Page 53 of Demon's Bluff

“How did I ever survive my life?” I whispered. But it was obvious. I had my friends. Ivy, Kisten, Jenks. The pixy kids. Ceri across the street, and Keasley. David, who was about to have the worst week in his life. I couldn’t talk to them. Any of them. Not to help me. Not to help them. “This had better be worth it,” I whispered.

And then my head snapped up at Elyse’s angry shriek.

“Don’t touch me! Back off!” she shouted, and I got to my feet, hand fumbling in my bag for my empty splat gun. Two men in uniform stood before her as she backed farther into the bushes.

“Ma’am, we are not going to hurt you,” one said, and my reach for my gun faltered. It was the I.S. Me and the I.S. were not on the best of terms at the moment, and I shrank deeper into the shadows. “We only want to make sure you’re okay. Get you some help.”

“I don’t need your help,” Elyse snapped. “I’m the lead member of the coven of moral and ethical standards, and you will turn and walk away. Better yet, go arrest Rachel Morgan. It’s her fault I’m here.”

“Non constat,”I whispered as they sent their gaze to follow her pointing arm. Relief was a quick flush as I felt my mind dip into the demoncollective and the curse to make me hard to see invoked. I hadn’t been sure if I’d be able to. It was only my body that changed. My mind and all the connections I’d made were still there.

I blinked fast, refusing to let the tears of relief start as the two officers spun back to Elyse, the fun and games clearly over. Al had given me the curse so I’d stop using the elven equivalent that Trent had shown me. Al was a thought away, and I wondered what he’d do if I reached out and summoned him here. Right now. I could do it. The demons were still cursed.

Something akin to grief clenched my gut.Damn you, Elyse.

“Ma’am, come with us,” the taller officer said as the second made a quick call on his two-way. “We’ll get you some clothes. Something to eat. A warm cot.”

“I am not crazy, and I’m not homeless,” Elyse said, then gasped as one reached for her. “Let me go. You will take your hands off me. Stop it! Let me go!”

But it would be days before Elyse could tap a line, thanks to me, and the two I.S. officers had her easy.

“Morgan!” she shrieked as she struggled, and I slid even deeper into the shadows, my heart pounding when I hid behind the tree, unable to watch them wrestle her into submission and tote her to their car. She screamed and fought, but I let them do it. I wasn’t sure why, only that I was confused and angry, and maybe a night in the drunk tank would do her good. That, and if I got caught or seen, it would cause a lot worse trouble.

“Just down her. Down her!” one of the agents exclaimed, and then Elyse’s protest cut off. Her silence was almost worse than her protests, and I peeked out from behind the tree as they pushed her into the cruiser and shut the door.

“Hollows Mental Health?” the second officer asked, and the first shook his head, little more than a silhouette under the chancy streetlight. “She thinks she’s coven.”

“Indecent exposure and resisting,” he said. “A night in the spell-drunk cell. If she still thinks she’s coven in the morning, someone else can deal with it.”

“Works for me.” Head shaking, the man crossed to the other side of the car and the two got in. I could see them talking, but the car didn’t move, and I stayed where I was, wondering if perhaps I should have done something. If she contacted Vivian, it would complicate matters. But to be seen would be worse. If they recognized me, they’d show up at the church wanting answers my other self couldn’t give. I could maybe down them from behind, but the risk they’d see me was too great.

Still, I gave it some thought, startled when a soft frothing in the water behind me turned into a watery, purple-veined face.

“Rachel,” Sharps said, nothing more than two eyes and a mouth. “Everything okay?”

I hesitated, my initial reaction to flee faltering. He thought I was my younger self. Not only that, but he was seeing through the demon’s unnotice curse. “Ah, hi, Sharps. Heyde-hey.”

“Heyde-ho,” he answered, his body taking on more definition. “I didn’t hear you cross the bridge. You get new boots?”

My gaze went from the parked squad car to my old boots, brand-new now and without a scuff. “Um, yes. I didn’t mean to bother you. I was doing a spell under the bridge.”

“So I saw.” Sharps eased down in a froth of bubbles. “I would have come over sooner, but I thought the I.S. was here to jolt the pond. Who was that? You got a new partner?”

He obviously thought I was me from two years ago, and I began to relax. “No. Just someone I’m trying to help,” I said, and he bobbed his head, algae falling into his one blind eye.

“She knocked this into the water. I thought you might want it,” he said as a thin, purple-veined arm snaked from the water and set a Möbius strip pin on the retaining wall.

“Oh, my gosh, thanks,” I said as I picked it up.

But he was already melting back into the pond, reluctant to let the headlights of the I.S. car find him as the engine started and they began to leave.

“Take care of yourself, Sharps,” I muttered as I hoisted my shoulderbag higher and began making my way to the bus stop. I had to get to Fountain Square, where I could hop a bus to anywhere both sides of the river. Maybe by the time I got there, I’d know where I was going. Piscary’s to beg for Kisten’s life? The ever-after to bargain with an insane demon for a mirror to save my own? Or perhaps door number three, the I.S. to bail out Elyse before she contacted Vivian?

Either way, I was going to need one heck of a disguise.

Or maybe not…

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