The wind was warm, and I could hear insect wings clattering in the tall grass as I sat beside Pierce in the vast golden field, content. Above my head, the amber seed heads of ripe wheat waved, and as I reached to tickle Pierce with a broken stalk, his eyes opened, shocking me with their deep blue depths. For an instant, Kisten gazed hotly at me, then his features melted and Pierce again took his place. The witch's loose waves were in disarray, and his hat shadowed his face. "It's almost sunrise," he said, his accent making me smile. "Time to wake."
Then his eyes shifted, going red and slitted like a goat's. His features became harder, taking on a ruddy complexion until it was Al lying before me in his crushed green velvet, one knee casually drawn up. The skies turned bloodred, and he reached out a white-gloved hand, grasping my wrist but not pulling me closer. "Come home, itchy witch."
I snorted, jerking awake.
Bolting upright, I stared at my closed window to see the fading light of sunrise against the colorful reds and blues of the stained glass. Heart pounding, I realized the clattering of insect wings in my dream had been Jenks hovering before my closed door, listening at the crack.
He had a finger to his lips, and after seeing my wide-eyed stare, he went back to the door.
Slowly my pulse eased, and I looked at my clock. Quarter after six. I'd worked most of the night, finally lying down about three hours ago to get some sleep. Throwing off the afghan, I carefully pulled my knees up to tighten the laces of my sneakers. I didn't feel so good.
"Why are you in my room?" I whispered, not knowing why I was being quiet except that Jenks had told me to be.
"It's after sunup," he said, ear to the door. "You think I'm going to leave you alone? Open season on redheads started fifteen minutes ago."
Fingers fumbling and knees protesting, I tied my shoes. Three hours of sleep wasn't nearly enough. "Where is everyone?" I asked as I rose to peek out the small stained-glass window.
"Bis is asleep, the cat's inside, Jax is on the steeple, and my kids are strategically placed in the garden with Matalina," he said shortly. "We're just waiting for God to say go. Either that, or your killers are waiting for you to walk in front of a fairy-farted window."
I backed from the window, arms around myself. Jax is here? "What about Nick?"
Jenks turned, hovering beside the door. "What about him?
You said Jax is here...," I questioned.
Frowning, he muttered, "The kid either got really smart or really stupid. He came in right after you went to bed. Said he left Nick because he didn't like the way the lunker went after you with a knife. Tink's little red thong, Rachel. If I'd been there, I would've killed Nick's ratty ass. Now I don't know if I should take Jax back or send Jrixibell to see if he's spying on us."
My eyebrows rose. From the sanctuary came a loud "I don't trust you, that's why!"
It was Ivy, and she was ticked. "Who's here? Edden?"
Jenks dropped an inch in height, his wings slowing. "Pierce."
"Is he okay?" I stiffened. "How come no one woke me up?"
"Because he was fine and you were sleeping." Jenks gave up on listening and faced me with his hands on his hips in his best Peter Pan pose. "He's only been here five minutes, and already he's causing trouble. Cool your hormones, Rache."
"Your opinion of me is supposed to change my emotions for her?" Pierce's voice came, hushed but intense. "You can't assist her, vampire. Your love can only save her by limiting her. It's what you are. There's no shame but that you're using her to try to rise beyond your scope."
Great. Just freaking great. Snatching up a brush, I ran it over my hair three times before I gave up. God help him. He was stripping Ivy of the lies that kept her sane.
"Don't go out!" Jenks exclaimed as I reached for the doorknob. "They'll quit talking!"
"That's the idea," I said, jerking the door open. "Pierce?" I called, hearing Ivy hiss something. A quiver pulled through me as I felt him tap the line in the backyard. Shit.
"Don't do it, Ivy!" I shouted, running painfully to the sanctuary. Damn it, if she pinned him to the wall, I was going to be pissed.
Remembering what Jenks had said about windows, I skidded to a halt at the end of the hall, heart pounding. Pierce wasn't pinned to a wall, but standing beside the burnt pool table in the dusky morning light, dimmer than usual because of the boarded-up window. He still had his full-length wool duster on, and my dream rushed back. Facing Ivy, he looked wary and dangerous as he frowned, his hands in the pockets of his long coat and his hat on his head. I could almost smell the power spilling off him, rising above his pockets to spill over and eddy about his feet. He didn't look hurt at all. In fact, he looked great.
The scent of redwood battled with vamp incense to fill the church with the hint of power and sex. Breathing deeply, I took a step in. Ivy had changed into her working leathers in preparation for today's festivities, and her arm cast looked very white and new in its black sling. Her eyes were a full, intoxicating black, and she moved with a sultry pace as she circled him, eight feet back. Yup, she'd lost it. Her blood fasting was not a good idea.
She paused when she got between Pierce and me, coyly turning to me. Her expression was a sultry mix of lust and domination. "Ivy, stop it," I said when my neck started to tingle.
"He wants to take you to the ever-after," she said, fear dulling her sexual air. "Ask him."
Pierce pulled his left hand from his pocket in a gesture for me to listen, and a knot of tension eased when I saw its smooth length instead of Al's white gloves. "You must agree that though smelling almighty putrid it's safe. You'd be safe there."
I'd seen the ever-after in the daylight, and it was nasty. "Is that why you're not hurt?" I said hotly. "You got a deal going with Al? You convince me to bag reality and go hide in the ever-after, and he doesn't beat you to a pulp? I'm not a demon, and I don't belong there!"
"No." Pierce glanced at Ivy, then Jenks, before taking a step closer. "I don't think you're a demon." His left hand went back into a deep pocket, and my face got cold when he brought out the blackened, paint-peeling remains of my cherry-red splat gun. "My apologies," he said as he crossed the room and placed it in my grip. "He plum destroyed your spell pistol."
"H-how?" I stammered, then remembered that Pierce had had it when I left. Jenks whistled long and slow, and on impulse, I pulled Pierce's right hand out. The witch hissed in pain, and I turned it over to see the imprint of the splat gun's handle.
"Oh my God. Pierce. What did he do to you?" I tossed the melted gun to the burnt couch, and Pierce stiffened when Ivy approached. "Jenks, get a pain amulet," I said, and the pixy darted off. "You shot at him?" I demanded, my worry coming out as anger. "Are you crazy? I'm surprised he didn't kill you!"
Standing resolutely before me, Pierce hid his burnt hand behind his back. "I'm sure he'd rather. I didn't remain to give him the chance. My aim was poor, and he melted your spell caster after my second volley. You'd rather I remained for a beating?"
And now that the sun was up, Al couldn't follow him. Ohhh, I bet he's pissed.
Jenks dripped gold sparkles as he came back, and I took the amulet from him, draping it over Pierce's head and catching it briefly on the brim of his hat. Immediately Pierce's pinched expression eased, but Jenks was buzzing in alarm. "Al is going to be ma-a-a-ad," he drawled in warning. "He's gonna think Rachel gave you her gun."
Making a sound of disapproval, Ivy pushed herself into motion, her grace giving me the willies as she peeked out the front door. I glanced at the melted gun on the charred cushions and silently agreed. "I can't believe you shot at him. Come on," I said as I took Pierce's upper arm. "I've got a burn charm. It's only for stove burns, but it will help."
Pierce didn't move, and my grip slipped off him. "You're under a coven death sentence," he said, warily glancing at Ivy. "I know you're not cotton to the ever-after, but Al will take you in. The coven can't reach you there."
His language was slipping, telling me he was really upset, and I eyed him in disbelief. "I am not going to go crying to Al for help. I might have to put up with you, but I don't have to take your advice. You were wrong about not telling Al about the coven in the first place. You were wrong about leaving the church. And you were wrong about getting on that bus. Did you know Vivian almost killed everyone on it? I'm not leaving to hide in the ever-after!"
Pierce's brow furrowed. "Mayhap they wouldn't have died had we been there."
I frowned, having thought the same thing. Is that his backhanded way of blaming me?
Ivy came back in from the foyer, standing with her feet spread and senses alert, listening. Her eyes were still dark, but at least she wasn't looking like she was ready to jump anyone. Jenks joined her, the noisy clatter of his wings loud in the silence of an otherwise pixy-empty church. "We can keep Rachel alive," he said almost snottily. "We don't need your help."
Pierce crossed his arms over his chest, but I wasn't leaving, and that was it. I didn't care how much he frowned and cleared his throat. Running a hand over my sleep-snarled hair, I tried to remember how long ago it had been when I'd made a burn charm. Less than a year, certainly. But I needed a way to talk to Pierce alone. I did not want them hearing what was going to come out of my mouth next. "Jenks, how much feverfew do we have?"
He flew backward from me, expression cross as he saw I was clearly trying to get rid of him. "I'll go check - Rachel," he said caustically, then darted out the back.
I turned to Ivy next, waiting.
"I'll do a perimeter," she muttered. "Stay away from the windows."
Boot heels clunking in noisy protest, she left out the front, careful to make sure Rex didn't slip out with her. I caught a glimpse of the morning as the door opened to show bright sun glinting on the pavement, still wet from last night's rain. Cool and peaceful. Well, lean change that, I thought, turning back to Pierce.
His shoulders were stiff, his jaw clenched and his cheeks faintly red without a hint of stubble. When had he had time to shave? "Pierce," I said, knowing Jenks was eavesdropping. "Thank you for getting Al to... I mean, you didn't have to... I was handling it," I said plaintively, then gave up, slumping. "Thank you," I said earnestly. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Pierce's posture eased, and he lost his hard expression. "You're welcome."
"But I'm not leaving the church," I said, and his frown returned. "I tried that, and it went wrong. These are my friends, and I'm sticking with them."
My fingers lightly ran down his injured hand's arm, tugging it out to see the damage, but he wouldn't let me see. "Just how mad is Al?" I asked. Rex was rubbing against my leg asking to go out, and I picked her up. "That's why you want me to go back, isn't it? You figure if I go back looking for protection, he won't be so mad about you shooting him."
"Perish the thought," Pierce said, his eyes glinting. "It's your safety I'm thinking of."
Like I believed that. "And you think I make bad decisions," I said, carrying Rex to the kitchen as I went to get a burn charm. I knew he'd follow.
"He was savage as a meat ax," he said from behind me. "I might be beaten come sundown, but it was worth it," he muttered. "I opine that we both like what scares us most."
The kitchen was blue from the pulled curtains, peaceful. "Excuse me?"
He shrugged, his shoulders looking hunched under the duster. "I like trying to kill demons, and I think you fancy Ivy."
My fingers fondling Rex's ears hesitated. "Excuse me?" I said again, more stridently.
Pierce leaned in, surprising me when his forehead almost touched mine. "She can save you, you know," he whispered, his own fingers going out to touch Rex, between us, and I froze. "If you abandon yourself and cleave to her, fully accepting her sovereignty over you, you will be protected by the vampires to the death. They see you as their next leap."
Oh. That. I couldn't look up, and I focused on our fingers, touching among the purring cat's fur. "I wouldn't be myself," I said, wondering why he was bringing this up.
"True, you would be different. But you'd be strong. And remembered forever." He took a breath, and as his fingers left mine, I looked up. "Do you love her?"
His question shocked the hell out of me. "You are full of questions, aren't you?"
There was that same worried wrinkle above his eyes. I'd seen it before when he'd talked to me about Nick, and my pulse quickened. He wanted me to say no. "Do you?" he asked earnestly. "Don't mistake my apparent simple nature for stupidity. Vampires have existed nearly as long as we have. We aren't immune to their charms. And Ivy is charming." His jaw tightened, and I flushed. "She'd treat you well until she died, and likely thereafter as well."
I held Rex close, feeling her warmth. "Ivy and I... ," I started, then mentally backed up. "It's complicated," I came out with instead. "But there's nothing between us but space, now."
His eyes never left mine as he evaluated my words with what he had seen the past year. "Do you love her?" he insisted. "More than a sister's love?"
My thoughts went back to the kiss she'd given me. And the moment in the kitchen when we had tried to share something without her losing control and failed. The sensations she pulled from me were forever entwined with the vampire who had tried to bind me to him and blood-rape me. More than a sisters love. I knew what he was asking, and though I knew the answer was yes, I shook my head, thinking that what I felt meant nothing if I wasn't going to pursue it.
"I don't swing that way, Pierce," I said, voice quavering as a sudden anger took me - anger for my not being smart enough to find a way to be the person I wanted to be as well as the person Ivy needed me to be. "Thanks for the reminder."
Ticked, I turned to open my charm cupboard, the cat squirming. "I've got a burn charm in here somewhere," I said tightly as I let Rex go. "I probably have a few minutes before my assassins show."
A wave of sound shook the pots hanging over the counter, and I heard the discordant jangle of a hundred wind chimes.
Or not, I thought, eyes going to the garden window.
"Jenks?" I shouted, darting for the back door.
The bright glow of a pixy pulled me to a skidding stop in the back living room. It was Jax, and his blade was bared, already sporting a red sheen.
"Fairies," he all but spat, face twisted. "The coven sent fairies. They're attacking the garden. An entire spawn of them!"
Fairies. The word slid through my mind, chilling me. Matalina and the kids. Damn it, I was going to get everyone killed. I grasped the knob to the back door and pulled. It slipped from my grasp as Pierce pushed it shut, it having only opened inches.
"It's a lure to draw you out," he said, gaze fierce as he stood with his hand on the door.
"Then it worked." Shoving him aside, I tapped the line out back and flung the door open. Lunging, I swore as a handful of needles went thunk-ing into the couch behind me. I dove for the bottom of the step, turning it into a roll. The soft, rain-wet earth cushioned me as I somersaulted behind the picnic table, propped up on end against the big tree for winter. I took a breath, and Pierce was suddenly crouching beside me.
"I swan, Rachel," he muttered, peeved. "You're going to be the death of me again."
Immediately I set a circle around both of us. "I thought you said you liked what scared you." There was a surge of noise from the pixies, and I peeked to see them beating the butterfly-winged fairies back, the fight rising higher as they both struggled for supremacy. The bobbing color of the fairies' wings was encroaching from over the graveyard in a highly structured pattern that went up as well as from side to side. Surrounding the stump between us were darting shapes shedding sparkles to confuse and misdirect. If one didn't know that a battle for survival was going on, it'd be breathtaking.
"Ivy?" I shouted while rubbing the dirt from my palms. Pierce took my arm and I jerked from him, only to find him take a stronger grip. "What are you doing?" I snapped.
"Hold still." His lips pressed together, and I gasped when a surge of ley-line energy spilled into me. I pulled back at the invasion, shoving him when I felt a hot pulse of pain from my arm where he was gripping me. We fell over together, but he wouldn't let go and we broke my circle. Only now did he let go, and I jerked when a new, green-tinted circle enclosed us.
"What is your problem!" I exclaimed. Great, now my knees were hurt and wet.
"Poison," he said as he huddled close to the old wood. "I burned it up within you."
Embarrassed, I looked down. There was a tiny hole in my shirt, the edges charred. The skin under was pink with the hint of a sunburn surrounding a nasty bruise I didn't remember getting. Oh. "Urn, thanks," I stammered. "Sorry."
"Do tell," he said, his jaw tight and not meeting my eyes.
Peeking around the barrier, I saw a cluster of brightly colored wings rising over the protection of the shed. "Jenks! Behind you!" I exclaimed, then jerked behind the wood as three spears bounced off Pierce's bubble. Cripes, I had nothing for fairies. Nothing!
There was a high, tinkling shout, and I carefully peered around the table to see Jax's wings turn a shocking shade of yellow. As if it was a signal, a slew of pixy arrows rained down. The encroaching vanguard of purple-winged fairies went down with tattered wings. With a bloodthirsty yell, six of Jenks's younger kids dove out of my old teakettle, hidden under the shrubs, and attacked them with cold steel and vicious shouts. Three seconds later, the fairies lay dead and his children were giving one another high fives. Holy shit. Jenks's kids were savages!
"Rache!" Jenks barked above me, and I looked up, my expression still holding the horror. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, rising up and then down to avoid a spear.
"Taking notes," I said, nudging Pierce to take his bubble down long enough to give Jenks a place to rest. "Have you seen Ivy?" God, if she was injured somewhere...
The haze of green-tinted ever-after blinked out of existence, then returned. Jenks hovered before me with the scent of crushed dandelions, bringing my senses awake and filling me with the need to move. "She's practicing her moves up front," he said cryptically. Worried, I started to rise, only to be jerked back down. "She's fine!" Jenks said, laughing at my fear. "Don't go looking for her. She's vamped out." He smiled, looking devilish. "Kinda scary.
"Pierce," Jenks said, surprising me. "Rache can't do anything here. Jump her out."
"I can't jump anyone but myself," Pierce said. "Only a demon or a skilled gargoyle, which Bis is not, can carry another."
A familiar scream ripped through the air, lifting over the fairy battle cries and the breathy sounds of tattered wings struggling for lift. Jenks lifted up to the limits of Pierce's bubble, and both Pierce and I looked around the edge of the table.
"Sweet mother of Mary," Pierce whispered as Ivy vaulted over the wall between the street and the church, her curved sword in her good hand. Dodging tiny spears, she took out two fairies with ugly splats of sound. Shaking them off, she rolled to the shed, eyes wild and hair settling to hang perfectly as her back slammed up against the old wood. Holy crap, she was like Mary Lou Retton on Brimstone!
"Let me out, Rache!" Jenks shouted, but I wasn't the one holding the circle.
Ivy jumped into motion an instant before a barrage of arrows thunked into the shed where her middle would have been. A smattering of tiny arrows was embedded in her new cast, and she wiped them off using the sword blade. With vampiric speed and grace, she bounded back to the stump and the protection of Jenks's kids.
"Ivy!" I called, wanting her to join us - even if she was vamped out.
Across the backyard, the gate to the street was flung open, crashing into the wall with a sodden thump. Ceri was standing in the opening, the unpainted wood framing her small stature. Her hair was unbound, and the fair strands almost floated as she strode forward, anger and determination in every tiny-footed step. The woman was seven months pregnant. What in God's name was she doing here?
"Celero dilatare!" she shouted gleefully, and a black ball of force formed in her hands. Pink lips pulled back in a grimace, she threw it.
"Fire in the hold!" I yelled. Inking, pixies darted up, Ivy lunged to the shelter of the shed, and with a twist of her hand in a ley-line gesture, Ceri exploded her curse right within the greatest gathering of butterfly wings.
Crap on toast! I jerked behind the table with Pierce as a black-rimmed wash tinted with blue highlights colored the garden. It pulsed over Pierce's protective bubble... and was gone. When I looked, Ceri was standing beside the stump while the fairies struggled to regroup, scattered by what I was guessing was just a huge displacement of air. Ceri was calm and satisfied in her white dress trimmed in gold and purple. A bulge showed at her middle as she proudly showed off the life growing within her to Jenks's daughters, who took time out to feel the soft swelling through her linen dress before going down to slaughter the dazed fairies.
Lee, I thought, giving the man a silent thank-you as I rose to my feet. He must have told her what was going on and she'd left Trent's compound. She was beautiful in her anger, but I wasn't sure if it had been a curse or just a strong spell.
"Let me out, Pierce!" Jenks insisted. "Or I'm going to use your nuts for a beanbag chair!"
The bubble vanished, and Jenks darted away shedding hot sparkles.
Ivy's howl of pain iced through me. Pierce grabbed my arm, and I shoved him off and followed Jenks. The fairies were still trying to regroup. We had taken back a space, slowly widening as Jenks's kids pressed their advantage and drove them to the graveyard.
Ivy was down on one knee, holding her bicep as she leaned against the shed. I ran to her, hearing Pierce follow as he swore in words that a ten-year-old might use. We both skidded to a stop before her, Ceri right behind us. A green-tinted circle rose up and we were safe again.
"I'm fine. I'm fine!" she almost snarled, her hand coming off her bicep to show a small scratch, the edges red rimmed already and starting to go purple.
"Fine, hell, it's poison! Pierce, burn it out," I demanded, and he nodded. Eyes avoiding mine, he dropped to his knees to make his coat furl open. His hand went over the scratch, and he whispered the charm. Spell. Curse. I didn't care. Ivy jerked, her nostrils widening as a glow enveloped his hand.
"He's burning it out," I said, gripping her shoulders and forcing her to be still. "Try to relax."
"It hurts," she grunted. Her breath came with a gasp, and she held it for the count of three before it hissed out between her teeth. "Are you done yet?" she almost snarled.
Damn it, this isnt her battle, it's mine.
"You could have left," Pierce muttered as if having heard my thoughts. But if I'd left, they would have attacked anyway.
"A controlled burn?" Ceri said, voice high and interested. "You can do that?"
Pierce looked up, standing to tug his coat straight and touch his hat. "Mistress elf," he said formally, but I noticed he didn't offer his hand.
Her eyes darted behind him to the re-forming ranks of fairies. "You must be Pierce."
"I am."
My gaze jerked down when Ivy moved. "Are you okay?" I asked as she pulled herself up, sitting against the shed. Sweat ran down her brow in a rivulet to vanish under her clothes.
"That hurt," she said simply.
"You'd likely be dead if you were a witch," Pierce said grimly. "I opine being a vampire accounts for one good thing."
Ivy's eyes widened as she looked past me, and I stood and turned in one smooth motion. "Oh, crap," I said aloud as I saw the flash of flame. "Jenks!" I shouted. "TheyVe got fire!"
The hose was less than twenty feet away, but it might as well have been across the street, trapped in this bubble like we were. Jenks rose in a burst of motion above his younger kids gathered at the teapot. He whistled, and pixies came from everywhere, standing for a final assault on their stump. After that, it would be the church. They wanted me dead, and if I continued to hide in a bubble, they'd burn everything and everyone I loved.
Ceri's eyes were positively scary with determination. Ivy slowly got to her feet, and I supported her until she found her balance. "They're swarming," Pierce said. "I've heard of this. They're like locusts. This isn't merely an assassination attempt, it's an invasion."
Jenks dropped back down before the entrance of the stump. Beside him was Matalina, her arrows slung over her back and a sword I'd never seen in her grip. To her left was her eldest daughter, Jih. To Jenks's right was Jax. Behind them gathered the rest of the children, even the youngest. Across the graveyard, the fairies grew bold, flame dancing in their hands as their wings lifted them on the morning breeze. Their pace was slow even as they shouted insults. The bows in Jenks's children's hands had taught them caution. Last night's rain would keep the graveyard and the longer grass from burning, but not Jenks's stump. I couldn't let this happen. I'd rather rot in jail.
"Let me out of the bubble," I said softly, but only Ivy heard. "I will not be responsible for Jenks and his family dying. Ceri, let me out."
"Rachel, no," Ivy said as I stepped to the edge of Ceri's bubble. "There's got to be another way!" she said loudly. "Pierce, be of some use and think of something! Don't let her give herself up. Not to those butchers. The coven will kill her! You know it!"
Desperate, I stood, helpless. Pierce searched my face, seeing my fear, my loyalty, and my decision to not risk those I loved any longer. His hand found mine and I held it. I wasn't going to let them burn Jenks's house and slaughter his children. I'd do anything. And Pierce knew it.
Giving my fingers a tight squeeze, he turned away. "Mistress elf," he said to Ceri, his voice calm and determined. "Are you skilled in casting?"
Ceri's breath came in fast. Her wild look grew more fierce. "I am," she said, standing proudly. Casting was like a net in that it took more than one person to create, but whereas a net simply contained people, a casting generally contained a havoc-producing spell. It was tricky, seldom done as it was too easy for the spell to escape.
"Do you know the spell to burn even that which has an aura?" he asked, and the muscles in my knees went slack. God, no.
"That's black magic," I said, pushing Pierce's hand off me. "That kills people!"
Ceri gave me a long look, her eyes still on mine when she spoke. "I do."
Frantic, I turned to Pierce, then Jenks readying his family for a final assault. "You can't burn them alive!" I shouted.
Ceri's frowned. "We have two. To cast safely from here it will take three."
"We have three," Pierce said. "One to create, one to protect, and one to define." This last was directed at me, and Pierce's eyes held the memory of a difficult decision made long ago.
"I'm not going to burn my garden and everyone in it!" I shouted. "Jenks is out there!"
"Anything underground will be safe," Ceri said.
"I said no!" I protested, but Ivy's eyes begged me to say yes.
"Then Jenks and his family will die," Ceri said cruelly.
I stood before her, ill with frustration. Right then, I hated her although she didn't deserve it.
Pierce drew me to him. The difference between Ceri's proud disdain and his brow furrowed in pained empathy was striking. "You are the definition," he said softly. "You can hold the strongest, widest circle. Make one to encompass the garden. I will be the safety, and I will keep the magic from acting upon us. Everything between my circle and your larger one will be subjected to a quick flash of heat."
I looked over my church, seeing it smoking and ruined in my mind's eye. Burned at my own hands? "The trees, my garden," I whispered.
Ceri turned from watching the approaching fairies, her impatience obvious and making me feel like I was stupid. "The leaves will be singed. The garden will sprout from roots. The heat won't do anything to your church but clear the spiderwebs from it. Even Bis will be untouched. Rachel, Jenks cannot last against such numbers! He and his family will be slaughtered! Why are you hesitating?"
Because it was black magic. Anything able to pass through an aura and burn a living thing was black. I'd be a black witch. I'd be everything they said I was. But to stand here in a bubble while Jenks's children were cut down and slaughtered...
"There is no other option, Rachel," Pierce said, and I grew frantic. From beyond the safety of Pierce's circle, I could hear Jenks shouting final instructions to his children. They wouldn't scatter but would stay to the last. Ivy begged me with her fearful eyes. I had to do it.
Without a word, I closed my eyes and set an undrawn circle wider than the one at Fountain Square. I felt it go up, encircling the church, the grounds, and a slice of the graveyard. How many were inside it? How many would die? I thought, pulling my hand from Pierce.
"Jenks!" I shouted, blood humming from the strength of the line. "Go to ground!"
A sharp whistle pulled my eyes open to see a flowing of pixy wings into the stump. The fairies broke ranks, chasing them faster than would seem possible. Torches made tiny flames surrounding Jenks's home. Three fairies darted through the abandoned door. Trusting me, Jenks had let them in to do battle in his own home.
"I will lead," Ceri said, taking one of my hands. Pierce took the other, gingerly since it was his burnt hand. Safe within Pierce's sheltering bubble, Ceri bound our wills together, her aura swirling, pressing against mine with the feeling of silk and the scent of sun.
A shudder rippled through me when Pierce sent his aura wider, strengthening his circle, protecting us and melting it with Ceri's aura so her magic could pass through. I couldn't have shifted my aura like that. It was beyond my skill, sophisticated magic, and Ceri smiled in devilish delight, thrilled to find another matching her ability. She looked like a fertility goddess with her bulging middle and the power leaking from her. Beside her, Pierce was dark, masculine, strong, his thoughts here and in his past simultaneously. And I was between them, frantic. I was going to twist a black curse to save Jenks's life.
Ceri paused in her chanting, and upon feeling the weight of her stare, I swallowed hard and released the tight grip on my energies, letting them flow between us, balancing.
Pierce's breath hissed in, his fingers in mine clenching for a moment. Neither I nor Ceri said anything, but we waited until he nodded, accepting the level of power. It was a joined spell, and I could taste the three of us mixing, the bite of metal and ash, the powdery residue of sun and pollen, and the cold edge of wild, windswept water in winter. That was me - windswept water in winter. I was going to kill someone with magic. There had to be another choice!
"Stop," I whispered, and Pierce's thoughts wound into my own, holding me to the task.
"Stay the course," he said, eyes fixed on mine with an eerie intensity. "Hold."
"Everyone kills to live," Ivy whispered, vampire incense pulling through me to then vanish.
Not me, I thought, my fingers hurting where Ceri gripped them, refusing to let me go.
"Accendere!" she shouted victoriously, finishing the curse.
I stumbled as I jerked from them, but it was too late. Stunned, I felt the black curse tear through my brain like a heated knife, searing the knowledge into my memory. Ceri gasped, her head thrown back as the curse escaped Pierce's bubble. As if in slow motion, I followed it with a ribbon of thought, the first tendrils of silver heat darting to find the edges of the confines of my circle, widening to fill the space, crawling over the inside of the dome, snaking up the tree to crisp the leaves. The ground smoked, the wet earth steamed to show the expanding curse.
I was going to burn everything aboveground. Everyone kills to live, echoed in my mind.
Not me. Panicked, I threw myself from Pierce and Ceri, hitting the interior shell of Pierce's bubble and staring at them in horror. Not me!
"No!" I shouted, reaching out for the curse. I had seen its creation. I could call it back.
"Rachel?" Ceri called, eyes wide as she felt something shift.
Pierce stared at me. "Rachel, no!" he cried as if knowing what I was going to do.
Eyes wide, I reached for the curse, wrapped my will around it - and pulled it back.
Crap. This was really going to hurt.
With the sensation of fire, the curse rebounded into me, backlashing in my mind as if it were alive, angry to be jerked home. Not me! I thought as bursts of green flame lit and died outside Pierce's circle, showing where fragile wings shivered into flame. A terrible cry went up as the fairies dropped to the burning earth, and still I pulled, taking it into myself. They were dying. My head flung back and I screamed so I wouldn't go mad with the pain.
And when I had it all, when I had everything that I could bear, I pushed the curse back into the ley line. I emptied everything into it, letting go of the line with a quickness that curled me into myself, hurt. My outer circle dropped, and I took a sobbing breath in the sudden quiet.
The pain vanished from my mind, and I shook as I fell to the wet ground. What have I become in the name of love? Of friendship?
"Rachel!" Ivy exclaimed, but it was Pierce's arms that slipped around me, smelling of witch and power.
The imbalance hit, and I clenched anew, teeth gritting as I took it all. This was mine. The filth, the scum. All of it. And I heard Pierce sigh as I shuddered and accepted the entirety of the smut. I deserved it.
"What did you do!" Ceri shouted, angry. I could see her tiny feet as I lay in Pierce's arms, the pain now only a memory but my panic and fear growing. What have I become?
"Rachel! What did you do!" the elf said again, demanding my attention.
I looked up, wiping my eyes. "Is Jenks okay?" I whispered.
From the edge of the circle, Ivy said, "He's still underground. Are you okay?"
"She misaligned it!" Ceri shouted, furious as she stomped her foot. "And she did it intentionally! They're still alive! Never has anyone misaligned my work, never!"
They were alive? I looked up, not believing. My throat was raw and my muscles felt like rubber bands. The fairies were alive!
"It wasn't misaligned," Pierce said as he eased me to the ground and stood. Hands at his side, he looked irate. "She drew it back."
"Why!" Ceri shouted. "I told her Jenks would survive!"
"I have no idea," Pierce said, standing beside me as my butt got wet from the grass.
"Jenks," I whispered, and I felt Pierce let go of the line and his circle drop. The breath of a new day stained with the stink of burning shifted my hair, and I looked for the bright glitter of pixy wings. Outside Pierce's circle, paths of ash showed where the spell had started to take hold, but the garden was green. Small voices rose in pain, and my heart clenched.
Where is Jenks? My breath came in a sob when Pierce crouched before me, his unburnt hand reaching to wipe my tears away. "Rachel," he said, his hand damp when he took mine to help me rise. "We're in deeper trouble now. Best face it on your feet."
Numb, I let him draw me to a shaky stand. "Jenks!" I shouted. God, had I killed them?
Pixy wings exploded from the stump. I dropped back, relief almost making me pass out. They were okay. All of them. But as they darted over the garden, shrieks of fear rang out. My face went cold. Shit, they were killing the grounded fairies.
"Jenks! No!" I shouted. "It's done! Stop! Damn it, Jenks, stop it! Don't kill them!"
Jenks was atop his stump, having dragged a sallow-faced fairy with him. He turned to me in disgust, his sword at the helpless warrior's neck. The fairy's eyes were wide and a nasty ooze was puddling at his feet - the remains of his wings.
"Jenks...," I pleaded, and with a sour look, the pixy threw his blade in the air to shift his grip. With no fanfare, he gave the leader of the swarm a vicious thunk on the head. The fairy's eyes rolled up and a ribbon of red blood leaked out.
"Damn it, Rache," Jenks said as he let the fairy drop at his feet. "Why do you make things so difficult?"
"Thank you," I whispered, kneeling to put our eyes on the same level.
"Round them up. Tie them down!" Jenks shouted, and his kids complained as he took to the air, seeming to pull me to my feet as well. Blood smeared him, and wiping his sword he said, "TJiis is going to be trouble, Rache. You should have let me kill them."
I started backing away, my gaze darting over the garden. He was angry, motions quick as he flitted away, savage and stinking of death. His kids were cruelly driving the flightless fairies together with torments and cuts. It was survival, but it was scaring me.
My gaze touched on Ceri, the hem of her dress shaking. I'd ruined her curse - a black curse as foul as a hanging corpse. Ivy's eyes were black as she tried to regain control of her emotions, driven to the brink by the aggression around her, her grimed sword on the grass beside her. And Pierce stood watching me, a sad, tired expression in his eyes.
What am I doing? Who are these people I thought I knew, crying for death, lusting for it?
"I have to go," I whispered, backing up farther yet.
Ivy's eyes flashed even blacker, and Ceri turned, her expression hot with anger.
"Inside," I added so they wouldn't think I was leaving. "I need some water."
I headed for the porch, snatching up Rex so she wouldn't eat any of the grounded fairies.
Maybe I should have gone into the ever-after. Even Al is better than this.