Pike stood beside and a little in front of her, his hands hanging at his sides, waiting. His empty expression struck me as odd, but he twitched as I resettled myself on the hard bench, making him wire-tight and faster than a cracked whip.
“First, I want you to publicly apologize for Nash Lendorski’s death,” I said, and Constance blinked in true surprise.
“You want me to . . .” Her words trailed off as her eyes narrowed. “You want?” she added, her anger obvious.
“Holy sweet mother of Jesus,” Pike whispered, a hint of what might be fear in his eyes.
Jenks’s wings rasped, and I twitched my head to get him to shift off my shoulder. The faint draft from his wings was setting my scar off. She’d brought it alive without even trying. Chin rising, I took a steadying breath, my grip on the ley line solid and sure. I could reach a ley line at the top of Carew Tower. The top of the wheel was easy. “Second, you will rein your people in. No more taking over bars or apartment houses. This shock-and-awe will stop.”
Pike shifted his weight, running a hand over his stubble in unease as Constance stiffened. Her eyes had become pupil black, and I thought she’d quit breathing, focused on me with an unnerving intensity. Her parted lips showing a slip of fang was a clear message to back down, but I wasn’t done yet.
“Third, I will inform you of the local vampire territories that have kept us frictionless for generations,” I said. “You will respect not only them, but the Weres’ traditional grounds as well. Your people will be given Piscary’s old space, which is probably thirty-nine percent of Cincinnati’s total vampire carrying capacity. Plenty of clout if you utilize it well. Waterfront, downtown, and a good section of the rail. As far as the witches go, leave them alone, or you’ll find your age charms suddenly not working.”
“You will give me?” she said, voice rising, and from over my shoulder, I heard the small snick of Jenks loosening his sword. Pike drew himself straighter, burn-reddened face paling.
“Fourth, you will keep your fingers out of Kalamack’s distribution,” I said, and she almost choked. “It’s off-limits, as is my church. Obviously.”
“Obviously,” she said, her multitudes of necklaces shaking as she trembled.
“And lastly, you will stop trying to control my city,” I finished, tensely ready for anything. We had reached the top, and the gondola swayed slightly as it came to a halt.
“And if I don’t?”
I glanced at Pike’s loosely held hands. “Then I will make you.” I hesitated. “Or you could return to DC. That might be easier for your ego. I’ll tell everyone you hit me first, if it helps.”
Her chin lifted, and a trickle of self-preservation struck me to the quick at the icy, choleric anger turning her eyes entirely black. The old undead were all crazy. Every last one of them.
“Leave?” she whispered as she played with her jewelry, and my expression blanked as a wave of angry vampire incense flooded the car.
“Oh, God,” Pike whispered.
And then she lunged, a tiny ping of something hitting the floor.
“Stabils!” I shouted exuberantly, hand outstretched. Got you, you overgrown mosquito, I thought smugly as the line raced through me—and then . . . died.
What the hell? My head hit the back of the gondola as she landed on me, and I saw stars. Constance’s weight pinned me to the bench, one hand gripping my throat, her knee on my gut. Her black eyes were inches from mine, her lips pulled back to show her teeth. I could hear Jenks’s wings snapping in anger and Pike’s muffled swearing as he fended him off.
“It didn’t . . . work . . .” I rasped, lungs aching, and her savage smile widened as her necklaces rocked into me.
Bewildered, I scrabbled to find a line, sensing nothing. It was as if they weren’t there. I’d been fine until I’d tried to use one, and then it was gone as if . . . Remembering the metallic ping, I looked at the multitude of her necklaces, finding in their midst a ley line charm pulsating with the same ugly hue I’d seen in the lobby of the I.S. She had her own personal no-magic zone. Son of a bastard . . .
“Surprise,” Constance said smugly, and I shuddered at her low voice as my entire side flamed in an unwanted desire. “I didn’t get to be this old by not knowing how to pin a witch.”
“Constan-k-k-k,” I choked out as her grip tightened. My one hand pried at hers, the other stretched for my bag and my splat gun. A no-magic zone only blocked ley line magic. I wasn’t helpless—yet.
“Do you know the grief I’d take from my kin for allowing anyone, even a witch-born demon, to rule me?” she said, and I shuddered at the warm spit that landed on my neck. Images of Ivy flashed through me and were gone, a smoldering memory of passion left in their wake.
“I was given all, and I will keep all,” she said, and, fingers scrabbling in my bag, I tried to look past her at the dry scent of pixy dust. Pike had retreated to a corner, his scarred face red and bleeding as Jenks pinned him there. Panic flashed through me at the thought of those sheltering at the church, trusting me to keep them safe. I was going to fail because of a ley line charm? No way in hell.
“Y-y-ya think so?” I ground out. I held my breath, my fingertip brushing the smooth finish of my splat gun. Eyes bulging, I inched my reach lower.
Constance’s smile widened, clearly enjoying my denial. They all did. Fear and adrenaline made the blood sweeter. “You will leave this gondola mine, or you will leave it dead. That scar of yours burned its way to your soul,” she whispered as she pressed deeper into me, and I choked. “You know us,” she breathed, eyes lidded as she soaked in my anger. “You know the ecstasy we carry, sprinkling about as if flowers. Why do you even protest? Do you think it makes you more desirable?” Her eyes opened, black to show me reflected in them. “It does.”
“Not . . . happening . . .” I clamped down on the waves of promise flowing from my neck. And when her eyes closed again and she leaned in, my grip settled on my gun. Adrenaline surged. I kicked out, sending her pinwheeling back. Gasping, I stood, weapon pulled.
“Constance!” Pike swung at Jenks as he darted madly to keep him in the corner.
I fired three shots in panic.
Constance sprang away, dodging the balls with a weird dexterity. I followed her motion, splat balls breaking against the glass wall of the gondola. Her eyes wide and black, the small woman pushed from the wall to dodge a fourth, rolling to come up right in front of me. She was too close. I couldn’t even invoke a circle. I reached for the amulet around her neck. If I took it, I’d have my magic back.
“Rachel, no!” Jenks shrilled. And then I froze, my left wrist in Constance’s grip, my fingertips brushing the glowing metal nestled amid the disguising strands of gold and gems. I hadn’t even seen her move.