as the car gently halted I looked up, seeing the back of my mom’s car Finally

"Thanks I have it fro her door, she slipped out Jenks followed her, shrilling soot out, and the trunk whined as it opened Ivy had a set of keys to ar for the door, I picked up htly, "are anything but aboveboard with me You askYou must think I filled a prescription for stupid pills if you think I’et you out to the West Coast in two days for ’personal business’ God, Trent, you told the coven I was a demon!" I could bear to say it now that Ivy, Jenks, and Quen weren’t in the car, buthappened Da had child locks

"I need your help," Trent said as I leaned over the front seat and unlocked the doors froer panel I flopped back in the seat and reached for my handle, shocked when Trent touched o "Please"

Oh crap He’d said please Gut clenching, I covered my arm where he’d touched me His eyes were pinched, and I wondered if I was really seeing that whisper of desperate need in the back of his eyes, or if this was all a trick to get o ofht press of his lips eased Outside the car, Quen, Jenks, and Ivy were talking in a small huddle, but the dra He needed , I closedblink Crap, I was a sucker for helpless ood as Trent A quiver rose through me, and I felt my resolve start to fall apart He was powerful, he was suave, and he needed my help He’d asked for it

Damn it, damn it, damn it! I suddenly realized that noto do exactly what Trent wanted Again And it irritatedto take a shot at me en route, they would think twice if Trent ith me I didn’t trust Trent, but I trusted the coven even less

"I desperately need to get to the West Coast before Sunday night," he said, and my eyes opened "It’s a privatein my life Please helpits way intoand the air was still His clothes, the sun in his hair, everything combined to remind me of a su in the stables at su I’d alienated iven h o e had pounded over his fields under thethe lie that the scream we had heard was a fox and not theit all, I quivered, feeling myself pulled to hiet you to the West Coast by Sunday, you have to pro I need them to reinstate uarantee that everyone stops gunning for , I looked up "If I can’t beat this, I’ret this I knew it

"I didn’t know that," he said, looking like he was realigning his thinking

He went to say soh the open roof to hover between us "You ready to go, Rache?" he asked, looking far too bright and eager

"Yes," I said, tired as I gathered et Trent to the coast I’ to need your help, and don’t try to stop rinned at me "I know"

My lips parted, and I stared at him I know? He’d said, I know? "Who are you, and how did you kill my partner?" I said, and Jenks spilled a silver dust

"Cookie farts is right," he said "Neither of you will make it out there without the other And h came from Trent instead of the expected bad temper at the slur His eyes were closed, and when they opened, there was hope-it made him look more powerful yet "We can leave within the hour," he said, opening the door "They won’t be expecting that"

I wondered if he meant they as in the Withons or they as in the coven