Pale Demon (The Hollows #9)(97)
Author: Kim Harrison

"Trust me," Trent said, standing with his lips inches from my ear as Lucy howled. "You saved me from demons, and I will save you from the witches. Just play it out. Trust me."

"I don’t understand," I said, feeling his grip too tight on me. "Trent…"

"We are voting, Vivian!" Oliver stated, and the woman spun to him, her face tight in worry. "Either say yea or nay or your voice won’t count."

"I vote against Pierce," she said quickly. "Oliver. Wait."

But Oliver was striding to the front of the stage. The noise was loud, and he shouted, "That is four for Pierce, one against. Pierce regains his position, exonerated from his past crimes of black magic, and is given leave to use such skills to destroy demons and save lives."

This was a good thing, but my stomach was tight, and Oliver was far too happy. Pierce was being pulled backward to the table, absently shaking hands with nervous people now sworn to protect him by a brotherhood only broken in the direst of situations. And he in turn would protect them. From me?

"All in favor of permanently rescinding Rachel Morgan’s shunning and reinstating her as a white witch capable of doing black magic?" Oliver stated.

"Wait!" I said, then fumbled for my amulet. It was going too fast. And Trent was backing away with a crying Lucy-abandoning me.

"Oliver," Vivian said loudly over the clamor of a hundred voices. "This is not fair, and you know it!"

He grinned at her, looking evil. "For or against, Vivian."

"I vote for Rachel," she said breathlessly.

"As do I," Pierce said, but there were four hands raised against me, and my heart seemed to turn into a black stone.

It was over?

It was over that quickly?

"You lose," Oliver said, smiling.

I fell back, stumbling until I put the three chairs between me and them. I had that security amulet, and I wasn’t helpless. "You promised me a fair trial!" I said, but no one was listening. "Oliver, I swear, you’ll give it to me, or I will talk. I’ll tell them everything!"

"No, you won’t." Oliver wasn’t using his amplifying amulet, his back to the assemblage, and I felt myself pale. I looked past him to the crowd, visible now that the house lights had come up. I found my mother, clutching her hands to her chest and crying. My gaze fell then to Ivy, who was ready to live at last-without me. And then I found Jenks, looking aghast and unable to reach me because of the bubble between us. He’d be fine. He’d go live with Trent, the bastard, and his children would play with Lucy.

They’d all be fine without me, I thought, my throat closing as I fumbled in my pocket for the amulet that Pierce had given me. I was not going to Alcatraz. I’d call Al first.

"I did no wrong," I said, reaching out and tapping a line, feeling my hair start to float as the broken jaggedness filled me. "I know black magic, and I will use it when threatened. I’m not a black witch-"

"Take her," Oliver said, motioning for security, and Pierce stiffened, surrounded by his new peers.

I motioned for him to relax. Al was waiting for me. I could hide out in the ever-after until things cooled off, and then come back. I could always do a disguise or something. Who was I kidding? They’d know it was me.

"Oliver, you already tried Alcatraz," Trent said, his voice calm and smooth. "As I recall, that was a dismal failure. You need something more permanent."

I turned toward Trent, livid. Like a lobotomy? "What are you doing?" I all but hissed, and he retreated, putting more distance between us as Lucy howled.

"There’s nothing to stop her from escaping again," Trent said matter-of-factly. "I’ve a better idea."

Someone grabbed my arms from behind me, and I struggled, grunting when a zip strip was slipped over my wrists. As Pierce stood, made helpless by his new position, the jagged ley line left me.

"What do you have in mind?" Oliver asked as I shook the security off and stood in the hot spotlight, hearing some people cry for my blood and those I once trusted either silent or plotting against me. Trent had said to trust him, but every instinct I had said to fight.

"I can curse her," Trent said, and Vivian’s eyes widened. "Send her to the ever-after, which is where she’d flee anyway, but curse her so that she can’t return unless summoned."

"You son of a bitch!" Jenks shrilled, a hot red dust spilling from him.

"Like the demon she is?" Oliver said, smiling wickedly, but I could do nothing except stare. Was there such a thing, or was this part of his plan? Put some fake curse on me so I was off the coven radar? Brooke had offered me something similar. What would my life be like now if I had accepted?

"Well, she is a demon, isn’t she?" Trent said with a nasty boys’-club smile on his face.

I didn’t know what to do. He had said trust him, but this…

"Oliver, we can’t," Vivian exclaimed, aghast enough to tell me she thought it might be possible. "That’s inhuman!"

"She’s a demon!" Oliver shouted. "Human morality doesn’t apply to her!"

A thump reverberated across the barrier sheltering the stage, and everyone cowered as the shimmering ever-after pulsed. Ivy had ripped a chair from the floor and thrown it. She looked wild, eyes black, shaking with anger given free rein. Oliver gave the incensed vampire a disparaging glance. "Can you do it?" he asked Trent.

Pierce was being restrained. I knew he could break from it and was following my lead of wait-and-see. Trent glanced at him before nodding. My heart thudded. Trust him?

"I need a collective," he said, and I could imagine my life ending. I’d never be able to return, I’d never see the sun-unless this was part of his plan. How bad had it been, I wondered, when he had been a demon’s slave? How much hatred had he hidden from me? Was he going to laugh at me now? Hurt me?

"You putrid elf! That’s my daughter!" my mother screamed, and Trent twitched. He’d been named. His secret was out. But I didn’t think it mattered. He had left his daughter’s ears undocked. The elves were coming out of the closet with her. The directive of the next generation. He’d given me a say in it. Or had it all been a lie?

Oliver shifted into motion. "Isolate them," he directed, pointing at my mother and Ivy, now struggling violently. "Form a collective! We do this now!"

"Oliver! We need to think about this!" Vivian demanded as she confronted him, but Oliver motioned for security, and she was restrained.

"You are outvoted," Oliver said with satisfaction. "Put her with coven member Pierce."