For a Few Demons More(193)

Ivy stepped back. “You scared me,” she said.

“I scared myself,” I said, catching myself against the bedpost as I scuffed forward.

“Jenks!” Ivy yelled when my bare feet edged into the hallway. “She’s okay! She’s up!”

“What is that stench?” I said, sniffing the distastefully harsh scent of bad incense.

“We got the church unblasphemed,” she said, following me out. “The guy just left. I think you embarrassed him, so he did some research. All he had to do was find and replace the original scrap of holy cloth that the sanctity was focused on. Jenks’s kids found it, and the rest was easy.”

I nodded, thinking that odd sensation I’d felt when waking up must have been the blasphemy falling away. Then I wondered what the guy was going to do with the fouled cloth. Put it in the ever-after, maybe? That’s what I’d do. I wobbled three more steps to the bathroom, then turned. “You’re alive, right?” I asked, remembering the EMTs stopping their efforts.

From my doorway Ivy laughed. I must have really scared her. I’d never seen her show so much emotion. Clearly happy, she smiled. “I’m alive,” she said, looking beautiful with her eyes wet. “Piscary didn’t…” She took a breath. “I passed out when Piscary gave me enough vamp saliva to stop my heart, but the FIB guys kept me alive and the EMTs gave me an antitoxin. I never died,” she said happily. “I still have my soul.”

Good, I thought. Something had gone right for a change. I was afraid to ask her about Kisten. “I have to go to the bathroom,” I murmured, the situation turning critical.

“Oh!” she said, suddenly embarrassed. “Sure. I’ll, um…”

Her thought was cut short when Jenks blew in from the back rooms. “Rache!” he shrilled, shedding gold sparkles. “You okay? Tink’s bordello, you’re one wild woman. I’ve never seen anyone do the things you did. Who taught you to swear in Latin?”

He was flitting madly between Ivy and me, and I put a hand to the wall so I didn’t lose my balance trying to watch him. “It was the curse, not me,” I said.

“How’s your knees?” he said, dropping down to look at them, and my head snapped up when he darted to the ceiling. “You hit them pretty hard when Ceri took you down.”

“I don’t remember that either,” I said, crossing my legs and praying. “Could you get out of my way? I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Holy crap,” Jenks said, rising up to follow Ivy and me. “I thought you were going to kill Edden. He’s the one who gave you the black eye.”

So that’s why my face feels puffy, I thought, shuffling down the hallway. “What day is it?” I asked, wondering how long it had been since I ate.

“Monday.” Ivy was hovering tight to my heels. “Wait. It’s Tuesday now.”

“Oooooh, the spirits did it all in one night,” I said, squinting as I flicked on my bathroom light. My eyes hurt. I turned to find them staring at me as if I’d said something scary. “What?” I protested, and Jenks landed on Ivy’s shoulder.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, but if I don’t get into this bathroom, I’m going to make a puddle.”

Jenks took flight, and Ivy took three steps back. “You want something to eat?” she said, and I hesitated in my motion to shut the door.

“Anything but Brimstone,” I said, and her face flushed guiltily. The door closed between us, and I put both hands on the washer, leaning over it and shaking. It wasn’t blood loss. And I wasn’t beaten up that badly. I was fatigued. Something—maybe someone—had fought a battle in me, and I didn’t remember any of it. The focus was gone, so it had lost. I was the one picking myself up off the battlefield and hobbling to the next fight.

I hoped it would be easier than this last one.

Pushing myself upright, I went to the mirror. My hand moved to peek behind the bandage on my neck, then dropped. I didn’t want to know just yet. Turning my head, I looked myself over, deciding that it wasn’t bad. A complexion amulet would take care of the black circle under my eye, and the fat lip made me look pouty. There was a bruise on my shin and another on my hip just below where the T-shirt ended. My back hurt when I bent over to check out my knees, but nothing would need more than a day or two to return to normal. It was almost a disappointment. Having been a demon curse, however brief, should leave some kind of mark. A streak of silver hair, or bewitching eyes. Maybe crows on one’s roof or a hound from hell at your heel. But what do I get? Blowing out my breath, I stood and squinted at my reflection.