Mrs. Sarong stood. “I have stated my position, and I will hold to it.”
“As have I,” David almost growled as he settled in more firmly beside Ivy’s baby grand. Seeing him there, a shiver coursed through me. He had the strength of a loner and the clout of an alpha, and his unsaid threat wasn’t empty.
Vivian stood as well, clearly unhappy. “Rachel.” She came to me and took my hands as Mrs. Sarong click-clacked to the door. “I’m leaving, too.” Her eyes pinched in regret. “My official stance is that the witches are giving you time to settle this. Nothing more. Use it,” she said. “Coven intel thinks that the DC vampires sent her here for you to kill or be killed. Either way, it’s one less thing they have to worry about. They don’t care who wins.”
Ivy had said something similar, and I nodded, concerned. The church’s door slammed shut, and Jenks’s wings tickled my neck as he settled in. “Then they’re going to be disappointed when I send her back to them, unscathed.” I glanced at Trent, who was on the phone again, then at David and Edden, both clearly staying. “It was good seeing you,” I added, giving her a quick hug to feel the ley line swirling in her, and I tightened my grip on my internal energy balance before they tried to equalize. “Are you staying in town? Maybe we can have lunch.”
Pike snickered from the couch, clearly thinking I had no tomorrow.
Vivian frowned at him, then her features eased. “I’m at the Cincinnatian until this is settled. My treat, okay? Sorry about Ellen. She is a true alpha bitch. Let me know if you need a character witness.”
My eyes slid to the warrant as she turned to leave, and my shoulders slumped. Oh, yeah . . .
“Sa’han, please,” I heard Kaspar beg, and Zack stood, his expression sour as he tied my robe tighter about his waist.
“Fine, fine!” the kid grumped, but he looked ready to drop, and Kaspar probably wanted to get him back to his own security. “But can you give Rachel and me a moment first?” he added, and Kaspar made a respectful half bow and retreated.
Etude’s low, rumbling snore echoed in the sanctuary, and I smiled as I went to give Zack a hug. But it faltered as I met his eyes and saw his grief for Nash, what they had done to him, to them both. Pike had moved to the makeshift kitchen, and the hair on the back of my neck pricked. I hesitated, not wanting the ugly man to see our pain lest he think we were weak, but heartache didn’t make one weak. Heartache meant you had loved, and therein lay an immeasurable strength.
“Zack, did Kaspar tell you . . .”
Zack’s fair hair fell to cover his eyes, but then he lifted his chin, bangs shifting. “He did.”
Jenks rose from my shoulder as two cars started up. “Hey, uh, Rache? I’m going to do a search.” The pixy gave Zack a nod good-bye. “Someone left a bug. I can hear it. Probably that moss wipe Kaspar,” he muttered, then flew to where Trent, Edden, and David stood discussing Pike, the living vampire helping himself to another bowl of chili.
But I was grateful they were leaving us alone, and I took Zack in a long, encouraging hug, breathing in the scent of cookies and the zing of unspent ley line energy, feeling his youth, and under that, a core of strength that was thousands of years old.
“She needs to die,” Zack said, his muffled voice cracking, and I let him go.
“Probably.” I looked at him, seeing his old soul and his new body all mixed up. “But I’m not going to do it, and neither are you.” I hesitated, needing to know. “I didn’t have time to ask you before. When you were in the I.S. tower, did anyone . . .”
His jaw tightened, and he glared over my shoulder at Pike. “No,” he said flatly. “No one even scratched my skin.” His expression twisted, and he blinked fast, his eyes suddenly swimming. “Nash . . .” he choked out. “He took it all for me. I never asked him,” he pleaded. “God, Rachel, what they did was beyond understanding. She can’t be allowed to be Cincinnati’s master vampire.”
“I agree.” A lump filled my throat, and I put my arm across his back to lead him to the door. “I can’t—” My voice broke, and I took a slow breath. “He’s been laid to rest,” I said softly so the words wouldn’t clog within me. “The mystics themselves led him to the Goddess.”
He scuffed to a halt in the foyer. The dark seemed to make the truth easier to bear, and awareness slowly dawned on him as to what that meant. “Kaspar said . . .”
“The ritual is yours.” His hands were in mine, and I felt the ley line prick against my palm. “I gave it to Trent, but I’m giving it to you as well. The mystics wouldn’t have taken Nash to be a part of the Goddess if he hadn’t been worthy of it.”
Zack’s head dropped, and again he was a kid who had lost someone, struggling to understand. “I never asked him to,” he quavered, and I pulled him close and gave him a rocking hug.
“I know. So did he.” I pushed back and tried to meet his eyes. “Go home. Do what makes you happy. Think of Nash and know he died for what was important to him. No one can ask for more than that.”
Sniffing, Zack looked past me to find Kaspar. “Keep me in the loop,” he said, voice hard. “I was serious about helping you.”
The boy was gone, and the leader of the dewar was back, and I nodded. “Promise,” I said, squinting when Kaspar opened the door and the light poured in. Arms about my middle, I watched Kaspar meet Zack’s stride as they went down my steps and back into the world. Kaspar was already yammering about something, but Zack clearly wasn’t listening, his thoughts somewhere more important.
The sound of a closing car door drew my attention to Doyle, and I frowned, reality crashing back. I gave him a wave before I went inside, leaning against the closed door as I collected my thoughts. The homeless vampires were gone and the church felt empty.
Mood uneasy, I scuffed to the couch. David and Edden were quietly going over a map at the piano, and I felt Trent’s eyes heavy on me as I flopped down into the cushions. A hint of vampire incense rose, and I held my breath, waiting for it to dissipate.
Until I realized it wasn’t coming from the couch, but Pike, a paper plate of chips in his hand. “The meeting is over,” I said. “And the chili is gone. You need to leave. Spy.”
Pike grinned to show his small fangs. “Rebel.”
“I’m not a rebel. I’m a realist.” I gazed at Hodin, then to Trent, still talking with Edden and David at the piano. My head snapped up when Pike shifted to sit beside me.
“I think you handled it pretty well,” he said around a sigh. “For an amateur.”
“Yeah? What would Constance have done?”
He thought for a moment and ate a chip. He’s eating crunchy things, and I asked him about his gnomon. Way to go, Rachel. Uneasy, I looked across the room at Trent, flushing when I realized they were discussing that warrant, not the city map.