Page 47 of Demon's Bluff
“He gave you his mother’s ring?” Worry pinched Al’s expression.
“Relax, glitter poof,” Jenks bad-mouthed. “It’s on her pinky.”
Al scowled, muttering, “Felicia Eloytrisk Cambri did not get it from me. What does it do?”
I slowed as we neared the overlook. “He doesn’t know.”
“You want to give Newt a ring whose magic is hidden?” Al blurted, and I winced, agreeing with him. But if it got me the mirror to free me from the coven, then it would be worth it. Probably.
Eden Park was empty, thanks to the early hour and the November chill. Three a.m. usually had witches in bed and the vampires at their local hot spot. I had my choice of parking, and yet my shoulders were tense as I pulled into a spot directly facing the Twin Lakes footbridge. “Bis, you want to do a perimeter?” I said before Jenks could volunteer.
“On it,” the kid said, his red eyes glowing in the light from the dash as he hopped to first my shoulder, then the window, his cat-size body slipping through the crack like an octopus.
“Don’t forget to check the bathrooms, pigeon spots!” Jenks shouted as the gargoyle launched himself and was gone.
Bis’s silhouette cut a sharp shadow through the ambient light bouncing from the bottom of the low clouds as I turned the engine off. There’d been no sign of the coven when we’d left the church, not even Elyse’s crow, but that was no guarantee that they weren’t keeping tabs on me.
“Jenks is right. I don’t like you going alone,” Ivy said suddenly, and I forced a smile.
“I’ll be fine.” I pulled my bag from the back, narrowly missing smacking Al on the way.
“Why doesn’t Al go with you?” she said as if he wasn’t sitting there, and the demon made a tired exhale. “He’d be able to do magic five years ago.”
“I candomagic now, vampire,” Al grumbled.
“Because Al told me not to trust Hodin and I didn’t listen,” I said, guilt a soft twang.
Immediately Al opened his door and put one booted foot on the cold pavement. The night’s chill rolled in as he got out and slammed the door shut. “I will assist your gargoyle in ascertaining that the area is clear,” he said, voice muffled through the closed window.
“Thanks, Al.”
But the demon was already walking away, his jauntily moving cane and his bearskin coat making him seem as if he’d stepped from the 1920s. Clearly unsettled, he went to the top of the bridge, placing his cane and hands atop the thick railing to stare over the shallow, man-made pond at the ducks sleeping at its center. Tension laced his stance, and worry.Thanks a lot, Ivy.
Perhaps I was being foolish risking my life to find a mirror to break Brad’s curse. I had a feeling the only reason Al was helping was because it would also break the hold the coven was trying to put on me. Because if I didn’t, I’d choose self-exile and there’d be nothing stopping Trent and me from making our relationship more…binding.
My gaze dropped to the two rings snuggled up to each other. Sighing, I worked them both off, not surprised when the pearl went black. Somewhere on the other side of the ley line, Trent’s ring would have gone darkin response, but he was expecting it and wouldn’t freak out. Brow furrowed, I dropped the pearl ring into the cup holder for when I returned, put the little ruby ring back on, and rolled up all the windows but for a crack for Jenks. I reached for the door to get out, hesitating when Ivy showed no sign of moving. Jenks looked miserable on her shoulder.
“I have to do this,” I said, and Jenks scowled, not a flicker of pixy dust making it past his scarves and layers. “I’m going five years. No one is targeting me. Not even Al. If anyone sees me, all they will remember is a tall blonde once I get a glamour in place, Newt included.”
Ivy cracked a smile. “You aren’t that tall.”
“You know what I mean.” I gave her hand a quick squeeze over the console. “I’ll be there an hour at the most. Al’s line is like ten steps from the bridge, and from there, I shift to the ever-after. I bargain for the mirror. I come home. Al would stop me if he didn’t think the time displacement curse will work.”
“I’m not worried about the magic.” Ivy stared out the front window, her expression utterly empty. “I’m worried about you. If you find yourself in trouble, come home, mirror or not. We can figure it out.”
Jenks bobbed his head, clearly uncomfortable with his layers.
“Deal.” But when I reached for the door handle again, Ivy touched my arm.
“Rachel…” She blinked fast, her ironclad control cracking. “We’ve been talking…”
I leaned across the space between us until our foreheads touched. I put a hand on her shoulder, a single finger curving around Jenks’s back. “I will be careful,” I whispered.
For a moment, no one moved, each of us worried about the same thing for different reasons. The delicious scent of vampire rose high in me, and pixy dust tingled at my fingers. Ivy’s calm face held a ribbon of tension. In contrast, Jenks wore his mood on his sleeve, his eyes narrowed in frustration and his jaw clenched.
But there was nothing I could change, and so I got out.
Ivy was fast behind, a quiet murmur between her and Jenks as heshifted to wedge himself between her neck and coat. My breath steamed, and I tossed the keys over the car to her. She caught them in one hand as if expecting it, but the emptiness in her face tore at me. She had never liked the witchier aspects of me, and shifting through time was a big one.