Kim Harrison - The Witch with No Name

The garden, my kitchen. But to stay and fight might get someone killed when we would be better off dropping back and attacking with more strength later. I was trying to make smarter decisions—I loved Trent, and realizing I’d abandon the church to get him out of this threat was . . . a gut-wrenching shock, both happy and sad.

“This won’t take long.” Trent didn’t sound like himself, and I watched, chilled, as he reached up into the rack, his motions sure and steady, his eyes never leaving the vampire’s. The vampire panted, small noises coming from him as he tried to break through the binding charm. Trent looked awful, showing a part of himself he wasn’t proud of—and being with me had brought it forth again.

Spoon pressed right under the vampire’s eye, Trent leaned in. Voice hardly audible, he whispered, “Who’s organizing this?”

I felt Trent’s pull on the line lessen, and the vampire wiggled, still caught but able to move now. “You’re dead, Morgan! You lied to us, and your life is forfeit!”

“I didn’t lie!” I exclaimed, then lowered my voice. This smacked of torture, even if Trent hadn’t done anything but threaten him with a spoon. A spoon right under his eye.

“ Flagro, ” Trent intoned, and I stiffened. The tip of the ceramic spoon glowed with heat. Whimpering, the captive focused on it, and the scent of frightened vampire rolled into the air.

Jenks darted close, his irritation obvious. “That won’t work. He’ll make it feel good.”

“Not if I scoop his eyeball out.”

Horrified, I gasped. He had to be kidding. “My God. Trent!”

Ignoring my hand on his arm, Trent blew on the spoon to send the heat over the terrified vampire’s face. I couldn’t believe this was happening, and I gasped right along with the vampire when Trent pressed it to his skin, the word “ Caecus ” intoned with a terrible certainty.

“Trent, stop!” I shouted as the vampire arched in pain, horrified. Jenks simply hovered, clearly not caring. Seeing me ready to smack Trent, the pixy darted over. “Get a grip, Rache,” Jenks whispered, perched at my ear. “It’s not real.”

My breath exploded out from me, and I hesitated. Sweat trickled down Trent’s face where it had beaded. His grip was white knuckled on the vampire under him, pinned to the center counter with a savage force. There was a small crescent shape of red under the vampire’s eye, hardly worth calling a burn. It was more of a pressure mark. It was all show. Everything.

The terror, though, was real.

“Who!” Trent shouted, the vampire moaning under him. “Why!”

Trent pressed the cooled spoon under his other eye, and the vampire screamed again. Lip between my teeth, I darted a glance at the window. They weren’t going to wait for sunrise if they knew we had one of their own.

“My eye!” the vampire howled, struggles growing violent. “You took out my eye!”

His eye was fine, blind under that last spoken charm, but I didn’t like this side of Trent.

“Tell me, or I’ll take out the other!”

Jenks shivered, his wings making a cool spot on my neck. “Tink’s a Disney whore, Rache. Your new boyfriend is kind of scary when he’s pissed.”

“Tell me,” Trent threatened, pressing into him. “Now!”

“It’s the elves!” the vampire screamed. “The elves.”

My lips parted, and I met Trent’s suddenly ashen gaze as he let up.

“Some elf called Landon. He said you’re lying,” the vampire gushed. “He said you know how to bring back all the undead souls and you lied that it would send them into the sun. He said he’d bring all the undead souls back from the ever-after, but we had to kill you first to keep you from reversing his magic. He said you want us to die without our souls ! That you’re a demon !”

“He’s the one lying!” I exclaimed, and Jenks darted out. That scream had probably traveled. “Landon wants to wipe out the masters. He’s the one who put them to sleep last July!”

Trent let go and the man dissolved into a sniveling whimper. I could see Trent’s self-disgust, and I brought his hand to my lips, startling him. He hadn’t hurt the man babbling before us. He’d tricked him, tricked him to save our lives.

“You lie,” the would-be assassin said, his fingers feeling his face. “I saw Felix. He has his soul. He doesn’t hunger. He’s whole.” Fear flashed over him, stark and ugly. “I don’t want to lose my soul. You’re a monster! You took my eye!”

Trent frowned. “Landon betrayed you,” he said, making a decisive ending gesture.

The vampire gasped, hunching into himself as the spell broke. Slowly his hands fell and he looked straight at us, wonder in him. “I can see . . .”

Expression still holding that awful hardness, Trent turned to Bis. “If he moves, claw his eye out for real.”

I knew Bis would never do such a thing, but after seeing Trent bluff his way to a confession, the gargoyle hissed, claws scraping lines in the stainless steel.

“I told you Landon was going to use us,” I said, then softened as I saw Trent shaking. He’d waved off my concern, but I’d known something like this was going to happen. Cincinnati had gone to her knees when the masters had merely fallen asleep. That Landon would try to kill them again wasn’t surprise. The surprise was that I kept thinking he was sane.

Trent splayed his fingers to gauge their shaking. “We’ll be okay. There isn’t a safe way to bring all the souls back,” he said as he made fists of his hands. “Ellasbeth hasn’t called me in over six hours. You told her to call back in four, yes?”

His voice had hardened, and I nodded. He thought Ellasbeth and Landon were working together? Maybe, but Ellasbeth wouldn’t destroy an entire demographic to further herself. Would she? “But you told her if she ever did anything like this again . . .”

My words trailed off. I’d really thought she’d play nice if she had a shot at something normal with the girls. Logic said she was working with Landon, but my gut said different. I’d seen her with the girls. She was Lucy’s mother and loved Ray as if she were her own. She wouldn’t risk them like this. Not now. Not if there was another way.

“Maybe I should tell her killing me won’t give her Lucy,” Trent said.

My shoulders tensed. “Quen gets custody first? That’s a great idea. No one can kill him.”

Trent made an embarrassed sound. Glancing behind me to the cowed vampire, he winced. “Ah, not exactly. I made you Lucy’s legal guardian if I died or was missing for more than six months. If we both go, Al gets her. Ellasbeth probably doesn’t know about that clause.”

Shocked, my head snapped up. “A-Al?” I stammered. “Why not Quen?” But what I really wanted to know was why Al?

Trent was swooping about the kitchen, jamming charms and Ivy’s bottled water into my bag. “Making Quen Lucy’s guardian would make him a target, and I won’t risk Ray. Al being Lucy’s guardian will create a custody battle long enough for Quen to run off with both Lucy and Ray. Besides, if Al has custody, no demon will dare touch her. Or Ray.”

I dropped back a step as I looked for the logic. It made sense—sort of.

Trent handed me my bag. The sill was empty, and I looked in my bag to see Al’s chrysalis among the rest. Really? “I’m sorry,” Trent said, jaw tight. “We have to go.”

Crap on toast, we were going to leave them the church. I started as Trent took me in a quick embrace, my arms pinned between us as he gave me a squeeze. The vampire was watching, but Bis gouging the counter with his nails kept him unmoving.

“I should have seen this coming,” Trent whispered, his breath making tingles against my neck. He sighed, his grip beginning to loosen. “I thought that by bringing Landon in close, I could out-think him. You were right. Is Ivy okay?”