Concerned, I ran my finger down the index, searching. Been a while . . . What she meant was that it had been a while since shed been with a master vampire. Her master, Rynn Cormel, didnt touch her. It wasnt a matter of lack of desire, but that hed rather his adopted daughter find blood with me. Yeah. Like that was ever going to happen . . . again.
Why do you think they had Trent out there? I said. Page 442. Got it.
Ivy looked up, her pencil provocatively between her teeth. I think they were considering him as a scapegoat in case they cant find HAPA. Youre a better one, though.
She was right, which didnt bode well for me, and I began shifting pages for the correct charm. What I really wanted was some sort of spell to prevent an I.S. memory charm from making me forget that the I.S. owed me a big thank-you for taking care of their mess, because I would take care of it, and I didnt want to find myself wandering in the park wondering what I was doing out there. Besides, it looked bad when a demon couldnt remember who owed her what.
Trent might have one. The thought came unbidden, and I shoved it away, not trusting his wild magic. A memory rose up to replace it, even worse: me and Trent trapped in my subconscious, baking cookies at this very counter as he tried to untwist the elven magic hed done to save my life. Saving me had taken a kiss. A rather . . . hot and heavy one that had prompted me to slap him when I woke up. I shouldnt have done that. At least I apologized. Eyes closing briefly, I quashed the memory.
Trent might have one. The thought came unbidden, and I shoved it away, not trusting his wild magic. A memory rose up to replace it, even worse: me and Trent trapped in my subconscious, baking cookies at this very counter as he tried to untwist the elven magic hed done to save my life. Saving me had taken a kiss. A rather . . . hot and heavy one that had prompted me to slap him when I woke up. I shouldnt have done that. At least I apologized. Eyes closing briefly, I quashed the memory.
The kitchen became quiet as I leafed through the spell book, knowing I wouldnt find anything as complex as a memory-retention charm in it. Ivy typed something from her papers into a search engine and began scrolling. I had hated Trent for a long time, and letting that go made me feel good. Lately, though, he had scared the crap out of me with his dabbling in wild magic, and my gaze became distant as I recalled Trent, ashen faced and wearing a cap and a ribbon of intent as the world fell down around us. Hed been afraid, but hed done it. To help me? To help himself. I should stop being stupid and just call him. He probably didnt want to wake up not remembering this week, either.
My fingers turning pages slowed as I found the detecting charms recipe, and I bent my head over the book, trying to decide if I could do it or not. It wasnt a matter of skill, but tools. Anything that required tapping a line was out, given my bracelet. Fortunately most earth magic was simply putting things into a pot, mixing, heating, and adding three drops of blood to kindle it, and then invoking itand a knot of tension eased when I decided that I could do the scattershot charm. It called for a circle, but only as a precaution to keep undesirables out of the pot. Id risk it.
Nodding sharply, I started moving from drawer to cupboard looking for my empty amulets, tick seeds, sticktights, and fairy-wing scales. The last made me flush, and I hoped Belle wasnt around. The de-winged fairy had moved in with the pixies, physically unable to hibernate or fly anymore to escape the cold.
Jenks? I shouted, knowing that if he didnt hear me, one of his kids would relay the message. Do you have any sticktights and tick seed in that stash of yours?
Tinks tampons, Rache! he called back, sounding like he was in the back living room. Its raining!
Really? I hadnt noticed. Where else am I going to get them? Wally World?
There was a small thump, and I smirked at Ivy in the following silence. Hed probably gone out the fireplaces flue. Bis, our resident gargoyle, kept it clean, claiming that the creosote tasted like burnt caramel. I wasnt going to question the teenager on his dietary needs, and he was cheaper than a chimney sweep.
Youre making a locator charm? Ivy said as she went back to her Web search. I didnt think you could invoke those.
I cant, I said as I got out one of her bottled spring waters from the fridge. Im going to make a scattershot detection charm since the I.S.s regular detection charms arent turning up anything. Looking for scattered evidence of the man in the park might get better results. I cracked the bottles cap and nuked it for a minute to take off the chill. Chances were good I might spend all night on these only to find I couldnt kindle them and Id have to find a witch to invoke them for me. It wasnt as if I had many witch friends . . . anymore.
The microwave dinged and I took out the water, suddenly melancholy. Not that Id ever had many species-specific friends. Id always thought it was my personality, but now I was wondering if my fellow witches had known I was different on some basic level and had kept their distance, like chickens pecking the unhealthy bird to death.