The Undead Pool (The Hollows #12)(38)
Author: Kim Harrison

“Mine!” shrilled from the living room, followed by Ray screaming and Lucy’s wail.

“Excuse me,” Ellasbeth said tightly, turning to go into the living room. “No, Lucy, dear. Take him out of your mouth.”

Jenks flew in, looking frazzled as he landed on my shoulder leaking dust from a bent wing. “You okay?” I asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Trent leaned to look through the hall to the living room, then sat back. “We can go now if you want. My sleep schedule hasn’t been predictable lately.”

“Mine either,” I said, wishing Ellasbeth would leave. “I keep dreaming of purple eyes and wheels with wings.”

Quen’s head snapped up, and I stared at him. What did I say? “Purple eyes?” I prompted, and Quen made a curious, pained expression. “Wings?” I added, and he looked at Trent. A cold feeling slithered out from between my thought and reason, ready to smack me. “What?”

“I don’t know,” Trent said to Quen, not me, mystifying me. “But now that you mention it, it did feel like wild magic at both the golf course and the bowling alley.” Gaze distant, Trent fished his phone out from a pocket. “I thought Rachel was doing some kind of magic.”

“I think she was,” Jenks said sourly, leaking dust as he flew to the sink, and I gave him a look to shut up. Catching a drop from the faucet, he dabbed at his shirt. “But if it’s wild magic, that would explain why her aura goes white every time a wave hits it.”

Quen’s eyes widened, and I pulled myself straight. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I said, feeling the conversation spiral out of control. “Jenks, are you telling me that wave is wild magic?” Why is wild magic leaking from my line? And what does that have to do with wheels and wings?

“Sa’han,” Quen protested, but Trent was scrolling rapidly through his numbers when Ellasbeth came to the kitchen archway. Ray was on her hip and Lucy’s hand firmly in her grip. There was a book in the little girl’s hand, and she’d been crying. Ray just looked mad.

“Jenks, you say Rachel’s aura went white?” Trent asked, his intentness scary, almost.

“As white as her ass,” Jenks said, and Ellasbeth walked stiffly between us, pointedly sitting down with the girls and the book. That book is going to last about thirty seconds.

“The waves can’t be wild magic,” I protested.

“I did promise the Goddess two goats I’ve never delivered on.”

“Sa’han,” Quen protested as Ellasbeth looked up from arranging the book before the two girls. “Cincinnati is not plagued with misfires because you haven’t sacrificed two goats.”

Trent tucked his phone away. “No, of course not. But that these waves might be natural phenomena is easier to believe than living vampires preying on the undead. We need more information. Quen, I want you to get ahold of Bancroft’s assistant as soon as you get back to my office. I don’t have his number with me. Invite him out to help me settle a debt with the Goddess and tell him—and only him—what’s going on here, including the undead’s inability to wake up. Offer him the use of a jet to get him here. Oh, and arrange for two goats.”

Suddenly the idea that this might be a natural event didn’t thrill me. Wild magic? Al was going to be pissed.

“You cannot be serious!” Ellasbeth protested, prompting Lucy to begin to bounce, mimicking the woman’s cadence perfectly.

Trent smiled, undeterred. “It’s a good excuse to get him to visit. If we’re going to be elves, we’re going to be elves, by God. I’d like him to officiate so I get it right.”

Ellasbeth simply stared at him. Slowly the book slid to the floor as she struggled with a squirmy Lucy and Ray quietly pushed on her sister to get down. “Bancroft is an old man clinging to traditions we don’t even know the beginnings of anymore,” the woman said. “And you are not going to sacrifice two goats. We aren’t savages!”

“Who is to say what we are, Ellasbeth,” Trent said coolly. “In the meantime, I’ll be partaking of another elven tradition of demon discourse.” His tone was far too blasé for my liking. Ceri had followed that tradition, only to end up Al’s slave for a thousand years.

An awkward silence grew, and Jenks shrugged when our eyes met. Trent stood, taking Lucy and handing Ellasbeth her purse. “The wave feels like wild magic,” he said. “It resonates with Rachel’s aura and seeks her out. Bancroft might give us something to investigate, a new direction to think about. Everything circles back, Ellasbeth. Quen can drive you and the girls home.”

Silent, the woman rose with Ray, lips pressed into a thin line and her feet unmoving. “So, who is Bancroft?” I asked as I began gathering up the toys.

“Just a man.” Trent handed Lucy to Quen and motioned for the unmoving Ellasbeth to head for the front of the church. “He knows more about the Goddess than anyone.”

“He’s a priest?”

“If you can be a priest in a land with no church. Wild magic was said to live in the space between spaces in the lines. It sounds as if it’s leaking from your line. He might know why, and then we can stop it.”

Sure, it sounded easy, but I was willing to bet someone would be dead before it was over.

Ellasbeth still hadn’t moved. Trent’s arm fell, and he looked expectantly at her. Clearly frustrated, Ellasbeth waved at the pixy kids wreathing her, all of them shrilling good-bye to the girls. “I think Bancroft meeting Rachel is an excellent idea,” she said. “Rachel, you will come out and give Bancroft your experiences firsthand, won’t you?”

Distrusting this, I fumbled for a moment, then managed, “Ah, yes, of course.”

Trent eyed her suspiciously as he handed his keys to Quen. “Good. It’s a date then. Quen, you and Ellasbeth can take the girls home in the SUV. I’ll go to the ever-after with Rachel and talk to Al. If I need a way home, I’ll call.”

Looking pained, Quen took the keys. “Certainly, Sa’han.”

Things were happening fast, and I stood there with my arms full of toys.

“It’s good to have you home again,” Trent said, giving Quen an honest smile. Lucy wiggled, demanding attention, and he focused on her in Quen’s arms, his voice rising as he said, “And you, too, Lucy. It’s been too quiet without you and your sister.”