Listen, I thought, feeling the ley line within me, tasting it. I was everywhere, in every line on the continent. Or at least I had the potential for it. Bis's presence was with me. His mental texture slipped through my protective bubble, bringing with him the discordant sensation of another line. It was as if I could see, taste, hear, the lingering aura that Al had left behind on it, shifting the sound a little deeper, the taste a little more bitter. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever felt. Bis brought the taste of the new line in with him. Otherwise, I'd never be able to sense it past my own bubble. And now that I knew what it sounded like, I could find it.
Confident from success, I reached a thought past my bubble to pick out the line he'd used from the myriad lines crisscrossing the Cincinnati mindscape.
That was a mistake.
Shock vibrated through me - and then the pain hit.
I had no breath, but I screamed. Fire poured through my veins to illuminate my soul - the entire line filled me, unfiltered. My mind rebelled, and my thoughts went white. Tulpa! I screamed, but there was too much. I couldn't spindle creation, and my neurons burned.
Al! I begged in my thoughts, but he couldn't hear me. I'd done something wrong. My memory was charring, flaking from me in sheets of thought.
I had to get out before I burned to nothing. There had to be a way. I had... to listen... through the pain. Where was Al?
Somehow I found him. Somehow I found Al's sarcastic thoughts, bitter and old. Tired, angry, bored. Alone.
Whimpering, I shifted what was left of my aura, modifying it to match the line he had used, and with a last gasp, I shoved myself into it. With the feeling of spiderwebs made of ice, and fog made of fire, I tore my way back into reality.
My face hit a dirty flat carpet, and I dropped my pain amulet.
"Oh. Shit." I breathed, arms shaking as I tried to push myself up, failing. That's okay. It's nice just to lie here.
"Rachel!" I heard Bis cry. Al snarled something, then bellowed in pain. And then Bis was with me. "Rachel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay," I said, hoping he didn't touch me. I'd freaking pass out. My eyes were shut, and slowly my mind was rebuilding itself. A savage smile curled my lips up. I had done it. Damn it, I had jumped the lines!
"Brooke, there's two of them!" I heard Vivian exclaim, but I couldn't move yet.
"Only one of them is Rachel," Brooke snapped. "Which one?"
Bis hissed, and I heard a scraping of claws. A sharp sound of a smack, and a feminine hand grabbed my wrist. "Ow!" I yelped as Al, looking exactly like me, jerked me up.
"I'd say the one not in charge," Brooke said, sounding smug.
My breath came fast, and I scanned the dirty, rectangular room as I found my balance: wood floor with a glowing pentagram laid down with salt, cement-stone walls, low ceilings, really small windows, and a broken table shoved against the big archway leading to a balcony barely big enough to stand on. I could hear water running over rocks somewhere in the dusk. Bis was slumped against the far wall by the stairs, shaking off Al's blow. Brooke and Vivian were standing before us, Vivian looking like she wished she were somewhere - anywhere - else, the skin around her neck red and blistered from being pixed, her clothes a mess, and her heels scuffed. She'd been taking a beating the last couple of days, and it showed.
Al had already gotten out of Brooke's circle by all appearances. No wonder, seeing that he looked like me in black leather and a TAKATA STAFF T-shirt. How had he known what shirt I was going to wear? And where am I? I thought, still confused.
It looked like a bad Hollywood set lit by candles, smelling of spilled wax, dirt, burnt amber, and mold. It was the last one that did it. "Holy crap, are we at Loveland Castle?" I asked, and Al gave me a shake, swinging my attention back to him. Or me, maybe. Damn, he'd even done the eyes this time, and it was like looking in a mirror.
"What the Turn are you doing, jumping with an untrained gargoyle?" he said as he held me up by one shoulder. "You could have killed yourself!"
I couldn't focus well yet, and my stomach lurched. "Well, maybe you should teach me how, then." My bile rose, and I forced it down. I was not going to barf on Al. Not in front of Brooke. Maybe later. Where's my pain amulet?
"I told you this was a bad idea," Vivian said. "Now there's two of them."
Oh God, my head hurt. Al let me go, and I staggered, only to fall down again in the middle of that big pentagram. He was wearing my boots, or at least replicas of the one I'd left in the ever-after. It was the only difference between us. Fingers stretching, I reached for my amulet, sighing when my fingers snagged it and the pain in my head dulled.
"You didn't do it right, itchy witch," Al said, then flung out a hand when Brooke threw a ball of something at us. "Bitch," he said absently as a black sheet of ever-after sprang up around us. He'd set a circle. Al had set a protection circle. I'd only seen him do that once, maybe twice, before. "Look what you made me do," the demon snarled. "I hope you're satisfied. I had to set a circle. I've not set a circle this side of the lines since Piscary tried to get me to kill you. Proud of yourself?"
His syntax sounded funny coming from my face. "Not especially," I said, then yelped when he yanked me to my feet. From the rafters, Bis hissed.
The pop of a spell hitting the black-sheened protection circle thumped through me. It was followed by several more as Vivian and Brooke tried to break through with their lethal white charms. I tried to see a glimmer of APs gold aura, seeing only black. Nothing remained.
"Let her go!" Bis exclaimed, ignored as he dropped through Al's circle.
"I ought to throttle you," Al snarled, red hair twin to my own swinging into his face. It sort of put a new spin on the phrase killing yourself. "And your little gargoyle, too," he added, making Bis dart back out of the circle when the wood at his feet started to smolder.
Oh yeah, my fuzzy brain thought. Pierce and the gun.
"I didn't know," I gasped. "I forgot Pierce had my splat gun. Damn it, Al, I was stoned out of my mind! Why am I always trying to prove myself to you? How about a little trust?"
Al loosened his hold. It was like looking in a mirror, but I doubt I ever had that angry a snarl before. His attention jerked past me as I felt a drop in the ley line. They were trying to reset their summoning circle to trap us. Grimacing, Al muttered a word of Latin.
Vivian yelped, leaping to the side when Al's circle dropped, broken by his magic tearing through it. A new, nasty ooze dripped from the wall behind her.
"Pierce is a jerk," I said, feeling the ice pick in my head start to dissolve. "You were right. I'm wrong. His shooting at you wasn't my idea. You know he's trying to kill you. What did you expect?"
Al's eyes went from green to their usual red, goat-slitted ugliness. "I'm right and you're admitting it?" he said, his tone lightening. His hand opened, and I fell, yelping. The scent of musty carpet puffed up, and I looked around the sunset-gloomed air. Loveland Castle?
I got up and looked at Brooke, taking in her bloodied lip, wild hair, white face, and grim determination. It seemed like we were at a stalemate. "Loveland Castle?" I questioned her. "You've got to be kidding me."
"You are on thin ice, student," Al interrupted, his accent perfect, proper highbrow English coming from my body.
Brushing myself off* I sidled next to him. "Good thing I know how to skate. You mind not looking like me?" I knew I should be scared, but hell, I'd jumped a line to be here.
Al smirked at my sour attitude, and a sheet of ever-after coated him. He gained bulk, height, and a ruddy complexion. "Being you got me out very quickly," he said, again himself as he tugged his lace straight. "It's amazing how your pretty face opens doors."
"I bet."
Another drop in the line brought both Al's and my attention up, and we were trapped as Brooke's circle rose again. "I have you!" Brooke exclaimed. "You're mine! I did it!"
Sighing, I shook my head in disbelief as Al grumbled. This was not my day.
Bis dropped through the circle holding us, his red eyes whirling and the white tuft of fur on the end of his tail bristling. Wings beating to make my hair fly, he landed on my shoulder. Cincinnati's lines exploded in my mind, and my knees buckled as I reached for Al.
The gargoyle hissed as Al pulled me up. "Make a circle around your thoughts," he muttered so only Bis and I could hear. "You look like a drunk like that."
It wasn't hard, and immediately the humming between my ears stopped, and I stood under my own power. "Thank you," I whispered, trying to get a finger between Bis's tail and my neck. The kid was scared to death. He had abandoned me in the lines after I'd fried myself. It wasn't his fault, but I'd be surprised if he left me now even if I told him to go.
Brooke was almost hopping in delight, but Vivian looked ill. "Brooke," the youngest coven member said, "there are two of them in there."
"I know!" she said in delight. "We circled them both!"
"You circled them," Vivian said. "Not me. This is against the coven. One of them is a demon."
"The hell with it!" Brooke said, her delight tarnishing. "They're all shortsighted hacks."
"I didn't agree to this!" Vivian protested, backing up. "You summoned a demon, not Rachel Morgan! Did you stop to think about what that makes you?"
Brooke's eyes narrowed and she stiffened. "I have control of this situation" she said stiltedly. "I'm not a demon summoner. I just want the one to kill the other is all."
Whoops.
Bis's wings shifted as I turned to Al. The demon's eyebrows were high as he eyed me over his round smoked glasses. "Perhaps you should do something, Rachel?" he suggested.
"Demon!" Brooke exclaimed as I touched her circle to find it humming a warning at me. "I demand that you kill Rachel Morgan."
I spun to face Al, my back hitting the bubble until I jerked away at its burning. Kill me?
Bis spread his wings, claws pinching my shoulder. "You're not touching her," he hissed.
Al, though, wasn't moving. He gave me a glance, then put a hand behind his back to look elegant in his crushed green velvet and shiny buckled shoes. His visible hand became a fist in its white glove, and his lip curled in disgust. "Who?" he said disdainfully; then he muttered to me, "Best hurry, itchy witch. I can stall for only so long."
My breath exploded from me. He didn't want to do it, but he would.
"That demon in there with you, dolt!" Brooke shouted, pointing.
Holy crap, I had to get out of here!
"First," Al said dryly, "my name isn't dolt. And second, I'm the only demon here."
Brooke fumed. Vivian's expression was puzzled. "I demand you kill Rachel Morgan this instant!" Brooke stated.
Al reached into a pocket, pulling out a small tin. "There are thirty-five Rachel Morgans on this continent alone," he said, opening it. The scent of Brimstone hit me, and I sneezed. "Which one would you prefer? The one in Sacramento or the one in New Mexico? You can't mean the newborn in Kalamazoo..." He sneezed as well, snapping the lid to the tin and tucking it away. "A coven member sending a demon to kill a newborn? And people say I'm a sadist."
I was frantic, almost not hearing Bis when he leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Can't you circle Al?"
My scanning of the floor for a weakness ceased. Circle Al? I looked up to see Al smiling at me. I had promised not to, but I think he'd overlook it in this case.
"That one!" Brooke shouted, pointing. "That witch right there!"
Al turned to me as if seeing me for the first time. "That's not a witch."
I had nothing to make a circle with. It was a good thing Brooke didn't know my third name. Maybe this was why the tradition of having three started. Giving up on finding anything useful, I awkwardly ran my finger across the dusty carpet, crab-walking around Al. He could have moved and avoided it easily, but he didn't.
"Just kill her!" Brooke screamed, and I invoked the circle.
I exhaled heavily as the smut-coated sheet of gold-tinted ever-after rose up, loosely imprisoning Al. It was like tying a stallion with string, but Al rumbled appreciatively.
"Took you long enough," he sniffed, poking at it only to draw back when it almost fell.
Shaking, I turned to Brooke, totally pissed and smiling. The woman was staring, clearly recognizing that something had shifted, but not making the connection. She was a white witch. She had no clue that she'd just lost control of him. Vivian, though, was backing up, her face whiter than her coat used to be.
"Algaliarept, kill the woman standing beside you," Brooke said, and Al blew her a kiss.
"Too late, Brooke. I circled him. He's my demon," I said, hearing more than my words were saying. Al was my demon. I admitted it. It was time to live it. It was the only way I was going to survive being me.
"No!" Brooke exclaimed, her face becoming livid. "I circled you. I circled both of you! Rachel, I demand you do what I say and release that demon!"
"That doesn't work on me," I said smugly as Al chuckled. "I'm not a demon. We've been over this." I wasn't a demon, but Al didn't think I was a witch either.
"I've had enough," Al said, reaching out to push through my paltry circle.
"Wait," I said, and he hesitated. "I have an idea.
This had better be good," he warned me, eying me over his smoked glasses.
"Break my circle, and you're still stuck here with me. But if I banish you..."
Al smiled, his thick blocky teeth showing full and white. "Itchy witch, I misjudged you."
"Demon," I said firmly, "I demand that you depart from here and go directly to wherever your little demon heart desires."
Al's smile widened. My hair shifted from the displaced air, and he was gone. I was alone in Brooke's circle. I was betting I wouldn't be alone for long. Please come back, Al.
"Rachel! I demand you do what I say," Brooke shouted, beginning to look frazzled in her begrimed business suit.
"You can suck my toes, Brooke." Bis's tail tightened, but I smiled sweetly, hand on my hip. A/, I summon you. A/, I summon you. Al! Get your ass over here!
Oh God. What if he didn't show? Had I just given myself to the coven?
Vivian stiffened, eyes wide. I felt a drop in the nearest ley line, and we all turned. "Hello, Brooke Sondra Stanton," Al said, and I sagged in relief. He'd come back.
"Abire!" Brooke shouted, dropping her circle around me to throw all she had at Al.
"Grab some air, Bis!" I shouted, lunging out of the circle to roll and rise to a stand. Bis was in the rafters, and hands in fists, I jabbed a side kick into Vivian, even as she held up her hands in surrender. I had no pity for her. She was here - she was going to get smacked.
Vivian fell, stumbling back into the narrow stairwell. She only went a couple of feet down the deathly narrow spiral staircase, but it'd keep her busy for a few minutes.
I turned to Al, then spun back around as the hair on the back of my neck prickled. "Rhombus!" I shouted, cowering as an iridescent ball of ever-after hit it, thrown from Vivian. She hadn't gone as far as I had expected and was crawling up the stairs.
"You're pretty good," I said, then did a low front kick, smacking Vivian's chin and sending her head snapping back. Eyes rolling up, she collapsed on the stair.
Brooke's ugly cry turned me around. "No!" I shouted, lunging past the broken table only to skid to a horrified stop. Al had her on the floor; he was sitting on her hips and pinning her wrists to the dirty wood. She was helpless. Even without the witch/demon discrepancy, she didn't have a chance. I stared at her wide eyes as she panted in fear, only now realizing what she'd done.
"Al, please," I asked. Behind me, I heard a scuff of feet, and I held a hand back in warning. "I'm trying to help her!" I shouted, and Vivian halted. Thank God.
Al wasn't amused. "Tell me you're joking," he said, standing and dragging Brooke up by the neck. "That little understanding we have doesn't cover people who summon me." Grinning to show his flat teeth, he lightly thunked Brooke's head into the wall. "Let me jump you," he said. "I don't have a lot of time to waste today."
"Go... to hell," she said, trying to spit on him only to have it drip down her own chin.
"That's what I'm trying to do," he intoned. "Be a good girl. It won't hurt if you don't resist. You're already sold, love. You should leave demon summoning to the professionals."
A chill went through me as I remembered him calling me love. My hand out to Vivian in warning to stay put, I edged closer to Al, feeling like a human trying to take a lion's kill. "Al, I need your help. That's why I'm here, not because of Brooke. I need your help right now. I don't have time for you to mess around with some lame-ass witch."
"Lame-ass witch?" Al looked at me over his glasses. "This here is coven quality, grade-A witch ass." He hesitated, and Brooke took a clean breath as his fingers eased. "You want my help, you say?"
"Demon spawn!" Brooke rasped.
Al's fingers tightened, and he shoved her head against the stone wall again with a thunk. "You say that like it's an insult," he murmured as she whimpered. Leaning toward her, he whispered something in her ear that made her eyes close in horror.
Vivian was inching closer, and I impatiently gestured for her to give me just one more minute. "Al, do this for me, okay? Can't you just take someone I dont know for once? I'm going to get blamed for this."
Al leaned back from licking Brooke's neck, tightening his grip on her until she started to claw at his hands around her throat. "You don't belong here, Rachel. You belong with the demons in the ever-after."
"Yeah, okay," I admitted, and Vivian gasped. "I might belong with demons, but I belong here, too, as a member of society, not an outcast on the run, and this isn't helping." Moving closer, I put a hand on his arm. Brooke's breath rasped, sounding pained. "I need your help. Please. I know how I can fix this, and I need to borrow a demon locator charm from you. I don't have time to make a witch charm that I can't invoke anyway."
Al turned to me. He let Brooke breathe, and she took a gulp of air, her hands scrabbling at his grip on her neck. Behind me, Vivian's foot scraped as she moved a step closer. Bis landed between us, and I felt better at his warning hiss. I didn't dare turn to look.
"You'd rather use a demon curse? One I made?" Al asked, and I nodded, my face warm.
Brooke rasped, "Filthy demon sexpot."
"Sexpot!" I exclaimed, affronted. "I have never had sex with Al!" Al sighed. "More's the pity," he said, eying me. "You'd really enjoy yourself."
I took a step back, wiping my hand on my jeans. "Not happening."
Brooke suddenly screamed, and I winced, knowing Al was done messing around. "You, though," he said as he flooded her with ever-after, "couldn't survive sex with me, Brooke Sondra Stanton. I'd burn you out like dandelion fluff."
Vivian was threatening to test Bis's resolve, and I grabbed Brooke's arm, taking the ever-after coursing through her into myself and leaving her untouched. It was a lot, and I winced as she sagged, gasping for air with little whimpers. Al frowned at me from under pinched brows, redoubling the force running through her.
Again she screamed, falling into sobs when I took it as well. "I like it here," I said, dizzy from the energy, but handling it. "I need your help. Are you going to help me or not?"
Knowing I was the one keeping her from pain, Brooke brought her gaze up, shocking me with her hatred instead of gratitude. Al saw it, and jerked her from me, but he'd stopped flooding her with force, and she only grunted from being yanked about.
"You want me to help you?" he sneered, but he was listening. "For gratis?" Attention going to Brooke, he said, "Let me jump you. Rachel can't save you. You're mine."
I glanced at Bis, wondering how much longer his hissing and stalking back and forth was going to keep Vivian at bay. "What is a favor owed without a mark worth to you?" I asked. "One based on trust."
At the last word, Al sighed. His goat-slitted eyes narrowed, and he looked at Brooke, growling. "This one is mine. I need to make a living, or you're going to be stirring your spells on the surface in the shade of a sun shelter."
I shifted to stand next to Brooke so he could see both of us. "I need to find Nick. Like now. Yes or no?"
I could smell Brooke's sweat, almost taste her fear on the air, her anger that I was so sure of my station I could argue with a demon threatening her with a lifetime of degradation. This, too, I wanted the coven to see.
"You need to find Nickie, eh?" he asked, and I nodded. "Are you hungry, itchy witch?" the demon said suddenly, a curious lilt to his voice. "I'm feeling a bit peckish myself."
Thunking Brooke's head hard into the wall, he tucked her under his arm and put his free hand on my shoulder.
I stared up at Al, an unreasonable fear coming from nowhere. Not the lines! I thought, frightened of being hurt again, but the enfolding warmth of a line soaked into me, and Loveland Castle vanished.