Page 7 (1/2)

Chapter Seven

The faint smell of cinnamon, blood, and wine drifted forward from the backseat despite the fact that all the ere down My elboas propped up on the sill, and led ainst his back to keep the We were an hour out of St Louis, and no one was happy I would have asked Ivy if she’d ht and her eyes were halfway to black, slowly edging into hunger

My chest hurt, and I wrappedout at the whole-lot-of-nothing ere passing through The sun shifted as we took a slow turn From the back where Trent sulked, a new burst of blood and cinnarew as the warmth found hiive hie his clothes told ed a worried look with Jenks Trent had tried to clean up, but there was only so much that bottled water and fast-food napkins could do Dried blood cracked and flaked from the absorbent black cloth he’d tied around his bicep It looked like a shoe-polishing rag, and I was sure he’d gotten it from his suitcase, thrown into the backseat before we tore out of St Louis At least his face was clean Even his ears where the blood had dripped down He had been bleeding from his ears! What had they tried to do to hi half full of candy wrappers, coffee cups, and water bottles The scent of friesry, exceptout of St Louis

"Experts claim that an adhesive that dissolves in salt water is to blaent dra adhesive is routinely used in major road construction in no-frost zones outside the coastlines, and it’s thought that the salt used to de-ice the nearby sidewalks soaked into the soil, eating away at the foundation over the years until today’s disastrous toll"

Salt-dissolving adhesive, I thought darkly That was Inderland speak for a ic ration we’d achieved, the equality that we liness

Jenks’s wings hue the station?" he asked "They’re just repeating themselves now"

His tone was heavy, and I looked at Ivy She was the one who’d turned it on Fro off a bottle of flavored water enhanced with B vita it and tossing it to the front for me to jam in with the rest of the trash Ivy clicked off the radio, her motions just shy of vampiric speed

I squinted out thein the new silence as I shoved the bottle in the trash, not really seeing the gently rolling grasslands They looked hot under the lengthening afternoon sun, and I wished I had lare I’d put on Trent’s, but he’d probably want them back, and I didn’t knohat to think of him anymore The third assassin hadn’t been at the car e’d stumbled back to it Neither Trent, Ivy, or Jenks had asked what happened, and I wasn’t about to admit, especially to Trent, that I’d alic could be so insidiously deadly, and a neariness, or respect

Depressed, I hoisted her ontobriefly when it fell into my aura’s influence Thanks to them, Jenks had looked for and found the explosive char they’d put on it in case we found the bo that had pro on 70, ticking off Trent, whose ulti to Seattle I was going to San Francisco The deal was the West Coast in two days, not Seattle

I turned to look at the"How’s your shoulder?" I asked He’d missed a smear of blood just under his hairline, and I forced my attention from it I could see it in peekaboo snatches when the wind hit hiht

Trent’s sour expression shifted to one of irritation "Better," he said, the word clipped "I don’t think I’h hten her grip on the wheel, her French-s in worry, and I took an uneasy breath "Sorry," I said shortly, wondering if I should ask Ivy to stop

"You care?" Trentmyself to look out the front "But I told Quen I’d keep you alive Even when you do stupid stuff like hide in a hole instead of finding Ivy like I told you to"

"I wasn’t aware that keeping your as important to you," heme not to rise to the bait, but I couldn’t help it "It is," I said, eying my nails There was blood under my cuticles Trent’s?

"And that’s why you refuse to take my familiar mark off?" Trent asked

Ivy exhaled loudly, and I looked sideways at hi ed in the backseat like it was a limo, the sun in his hair and eyes as he looked out at the hot, flat vie could so around their ar someone to death? "That’s patently obvious," he said softly, alree"

I huffed and turned back around "Like you hold to all your agreereeone dark Ivy, too, was clenching her jaw The scent of cinnaht look calht not have noticed it last year, but after spending almost a day with him, I could now

"Then why haven’t you killedmyself back from the seat so I could look at him square on "Go for it, you little spot of sunshine! I just beat off three assassins, one by er than you, and you know it" I smiled insincerely "It bothers you, doesn’t it? You rely on Quen far too much"

His eyes flicked to mine, then away "That’s not it at all," he saidthat sain

"Is so," I said, and Jenks cleared his throat "You’re lucky I pushed that ot theh there to kill both of us"

Irritation crossed his face, so quick I wasn’t sure it even existed "That’s not what I ainst an ear "Obviously you’re ic It’s why I wanted to hire you in the first place," he said, ive you until the witches’ conference to resolve this issue" I made a "well?" face at him, and he snarkily added, "We aren’t there yet You’ve got a day or two before I start trying to kill you again"

Myup a laugh "I just saved your life!" I said loudly, anger spilling into ?" Ivy suddenly said, and I flicked a look at her, seeing her about ready to lose it The blood, the anger, it was adding up Trent had pissedthe car with it I wasn’t done, but for Ivy, I’d shut my mouth

"Screw you, Trent," I said as I flopped back intoto do since Ivy took a deep breath and shuddered

"I’ off as Ivy put on the blinker We hadn’t seen a car in ht before the interstate rose to go over a grass-covered road running north and south

"Uh, Ivy?" I asked Trent, too, had put both feet on the floor and sat up straight I’d alood, Ivy," Jenks chiuy had a bladder the size of a pinhead

"I’h the rearviewat the sight of his blood-soaked shirt-sleeve and the wad of red tissue he had pressed against his ear again "Sorry," he said sourly "Didn’t mean to offend"

"You’re not offensive," she said shortly "You’re turning me on Get out Clean up"

I turned back around,on pebbles, Ivy pulled onto a seldoas stations and a derelict fast-food joint Slowing, she rassy paveht the car to a halt, sideways to the faded parking lines, and put it in park Sighing, she turned the engine off

Silence and crickets took over It was four according to my cell phone, but it felt like five Somewhere we’d crossed a tih the strip of blue-tinted glass at a faded sign "Saint Clair?"

The sound of Trent’s door opening was loud, and above us, a car drove by on the interstate "Good," he said as he got out, with a wince, to peer at it "That’s 47 going under the expressway If we take that, we can hit I-70 in an hour and cut twenty hours out of the drive"

Ivy leaned back and closed her eyes "I’ on a two-lane road Not out here in the abandoned stretches And not after dark"

"You’re afraid?" Trent mocked

Jenks rose up and down in nervousness, but Ivy just settled deeper into the sun "Absolutely," she said softly, and I bobbed et off the interstate, either There were bad things in the empty stretches, especially out west, where there’d been less of a population to begin with

"Release the trunk, will you?" Trent said, clearly not going to push the issue

While Trent shuffled to the back of the car, I began gathering the trash I don’t re Milk Duds

"Be quick about it!" Ivy said loudly as she reached for a lever and popped the trunk "And don’t go in the building for water I’ve got ipes in the outside pocket of "

"I know better than to knock on doors," Trent said, feeling his jaw as he pulled his suitcase out and moved to the back of the car

I watched him in the side-viewI didn’t believe his crack about trying to kill ood on our deal at soht be better than in thedown my neck I didn’t trust hiet hirabbed otta pee, too?" Jenks guessed, darting outside the arm himself in the sun "Tink’s panties, I don’t knohy it takes you wo," he said from outside

"Maybe because we don’t have to do it every twenty nantly, but Ivy had opened her eyes, waiting for an explanation

"I want to take care of his fauilty?" she said, eyes closing

"No," I said quickly "And I’ive hi to bitch about"

Ivy’s lips quirked, and the sun hit her fully "If it will shut him up, take an hour"

"All I need is twenty ot out withh to do a perihed Yelloeeds grew in the cracks, but there was a nice bit of concrete under the gas station overhang That was likely the best spot to make a circle, and I did want this done in a circle

"Rachel?" Ivy called, and I turned to see her leaning across the front seat, toto kill hi darker "We’re going to hit desert soon That’s a lot of space for bad things to happen in"

Squinting froaze to the lifted trunk lid and settledon my shoulder The h ic And then the arch falling on us? It was a far cry from the "assassins" in my kitchen, and I wanted to know myself It was times like this when I missed Pierce He’d probably threaten Trent with a curse and be done with it, which wasn’t much better than Trent, but I did appreciate his results I had to be , I started for the back of the car Jenks was sitting on the ri thein appreciation

Trent had his shirt off, wadded up and in a pile at his feet His suitcase was open, but he quickly shut it when my shadow touched hilistening in the sun where he’d wiped hiood Lots of definition and not a single tan line Not tointo a pair of faded jeans Murdering drug lord Bio-drug dealer Pretty like a toxin

His expression cross, Trent dropped the used wipes on his bloodstained shirt and snatched up the one draped over"What?" he said shortly, and I flushed

Sitting on the highest part of the hood, his feet dangling down, Jenks sighed

"I need so," I said as I dropped the trash into the nearby fifty-five-gallon dru Trent doithmirror from the side pocket of netic chalk, finger stick, transferIt was a si atback where it had been "I’ht now"

"Here?" Trent said, the sun enerally what ’right now’ninety le a black T-shirt on across his shoulders was fast "Now is fine," he said as it settled over hiood, unaware that I atching His hair wasoff the blood, and it was all I could do not to reach out and shter as he tucked the black cotton shirt behind his waistband in aover him Motions sharp, he zipped his suitcase closed and slammed the trunk shut "What can I do to help?" he asked

"You help?" Jenks said, flying since Trent had shut the trunk out from under him "You’re the reason we’re in this trouble The day we need your help-"

"Relax, Jenks," I interrupted Sure, Trent had sicced the coven on ed down the street by a deslippery in the sun "There’ve got to be pixies here," I said, leaning to look at the gas station overhang "Can you talk to thelies are so I don’t doup, Jenks shifted his wings in sullen affirmation His hand rose to slap his bicep to make sure he had on his red bandanna, then dropped to rest on the butt of his sword, again on his hip thanks to Ivy "Sure," he said, buzzing off with a noisy wing clatter "Tink’s a Disney whore, Rache Why don’t you start thinking with so other than your hor when he was suddenly surrounded by pixies in brown shirts and pants They had spears pointed at hily Slowly I exhaled Trent scuffed his boots, and I looked over the abandoned gas station A car went by, looking a thousandup, I headed for theTrenthis bloody shirt and ipes into the trash can along the way "Ah, I should apologize for not doing this sooner," I said, feeling a pang of guilt

"You were scared," Trent said, his lofty attitudeabout yesterday," I said tartly, guilt vanishing "I mean the last two months Al wouldn’t tell lanced atstiff "It’s a new curse," he stated flatly "I thought you would simply untwist the one you put on me"

"I didn’t curse you," I said sharply "I took ownership of the one Minias claimed you with But don’t worry This one won’t hurt I’ll take the s his smut

"Ah," he started, and I scuffed to a halt,shadow as I squinted at hiood in that T-shirt, and looked even better out of it Stop it, Rachel

"I’ to ask you to pay for it," I said, tired "I’m so covered with sh" I slipped under the gas station’s overhang, appreciating the cooler temp "We don’t want to jeopardize your bid for ht have been catty, but everything about this bothered"How’s that going anyway?" I asked as I setmirror beside it "The Weres have had the ed under the overhang, his eyes on the holes in the roof "Not as well as I’d like," he said, a practiced polish co it a lot lately "I’raphic There’s been a istered Were voters in the last two s difficult If I kneas an intentional block by you, I’d be irritated"

He went silent, spinning to keep ht as I walked around him, bent alhtening, I kicked out an old pop can, and sank to the ground His eyebrows rose, and I shrugged "Have a seat," I said, indicating a spot about four feet in front of me

Still silent, he bent his knees and found his way to the ground in a graceful move that was as far away from the boardroorace now that he wasn’t in a suit, and soht I thought way too ed in jeans, that thin black T-shirt, and blood-splattered boots, I was struck by how quickly the business away It kind of worried aze dropped fros around, trying to figure out as going through his mind He’d known Ceri for al elfoff on hierous tool, but a tool Trent had been taught to fear it,I didn’t knohat he could do any I had to be wary of

Looking across the two-lane road, I whistled for Jenks, getting a burst of green dust signifying that ere good On the horizon, the waxing ht of afternoon At the car, Ivy was busy cleaning the backseat with her special orange wipes Nervous, I wiped hs The wind moved my hair, and I tucked the strands, still caked with the dust of the arch, behind an ear Ivy wanted to drive all night, but I wanted to rent a roo else I felt icky

"Ithis out to the last few days," I said as I pawed through ave me a book Dee It wasn’t in there But it does have a page or tith info like substitutions, sun and moon tables, conversions"

I found the index card with the Latin Trent was going to have to say, and I handed it to him He automatically took it, his expression one of surprise "The curse to free a falish conversions, yes," I said sourly "I guess they don’t do this often" I set five candles on the cement They were froer stick and shaft of redere next I had a moment of panic until I found the vial of transfer media I could buy it, sure, but not anywhere near here

I twisted where I sat to reachit between us as the platform on which to do the curse Trent looked at the dark wine-colored hues that it reflected the world in His boots shifted He was nervous He should be

"You need the h it was obvious

"Yes," I said, thinking the plate-size piece of etched glass was beautiful for all its dark purpose Etched with a stick of yew, the pentagralyphs were how I accessed the demon database in the ever-after It also let uess you could say it was an interdiic, and since this curse needed to be registered, I’d have to use it Suddenly suspicious, I asked, "Why?"

Trent’s eyes fixed onused it to talk to Minias It wasn’t hard"

I flicked the top off the finger stick with my thumb and jabbed ed three drops of blood into the transfer ic never is," I said softly as they went plinking in and the expected redwood scent was quickly overshadowed by a whiff of burnt a he hadn’t noticed "That’s why you pay for it the hard way He’s dead, by the way Minias Newt killed hiet the fa to be happy "The best I can do is file an emancipation curse That’s why I need the h, Trent clenched his jaw "I’d still be counted a slave?"

"Deal with it!" I exclai up when I heard a pixy whisper froht, Trent You were on a demon’s auction block You had a little red bow around your neck, and you were a co, Trent looked past rass

"If it helps," I said softly, "the only reason I was able to get the familiar bond between Al and me annulled was because it couldn’t be enforced And before you ask, if you want to go that route, I’d have to complete the familiar bond, use it, and you’d have to successfully beat me down After that little stunt at the arch, I think we can agree that that is not going to happen," I added, not sure if I had the right to be so confident anyazed past me "I will be a freed slave"

I winced in syet the dried frosting off "The upside is that no de as I’ hihtful expression It was a serendipitous bit of CYA, but it was true, and it felt good knowing that he wouldn’t be trying to kill ain Ever Na-na Na-na Na-a-a-a Na

His response was a quiet " it up

Leaning forward, I wiped the glass clean and pressed the candle at the tip of the pentagraet the wax toup "You want to tell me why the Withons want you dead so badly that they’d drop the St Louis arch on us?" I said, and his knees shifted

"I’d sooner tell you what I wanted to be when I grew up," Trent said sarcastically, then frohen our eyesin my way, and I pushed the nasty curls behind my ear to make them less obvious "Come on, Trent," I said "We all know the Withons were after you They said as much after you left"

Trent looked at the holes in the ceiling, silent I pressed the second candle into the mirror on the point counterclockwise froled hair as I took in his tells He was nervous That’s all I could deteras station within sight of I-44 God! No wonder they shunned ers before I wiggled it into place "Quen was so scared that he picked ht fro the Withons’ assassins," I said, and Trent cleared his throat "They attacked us on the interstate, risking dozens of lives, and then again under the arch And you knew they would," I said, suddenly realizing it, "or you wouldn’t have gone to that bunker, looking for that ley line when I told you to find Ivy"

His head ca

"That’s why you were so ada forward "And why you went to ground You knew they were after you and you didn’t trust Ivy and ic all prepped, with your little hat and ribbon," I accused, and he held his gaze, angry "And after you did your ic, the arch fell down" It fell on us, and children, and dogs playing in the park

Trent’s eye twitched "I didn’t make it collapse," he said, his beautiful voice strained

Feeling used, I set the fourth candle,onto the mirror to meet its reflection "I never said you did," I said "But they want you dead, and they want you dead now What are you trying to do that the Withons will sacrifice a park full of people to prevent?" I looked at hi he appeared sharp and cold in the shadoith ot hurt because of us Killed Kids, Trent If I hadn’t gone to St Louis, the arch would still be standing and those kidsthose kids would still be okay I deserve to knohy!" I said, not wanting to get back in the car without an answer

Trent, his expression a blank nothing, looked into the field where the pixies were showing off for Jenks "It’s so between Ellasbeth and myself," he finally said reluctantly

The fourth candle fell over when I let go of it, and it rolled al to kill her?" I asked outright,

"No!" I felt better at the horror in his voice, and he said it again, as if I ht not believe him "No Never"