The Witch with No Name(181)

Trent’s eyes touched on mine and he reached for my hands. “You don’t know that.”

My fingertips tingled where they rested against his aura. I started to pull back, and he gripped me harder. “Don’t move,” he said sheepishly. “You’re getting rid of my headache.”

Damn it, I was coated in them even now. No wonder Dali was looking at me like I was a leper. “You too, eh?” I said, giving up on trying to hide them anymore.

“I was so scared when they hauled you up onto that stage,” Trent said suddenly, and I held my breath as he carefully pulled me into him. “I saw my entire life with nothing. My money gone, my power stolen. I couldn’t reach you and no one listened to me. I thought they were going to kill you.”

I could hear his heartbeat as I rested my head on his chest. It felt good to do nothing. “So did I,” I whispered, unable to say it louder lest I start to cry. I’d been terrified for him. For Jenks.

“And now you’re going to do it again.”

His hand gently stroked my hair. I didn’t want to move for anything. “Probably.”

Trent made a rueful sound. “You were right. As usual. This is hard. But I’m going to do it anyway.”

He kissed the top of my head, and I tilted myself so I could find his lips with mine. A faint tingle spread between us, warming and healing even as my leg throbbed.

His eyes were glistening when our lips parted. I wished that this was over and it was tomorrow, and we were having coffee at Mark’s before taking the girls to the zoo. “You should stay here with the girls,” I said, and his hold on me tightened.

“Just try to stop me.”

He was looking at my mouth again, but my besotted smile faded at the sudden rap of a thick knuckle at the door.

“Ivy and Nina . . . ,” I whispered, fear causing a spike of adrenaline in me.

“Quen?” Trent said, his brow furrowed as he carefully helped me to sit up while the door opened. His hands were gentle, but I was still grimacing when I looked up to find it was Al, not Quen, standing there—staring at us with the memory of his own loss so clear on him it hurt. Seeing my pity, his face hardened.

“I wanted to let you know that Quen has found word of the ambulance driver and paramedic who picked your . . . friends up. They’re both in intensive care with internal injuries.”

“No.” I fell back into the couch after trying to stand. “What happened?”

“They’ll both make it. It helps that they were living vampires,” Al said dryly. “But as for Ivy and Nina . . .” He shrugged. “There is no sign of them.”

“Cormel.” My heart pounded as I turned to Trent. “He wanted to talk to you. He took them!”

Trent rose, pace fast as he went for the phone on the desk. Al cleared his throat to stop him dead in his tracks. “It wasn’t Cormel who injured the paramedic and the driver,” Al said. “It was Nina.”

Tension pulled my shoulders tight as I figured it out. Nina had died on the way. The sun had set and she’d never lost consciousness. She had freaked out, and Ivy had tried to contain her. Shit, where would Ivy have taken her to try to bring her under control? Somewhere safe where Cormel couldn’t touch her?

Heart in my throat, I grabbed the arm of the couch and pulled myself up. “I have to go.”

“But the demons and the lines . . . ,” Trent started, and then he changed his mind, bending to pick up the crutch Newt had thrown, bringing it to me with a sad, determined look.

“Al, tell everyone I’m sorry. I have to go. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The crutch fit under my arm, painful as I hobbled to the door. Al stood and did nothing, making me wonder if he’d told me this knowing I’d leave. He knew better than most how close I’d come to losing myself the last time I’d fought the Goddess.

“I might suggest the helicopter,” the demon said, voice oily. “The entrance you make in that is almost as good as simply . . . popping in. Besides, the roads are impassable. I’ll go with you. No one listens to me anymore.”

“I know the feeling,” Trent said, but I was already halfway to the hallway.

“Thank you,” I said breathlessly as I passed Al.

“Don’t thank me.” Al looked at his fingertips in speculation. “I just don’t want to be there while Newt explains to the collective that we have to work with the elven Goddess to try to reopen the lines.”

“That bad, eh?” I muttered, jaw clenched as we found the hallway.

Al leaned close, voice dangerous as he whispered, “We don’t forget, Rachel, and it’s not as if it was our ancestors who were betrayed. It was us.”