“The teacher is never stupid.” Al continued to shelve my books, stacking the discards in a growing pile. “It’s the world that is behind in understanding.”
At the window, Jenks rattled his wings. “They’re setting up battle lines,” he muttered, more to himself than us, though how he could tell that from the faint glows of light darting about the graveyard was beyond me.
“I call the teacher stupid when he doesn’t respect the desires of a toddler’s parents,” I said, rising to collect the discards. “They have him for twenty, maybe thirty years. Dali will have him forever. Tell him that again for me, will you?”
Al turned, his expression empty. “I’m your message boy now?”
I looked at the books he’d arranged, my eyebrows rising at the new spines amid the old. “No. I was hoping that maybe you could help me with Constance.”
“Not likely.” Motion stiff, he took up the stack of discards.
“Because Dali told you not to?” I said as I took the books from him to see what he was getting rid of. “Great. That’s great. The one time I really need you, you decide to play by Dali’s rules. Swell.”
Jenks spun in the air, laughing as he turned his back on the window. “One time? Try a dozen.”
“I happen to agree with Dali in this matter.” Al flipped his coattails out of the way and sat on a stack of boxes, eyeing me over his blue-tinted glasses. “She’s a vampire, Rachel,” he cajoled. “A flimsy shadow splintered from our most perverse angers and lusts. If you can’t bring her to heel, you deserve her mucking up your life.”
“Bring her to heel?” I echoed, remembering what it was like when we hadn’t had a master vampire keeping the lesser houses in line. “I don’t want her job, and if I get rid of her, DC will only send someone uglier.” I shuffled through the books, not wanting to discard them. There were things in there I liked. Needed. “Besides, there’s no rule that says there can only be one powerful force in a city.” I reshelved the castoffs, and Al almost growled. “Piscary and I managed to ignore each other.”
“Really?” he said mockingly. “Are you saying you didn’t arrange for your roommate’s girlfriend to kill him for you?” Al grinned to show me his wide, flat teeth. “That was beautiful, by the way. You were so far from suspect that your name never came up, and the I.S. wanted to blame you.”
“I did not arrange that,” I said hotly, and his smile widened even more.
“Exactly!” Al exclaimed, snapping his fingers to make a pop of sparks. “I think that you becoming Cincy’s subrosa is a grand idea. Personally, I could do without the stress. It’s nothing but fix this, kill that, party, party, party until you can’t stand the sight of your tie. But you’re young and I understand the need to exert your influence.”
“I’m not Cincy’s subrosa,” I ground out from between my teeth, but he was on a roll.
“If you want to delegate control of the vampires to Constance, fine, but bring her in line. Her continued harassment of your miles gloriosus has become an embarrassment.”
Glorious soldiers? Did he mean Ivy, David, and Trent? “I am not the city’s subrosa,” I said again, and he winked at me, slow and long.
“Of course not. Some advice. If it were me, I’d off Constance and be done with it.” He shuddered. “You can’t manipulate crazy unless you are crazy. Newt taught me that.” His red, goat-slitted eyes met mine over his glasses. “Newt taught us all that.” He hesitated. “Unless the insane little bloodsucker is playing on your libido? I know how difficult it is for you to kill what your groin is longing for. That tiresome elf of yours, for instance.”
“Al . . .” I complained, but he only closed his eyes and groaned, the earthy sound diving to my core, unhelped.
“Someone put you in a state,” he said wickedly. “If it’s not your elf, and it’s not Constance, who is it?”
My gaze shot to Jenks. “Shut it!” I demanded, and the pixy laughed in a sound like wind chimes.
But then Jenks’s head snapped up and he looked at the bell, expression cross. “Tink’s little pink rosebuds, not again,” he muttered, and the bell let out a much louder, painful bong.
“Oh, for God’s sake, now what?” I said, wincing at the noise. Dali. It had to be Dali.
Eyes wide, Jenks flitted to land on my shoulder as a hazy mist rose between Al and me, lengthened, and solidified into not Dali, but Hodin. Behind him, Al stood, his hands fisted and an ugly red magic seeping from between his fingers. Crap on toast, this is not what I need.
“You put in a bell?” Hodin griped, but his goat-slitted eyes were bright, and he was clearly oblivious to Al behind him. “I have an idea about Bis.”
My demand that he leave died. Torn, I looked past him to Al, then up to where Bis lay comatose.
Hodin’s eyes narrowed, clearly confused at my lackluster response. “I thought you’d be pleased.”
“Look behind you,” Jenks said, and Hodin spun.
“You have gotten better at lying, itchy witch.” Al dramatically shifted his fist, and the books on my shelves slid and collapsed, the new tomes suddenly not there. “We are done.”
“We are not done!” I said, frantic. Damn it all to hell. Hodin, your timing sucks dishwater.
The thinner, younger demon in his black leather and jeans backpedaled, almost falling over a stack of boxes as he put space between him and his older brother. “You said he wasn’t talking to you!” Hodin exclaimed as he found his balance.
“I’m not,” Al intoned.
Oh, yeah. Now I remember why I threw down that ultimatum. “That’s right,” I said, pulse fast as I got between them. My hair was beginning to crackle and float from the unfocused energy echoing between the close walls, and Jenks took off, the smell of burning dust choking. “We’re all not talking to each other,” I said. “And the Goddess help me if either of you throw one spell,” I almost shouted. “The belfry is the only room in the church that is mine, and I swear on my mother’s life that I will eviscerate the first demon who makes so much as a smear of magic on the walls! I’ve had it with both of you barging in and breaking my stuff!”
Jenks’s wings were the only sound as Hodin and Al stared murderously at each other, and then, miraculously, their fisted hands opened, and the magic dripping from them vanished.
“Rachel?” floated up from the stairway. “Are you okay?”
It was Stef, and I shot them both a glare to stay right where they were. “Fine! I’m fine!” I shouted, and there was the soft sound of her steps going back downstairs.