Ever After (The Hollows #11)(41)
Author: Kim Harrison

Dali’s head cocked suspiciously. "You trust me?"

My heart gave a thump. I didn’t have a problem asking for things, according to Al, but in this case, I was asking for a lot. "You’re a member of the courts," I said. "If I fail, go ahead and kill me," I continued, making Bis rustle his wings. "I don’t want to be around to see the fallout when magic fails on this side of the lines. But if I succeed, I want all my debts slid to Ku’Sox." Dali began to smile. "Everything to date and any I acquire while resolving the mess he started," I said, feeling nervous. It was quite a lot. "Newt’s debts accrued because of his tampering, too," I added. "I want that demon so far in the hole that if we survive, he will be spending the next thousand years as a busboy at your restaurant."

Dali chuckled, and I felt out of breath. "We," he said, and I blinked, not knowing why he’d said it until realizing I’d said it first. I had said we. I had lumped myself in with them, and it had come out as natural as if it had been we for a long time. "I like the way you think, Morgan. No wonder Al has risked so much on you."

"Well?" I asked, since it was obvious Dali was leaving.

His fingers tightened on the bag of cookies. "You have four days. More than that, and the ever-after will be too damaged."

Bis’s ears pricked, and the sound of the front door opening echoed through the church. My gaze darted to the clock on the stove. They were early. "Four days," I said. Al would be able to tap a line in three. It would be close, but maybe by then I’d have this figured out.

"If it’s not fixed by midnight, you die." Dali looked at his watch. "That’s Friday," he said sourly as he squinted at Bis as if he had failed in something-and then . . . he vanished.

I exhaled, shaking as I went to prop the window open to let out the stink of demons. Dali had taken the cookies but left the petits fours. "Thank you," I whispered into the night, though he couldn’t possibly hear me. Never underestimate the power of home-baked cookies. Bis’s chair creaked as he eased his grip. Looking out at the dark graveyard, empty of even the glow of sleeping pixies, I felt my gut clench at the sound of Trent’s steps in the hall. I had no idea what I was going to do next, but Trent wouldn’t be happy with what I’d found.

"Pepper piss! It stinks in here!" Jenks swore as he darted in, fingers pinching his nose shut as he swooped a large circle through the kitchen and landed atop Bis’s head. The gargoyle twitched his big fringed ears, and Jenks shifted to the top of the roll of paper towels we kept on the table. "He left? Just now? I wanted to talk to him."

I leaned back against the counter, glad the kitchen was clean. I think it was the first time Trent had seen it when it wasn’t covered in spelling supplies. "Which is why I asked Trent not to bring you home until now," I said, smiling thinly.

Trent’s nose was wrinkled at the stench, and worry warred with hope, showing in the way his brow was pinched. A long lightweight coat hid his suit. He looked wary as he held a hat to hide his missing fingers. The light caught his eyes as they traveled over the kitchen as if looking for a visible sign of Dali, but all that was left was the smell.

"Jenks said I could come in," he said, and my mouth went dry. I had no comfort to give him, and I stayed where I was with my arms over my middle. I didn’t care if I looked pensive.

"Hi," I said. Jenks’s wings clattered in surprise, but I didn’t know what more I could say.

Looking polished and together, Trent came in another step. He nodded to Bis, and the gargoyle touched his wingtips over his head. Eyeing me up and down, Trent’s hope slowly dulled and vanished. "That good, eh?"

I took a deep breath. Unable to meet his eyes, I pushed off the sink, my middle coming to rest against the center counter. The petits fours were sitting there, and the plate scraped as I pushed it away. "Dali’s hands are tied," I said softly. "Ceri went willingly with Ku’Sox."

"What!" Jenks rose up on a column of dust, and Bis turned an apologetic shade of black.

Trent’s face became ashen. "Ku’Sox took Lucy," he breathed, and I nodded.

"And Ceri went willingly to keep her safe," Jenks finished, now darting between Trent and me in agitation.

My head hurt, and I rubbed it. It was so simple, so devious. Trent’s feet scuffed, and I pulled my head up.

"That’s it, then," Trent said, every vestige of softness gone in the hard clench of his jaw. "If there’s no chance at a political resolution, then I will use more drastic means."

I froze. A creak came from Bis’s chair as he tightened his grip. Drastic measures? The last time Trent had instigated drastic measures, San Francisco was trashed and I ended up in a spell-induced coma for three days. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, hand in the air. "You’re not going to give yourself up in exchange. It’s exactly what he wants." What all the demons wanted.

"Which is exactly why it will work."

I shook my head, but he wasn’t listening, wasn’t even looking at me as he stared at the wall two feet to my right. Cool and distant, he ignored even Jenks hovering inches before his face. "No fairy fart way, elf-man," the pixy said, a bright red dust spilling from him. "We talked about this, remember? You give yourself up, and then Rachel’s just going to have to bail your ass out again, which means I’m stuck saving hers. I can’t take it anymore. I’m not a young pixy. She’s a demon, let her do her Tink-blasted job!"

Trent’s iron-hard hold on his emotions cracked. Turning, he tossed his hat on the table. "If I call his bluff, he’ll kill them," he said. "You know he will. Then he will steal someone else for leverage and it starts again. I do have feelings, Rachel. I do love people. I’m not going to let them die for me!"

"That’s not what I meant," I said softly, and his glare fell from me. "We can’t get them back through the courts, but in the meantime, I’ve got four days to balance the line."

Clearly frustrated, he spun away, his coat furling. "How does that help Lucy and Ceri?" he said, his back to me as Jenks shot me a look and landed on his shoulder.

Curious, I thought as Trent’s shoulders relaxed at something Jenks said. Bis noticed as well. Clearly the two men had come to some kind of understanding. "If I can fix the line or prove that Ku’Sox made the hole, the demons will turn against him," I said, but it was really more of a hope. "Ceri and Lucy will be returned." I looked at the counter as if I could see the books on the shelf below. There was nothing in them about ley lines. Nothing in them, nothing in the library, nothing in Al’s library. If there had been, we would have found it by now.