Black Magic Sanction Part 20

"Rachel? Rachel!" Ivy said loudly, bringing my attention back from the pixy kids whispering up in the pot rack. Crouched before me, she made me look at her. "You said Lee. You mean Stanley Saladan? He summoned you for Brooke? Why is he helping you now?"

"You got a cast," I slurred, seeing it stark white against her black T-s.h.i.+rt. "Where's Jenks?" I looked at the ceiling for him, and Ivy turned my chin back to her.

"He had a bad feeling, so he went looking for you," she said. "Why did Lee help you?"

I blinked. "Because Pierce can't drive for c.r.a.p." I started to list, and Ivy sat me back upright. "You have beautiful eyes, Ivy," I said, my words spilling out without thought.

She stared, a surge of vampire incense wafting through me as her eyes dilated to a sudden full black. Swallowing, she took her hands off me. "What did they hit you with?" she asked as she stood and backed away. "Will coffee help or make it worse?"

"I don't know." A soft, contented hmmm slipped from me. She looked so sweet standing there with six pixy girls in their pastel silk dresses hovering around her head. Pixy princess. Pixy Princess Ivy with a pretty, pretty cast. Pixy princess. Pixy Princess Ivy with a pretty, pretty cast.

Jaw clenched, Ivy turned to a thumping in the hall. Pixies rose up, scattering. It was Lee, looking as if he had a right to be here, but unsure as to how Ivy might feel about it. Smart man.

"You've got three seconds to explain," Ivy said, spots of red appearing on her cheeks. Not bad, considering what she'd done to Nick.

The black-haired man gave her a toothy smile and ducked his head. "Hey, hi, Ivy. No hard feelings, huh?"

"Oooh, pretty, pretty s.h.i.+ny eyes," I said, finding Pierce pus.h.i.+ng me back down when I tried to get up. A tingle spread from his hand on my shoulder-the man just leaked power. His coat was on the table along with his vest and my stuff. He must have brought everything from Nick's when he came looking for Bis. What a great guy. Even my bag was there.

Ivy was wire tight. "Time's up," she intoned, starting for Lee.

Lee stepped back, hand raised. "You try getting through Hollows traffic with a stoned redhead hanging out the window shouting, 'I'm king of the world!'"

I didn't remember that, but a glance at Pierce told me it was true.

"You summoned her! Like a demon!" Ivy accused.

"She is is a demon," he said, and Ivy's face went hard. But if I was one, then Lee was one, too. "I had to," Lee added, his voice softer. "I had a gun at my head. How many things have you done when someone held a gun to your head or said the word 'duty'? Give me a break, will you? I helped her escape." a demon," he said, and Ivy's face went hard. But if I was one, then Lee was one, too. "I had to," Lee added, his voice softer. "I had a gun at my head. How many things have you done when someone held a gun to your head or said the word 'duty'? Give me a break, will you? I helped her escape."

"You locked her in a boat primed to explode!" Ivy shouted.

Lee's expression lit up in understanding. "That was over a year ago!" he complained as I gave Bis a bunny-eared kiss-kiss. He was atop the fridge doing his lurking gargoyle thing with the pixies. Some of them were getting pretty good at mimicking him, and I smiled.

"Besides, I wasn't the one who planted the bomb," Lee said. "It was Kisten." Lee's face was serious in the sudden silence. "I'm sorry about his pa.s.sing. He was a good man. Come on, Ivy," he coaxed, like the successful, suave bachelor from a wealthy West Coast witch family that he was. "The boat was business. This is survival. Rachel forgave me."

I was starting to see why Trent liked this guy, even while they were business rivals. I hadn't forgiven him, but I wasn't so far out of it to make the mistake of saying so. Ivy pressed her lips together, tension dropping as she turned away. Hand reaching for the center island counter, I stood. I had to find my calling circle. I wasn't going to wait another moment to get this d.a.m.ned mark off my foot and my name back-my beautiful, anonymous demon name that no one but Ivy, Jenks, Al, and my mother knew. G.o.d help me. G.o.d help me.

Someone took my elbow, and I blinked at Pierce, keeping me upright as I stumbled the two steps from the table to the center counter. His hat was falling off my head, and I fixed it, almost falling over. "You're nigh asleep on your feet," he said. "Sit."

"Al," I said, breathing heavily when my hands smacked the top of the island counter. I'd made it. "You'd better get in a circle. I have to call Al."

Lee jerked. "This is a setup? You're giving me to Al?" he exclaimed, and I started when I felt him tap the line out back.

Ivy ducked and I yelped when Pierce flung out a hand and the ball of purple aimed at us ricocheted into the sink. The pixies scattered, shrieking. "Mr. Saladan!" Pierce shouted as I coughed at the smoke drifting out the open window. "Dash it all, calm yourself!"

"I'm not going back to that!" Lee exclaimed, determined from fear.

Ivy rose from behind the counter, her eyes black and, as Pierce would say, all wrathy. "Rachel doesn't give people to Al, you a.s.s you a.s.s You may deserve to be tossed into the ever-after, but that's not what she's doing! As long as you don't owe Al anything, you're safe." She hesitated, then added, "It wouldn't hurt to get in a circle, though." You may deserve to be tossed into the ever-after, but that's not what she's doing! As long as you don't owe Al anything, you're safe." She hesitated, then added, "It wouldn't hurt to get in a circle, though."

Lee squinted at her, another ball of black stuff in his hand. Seeing them occupied, I dropped below the level of the counter, swearing as I slipped and fell on my b.u.t.t. Moving carefully, I got to my knees and looked for my calling mirror. Al was going to pay up. I was going to make him. I was going to have one less tie to demons. It was going to be a good night.

"I've no fist with you," Pierce said, "but threaten Rachel again, and I'll give you thrice the pain you promise her."

Blinking, I stared at my spell books. My mirror wasn't there. "It's gone!" I exclaimed, then remembered it was still in my bag.

"You don't scare me," Lee said to Pierce, oblivious to my disappointment.

"Then I'm of the mind you've not been paying attention," Pierce said, making it a threat.

Above me, Bis crawled along the ceiling, almost matching the color perfectly. His ears were pinned to his head as Pierce and Lee argued. Ignored, I lurched back to the table, falling when I misjudged it, and pulling not only my bag, but all the coats down on me. I sat for a moment, figuring things out, then decided to stay there. If I was on the floor, I couldn't fall down. Slipping my mirror out, I struggled with the heavy gla.s.s. "Al?" I shouted, my mirror finally on my lap. "Get your b.u.t.t over here!" I added, my hand splayed over the middle of it.

The argument suddenly stopped, and Lee edged into my sight from around the center counter. "Should she be doing this right now?" he asked, looking worried.

Ivy was suddenly beside me. "No," she said dryly, lips tight and brow furrowed as she leaned under the table and tried to take the mirror.

"Mine!" I said, yanking it back. "Let go!" I threatened, and she stood, hands on her hips and looking at me in disgust. "I want my name back. Too many people know Al's." I turned back to the mirror, seeing that there were no lines on it. It was empty. "What happened to my mirror?" I said, bewildered. Then realizing that I was looking at the back of the dumb thing, I swore and turned it over. The crystalline beauty of the contrasting wine-colored depths and the sharp diamond lines sparkled in the artificial light, and I lovingly ran my fingers over the gla.s.s. It was beautiful. Too bad it took a curse to run it.

The three of them stood over me, all watching with concern. "You're going to let her do this?" Lee asked, his brow furrowed.

"You're the one who drugged her," Ivy said. "Maybe one of you boys can make a circle in case she figures out which hole in her head the words come out of." the one who drugged her," Ivy said. "Maybe one of you boys can make a circle in case she figures out which hole in her head the words come out of."

"I'm fine!" I said, squinting up at them. "I want my... name back," I said breathlessly, putting my back against a heavy table leg so I wouldn't fall over. "Get in a circle. All of you."

Hot d.a.m.n, I felt good. That last shot Lee had given me had been the icing. "Al!" I shouted, hand splayed on the mirror, crossing lines and totally in the wrong place. "Talk to me!"

"Mayhap we should tend to our own funeral," Pierce said, opening the drawer where I keep my magnetic chalk and sketching a large circle around Ivy and Lee. "The drug will be spent soon. It's like watching a corned pixy." Finished, he stood, examined the size of the circle, then picked up my splat gun from the floor, forgotten till now.

Lee stood indignantly in the uninvoked circle. "What do you want a gun for?"

"It's a dash-it-all fine weapon," Pierce said, looking at his pants pocket and frowning. "The demon set me to watch her, so I'll be fine outside the circle, but I don't set much store on a demon's word." Pierce s.n.a.t.c.hed up his coat, shrugged it on, and dropped the splat gun into one of the large front pockets.

Looking doubtful, Lee invoked his circle, and a wash of purple-tinted ever-after rose up.

"Al-1-1-1-1-1-1," I called, using my free hand to position my pinkie properly, squinting when I accidentally s.h.i.+fted my thumb off the right glyph. d.a.m.n it, this was hard, and I exhaled when I finally got everything in place. "Al!" I shouted, touching my awareness to the ley line out back. Power flooded into me, and I gasped. "Ooooh, that feels good!" I said, and Pierce flushed.

"Al!" I called again, glad the others were safe in a circle. "Get over here or I'm going to come over there and kick. Your. a.s.s." Stupid, dumb demon, Stupid, dumb demon, I thought, pressing my hand into the mirror. I thought, pressing my hand into the mirror. Trying to weasel out of our deal. Trying to weasel out of our deal. "Talk to me, Al!" I demanded. "You slimy little no-good son-of-a-b.a.s.t.a.r.d demon!" "Talk to me, Al!" I demanded. "You slimy little no-good son-of-a-b.a.s.t.a.r.d demon!"

My eyes widened, and my pulse jerked faster as I felt my mind expand when Al picked up. A shot of clarity struck through, showing me with a frightening sureness how stupid I was being. s.h.i.+t. What in h.e.l.l am I doing? s.h.i.+t. What in h.e.l.l am I doing?

Good G.o.d, Rachel, cant you go five minutes... sweet sticky h.e.l.l on a stick! the demon exclaimed, his thoughts reeling from anger to concern as he realized I was hopped up on something. the demon exclaimed, his thoughts reeling from anger to concern as he realized I was hopped up on something. Where... Your church? What are you on, itchy witch? Where... Your church? What are you on, itchy witch?

"I want my name back, and I want it now," I said aloud. "And take your d.a.m.ned mark off!

"Hey!" I yelped as Al suddenly vanished and I was thrown back into the muzzy slop of my drugged haze. Putting a hand to my stomach, I set the mirror aside and used the table to pull myself upright. I didn't feel so good anymore. "He's coming," I said. Whoo-hoo! Here we go! Whoo-hoo! Here we go!

Al popped in as if he belonged, used to my kitchen almost as much as I was to his. He frowned at Pierce, then did a double take at Ivy and Lee, safe in the protection circle. "Stanley Saladan?" the demon purred, smiling evilly, and the man's face went ashen.

"Still think I'm skeerylike?" Pierce muttered as he tucked his s.h.i.+rt-tails in and tried to look more presentable.

"Lee doesn't owe you anything!" I said. "Off-limits."

A trace of irritation crossed the demon's face; then he smiled as if it didn't bother him. "Rachel, my itchy witch," Al said as he tugged the lace at his cuffs. "We've talked about this. You simply must stop collecting nasty little men. How many do you really need, love?"

My knees were sore, and they were shaking. "Brooke summoned me again!" I exclaimed, pointing, then s.h.i.+fted my arm when I remembered where the university was. "I told you she would. She had a rolling bed with straps. I want my name back now" now"

Al made a puff of air, but he was coming at me, and I backed up.

"They drugged me," I said, trying to smack his reaching arm away only to find myself picked up and plopped on the table, sitting on some of Ivy's papers. "In my leg," I continued as he smelled my breath and peered over his smoked gla.s.ses at me. "Shot me twice. I want my name, or I'm going to start charging you a fee every time I field something for you. And it's going to be expensive. I'm Park Place. Bud-dy."

His red, goat-slitted eyes squinted at me from over his smoked gla.s.ses. "You're more like Oriental Avenue right now, dove. What are you on?"

I pushed him away, catching Lee's awe that I was not only standing with a demon outside a circle, but that Al was treating me like an equal. Or maybe a favorite pet, maybe a favorite pet, I amended as Al caught me when I started to tilt. "I want... "-I panted as he held my shoulder with his white-gloved hand and kept me upright-" ...my name. Right now. This is c.r.a.p! I mean it!" I amended as Al caught me when I started to tilt. "I want... "-I panted as he held my shoulder with his white-gloved hand and kept me upright-" ...my name. Right now. This is c.r.a.p! I mean it!"

Al glanced at the two people behind him, safe in a circle, then at Pierce. I wrinkled my nose at the burnt amber flowing off him, and he let me go. With a yelp, I slid from the table to land in a crumpled pile at his feet. "Ow," I muttered, seeing his cute little buckled boots. No one wears buckles anymore, and I decided to get him some real boots next winter solstice. Some s.e.xy guy boots. Yeah. Some s.e.xy guy boots. Yeah. Fumbling, I reached to find the top of the table, and I pulled myself up. Fumbling, I reached to find the top of the table, and I pulled myself up.

His goat-slitted eyes narrowed and he turned to Pierce. "You're supposed to watch her."

"I am!" Pierce said, his own anger showing. "In all my born days, I've not seen a woman more p.r.o.ne to trouble, and your almighty refusal to settle your hash is making things plumb impossible. Give Rachel her name or I'll tell Newt I can't do this."

"Yeah," I said as I wove on my feet, trying to focus.

Al was silent, his jaw clenched as Pierce arched his eyebrows in challenge. "Come along, let's go," the demon abruptly said. "Pierce, stay here. I'll send her back before sunup."

Blinking, I stared at him. "Go? Go where?"

Al looked back to Ivy, Lee, and Pierce and sniffed. "I'm not going to twist curses in front of an audience." Al grimaced, looking p.i.s.sed.

I suddenly realized that Pierce had done it. Al was going to live up to our deal. It had taken me being dragged around, drugged, and headed for a lobotomy, but I was going to get my name back. Teeth gritted in a weird smile, I looked at Ivy. It was going to be a good day. It was going to be a good day.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, stumbling when Al pulled me to him and a puff of burnt amber rose. "Why can't we do it here?" I asked, but with a gasp, I found the air crushed from my lungs. We were gone.

My lungs rebounded, and I felt myself slip; then I jerked upright even before flesh had reformed to separate Al from me again. Pulse hammering, I staggered when Al let me go, narrowly avoiding a fall to the slick black stone engraved with that same pattern of intertwined icy-white-edged circles that the coven had. Wincing, I tucked my fading pain amulet back under my s.h.i.+rt. I leaned to s.n.a.t.c.h Pierce's hat off the floor, and my hip protested. It was probably black and blue by now.

Al had his back to me as he poked about in one of the tall cupboards, the old gla.s.s in the wooden frames making his face a blur. "Make up the fire if you're cold," he said, tossing a palm-size bag at me.

I scrambled to catch it, knowing he'd smack me if it touched the floor. The bag was squishy, probably holding coa.r.s.e salt. Feeling achy, I crossed the room to set the black silk bag on the corner of the slate table standing between the smaller hearth fire cheerfully glowing and the huge-but dark-circular fire pit in the middle of the room. With a sigh, I dropped Pierce's hat on the bench surrounding the central fire. The drugs were wearing off, and, arms around myself, I weighed the trouble of starting a fire in the main pit with simply being cold for the time it would take to do the curse. My G.o.d, he was finally going to do it. My G.o.d, he was finally going to do it.

A soft glow blossomed in the six fixed globes when Al pulled a book from an unlocked cabinet to check on something, barely illuminating the slate table before the smaller hearth. There were two chairs at it, one at either end-the first with padded cus.h.i.+ons and arms, the second a simple stool. It had shocked the h.e.l.l out of me the first time I'd tried to sit on the stool and found myself smacked halfway across the room. I was supposed to use Ceri's comfortable chair, apparently.

My thoughts drifted back to my own kitchen and I sighed, not for missing the gleaming counters and bright lights, but for the people I'd left behind. "You know I can't start a fire to save my life," I complained as I gingerly picked out some thin sticks from the basket of kindling. It wasn't that cold, but if I was trying to light a fire, he'd stop throwing spelling equipment at me. "Don't you have some Logs-o-Fire or something?"

Al didn't even look up from his collection of knives in a locked case. "Then we'll be cold until you learn. Try not to use all the kindling. It's expensive." Seeing me stirring the ash at the center of the pit for signs of life, he crossed the room to set that ugly ceremonial knife with the writhing woman on it beside the bag.

"Can't you just turn up the heat?" I complained. His receiving room looked like a mansion, the mundane kitchen where Pierce slept was modern, and I'd never seen Al's bedroom, thank G.o.d, but here, he went rustic.

"No pipes here," he said, voice faint as he thoughtfully fingered his stash of candles.

My head bobbed. Duh. Even a hastily set circle would be secure. I glanced at the mantel where Krathion still sat next to Mr. Fish, and I s.h.i.+vered. How often was I going to need protection from a banshee, anyway?

Al shut a drawer hard, then set a small, thin plank of what was probably redwood out with the salt and candles. "Feeling more yourself?" he asked slyly.

Again my head nodded, and I dropped a chunk of wood in the pit to serve as a heat trap, snuggling it into the ash. "Yes," I said shortly, thinking the ash on my hands smelled better than the burnt amber that permeated the place. I was going to have to shower when I got home.

"Pity." Al turned away, scanning a shelf of metal objects and plucking one at seeming random. "I liked you drunk. You're more fun. Can I make you a cake, love?"

He was grinning evilly, and I grimaced at his ruddy face and his goat-slitted eyes. They looked almost normal in the dim light. I took a breath to tell him where he could shove his cake, but he jerked, his eyes going to the hearth and an eager light coming into them. "I knew it. Little runt!" he whispered, bolting across the room.

I stood as Pierce popped into existence before the small hearth, right into Al's grip. "Got you!" Al snarled, a white-gloved hand around his throat. Pierce's eyes widened, then he screwed them shut-right before Al shoved his head into the stone mantel. Mr. Fish splashed at the ugly thump, and Pierce grunted in pain. Pierce's hand flung into the air, and the coffee mug from Nick's apartment rolled off to shatter on the hard floor.

"Watch out for Krathion!" I shouted, seeing the bottle tip, but it rocked back, safe.

"That's for threatening me with Newt," Al said. "I own own you. Don't forget it." you. Don't forget it."

"Al! Stop!" I cried as Al shoved Pierce's head into the mantel a second time. "You're going to knock Krathion off!"

"And that's for not staying put when I told you to," the demon snarled, but Pierce couldn't possibly hear him. His eyes had rolled back and he had gone limp.

"Al!" I shouted, and he opened his hand to let Pierce slump to the hearth, out cold.

The demon turned to me, and I skidded to a halt beside the table, frightened by his seething anger. Behind him, the low fire burned. At his feet, Pierce lay, unmoving.

"What is your problem!" I asked, wanting to see if Pierce was okay, but Al's eyes were evaluating me from over his smoked gla.s.ses, and his white-gloved hands were in fists.

"The only reason you're still standing," Al said, his voice whispering an echo in the dark, high ceiling, "is because you didn't put him up to it. I will not not be threatened by a familiar." be threatened by a familiar."

My mouth was dry, and I dropped my attention to Pierce for an instant before returning it to Al. "He keeps trying to protect me. d.a.m.n it, Al, I didn't ask for this."

His posture easing, Al dropped his gaze to look at Pierce. Using the toe of his s.h.i.+ny buckled shoe, he edged Pierce's coat away from the fire. I took a slow breath, thinking the worst might be over, but still my heart was pounding. "Maybe Newt was right," Al said blandly.

"About what?" G.o.d, he'd just knocked him out. Pierce could be bleeding inside his skull and we'd never know.

But Al didn't answer me, instead going to a cupboard and leaving Pierce crumpled where he lay. "Move him," he said, his back to me as he rummaged. "Unless you want me to do it?"

No, I didn't want Al to do it. He'd likely pick him up and throw him across the room. Knees protesting, I knelt on the hard marble floor. My jaw clenched as I turned Pierce's head to me and lifted his eyelids to make sure his pupils were dilating the way they should. He looked like he was sleeping, but there were twin lumps under his hair when I felt for them. The softly curling black was like silk on my fingertips, and I sat back on my heels and exhaled. He was probably going to be okay.

"Now, Rachel."

Giving Al a nasty look, I stood and grabbed Pierce under his shoulders. Straining, I shuffled backward, dragging him past the table and across the expanse to the fire pit. There was no way I could get him off the floor and onto the bench, so I left him there, taking a moment to arrange his arms and legs. Where did Pierce get silk socks? Where did Pierce get silk socks?

"I can't believe you knocked him out," I said, then ducked when Al threw something at me. I spun to see a heavy copper pyramid thunk into the wall, leaving a dent.

"I told him not to come," Al said with an empty, vaguely jealous slant to his eyes. "I don't want him seeing this. Forget the fire. You won't be here long enough to get cold."

I glanced at Pierce, seeing his slow, even breaths. Mood sour, I picked up the heavy pyramid and set it on the table with an attention-getting thump. "I hate you, Al," I said, but he only started to hum as he sat on his stool with a flourish and began arranging things. "I really do," I offered again. "What if he's seriously hurt?"

Al calmly looked at me over his gla.s.ses. "Then I'll fix him after after our chat and our chat and before before I send him back to you. We don't want Newt saying I left you with an inferior chaperone. He'll be fine. Sit. Unless you want to keep my name?" I send him back to you. We don't want Newt saying I left you with an inferior chaperone. He'll be fine. Sit. Unless you want to keep my name?"