“An exchange?” Brett mocked, and Jenks made an odd rumble, leaving me wondering if pixies could growl. “Seems to me like it’s more of a payment for getting us to leave you alone.”
In a smooth, unhurried motion, Jenks reached out and slapped him. “Seems to me you should pull the brains out of your ass.”
“Jenks!” I exclaimed, glancing over the fishbowl of a restaurant to see if anyone saw him.
“He’s a dead wolf!” Jenks protested, gesturing sharply. “I could slice him open and leave him for the maggots, and he thinks he has some leverage.”
My eyes narrowed. “But we aren’t going to do that. Stop hitting him.”
“It’s what they did to Nick,” he offered, starting our argument anew. “Why are you giving him any consideration beyond the chunk of meat that he turned himself into by letting us take him hostage?”
Under the table my knees were shaking. “Because that’s how we work when we’re five feet tall, unless we’re ignorant animals playing in the woods.”
Jenks slumped back with his coffee to look sullen.
Brett’s teeth were clenched at my unflattering comparison to his pack. Remembering what they had done to Nick, it was hard not to let Jenks have his way. Frustrated, I tried to hide my shaking fingers by taking a sip of my tart tea while Jenks continued to dump every last sugar packet into his coffee. I could scent his anger over the odor of french fries and bad coffee, like burnt acorns.
“I am going to give Walter the statue you couldn’t retrieve through a week of torture,” I said. “In return, you are going to convince Walter to give me Nick’s life and not hold me responsible for Pam’s death. You will leave all of us alone and not seek any retaliation. Ever.” My eyebrows rose. “You do, and I’ll come right back up here and take it back.”Brett’s faint wrinkles bunched. “Why should I do that?” he asked.
“Because it was your idea,” I said lightly. “And it’s the only thing that’s going to keep you alive. As soon as my ride gets here, I’m outta here.” I took a slow breath, praying I wasn’t making a mistake. “I’m going to call Walter and tell him where you are and congratulate him on having such a wonderful second in command who convinced me to give you the statue. There will be someone watching you. If Walter accepts my terms, he takes you and walks away. If not, he can leave you cuffed to the table, and you become Jenks’s responsibility.”
Jenks straightened and started to grin.
“The way I figure it,” I said, looking through the huge plate-glass windows at nothing, “your alpha is one pissed puppy at you for having not only letting us slip through your fingers, but then being careless enough to get taken and putting him in this awkward position.”
I leaned close enough that my words were a palpable sensation of my will against his face. “If you can’t convince him that we’re enough of a threat that he should accept my terms and back off for thirty-six hours and that because of your stellar negotiating skills that I will give it to you and you alone, he will have no reason to keep your hide attached to your soul. He’s going to kill you unless you can redeem yourself. Not right away, but he’ll do it. A slow slide in the hierarchy, giving everyone a shot at you on your way down. So I think a thank-you to me is in order for giving you a surefire way back into his good graces.”
Brett’s brown eyes were empty, again telling me he was in big trouble. “I suggest,” I said, seeing Ivy and Nick pull up in the van, “that you work really hard to get Walter to see things my way. Unless you give him the focus, you’ll be an ongoing reminder of his mistake of sending you against a superior foe without the proper understanding of what you were facing. We might look like incompetent flakes, but we’ve survived demons.” Shaking inside, I leaned away. “I’m giving you a chance to save your skin. Take it.”
The Were’s eyes followed mine to the van. “Ma’am,” he said slowly. “You are one hell of a negotiator.”
I smiled, and Jenks and I both rose before Ivy could come in. “Thirty-six hours,” I said, picking up my tea. I tried to look confident and in control, but I doubted I managed it.
Brett cocked his head. “You’re not going to give it to me. You’re stalling for time.”
Jenks took my elbow before I fell over, and I forced myself not to show my angst. “Maybe, but he’s going to kill you all the same.” I arched my eyebrows and tried to look tough. “What do you owe Walter, anyway?”
The Were dropped his eyes. I turned aside, shaking; he had acknowledged me as his superior. Damn. “God help me, Jenks,” I whispered as I tottered to the door. “I hope he does it.”
“He will.” Jenks glanced over his shoulder at Brett. “Walter will tear him apart slowly.” His green eyes met mine. “That was slick. Where did you learn so much about Weres?”
“If you’re beaten up by them twice in one week, you start to pick things up,” I said, leaning heavily on him.
Jenks was quiet, then, “You want me to have Ivy call her vampire friend?”
Nodding, I dropped my cup in the trash on the way out. I felt as if a noose was closing even tighter, but I didn’t see any other options. Already my mind was making a list: call Ceri for the recipes I wanted that I didn’t already have, check the yellow pages for a spell shop that carried raw materials. Somewhere I’d have to sleep and come up with a plan.
Maybe, I thought as Jenks opened the door for me and I stepped out into the late afternoon sun, I’d get lucky and dream of one.
Twenty-seven
I t was one of the oddest charm outlets I had ever been in, nothing like the richly scented earth magic shops I usually frequented, being brightly lit against the dark and spacious, and having a small spot up front to sit in cushy chairs and sip the marvelous coffee the owner made. The shelves were glass, and ley line paraphernalia was arranged like knickknacks. Jenks would have had an orgasm of delight.
There were only a small section of earth magic charms, and the traditional redwood scent was largely overpowered by the aroma of ginger coming from the proprietor’s coffeemaker. I felt strangely out of place, thinking the banners with dragons and white-bearded wizards next to the crucibles made everything look silly. An earth witch would have sneered at most of the ritual stuff in there, but maybe that’s what ley line magic used. Something was off with the merchandise, though. It didn’t smell right. Literally.
Ivy was halfway across the store with my basket of goodies after I snarled at her that I was fine and to stop hovering. Now I was sorry, but she had been acting weird since picking Jenks and me up at the mall—depressed almost, avoiding me but always near—and it was getting on my nerves. It didn’t help that I was feeling vulnerable, my knees shaky from blood loss again now that Jenks’s street-grade Brimstone had worked itself out.
I had found the shop in the yellow pages, and after I showered and stuffed myself on an entire box of macaroni and cheese, Ivy drove me over. She’d insisted, saying the Weres would know the moment I put my toe on the street. They had, and we’d been followed by two street racers glowing blue and green neon from underneath. It was worrisome, but between the thirty-six hour truce, my magic, and Ivy’s presence, they’d probably leave us alone.
As I hoped, Walter had backed off. Jax had said the trio of Weres in fatigues who picked Brett up was rough, but the lie that Brett convinced me to release the statue to him alone had kept him alive. I don’t know why I cared. I really didn’t.
I think Walter was using the time as I was: fortifying defenses and getting everyone in place for a last attack if I reneged on our arrangement. I was, but if I did it right, he’d never guess it had been my intent from moment one. The packs could not have the focus. The thing was demon crafted, and any power gained from it was artificial and would ultimately lead to their damnation, dragging most of Inderland along with them, probably.
My phone was to my ear while I shopped with Ceri, five hundred miles away and standing in my kitchen with Kisten. Ivy had asked him to watch the church and field the calls, and I didn’t want to know what my kitchen looked like with nothing between it and pixy chaos but a vampire. Ceri was off checking some point of charm, and I could hear Kisten talking to Jenks’s kids. The muted familiar sounds of home were both comforting and depressing.I picked up a large smoked bottle of generic fixative I could use for the demon transference curse, blanching when I saw the price. Holy crap. Maybe I could get away with the smaller bottle. I turned the smoked bottle over in my hand and squinted at the liquid. It was supposed to have camphor in it, but all I smelled was lavender. I didn’t like buying pre-made stuff, but I was pressed for time.
Seeing me holding the bottle, Ivy started my way to put it in the basket, halting when I returned it to the shelf and frowned. God help her, but I wasn’t that weak. I could hold a stinking bottle of fixative without a Brimstone boost.
I had fixed my own lunch today, after the sandwich Ivy gave me made my fingertips tingle. I don’t know how she managed to slip Brimstone into it without me realizing, but I was still mad from the two of them dosing me up without my knowledge, even if the high from Jenks’s street-grade Brimstone had made the difference in where I was sleeping tonight.