Pale Demon (The Hollows #9)(48)
Author: Kim Harrison

I jumped at Ivy’s touch, then relaxed as she helped me up. "You okay?" she asked, and I nodded. Slowly her touch slipped away, and I took a deep breath as if trying to find myself. Trent was leaning against the car, avoiding everyone’s eyes. Bastard.

I exhaled, scooting back a little more before I got up and wiped the grit from my palms. "Thank you," I said to Vivian as I tucked the chalk in my waistband, then glanced at Trent, wondering what the hell his game was. Idiot summoned a demon he couldn’t control. What did he expect to happen?

"I couldn’t hold him!" Vivian said again, and I shuffled to her, tired. The upside? At least now the coven had proof that demons could be in reality while the sun was up. Al had done it once while in Lee’s body. But I didn’t think Ku’Sox was possessing anyone. This was something different. Swell.

"I couldn’t hold him!" Vivian said a third time, and I frowned.

Pierce might have been able to make a circle to hold him. But he wasn’t here. "He’s a big guy," I finally said, glancing at Ku’Sox and away. "Everyone okay?"

Much to my relief, Ku’Sox didn’t start spouting threats or monologing, and the chorus of pixy shouts brought back memories of Jenks’s kids, memories that Ku’Sox had now. I didn’t like that. If he knew my history, then he knew what I was going to do to him.

"It wasn’t even a very big circle." Clearly shaken, Vivian sat sideways in the open front seat, dejected and weary.

I looked back at Ku’Sox patiently waiting, and Vivian’s useless scratchings on the pavement. "It’s a tough world." Limping to Ivy, I leaned back against the warm car. "I don’t know this one," I said, talking to Vivian but accusing Trent. "He’s nasty."

"Nasty?" Ku’Sox said, and my eyes jerked to his at the hidden threat his words held.

"If you ever touch me again," I said softly, "I will explode your ‘nads. Got it?"

Trent had his head down in thought, worrying me. If I wasn’t so darn tired, I would have barked at him, too. "Demon," I started, and Ku’Sox grinned in anticipation, making me shiver. He wanted to be released.

"Wait!" Trent said, his hand outstretched.

"You will leave this place and return to the ever-after, not to bother us again," I finished.

Trent slid to a stop, turning away to hide his disgust, but I’d seen it.

"For now," Ku’Sox said, his eyes going from Trent to me. They vanished first, then his body, until finally all that was left was a black obsidian feather, making me shudder when it finally melted in the sun.

My eyes shut, and I heard Ivy sigh. "I really hate demons," she said. I agreed.

"Okay, everyone smaller than a teapot, get out of the car!" I said loudly. "Jenks, you stay. And I swear, if you feral pixies give me any trouble, I’m going to jam you all in a box! I’ll send you your syrup by mail, and you’ll be happy with it. Clear?"

Without a protest, the pixies began to leave in threes and fives, their excited chatter making my already pounding headache hurt all the more. The head pixy wasn’t around, and I didn’t care. Like he’d ever say thank-you. My headache throbbed when Trent walked stiffly past me, sweat matting his pale, baby-fine hair.

"Letting him go like that was a mistake," he said in passing, and I lashed out, spinning him around to a shocked, angry halt against the car.

"You think we could have used him?" I shouted, and Ivy, putting my scrying mirror away in the trunk, hesitated. "Maybe traded a jump to Seattle for his freedom? Stick to helping with your checkbook. We’ll all live longer."

Jaw clenched, Trent held his ground as Jenks joined me. "I’m just saying-"

"Nothing!" Okay, I was shouting, but I had a lot of adrenaline to burn before I got back in that car and drove out of here as if nothing had happened. "That was a demon! One in the sun. You think you’re smarter than him? You’re not! You mess with demons, and you die!"

His gaze flicked to Vivian. "You work with them," he said. "Think you’re special?"

That had been barbed and pointed, and it made me angrier still. "I wish I wasn’t, Trent," I said, managing not to shove him. "I’m so special it’s going to kill me. That one…" I pointed to my empty circle. "That one is bad. Banishing him might cause a problem tomorrow, but nothing like keeping him around and trying to harness him would, and the sooner you get that through your thick skull, the longer we all will live. It was my decision to banish him, and you will sit down, shut up-"

"And enjoy the ride," he finished, the last of his suave businessman exterior vanishing as he bent at the waist and smoothly slipped into the car. He slid to the opposite side and slammed the door shut, waiting.

Ivy gave me an unreadable look, scratching her neck as she got in the backseat beside him and rolled the window down. I was hot and sticky, and Vivian slid across the bench seat to put herself behind the wheel, freeing me to weave my way through a passel of pixies and ride shotgun.

I got in, feeling Trent’s glare on the back of my neck, the heat of the sun on the fake leather seats warm under me. My neck itched, and I realized that we’d been pixed somewhere along the way. Damn it, this was not my day. "I thought you were tired," I said as I looked across the seat at Vivian, and she frowned.

"I’m awake now." Saying nothing more, she cranked the engine over, and I fiddled with the vents, aiming them at me. I felt awful, not having showered two mornings in a row.

The pixies were gone, and I whistled for Jenks. He zipped into the car without his usual flair, almost falling as he latched on to the stem of the rearview mirror. His long curly hair swung as he dusted heavily, and I wondered where during the last 150 miles he’d lost his hair band.

"Thanks for driving, Vivian," I said, and she carefully pulled out onto the road, actually using her turn signal.

The young woman was silent, pensive as she rolled her window up while the air-conditioning took over. "He pushed through my circle like it was nothing," she said, gaze flicking to me and back to the road, looking embarrassed. "And what was he doing in the sun?" She looked at me, scared. "Did you call it?"

I rubbed the blood off my knuckles, stiffening as I forced myself not to turn and glare at Trent. My blood looked like anyone else’s, but everyone who had blood like mine died unless they’d had three years of illegal genetic tinkering disguised as summer camp.

"Did you?" she asked again, frightened, and I shook my head, staying silent. Jenks’s wings clattered, and I couldn’t meet his eyes. Trent’s voice might be all that stood between me and an Alcatraz jail cell, and I wasn’t going to get him labeled as a demon summoner-yet. Jenks would be quiet, too. And Ivy.