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Chapter Twenty-Four

The transition was smoother this time as we crossed merely the ever-after, not realities, and rit of the surface echoed once and died, replaced by a heavy bass thuhter mocked me, and I looked up, numb as we misted into existence Damn it, Trent Trust me He had said trust ht on the tick," Al said jovially, his arm in mine as he checked his pocket watch "Clean yourself up, Rachel Dalliance is a respectable establishment"

I didn’t knohether to cry or screa lord Al was right How stupid could I be? I’d lost I’d lost Jenks, Ivy, , cursed to remain on this side of the lines unless summoned If that didn’t make me a demon, ould?

A bar was toover one another to get their drinks TheIn front offroy at the bar The thelass etched with circles and triangles Gray-and-white-patterned carpet les theme It was modern, expensive, and looked rohich tickeda tux was talking to the three people ahead of us, his goat-slitted eyes telling me that they used demons as workers here, not familiars Trendy and expensive, indeed The hter broke out froh like boats in the fog The restaurant was only half full, and the host led the demon trio ahead of us to a table, their clothes and ht of sch on the company’s account Men Everyone here was any desk, DALLIANCE floated inlike Jenks’s dust

Jenks

I blinked fast,at ed froreen velvet coat and lace into a three-piece charcoal gray suit A red handkerchief peeped from the breast pocket, and his hair was slicked back He looked like a professional businessht PM stubble

"Cheer up, Rachel," he said, shifting his shoulders as if fitting into a new suit "This is Dalliance You’re not stillabout Pierce, are you? We’ll pick up your little pet toht is for celebration!"

"Where did you get that?" I asked, not caring about Pierce

He looked at me, new lines in his face as he played the part "My closet You don’t think I a to you a brush-and-wash curse"

I took a breath to coy cascade overthe pain in my knees if not the ache in my heart Yes, I was depressed, and yes, I’d just lost everything, but I felt like a slob with the grit of the surface on me, and if it would clean me up, then all the better

I shivered as the curse slipped away, looking up as Al took out a pair of lasses and perched them on his nose They had a bifocal line, and I knew he didn’t need them "Much better," he said with a sniff "No one takes you seriously if you’re in rags"

I jerked when his energy flowed over ht leather ray business suit A purple Gucci bag was in my hand, and a Pal to my hair to find that it was back in a bun My shoes were so tight they hurt "What rong with the leather dress? You picked it out forback, and Al pulled me forward as if I was his arm candy "This is Dalliance If we don’t fit the theht of Bis made my brow furrow I should have called hi in the world thatat us, Al waited until I broughtin torlds, and I’ you to Dalliance You don’t eat here, you network"

My shoulders slu

The host sniffed at us, and Al turned, his jaw a little heavier than he usually had it, his hair a little thinner What do you really look like? I wondered, thinking of that black-skinned deoyle with

"Reservations for two You’ll find it under Algaliarept," Al said, hooking his shiny dress shoe behindme forward

The man looked at the folder open on his desk "You’ve been declined," he said distantly, his voice clear over the rowl escaped Al, and the skin around his eyes tightened "There’s been a ht in the eyes, the demon said, "Your credit sucks, sir"

"Ah" Al pokedhave you worked hereCalvin?"

Calvin closed the file "Long enough to know that Dali is not your personal friend but your parole officer No table"

Dali? What did Dali have to do with this? Al was starting to look ticked True, I didn’t want to be here, but I wanted to be at Al’s little four-roorank "This slop will likely give o home for a cheese sandwich?"

The host turned his attention toHis expression becaasped when he reached across the desk, grabbed my arm, and yanked me closer "You’re not a familiar," he said, his face inches from mine "You’re that-"

I yelped as I was jerked back, Al having taken my other arm and reclaimed me "She’s not a that, she’s a whom Hands off the lady"

"Hey!" I said,crucified "If you both don’t let go ofsoprano!" Just because I was in heels and carrying a Gucci bag didn’t mean I didn’t kno to use them in new, creative ways

The twoed ht God, this suitbothered as he started for us Eyes fixed on us, he gave a final bit of instruction to one of the waitstaff and continued forward My eyes widened I knew this demon It was Dali, and suddenly the na; why Dali wanted to be an older, over-weight civil servant who ran a restaurant was beyond ot her?" he said to Al, his bushy white eyebrows bunched as he took

Dali flicked his eyes over rew even wider "She is"

I felt like a cow he’d traded a handful of ic beans for "I’m what?" I asked, and Al inclined his head atdecidedly-worriedly-fond

"A demon," Al said, and Calvin sniffed his disbelief "We are here to celebrate, and this pile of crap won’t seat us"

The host stood firm, and Dali looked at the list as if he didn’t care

"Dali! She is!" Al protested "I know it! They cursed her and everything!"

"Dali, she isn’t," Ithe paper with a thick finger Behind hiive you a table by the kitchen," he finally offered

"The kitchen?" Al echoed, appalled

Dali let the folder hit the desk with a s fro better," Dali said, and Al huffed "Cursing her doesn’tin, Dali said calmly, "You’re a scam artist on the skids-"

"I am a procurer and instructor of fine fa palate," Al interrupted "You’ve bought from me yourself"

"-and I’ins cons," Dali finished

Affronted, my mouth dropped open "Hey!"

Al lost sohtly "DaliGiveHow can I prove her birthright if no one sees her?"

The music shifted to a faster pace, and Dali frowned "Sit thehtened, bea

"I’m not a demon," I said as the host moved to show us to a table

"That’s what I’, too," Dali said, his head down as he scratched so in that folder of his

Al pinchednice, keep your ly, I followed Al’s not-very-subtle push to go first My feet hurt in the gray pumps, but at least my knees were okay Beside and a little behind reat friends, only to get a lackluster response Unlike most of the places Al had takenthe only girl in the place

"Al," I whispered as he led us to the back "I’m not a demon I know I said I was, but that was for the coven because I wasat someone, Al waved "I believe you are, and the sooner you accept it, the sooner we can get out of a four-roo more suitable"

Okay, I was more than arm candy I was his ticket to solvency "Al"

"Relax, itchy witch S me harder

"Yes, but it has no pizzazz Ra-a-a-a-chel Rach-e-e-e-eel," he said, trying it out in different ways "No one will treh falsetto "It’s Rachel! Run! Hide!"

I’d had boyfriends who ht differ with him, but I was silent when the host stopped before a booth behind a pillar Al smoothly pulled out a chair from the adjacent empty table "Relax," he said as he invited me to sit "You’re the only fe crazy Let them look at you"

Uncomfortable, I sat, amazed when Al expertly scooted my chair in without a scuff on the carpet "They’ve seen o home now? I’ve had a hard day"

Ho it hard to breathe Ivy Jenks Myto freaking kill him

Al sat beside me, both our backs to the wall, and the host sniffed before he walked away "A bite of supper is just the way to end a trying day," Al said as he snapped out my napkin and draped the black cloth over , I settled back, trying to figure out as going on I mean, I kneas at a restaurant and was on display, but Al wasn’t being lewd, lascivious, lustful, or any other nasty l word I didn’t knohere I stood, and that made me uncomfortable

"Al," I said suddenly as I looked over the table "He didn’t leave us menus How am I supposed to order if he didn’t leavein the curl of heat like a five-year-old "You eat what you’re given It doesn’t get better than that"

I frowned, not liking not knohat I was eating "No wine No eggs Nothing with a sulfur-based preservative It gives , Al looked at et real eggs or wine Chill and enjoy yourself, will you?"

Chill? Had he told me to chill? Al looked funny, still himself, but older as he played the part of the successful business his main squeeze-that’d be lasses of water before us, her aggressive "Welcoing my head up

"Brooke!" I exclaimed, and the older woman snarled at me, her eyes tired and her hair slicked back in an unflattering cut close to her skull "You sold her as a waitress?" I sta orders and clearing tables?

Brooke’s grimace curved up into a weird seray uniforood on her, the starched white collar and the cutit second-class subservient Her Mobius-strip pin still decorated her lapel, but it looked like a joke now, spotted with so Spit?

"What would you like, Mada extremely pissed

"See, even Brooke knohat you are," Al said as he lass "Tell the piece of witch crap what you want to drink Hurry before there’s a shift change"

I stared, my heartbeat fast "She’s a coven member, and theyred

"What do you wantat all eet her back in a week To tell you the truth, I’m a little disappointed"

Brooke’s jaw clenched "Can I interest you in the specials tonight?" she asked, the hatred in her voice co of thein disbelief "Brooke, I’m so sorry I tried I really did"

"Can I start you off with a drink?" she asked tersely "The Briestured flamboyantly and leaned back "Two of those, yes And whatever the chef suggests So earthy for me"

"As you will it," she said, and turned to leave, her pace slow and giving the surrounding derab her ass, laughing when she scooted to avoid him

I felt sick Why hadn’t she listened to me? I’d told her not to summon Al Hand to my middle, I looked away "She’s too expensive forher walk away "Veryfa in the entertainment field, but he hadn’t found any able to handle the shifts As I understand it, she’s been good for business Who wouldn’t want to have their ass kissed by a coven member? Relax Enjoy yourself"

That was the third ti tired of it, but I froze when he took ers to kiss the his snort of a people The tables were starting to fill Because of me?

My feet hurt, and I wanted to take offat oyles need to be before they bond with a, uh, witch?" I asked hi the "phone esture to so uninterested "Once bound, they live as long as we do"