Jenks’s wings drooped. Damn it back to the Turn, I’d known something like this was going to happen when I agreed to take on the subrosa position. I did not want to run Cincinnati as its grand pooh-bah, strutting around with a wand in my hand, a pixy on my shoulder, and a billionaire in my pocket. Every wannabe ruler would challenge me.

  Jenks’s angular features eased in sympathy. He knew this was not what I had wanted, but he also knew that becoming the subrosa had been my only choice—easy, hard, or otherwise. “He wants to see Constance? Show him the mouse,” he muttered.

  “I doubt that would help.” Focus distant, I curled my feet up, cold in the air-conditioned chill. “She’s not running Cincinnati, and that’s all the DC undead care about. That she’s a mouse and they can’t incarcerate me for killing her twice will make them even more angry.”

  My hand felt slick, almost greasy from that wand, and I curled my fingers into a fist, not liking that half the world’s population could see my new smut. Vivian’s curse wouldn’t have even noticed that man at Findlay Market. “I don’t think that curse Hodin gave me was white,” I whispered, genuinely afraid to use it again.

  “Ya think?”

  But then Jenks rose up, turning as the bell made a soft bong and Hodin appeared, materializing dead center of the new inlaid floor as if it were a designated jump-in/out spot. “You used it?” the demon exclaimed, his features pinched in both alarm and disbelief as he stood in his biker’s best. “You used the wand to rescue Pike? What are you going to use on Finnis? That was the whole point!”

  “You left Getty alone?” Jenks shouted, his wings an aggressive clatter, and Hodin opened his palm to show a disgruntled, disheveled, and very annoyed pixy.

  “You green-slimed, degenerate freak of a fatheaded, feathered fairy whore!” Getty swore, and Jenks’s wing hum went silent in what I thought was admiration. “What the Tink-blasted hell is wrong with you! I’m a person, not a gummy bear you can stuff in your pocket!”

  I stood, reaching for her. “Getty, I’m so sorry,” I said, but Jenks was faster, and he swooped down, grabbing the woman and rising up, his sparkles a bright silver. Getty wiggled, and I gasped when he dropped her only to dart down to snag the woman by her foot a narrow six inches from the floor.

  “Put me down!” she shouted, her skirts over her head to show her elaborately embroidered underthings, and he swung her up into the air, catching her by the waist and rising to set her on a rafter. There was a smart smack and he retreated, but not before she put a bright red handprint on his cheek.

  “I swear,” Jenks said as he hovered, shaking before her and shedding a bright red dust. “If you bend my wing again, I will snap your other wing, woman! I’m not trying to kill you. Why by Tink’s contractual hell do you think I want to hurt you!”

  “Everyone else does!” she shouted. “The only time anyone touches me is to hurt me!”

  Jenks’s wing hum vanished as his flight evened out. “I’m not everyone else,” he said, and she flushed.

  Hodin’s hard-soled boots thumped as he came to stand before me. “You used the wand on Castle?” he prompted, and my attention fell from the rafters, my brow furrowing at Hodin’s shocked expression. “Fulfillment will not balance books. Pike’s debt is not paid and they will be back for him. It was a poor use of resources.”

  “The debt is paid,” I said sourly. “I used the wand on Pike’s brother to convince him Pike is in the Bahamas,” I said, wondering why he was upset. “Pike’s brother paid off Pike’s mark when he bought him from Castle.”

  A long-fingered hand going over his hair, Hodin looked at the bathroom. “Kalamack didn’t pay his debt? So everything is returned the way it was,” he said, sounding doubtful.

  “More or less.” My gaze went past Jenks—hovering before me with his hands on his hips. “Even better now that Ivy’s here.” I carefully arranged my boots beside the couch so Ivy wouldn’t raise her eyebrows at me for leaving them in the middle of the floor. “All that’s left is convincing Finnis that Constance is in control so he’ll go away.” Which might be hard now.

  “Good.” Hodin’s smile was stiff, and his hands were hidden in his sleeves. “Very resourceful. Seems you have this subrosa position under control.”

  I sat on the arm of the couch, eyes narrowed. Had that been annoyance in his congratulations? “Pike says you put him up to making that bet. That it was a sure thing.”

  Hodin’s long face went empty of emotion. “It was a sure thing,” he said, his low voice holding a hint of anger that I would question him. “Something went wrong. You worked around it. No harm done.”

  “No harm done!” I exclaimed, then swallowed my anger. Sure, the shower was on, but vampires had very good hearing. “Pike is beat up and I’m covered in smut.”

  Hodin snickered as he practically flopped into the chair across from me, his long arms and legs angling everywhere. “Don’t you think it’s odd Trent won’t tell you what he’s doing with that much money?”

  I stared at him, wondering what his game was. He hadn’t asked after Pike. Hadn’t offered to help. Hadn’t explained about the smut. And now he was trying to change the subject. “No. You said there wouldn’t be that much smut. What do you call this?” I said, gesturing at myself.

  Hodin frowned, one knee going across the other. “You were supposed to put it on the one you cursed. Why, by the Goddess’s halo, did you keep it?”

  “Because I’m the one who made it,” I said, feeling foolish, though I’d do the same thing if given a choice again. “It’s a lot of smut for a white curse. What gives, Hodin?”

  My question hung in the uncomfortable silence as Trent scuffed to a halt at the top of the hall, his phone in one hand, a glass of iced tea in the other. Jenks’s wings hummed from the rafters, and Hodin’s gaze shifted between the three of us. “You saw what went in it. You said yourself that Vivian Smith agreed that its rank hinged upon what you were doing with it. You must have tried to convince someone of a horrendous lie.”

  That was exactly what I had done, well, not horrendous, but a lie nevertheless. Even so, I still thought the error was in the curse itself, not how I used it. The smut had hit me way before I told Brad to believe a lie. Besides, Brad had seemed more confused than content, unable to remember even what I’d told him. If Hodin hadn’t known how to work the curse, then maybe he had misunderstood what it was supposed to do. Newt was crazy. Who knew what her version of fulfillment was? I should have stopped the moment I’d realized the curse was one of hers.

  But I hadn’t, willing to risk it in the hopes it would make my life easier. Easy like a wish.

  I slid off the arm of the couch, angry at him, myself, and everything. “You have no idea what Newt’s curse does or how it works. What time does Stef get off work?”

  Hodin’s focus sharpened as he tracked Trent coming in and setting the dripping glass of tea on a coaster. “Why?”

  “I want to know what went into that wand that wasn’t on that list,” I said, and Jenks’s wings rasped a warning. The smut had been horrendous, and it wasn’t as if I could slough it off, making a new ever-after as I had before.

  “You created it,” Hodin said stiffly, and Trent’s hand touched my shoulder in support.

  “I saw Stef make a smudge stick and the quencher,” I said, still not liking that he practically ordered her around. “What did she put in it that wasn’t on the list?” Blood and flame were not ingredients. They were catalysts and accelerators.

  Hodin’s gaze sharpened on me, a flicker of anger lighting his red, goat-slitted eyes. “This is what I get for trying to be helpful,” he said, his outline growing misty.

  “Hey!” I barked, but he was gone in an inrushing sound and the scent of burnt amber.

  “The Turn take it,” I muttered, frowning as my bad mood worsened. Lips pressed, I stifled a jerk as Pike’s muffled yelp from the bathroom cut through the sound of the shower. “At least we got Pike back.”

  “Do you think he will be okay for tonight?” Trent asked, and I shrugged.

  “If Ivy can jam enough Brimstone cookies into him.”

  “Then it was a good decision. He’s key to your power structure,” Trent said, but I still felt as if I’d made a mistake.

  “Everyone here is key,” I said as I sat down, feeling strong with Trent at my side and Jenks hovering over my shoulder. Everyone here except Hodin.

  I couldn’t tell what was going on in Hodin’s thoughts, and I stifled a shiver when Trent’s hand slipped from me. Hodin and I weren’t done yet, but following him was out of the question—worse than following a vampire.

  “You okay?” Trent whispered as he leaned over me, and when I nodded, his focus went distant. “Ah, would you mind if I take off for about an hour? If I get the funds in the bank before close of business, they have agreed that the money never left. I’ll be back in time to meet with Finnis.”

  My distracted mood sharpened on him. “Absolutely! Take Jenks with you. He could use some time out of the church.”

  “Rache . . .” the pixy complained, rising up with an annoyed expression. “Trent needs me like a hole in his head.”

  “Getty?” I peered up into the rafters. “You want to take a steam bath and get warm?”

  “Rache.” Jenks bobbed up and down, way too close to see clearly. “Trent doesn’t need me to go to the bank.”

  An ugly gray dust was spilling from the rafters. What did Ivy just say? Oh yeah. “It’s not always about you, Jenks,” I whispered, and his wing hum eased as he followed my gaze into the rafters. “No, you should go,” I insisted, louder now as I stood and stretched, feeling every ache that hitting the hard cement had put in me. “I’ll watch Getty. The heat and humidity will do her wing some good.” Jenks took a breath to protest, and I added, “It’s a million two, Jenks. Cash. He needs a wingman. Besides, I have to do something with my hair before I set foot out of this church.”

  Silent, I pleaded with my eyes, and torn, Jenks spilled a sickly green dust. “Tink loves a duck. Fine,” he finally said, his wings a harsh rasp as he rose straight up, hands on his hips. “You going to be nice when I help you down, or do you want to smack my face again?” he said loudly.

  A tiny, pale face peeked over the edge. “Why don’t you go tickle Tink’s rosebuds.”

  Jenks’s lips parted in shock, and then his wings rose in pitch. “Fine. Fall for all I care. Maybe you could land in Rachel’s hair. It’s big enough to catch a hawk in.”

  Trent shifted from foot to foot, clearly eager to be gone. “Great. Thanks, Jenks.” He leaned close and gave me a quick kiss and sideways hug. “Bye, Rachel. See you in about an hour. Plenty of time before meeting Finnis.”

  “My hair isn’t that big,” I muttered, and his smile widened. But he pulled away, as I knew he would, looking as good as rain in the desert as he headed for the door, Jenks at his shoulder. The pixy turned when Trent opened it, making the “I’m watching you” gesture to Getty before he darted out and the door thumped shut.

  What is he doing with all that money? I wondered, frowning at the empty rafters. “Getty? I can’t take a shower unless you come with me. I’m a good catch. Really.”

  Again her tiny face showed, sparkles on her cheeks from her leaking wing. “I’m fine.”

  My neck was getting a crick, and I sighed. “Until Baribas shows,” I said. “Please? Jenks will stab my ear if he comes back and you’re dead. The steam will do you a world of good, and isn’t that what you want? To get out of here?”

  “I suppose,” she said, and then she shifted, hanging her feet over the edge until she pushed off.

  My breath caught as she dropped . . . and then I had her in my cupped hands. I jerked as that smut seemed to rise up, wanting to swamp her, but I caught it before it reached my aura, and I shoved it back into my chi, leaving me to wonder if Getty had sensed it when she nervously tugged her skirt to cover her dirty feet. Pixies saw auras all the time, no second sight needed as for everyone else. “Do you want to be on my shoulder? Jenks likes to sit on my earrings.”

  “This is okay,” she said, and I nodded, taking my iced tea in hand and going into the hall. We’d always had twin bathrooms from when the church had been a church. It was one thing Finley hadn’t changed. Ivy’s was the nicer of the two, but mine had the washer and dryer, which might sound like a detriment, but I’d always found it useful.

  “I don’t understand why you’re helping me,” Getty said as I elbowed the light switch on and back-kicked the door shut. “Most lunkers want to put you in a cage or squish you. Jenks said . . .” Her voice cut off and she flushed.

  “Towel?” I asked, raising my hand so she could step onto the rack when she nodded. “Jenks is a really nice guy,” I said as she arranged herself. I took a sip of iced tea, then downed half of it in one go. “You’re going to be fine,” I added when I came up for air.

  “I shouldn’t have hit that car.” Getty studied the bathroom for possible threats as I got the water started. “One moment I’m flying above the trees, and then I’m in the road, my hat gone and smacking into a window. Something blew me into it.”

  A story I would doubt if pixies weren’t honest to a fault. Glass still in hand, I looked in the mirror, near horror bubbling up at my hair. Not enough charms in the world . . . “Ah, Stef feels really bad about that. Don’t worry about paying Jenks back. Stef will take care of it with some heavy lifting in the garden. Jenks will make sure you stay fed.”

  “I don’t know how,” she muttered, attention on the small stained-glass window. “I have yet to see him in the garden.”

  I set the glass down with a sharp tap, my brow furrowed. I could teach a 400-level class on turning insecurity into bitchiness, but she was badmouthing the man who had saved my life more times than I had shoes. “A man’s worth is found in who he loves and who loves him,” I said stiffly.

  “I wouldn’t know,” she said bitterly, wings drooping as a steamy warmth rolled out of the shower.

  My shoulders slumped. I wanted to say more, but I didn’t have a clue as to what would help. “He’s not going to kill you. Unless you try to kill me,” I joked. “Do you need anything before I get in? Hungry? Jenks has stashes in almost every room.”

  She shook her head, becoming busy with her tights as I began to strip. “Ah, about that demon. Hodin?” she said as I sighed at my skinned knee. “He was lying to you. I could see it in his aura.”

  My heart gave a pound, and I forced myself to keep moving. “About what?” I pulled a towel from the dryer to cover myself.

  “That something went wrong,” she said. “He wasn’t lying about the bet being a sure thing, but his aura flared when he said something went wrong.” She paused. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “I’m glad you did,” I said, thinking if Hodin was lying to me, I was really up shit creek. I needed to talk to Stef. Alone. As soon as possible. She had to know what had gone into that smudge stick and quencher.

  Which sort of begged the question as to why she hadn’t told me already.

  CHAPTER

  12

  Stretching, I set the outdated textbook on the stack before me, my attention going from the ice-filled, condensation-wet glass to the dark garden and the conspicuous gathering of pixy dust glowing in the shadows. Ivy had turned the air so low a pixy could skate on the kitchen counter, driving me out onto the open-air porch to do my research. The evening air was nice and the indoor/outdoor couch I was schlumped in was comfortable, even if my thoughts were not. Pulling the bowl of chips closer, I wondered if I’d ever get a straight answer out of Hodin.

  But I had a class tomorrow—if I survived the night—and I still didn’t know what I was going to talk about, much less what I was going to wear. Something black, I mused as I wound my blessedly clean and spelled-straight hair around a finger, but even the darkest shirt and pants wouldn’t hide my new smut, and worry made my gut hurt. They’d see it.

  “What are you all doing out there?” I whispered as I eyed the pixies gathered into a hovering knot over a distant tombstone. It wasn’t unusual to see pixies at night. They were active through the dark hours except a few hours around midnight when everyone but the sentries slept. But Baribas and his kids weren’t dancing, or laughing, or preparing food. They weren’t moving at all. Must be talking, I thought. About Getty?

  Concerned, I ate another chip, wiping the salt from my fingers before reaching for another book on the low table between me and the garden. Finley had put in rope lighting around the perimeter of the ceiling, and that with the citronella candle was enough to read by if I squinted, but it didn’t matter—my discarded school texts were too simple and the demon books were too, ah, graphic.

  “Why did I tell Vivian I’d do this?” I moaned as I snapped the book shut and dropped it with the rest. Pike’s logos shifted in the draft, and I made an untidy stack of them, too. I was a runner, not a teacher. I had no idea what to talk about. Demon or not, I felt totally inadequate. Especially now that I was covered with enough smut to have been sent to Alcatraz in the late 1800s without trial. The shadow on my aura would garner mistrust. Lots of it.

  “Freakin’ fabulous,” I muttered, turning to the kitchen’s French doors as they squeaked open.

  “What’s fabulous?” Ivy said, her low voice tripping down my spine to make me shiver in spite of the heat.

  Stifling it, I smiled at her narrow-waisted silhouette coming closer. Like magic, my unease dissolved and I relaxed when the last piece of the puzzle that was our church seemed to fall into place. “Me not having anything to talk about tomorrow,” I said as I moved two books off the adjacent chair and dropped them on the table with a thump.

  “Don’t let them scare you.” Ivy sat with a languid grace, her back to the kitchen and her eyes on Pike’s logos. He had been badgering me to pick one, and I still couldn’t decide. “Finnis’s flight arrives in a few hours. I’m heading over to the Cincinnatian to make sure his quarters are adequate before I pick him up.” Her long fingers pushed the napkins, receipts, and torn paper around, arranging them. “Get him settled before your dinner meeting. Pike is asleep on the couch. He’ll be fine once the Brimstone works its way through, but taking him tonight to meet with Finnis probably won’t give the impression you want.”