Silent, I fumed as I wondered how the woman could treat me like I was just some jerk-ass nobody. I was a demon, damn it! I could flatten this place with one curse, burn it to nothing, give her warts or turn her dog inside out. If . . .
Hands clenched in fists, I gazed at the decorative band of charmed silver on my wrist, glinting in the electric light like a pretty bauble. If . . . If I hadnt wanted to cut off all contact with my adopted kin. If I wasnt such a good person to begin with. If I wanted to act like a demon in truth. Id devoted my life to fighting injustice, and being jerked around like this wasnt fair! But no one messes with a civil servant. Not even a demon.
No good, I echoed him as I tried and failed to get rid of my tension. Wayde took a deep breath as he stood. He was small for a man, but big for a Were, coming to my five foot eight exactly, with a thin waist, wide shoulders, and small feet. I hadnt seen him as a wolf yet, but I bet he made a big one.
You mind driving home? I asked, handing him my keys. Crap, Id had them in my hand for only the hour it had taken to get to the front of the line. Id never get to drive my car legally.
Introspective, Wayde fingered the lucky rabbits foot key chain, the metal clinking softly. There wasnt much on it these daysjust the key to a car I couldnt drive and the key to Ivys lockbox. Im sorry, Rachel, he said, and I looked up at his low, sincere voice. Maybe your dad can fix something.
I knew he meant Takata, not the man who had actually raised me, and I grimaced. I was tired of going to other people for help. Hands in the pockets of my little red leather jacket, I turned to the door, and Wayde slipped ahead of me to open the milky glass. Id get the car registered to Jenks tomorrow. Maybe Glenn could help get my license pushed throughthey liked me down there at the human-run Federal Inderland Bureau.
Ms. Morgan? crackled and popped over the ancient PA, and I turned, a stab of hope rising in me even as I wondered at the hint of worry in the womans voice. Please come to window G.
I glanced at Wayde, whod frozen with his hand on the door. His brown eyes were scanning the room behind me, and his usually easygoing expression was professionally wary. The switch surprised me. I hadnt seen it before, but then, it had been pretty quiet around the church since Id officially switched my species to demon. Very few people knew the band of silver around my wrist truncated about half my magic arsenal. It was basically a Möbius strip, the charms invocation phrase never ending, never beginning, holding the spell, and therefore me, in an in-between space where it was real yet not completely invoked and barred any contact with the demon collective. Long story short, it hid me from demons. My inability to do ley-line magic was an unfortunate side effect.
Ms. Morgan, window G? the worried voice came again.
We turned our backs on the bright, windy day beyond the cloudy glass. Maybe they found another form, I said, and Wayde slid into my personal space, making me stifle a shiver.
If youd give the I.S. and the FIB the lists they want, youd get your citizenship faster, he said, and I frowned. This didnt feel good. There was way too much whispering behind the counter among the no-longer-bored clerks. People were looking at us, and not in a good way.
Im not going to write out every single demon curse so they can decide which ones are legal and which ones arent, I said as I found the hand-lettered, dilapidated G hanging over a small window at the end of the room. Talk about a waste of time.
And this morning wasnt? he asked dryly.
I ignored that, hopeful as I approached the woman waiting for me. She was dressed like a supervisor, and the flush on her face ratcheted my worry tighter. Ah, Im Rachel Morgan, I said, but she was already lifting the counter to let me into the back area.
Eyes bright, she glanced at Wayde. If you could come with me, Ms. Morgan. Both of you, if you like. Someone would like to speak to you.
If its about I started.
Just please come back, she said, standing aside and ushering me through in excitement.
My gut tightened, but I wasnt helpless, even lacking half my magic, and Wayde was with me. Again my eyes touched on the band of charmed silver. I didnt like being without ley-line magic, but Id rather that than the demons knowing I was alive. Id made a few mistakes during the last year, the least of which had caused a leak in the ever-after. The entire alternate reality was shrinking, and as soon as the demons realized it, theyd probably take turns at me.
The woman sighed in relief as she closed the partition behind us, her low heels clacking fast as she led us to the back offices. An elated, frazzled living vampire in a black dress suit sat behind a cluttered desk in one, her face flushed and her eyes bright. She was young, professional, and probably bored out of her mind with working in an office day in and day out if the photos of her skydiving and running zip lines that were posted to her three-by-two calendar on the wall meant anything. Her office was overflowing with stacked folders and files in a weird mix of organized clutter. She probably took on more than she could handle. Trying to prove herself at the office, maybe as she clearly liked doing on her weekends?