Ever After (The Hollows #11)(61)
Author: Kim Harrison

"You’ll go to Dali and what?" Ku’Sox said as he held her on his hip, his arrogant expression mocking. Beside me, Trent’s breath quickened. Shit, he might do anything, I thought, and I grabbed his arm, refusing to let go lest he walk through his circle and break it. This was what had happened in the clearing with Quen and Lucy, and I vowed it would have a new ending.

"Down!" Lucy demanded imperiously when she saw Trent, then, "No! No!" when Ku’Sox tightened his grip.

"She’s my godchild. You broke our agreement," I said as the little girl’s pout drifted into the realm of a tantrum, and the clean-shaven demon in his three-piece charcoal suit smiled a perfect, evil smile.

"File the paperwork." Frowning, Ku’Sox jiggled Lucy, but she wouldn’t be distracted, her hands extended to Trent and pleading for him to come get her. I didn’t think I could hate Ku’Sox any more. Trent’s hands were fisted, his breathing shallow. Bis’s ears were down in indecision, and Jenks hovered at the top of Trent’s circle, waiting for instruction. I didn’t know what to do. Ku’Sox might hurt her.

Seeing us frozen, Ku’Sox turned the magic wreathing his hand inward. Making a fist, he opened it to release a dozen tiny winged horses, pink, purple, and red. "Love is such a fine weapon when utilized fully," he said as Lucy caught sight of them and was predictably distracted.

I stiffened when he set the wildly wiggling toddler down, but then he gestured, and the horses galloped into the dark, down the broken path and away from me. Shouting in delight, Lucy wobbled after them, her little riding outfit making her a darling of wealth and privilege.

Trent jerked, catching himself before I had to. If we broke the circle, Ku’Sox would have us at his mercy. Still within our sight, Lucy lost her balance and plopped backward onto her butt. Laughing at her own mistake, she crawled to a retaining wall and regained her feet. My teeth clenched, and my heartache turned to hatred. "I’ll kill you if you hurt her."

"And then I’ll kill you again," Jenks said, his dust an eerie black.

"If either of you touch her, I will eat her soul alive," Ku’Sox said mildly, brushing nonexistent dust from his shoulder. From somewhere in the dark, Lucy giggled.

"This could all be over if you agree to come with me, Trenton Aloysius Kalamack," he said as he stood before us. "Ceri is no good at fixing things," he added, looking scornfully at the small gargoyle when Bis hissed at him. "You need to learn some respect, goyle."

Lucy toddled up, the newly risen moon making her hair a silver halo. Shouting in glee, she threw herself at Ku’Sox’s knees, a purple winged horse in her grip. Trent groaned, and my stomach twisted at Ku’Sox’s fake smile. "Aren’t you a love!" he said brightly as he took her in his arms and rose, giving me an empty black stare when the little girl looked away. Trent was beside himself.

"As you can see, I’ve not hurt little Lucy," Ku’Sox said, smiling. "I think elf children are sweet, actually. I don’t have that grudge against the elves that my kin do. The new world wouldn’t have that ugliness."

"Genocide is not a viable path to world peace," I said, seething. "I can prove you broke my line."

Seeing my anger, Lucy began to frown. The horse in her hand was dead, but she didn’t let it go. Ku’Sox didn’t seem to care. "Do that," he said, holding out a cookie to the little girl, but she’d have none of it anymore and wanted down. "I’ll simply say we were working together and you backed out of the deal, leaving me to take the blame."

I thought of those life rafts in the form of infants. The panic I was holding seemed to shake its chain, gaining another few inches of freedom. They’d likely kill me for sure, four days or not. Dali was right. My silence was buying my continued existence.

Lucy ignored the cookie Ku’Sox kept pushing at her, holding her hands out to Trent instead. "Down!" Lucy shrilled, squirming and kicking him. "Do-o-o-own!" she howled when he held her tighter, throwing the cookie Ku’Sox was trying to pacify her with at him. She truly was Ellasbeth’s daughter and had the vocal power to prove it. "D-a-a-a-addy!" she cried, reaching out to Trent, her little hands opening and closing. "Daddy!"

Ku’Sox gave her a little jerk, and she screamed at him, filling the night with her anger. Fear lit through me, and I swear he closed his eyes in bliss when he saw it. Lucy kicked furiously, howling and pinching his arm. Having endured enough, Ku’Sox gave her a shake, and the little girl vanished in a wash of ever-after. For a moment, her last cry of outrage echoed against the trees and castle, and then even that was gone.

"No!" Trent raged, a blur as he lunged at Ku’Sox. I gasped as he threw a ball of black-rimmed energy. It tore through his circle. Jenks was up and away in an instant, Bis hot on his dust trail.

"Trent!" I shouted as the cooler air rushed over me. Ku’Sox snarled, deflecting whatever it was right back at Trent. Every blade of grass, every leaf, took on a razor edge. I lunged for Trent but was jerked back by my hair.

"Ow!" I howled, my scalp on fire as Ku’Sox swung me around and threw me to the ground. I got my knees under me, and the demon shoved me down again, so hard my breath was knocked out. Just within my sight, Trent writhed on the ground, taken out by his own magic.

"You are troublesome," Ku’Sox said, and he sat on me, pinning me. There was a circle around us keeping both Jenks and Bis powerless, but I could still tap a line. I flooded him with it and he only sucked in his breath, enjoying it.

"Get off!" I shouted into the gravel, then screamed in pain when he wrenched my arm back, nearly dislocating it.

"Playing with elves?" Ku’Sox said, and the agony let up. He traced the outline of my tattoo with a soft finger, and I shuddered, breathing in the scent of carrion and trying not to throw up. This was exactly why I hadn’t wanted to try to fight him. Why did no one listen to me?

"You kill me, and they will be looking at you to fix the line," I rasped in the dark, scared to death as I felt him fingering the elven chastity ring. "They know you’re responsible for it."

"As you say," he drawled, and I felt the ring spin on my finger. "But we also both know they’re cowards, and if you can’t overpower me, then they’ll kill you to gain my good graces again. Is this how you found the strength to shift the imbalance back to the proper line?" he said, tugging experimentally at the ring. "Ingenious, melding your abilities with an elf to best me. Tsk-tsk. Mustn’t play with wild animals."

"No, wait!" I shouted, helpless, and he gave a tug.

Ku’Sox’s cry of pain was like audible lightning, jerking through me. My arm thudded down on the gravel path, numb and unmoving as he was suddenly not sitting on me but writhing three feet away-his circle broken. It was the ring. It had its own safeguards, and they had just saved my ass.