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dough waiting to go in the oven.
Her brown eyes fixed on Nick s for an instant, then she grabbed the two tins with the oven mitt and
strode to the door. Still silent, she opened it, dropping everything on the walk outside. Her speed was
edging into a vamp quickness when she returned, jerking the bowl out of Nick s unresisting grip and
swiping the cookies cooling on the counter into it.
Ivy? I questioned.
Morning, Rachel, she said tightly. Ignoring Jenks, she opened the door and dropped the metal mixing
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bowl onto the walk with the rest. Plucking the cookie out of Jenks s hand, she flicked it over the
threshold, slammed the door, and vanished into her room.
Bewildered, I glanced at Jenks. The pixy shrugged, then turned the volume down on the TV. I followed
his gaze to Nick. His expression was positively vindictive. My eyes narrowed and I leaned back,
crossing my arms. What was that all about? I asked.
Ooooh, I forgot, he said, lightly snapping his healing fingers. Vampires are sensitive to the scent of
cloves. Golly, the smell must have woken her up.
My jaw tightened. I hadn t known that. Apparently neither had Jenks, since he was the one who had
gone shopping. Nick turned to the sink a little too slowly to hide his smile.
I took a breath, deciding he was lucky Ivy hadn t smacked him hard enough to knock him out. In the
shape he was in, it wouldn t take much. My eyes fell on the pain amulet he was wearing, thinking the
entire situation was stupid. Jenks told me earlier that Ivy had been on the Internet all last night as Nick
tried to sleep. Payback?
My fingers tapped the laminated table. Standing, I closed the lid on my laptop, then slid my demon curse
book off the table and into my arms. I ll be in the van, I said blandly.
Rachel Nick started, but I snatched up my list and pencil and walked out of the kitchen, the heavy
book making me awkward and unbalanced. It kind of went with my mood.
Whatever, Nick& I said tiredly, not turning around.
Jenks was a mix of wary alertness. The paper on the table before him was strewn with Jax s work. He
was getting better.
I ll be in the van, if you need me, I said in passing.
Sure. His eyes went from me to Jax trying to coax Rex out from under the bed. The sight of a pixy
holding up a bedspread calling Kitty, kitty, kitty looked risky even to me.
Rachel, Nick protested when I opened the door, but I didn t turn. Reversing my steps, I snatched up
my bag with the focus in it. No need to leavethat sitting around.
You stupid lunker, Jenks said as I left. Don t you know she always sides with
The door clicked closed, cutting off his words. The underdog, I finished. Depressed, I leaned against
the door, the focus tucked between me and my demon book, my head bowed. Not this time. I wouldn t
side with Nick, and despite the cookie incident, Nick was the underdog.
Birdsong and the chill of morning pulled my head up. It was quiet and damp, the rush-hour traffic
nonexistent. The sun was trying to break through the light fog, giving everything a golden sheen. The
nearby straits were probably beautiful, not that I could see them from where I stood.
Gathering my resolve, I shifted the weight of the demon book and dug in my pocket for the van s keys.
We d parked in the shade of a huge white pine between the road and the motel so I could set a circle
without people running into it. The new hundred-dollar running shoes that Ivy had bought me were silent
on the pavement, and it felt odd being up this early. Creepy. Habit made me shift through the keys so
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they didn t clink, and only the muffled thunk of the van unlocking broke the stillness until I lugged the side
door open in a sound of sliding metal and rolling rubber. Still peeved, I stepped up and in, and slammed
the door shut in frustration.
I dropped the demon book on the cot and sat next to it. Elbows on my knees, I kicked my bag under
me. I didn t want to be there, but I wanted to be in the motel room less. The silence grew, and I
reluctantly slid the curse book onto my lap. I was here, I might as well do something. Wedging off my
shoes, I sat cross-legged with my back to the drape drawn between me and the front seat. It was dim,
and I tugged the little side curtain open to let in the light.
My lightning charm rasped on the yellowing pages as I leafed through the tome looking for anything
familiar. There wasn t a table of contents, making it difficult to satisfy my curiosity. Big Al used demon
magic to look like people he had never seen, plucking their description and voice from memories like I
picked flowers from my garden. I wasn t going to twist a demon curse for a disguise when I could use an
illegal, white earth charm, but comparing the two might give me insight into how the three branches of
magic pulled on each other s strengths.
The Latin word for copy caught my attention, and I leaned closer, feeling my legs protest. I needed to
get out and run; I was stiffening. Slowly I pieced it out, deciding the word actually translated into
transpose. There was a difference. The curse didn t make someone look like someone else, it moved the
abilities of one person into another. My lips parted. That s how Al not only turned himself into Ivy, but
took the abilities of a vampire as well.
My eyebrows rose, and I wondered whom Al got his vampiric abilities from. Piscary, in return for a
favor? A lesser vampire he had in the ever-after? Ceri would know.
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