Ever After (The Hollows #11)(71)
Author: Kim Harrison

Nick put up a hand to ward me off, shifting at the last moment to shove me into the wall.

I floundered at the change of direction, snagging Nick’s shirt. I yanked him down with me. I had time for one good breath before his elbow landed on my middle.

We were a tangle on the floor, and my abdomen felt like it was on fire. Struggling to breathe, I grappled with him, slamming his back into the floor and straddling him. He pushed at me, and I pinned his arms with my knees. Grabbing a handful of hair, I thunked his head into the floor.

"You betrayed Pierce?" I wheezed, hearing babies start to cry, muffled from the glass. "He killed them! You helped him kill them! Ceri is dead because of you! Ceri and Pierce are dead, and I could have loved him!"

Twisting, Nick shoved me off, a nasty snarl on his face. "You could have loved me, too."

He jumped at me, and I rolled, my back crashing into one of the machines. I shook my head to get the hair from my eyes. Nick was still coming right at me, and I braced myself. We went sprawling again. Nick hauled me into a sitting position, slamming my back up against the machine. "This is for bringing that putrid witch of yours into my apartment."

My eyes widened and I gasped in pain as his open hand met my cheek in a slap that sent stars through my vision. Trent was yelling, the babies were crying, and my eye felt like it was going to explode.

"And this is for the hell of it!" Nick whispered.

I put a hand up to stop him, and he grabbed it. His other hand was coming at me, and I struggled, trying to get him off!

But before his hand could connect, he was yanked backward and up. Knees going to my chest, I tossed the hair from my eyes at the sodden thunk of fist meeting flesh. Nick reeled into the counter, his feet slipping on the tile floor until he went down. Trent stood between us, his back hunched and shaking the pain from a bleeding hand.

"Son of a bitch." Touching his bleeding lip, Nick got to his feet. I could feel him begin to gather power, slowly but gaining momentum as a weird keening from the damaged line he was pulling on grew in the back of my head. I stood, so frustrated that I was almost crying. Nick had lied to Pierce and Ceri both. Told them he was helping when he was really setting them up. How could I ever forgive that?

"Rachel!" Trent shouted as he dived in front of me. I jerked my attention from him to Nick. A ball of green-tinted aura was headed right at us. Without thinking, I flung up a hand.

"Rhombus!" I shouted, and Trent stooped as Nick’s spell struck and slithered down to the floor where it bubbled into nothing.

Nick was grinning when I brought my attention back up, and I felt sick. Now I’d done it.

Trent was holding my arm. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. "I just rang the doorbell," I said, then added, glowering at Nick, who knew exactly what he’d been doing, "I tapped a line. Ku’Sox knows I’m here."

Trent stiffened, and then he spun as Lucy’s childlike voice rang out in delight. "Daddy!"

Trent went down on one knee as if he’d been shot, his breath a quick gasp as he stared at Ku’Sox, Lucy on his hip. His expression was fierce with love and desperate hatred, and I don’t think I despised Ku’Sox more than at that moment. He was going to pay. Neither Ku’Sox nor Nick had ever loved anyone, and they would pay.

My pulse thundered in my ears, and I forced my arms to remain at my sides as I backed up to stand by Trent. Dressed in a casual black kimono, Ku’Sox had misted into the room beside Nick before the nursery window. Lucy’s dress mimicked his, and her hand reached for Trent, delight in her eyes. Bis was with him, too, and my jaw clenched as the little guy launched himself toward me, only to be snagged by Ku’Sox and tossed behind him like a kite.

The gargoyle spun through the air out of control, his eyes bright and cheerful as he found the wind in his wings before hitting the wall. I’d swear he was having fun as he changed his out-of-control spiral into a snappy landing on top of one of Trent’s machines where he perched, glowing a bright black. He was all right. He was all right!

Guilt rose, and I shoved it away. I would not feel bad that I was happy for Bis when Ceri and Pierce were dead. Nick had betrayed them. Why? What had he gained?

"You, stay where you are," the psychotic demon said lightly to Trent as he rose, face awash with heartache. "I already took your second child’s mother. Make a move I don’t approve of and we will explore what else you hold dear. Understand?"

The scent of cinnamon became strong as Trent struggled with himself. He had admitted that he couldn’t sacrifice his daughter. It made him both strong and weak. He knew what it was to love. Maybe he’d always known, and I had been too blind to see it.

"Down!" Lucy demanded, looking sweetly petulant in her Asian kimono, and Ku’Sox shifted her into a football hold, her little feet kicking behind her and her hands pushing at his arm as she made a face and squirmed. "Da-a-a-ddy-y-y!" Clearly not liking Lucy’s frustration, Bis curved his tail around his feet, his ears going flat against his skull.

Nick’s feet scuffed as he edged even with Ku’Sox, and the demon gave him a disparaging glance. "Wait your turn, Nicholas Gregory Sparagmos," Ku’Sox said as he shoved Nick behind him with one hand splayed on the man’s chest. "You can beat Rachel when I’m done with her. Besides, I want to hear why she’s here. She might, I don’t know . . . want something?" Bis spread his wings, and Ku’Sox looked at him until the gargoyle eased back. "A cup of sugar? An egg, perhaps?" Ku’Sox said, struggling with an increasingly vocal Lucy. "Are you doing a little cooking this afternoon, love?"

My eyes narrowed. "There was no need to kill Ceri and Pierce."

A hint of a smile lifted Ku’Sox’s thin lips. "Simple enjoyment." He glanced at the nursery. "What a marvelous woman she was. Al taught her so many, many things. She lasted the entire morning. I didn’t even have to be careful. Ahh, that’s so rare, so invigorating."

Trent’s jaw was clenched, and my stomach twisted. Lucy had both hands out, craning her neck to see Trent as her fists opened and shut, struggling to reach him, little whines of frustration punctuating her loud demands. "You should have left," Trent said. I could see parts of him starting to reassert themselves, assessing the situation, deciding what would be cast aside as unrecoverable and what might be salvaged. I wondered which side of the scale I was on.

"Ku’Sox won’t kill me," I said, my insides shaking as I shifted my feet to find my balance. "If he does, the demons will start looking at him to fix the line."

Ku’Sox’s expression twitched. "Just so. Unless you give me provocation, it’s best to leave you alone. For a few days." Now he smiled, and again my loathing fought with my fear. "Which begs the question of what you are doing here, Rachel? Rescuing your familiar?"