Ever After (The Hollows #11)(77)
Author: Kim Harrison

Jenks darted to the hallway to rescue Ellasbeth. "We’re going to have to steal them."

Quen stood, his pox scars standing out sharp against his pale expression. "I’ll talk to them again," he said, but Jenks was right. We’d have to steal them, and I stared at the ceiling, going through what I’d need. Rope, silence charms, something to remove aura residue . . .

"Worth a try," I said as Jenks yelled at his kids to get outside.

Finally there was only Lucy’s loud "singing" as Jenks’s kids left and Ellasbeth staggered into the kitchen, the weight of both girls nearly bringing her down. "Abba!" Lucy cried, her eyes alight as she reached for him. It about broke my heart, but in a good way. Quen immediately took her, having to forcibly pull the blanket-wrapped Lucy from Ellasbeth when the woman indicated he should take Ray instead.

"Coo ox! Coo ox!" Lucy crowed as she patted her blanket, then gently touched Quen’s chin. "Abba, coo ox!"

My face warmed as Ellasbeth’s eyes scanned my kitchen, lingering on the scorch marks, the water glass overturned on the windowsill, and finally to the dusty box. She said nothing, and I would have given a lot to know what she was thinking. Jenks whispered something into Quen’s ear to make him blink, and she frowned. Ever stoic, Quen gently took Lucy’s fingers and pulled them from his face. She was still going on about "coo ox." I had a bad feeling I knew what she was saying. Ellasbeth, though, was clueless.

"What does that mean, anyway? Coo ox?" the woman asked, clearly thinking our sudden silence meant we’d been talking behind her back.

"Ah, that’s Ku’Sox," I said, and Ellasbeth’s expression blanked.

"Coo ox!" Lucy crowed, making a show of smelling the blanket. Quen was mystified, but I winced as I figured it out.

"That’s the blanket that Al gave me," I said. "It probably smells like the ever-after."

Horrified, Ellasbeth stood, her face red. "It smells like a demon!" she exclaimed, and ignoring Lucy’s triumphant "Coo ox! Coo ox!" she snatched Lucy from Quen, pulling her out from the blanket and letting it fall to the floor.

Staggering under the weight of both girls, she settled herself in Ivy’s chair. "Thank you for getting Lucy back to me," Ellasbeth said, her expression flashing into irate when she realized her coat was closed wrong as Ray patted the buttons.

Surprised, I stood straighter. "Ah, I just wish I could have gotten everyone out of there."

Ellasbeth’s gaze came back from the window behind me. Pixies had plastered themselves against the kitchen screen, distracting the girls and making Jenks scowl. "Quen told me you bought Lucy’s freedom at great risk to your own," she insisted. "I can’t ever thank you enough. If there is anything, ever. At all."

I said nothing, a hundred things racing through my mind. She was going to be Trent’s wife before too long, and something there really rankled me. He deserved better.

Jenks looked up at my silence, his motions to get his kids to leave faltering. "There is one thing," I said, and his dust shifted to an alarmed orange.

Ellasbeth blinked in surprise. "Name it," she said as if granting boons was her hobby.

Be nice, I thought, though it was hard, seeing her holding Ray and Lucy when Ceri no longer could. "I, ah, get that you and Trent are trying to make this work," I said, and Quen paled. "I think it’s a great idea and all for everyone except Trent."

"Rachel?" Quen said, and Ellasbeth shot a look at him to shut up.

"Really? Do elaborate."

I knew it wasn’t the polite thing, but no one else would say this, so I had to. "Do you think you could make half an effort to understand who he’s trying to be?" I finished almost plaintively.

"I beg your pardon?"

Jenks winced, darting to the rack and out of range of anything. Quen also quietly stepped back. But hell, I had fought banshees and crazy vampires. If push came to shove, I could take her. Besides, what was she going to do with two babies on her lap? "He’s great at being what you all need him to be," I said, gesturing at nothing. "Saving the elves and seeing you safe from the threat of extinction. But did it ever occur to you that he wants to be something else? Don’t crush what he can keep for himself. That’s all I’m asking. Let him have what he can."

Ellasbeth was white in anger. Lucy jumped in her lap blurting nonsense sounds, but Ray stared up at Ellasbeth and patted her trembling chin.

"Never mind," I said, dropping my head and sighing. "Go get married. Have more babies. Rule the world. You’ll both be great at it."

"How dare you!"

I calmly watched her stagger to stand, and knowing it would infuriate her, I turned my back on her to get a glass of water. If she tried anything, I’d throw it on her.

"Quen! Take these children. Let me go!" she exclaimed from behind me, and I heard a scuffle. "Take your hands off me!"

The pixies at the window were watching with rapt attention, and I stifled a smirk.

"Don’t do this," Quen said to her, his low voice gravelly.

"You will take your hands off me!" she insisted, and I let the water run until it got cold.

"Go wait in the car," Quen said. Then louder, "Go take the girls and wait in the car." Finally he shouted, "Go wait in the car, or I will stand by and let her say what she really thinks of you!"

I turned around with my glass of water. Jenks was watching from within a copper bowl hanging from the rack, a weird silty dust falling from it. Tense, Quen stood beside and a little in front of Ellasbeth. She was chalk white, her painted lips a bright contrast. I didn’t care if she was insulted. It had needed to be said. I owed Trent that.

"I understand the strain you’re under," she said, chin high as Lucy’s hand patted her face. "So the door of friendship is still open between us. You mean a lot to Trent. He explained to me what happened at camp, and I understand your feelings for him."

My feelings for him? What happened at camp? What was she talking about?

Seemingly satisfied at my cautiously puzzled expression, she pulled herself straighter. "Please bring my fiance home to us."

"That’s my intent," I said dryly, and Quen tugged at her elbow. "But when I do, don’t kill him slowly. Let the man breathe."

Eyes narrowed, she turned slowly under the weight of the girls and stalked to the hall. "Quen?" she said imperiously. "I will be waiting in the car. Call ahead and see that a bath is drawn for both girls by the time we get to Trenton’s holdings. I want to stop on the way for an entirely new set of clothes for Lucy."