Ever After

by Kim Harrison

Page 29

 

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Swirling, howling colors of noise beat at me as I floundered in a wide river of energy. It was so thick I could hardly think. Fatigue pulled at me. It was getting harder to keep myself intact. Bis? I thought, searching for something familiar, and his presence joined mine, a solid, soothing gray.

  Trent? I thought, and Bis brought to me his emotions of determination, surprise, and awe of the strength we were surrounded by. He was with us, but quiet, trying to take it in.

  Find this! Bis's thoughts were laced with exhaustion, and I fastened on his low impressions of green, gold, and brown, swirling with a harsh slash of red and black. I fumbled through the jumbled imbalances, picking threads and bundling them until I matched what Bis was showing me, which was complex with incredibly high and low sensations. I vaguely felt the drive to breathe, felt the pain of oxygen starvation creeping up on me, making my thoughts slow.

  Got it! I thought, panicking when I found Bis struggling. This would be a lot easier if we didn't have to do this on the run. Bis, where does it go? I thought as I bubbled the imbalance. Where does it go!

  His thoughts whispered in mine, singing a color I felt I should recognize. I tuned the bubble holding the imbalance to it, and with a ping of sensation I felt Trent notice, it was gone. A pure note joined the howling energy, ringing in the sound of hope.

  Wrenching us together, I shifted the circle surrounding us to the taint of the imbalance I'd just replaced, feeling reality swirl and coalesce. The imbalance made each ley line unique-the key flaw that made traveling them possible.

  I gasped as my air-starved lungs became real and expanded, pulling in the acidic taste of burnt amber. Face-first, I plowed into the red dirt, my eyes squinted shut and my elbows taking most of the impact. There was a pained grunt and sliding of rock, and I guessed Trent had made it. The wind was gritty and the sky was dark. Sitting up, I rubbed my chin and spit the dirt out. "Bis?" I croaked, realizing we were in the ever-after. "Shouldn't this be getting easier?"

  Bis was a hunched shadow next to me. "I thought the ever-after might hide us a little longer," he said, his red eyes on the sky, the moon, half full and waning, just rising over the broken horizon. "He will find us soon. There's not as much to damage here if he does. "

  What he meant was fewer people as potential hostages, and I rose, extending a hand to help Trent up. He shook his head and refused, head bowed as he sat on the ruined earth and tried to catch his breath. Bis was getting the job done, but he clearly lacked finesse. Rubbing my scraped elbow, I looked out over a huge drop-off. Turning, I saw a large valley filled with slumps of rock; the edges had a red sheen from the moon, which showed their outlines facing the east. I made a slow circuit, recognizing where we were when I saw the shallow depressions and the broken bridge across it.

  "Eden Park?" I asked Bis. "Whose line is this?"

  Bis shifted his clawed feet nervously, jumping onto a rock that was probably mirrored in reality by the statue of Romulus and Remus and the wolf. "The only demon who isn't gunning for us," he said. "Al's. "

  My feet shifted in the dirt, and I looked down, thinking there should be something to differentiate this from everything else. We were standing on the very spot where I'd made my pact with Al to be his student if I could have Trent as my familiar. And there Trent was, coughing at my feet, wearing a ring that made him my slave. Slaves could be freed, though.

  As if sensing my emotions of regret and inevitability, Trent wiped the grit from his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said as he stood gracefully, the red rock staining his lab coat like blood.

  "For what?" Head down, I dragged my foot around us in a circle, rude but effective-my thoughts waiting for the twinge that would mean we were found.

  "The sacrifices I asked of you. "

  Surprised, I looked him up and down. "I'm not the one wearing the slave ring. Besides, I'd be content if I could get an apology for you slamming my head into a tombstone and choking me half to death," I said, twisting the master ring on my finger. Either he knew me better than I thought, or he was getting far more through the rings than I'd gotten from Quen.

  His half smile made something in me twist. "Then I apologize. "

  "And I accept," I said, tucking a rank strand of hair back. "It never happened. Thank you for saving the babies. That was important to me. "

  His expression went blank. Silent, Trent put his hands on his hips and scanned the brightening skies, squinting.

  He isn't telling me something. My nose wrinkled at the stench and gritty wind, remembering when we'd walked from the church to the basilica in the ever-after. There were no surface demons here now, and I wondered where they were. "It's awful," I said softly. "It used to be woods, springs, and fog. All of it, the entire ever-after. "

  Trent's attention fell to me. "How do you know?"

  I shrugged. "I eavesdropped on one of Al's dreams. I think I know what they used to look like, too. " My head turned. "They were the slaves of elves once, weren't they? And they rebelled. Got the best of you. "

  His expression went empty. "Rumor has it. "

  "And you tried to destroy them. "

  Trent took a slow breath. I could feel Bis paying attention. "I wouldn't argue with that. "

  "And now you're helping me save them. "

  Nodding, he smiled with half his mouth again. "My goal was to save you, but yes, I suppose I'm saving them as well. "

  Bis jerked. An instant later, I felt it too. Someone was coming. With three wing flaps, Bis was on my shoulder, the healed line singing. I pulled heavily on Al's line, and it hummed through me, drowning out the damage we had yet to repair in other lines. Trent's head came up in shock, feeling it as well.

  "Okay, time to see if these rings were worth lying to me about," I said, putting my back to Trent's and readying myself.

  "Time to see if you're as good as I think you are," Trent whispered, and I blinked as he raised a circle with the line I had drawn in the dirt. The energy didn't exactly flow through me, but I felt it as keenly as if it had. In my mind, whispers of spells I'd never heard of breathed and glowed with the sound of distant music. My lips parted in awe. Trent's magic. And if I was seeing his internal spell book, he was probably seeing mine.

  Along with his wisdom came Trent's desire for Ku'Sox's end. His anger and hatred flooded me, almost sending me down. Trent was driven, and through the rings, I saw the depths of depravity that Ku'Sox subjected him to, what he had casually threatened his child with, and the extent Trent would go to in order to stop him. His emotions joined mine, Ku'Sox becoming ugly and sordid in our shared view as our comparisons made a more perfect picture of his broken, lacking soul. My eyes welled, and Bis touched my cheek in concern.

  Trent turned to me, shock in his eyes. It was as if I'd never truly seen him, and it shook me to my core. I blinked fast, wanting to touch him but afraid.

  With a pop of air, Ku'Sox was abruptly standing between us and the rising moon. Snarling, he took two running steps, throwing a black ball of hate like a pitcher. I stiffened, still lost in Trent's mind. Ku'Sox hardly seemed to matter compared to the depth of connection the rings could foster. I'd felt nothing like this when Quen had worn them.

  Trent looked to Ku'Sox. At the last moment, I pulled deeply on the line Trent and I were connected to, feeling our circle strengthen. Our shared emotion about Ku'Sox-neither entirely his, entirely mine, or entirely real-echoed through us as we stood unbowed as Ku'Sox's magic sped forward, shedding silver sparkles like pixy dust, the very air hissing from the assault.

  It hit our barrier with a shower of energy, lighting the inside of our circle with a black haze. Bis's tail tightened, and I heard in Trent's and my mind, the drums of his wild magic. They blended with the humming purity of Al's line-and grew strong. There was no hesitation in Trent's abilities as there had been between Quen and me, and a small part of me wondered why.

  "No monologue," I ta
unted as Ku'Sox took in his lack of result. "I like that. "

  "I'm going to eat you from the inside out, Rachel Mariana Morgan," Ku'Sox intoned, his hunched form circling us like a big black cat.

  His words iced through me, and Trent shuddered.

  "Rachel?" Bis warbled, and I turned to follow Ku'Sox, backing up a step at Trent's clenched jaw and pained expression. Ku'Sox was trying to use him.

  "Fight it!" I said, grabbing his upper arms. "Trent, you can say no!"

  "No, he can't," Ku'Sox mocked, flinging his coat out of his way as he stalked closer, breathing on our bubble to make the black run to him. "Dolore adficere . . . Do it, slave!"

  Trent shuddered under my grip. The music in his mind faltered, the rushing sound of the line in mine grew loud as Bis's tail tightened. "I am yours," Trent gasped through clenched teeth, and my hand sprang from him, thinking I was betrayed. Trent fell to a knee, looking up at me, pleading. "I. Am. Yours. Claim me, Rachel! Damn your morals and claim me!"

  Breath held, I spun to look at Ku'Sox, my hand falling to touch Trent's shoulder. "Mine!" I shouted, feeling Bis's weight light on my shoulder and the slave rings burn between us. I fastened on the wild music, remembering the rings' creation, the ugly promise of domination they held, and I claimed it. Black filth roared in as the rings found their purpose and came truly alive-smut for this ancient magic of stream and wood, song and deviltry. "He's mine!" I shouted again, and Trent's head snapped up, his eyes wild as my will dominated him.

  Fear slid through me, but the music had grown stronger, not less, and Trent panted, blood leaking from his nose. I didn't know if I had him or not. "You're bleeding," I said, wiping it away with my scarf. His eyes met mine at the soft touch, and a chime seemed to shake the ley line, realigning the universe.

  He was mine.

  "No!" Ku'Sox raged, hammering on our bubble.

  Trent was mine, and scared out of my socks, I extended a hand to help him rise. I was responsible for him, and I didn't want to be. Was this what Trent felt for his people? He was stronger than I.

  "You can back off now," he panted, and I hastily lifted my domination from his thoughts until Trent sighed in relief. "Thank you. "

  "Sorry. "

  "You will not take him from me!" Ku'Sox raged. "I will eat all that you hold dear, I will swallow the sun. I will burn the moon!"

  Making a pair of horns with his pinkie and thumb, Trent showed Ku'Sox the back of his hand.

  Ku'Sox's eyes widened at the ancient elven insult. With a cry of outrage, he slammed his foot into our circle, bouncing back and screaming when it repelled him with a burst of ozone-tainted energy. "Mine!" he screamed like child in a tantrum.

  "Not anymore," I whispered, wondering if we should jump out. We were kind of stuck in this circle. The half-moon was rising. If I remembered right, it would be almost straight overhead at sunrise. We had hours to finish this, or Newt would kill me herself.

  "Perhaps we should circle him?" Trent suggested, and I wiped my palms on my pants.

  "Good idea," I said, wanting to leave our circle as much as I'd want to jump into a bath of ice. "Pound him into the earth. It's elven charms he doesn't know. After you. "

  Trent looked at me, and it was all I could do but not laugh for crying. He had the drive, I had the strength, and neither of us had the skill. What in hell had Al been talking about?

  "I'll go," Bis said, and I reached out after him, cursing my hesitation.

  "Bis, no!" I shouted, his tail a whisper across my neck, and then he was through our bubble, darting madly to evade Ku'Sox's thrown charms.

  "Hey!" I cried, and Trent dove through the bubble as well, rolling to a stop behind a slump of rock. I was surprised that the circle around me hadn't fallen. Perhaps the slave rings enabled us to share the same energy fields.

  My head snapped up as wild magic coursed through me and Trent threw a charm. "Adsimulo calefacio!" I shouted, sending my own curse hot on the heels of Trent's.

  Bis flipped in midair to avoid Ku'Sox's strike, his wings gray in the moonlight. Trent's spell hit the demon's raised shield, and the hazy black shattered with the sound of glass. Unhurt, Ku'Sox turned, his eyes widening as my incoming curse hit him square in the chest.

  "Yes!" Trent exclaimed, elated as Ku'Sox was thrown back, an ugly gold and black crawling over him, making his back arch. But I wasn't so confident, and I pulled heavily on the line, stockpiling energy until my head hurt and Bis's hair stood on end as he landed on a crag of stone.

  "Again!" Trent shouted, his face grim, and together we struck.

  Ku'Sox jerked, a haze covering him for an instant as he jumped out of the way, and our combined curses hit the empty ground and exploded, light seeming to splinter and fly.

  I ducked, throwing myself behind a rock as our curse flew like shrapnel. Fire burned in my mind, and I rose up, horrified. Trent had taken refuge under a bubble, and since our broken curse held his aura, the energy tore right through it.

  He was down, his lab coat filthy with rock, the gritty wind shifting his hair about his closed eyes. But he breathed.

  "Rachel! There!" Bis shouted, pointing, and I spun, my breath catching as I saw Ku'Sox leaning against a boulder the size of a small car. The demon smiled, hurt but alive.

  "This is only making your sunrise harder, love," he said, and I ran to Trent. I could feel Bis following above.

  I slid to a stop, my mind delving deep into Trent's, running the counter curses before the damage could seep in any further. Trent came to with a snort, jolted to full awareness by my stinging mental slap. The rings made it possible. "Perhaps I shouldn't have done that," Trent said, and I helped him up again, dragging him back into our uninvoked circle.

  "You can't kill me. Therefore, I win. "

  Ku'Sox's words echoed over the dead earth between us, chilling me. Light glowed from the crater that Trent's and my magic had made, and in the slashes of angry light, Ku'Sox smiled, shadows making him harsh. "You can't kill me, even with your elf slave," he said, the rock sliding from under his feet as he stood. "The collective won't help you. And you-are-dead. "

  Bis landed upon Trent, and the lines echoed in my mind. "I'll jump you out," the kid said, but both of us shook our heads. It ended here. It ended now.

  "Dali-i-i-i!" Ku'Sox screamed at the rising moon. "Newt! Show yourselves, you cowards!" His head dropping, he looked at me with savage eyes from under his hanging hair, clearly shaken from the curse that had landed on him. "I will talk to you, you poltroons . . . "

  "Stand up," I said, poking Trent in the ribs to make him jump. "Fix your hair, will you? You look a mess. "

  "Look who's talking," Trent said, even as he ran a hand through his hair to arrange it, his missing fingers obvious.

  We both stiffened as the energy in the lines shifted. Nearly where the sun would rise in a scant four hours, a round, squat demon misted into existence, tired and slack-faced. "Is it done?" Dali said, facing Ku'Sox and taking in his ragged appearance. "Fix the damned line before there's nothing left and we're all . . . " He hesitated, breathing the air as if he could smell me. Or maybe he was smelling Trent. He reeked of cinnamon and wine, almost covering up the stench of burnt amber.

  "She's alive?" he exclaimed, spinning to us, his expression shocked. "You're alive!"

  "I'm alive," I said, breathing hard. For the moment.

  "For the moment," Ku'Sox muttered, echoing my thought, frowning as Newt misted into existence beside Dali, wearing exactly the same thing I was. Al slumped at her feet, and my heart leaped until I saw the chains about his wrists and the downcast slouch to his shoulders.

  "Of course she's alive," Newt said, and Al's head snapped up, his fervent eyes finding mine and tension pulling him straight. "She's Al's wonder child," the demon finished lightly, smacking Al to make him glower at the ass-backward praise.

  "Al . . . " I breathed, elated, and Trent stared at me. In my mind, Trent's hatred for the
demon rose up, anger for his missing fingers, his fear for having been helpless. It joined my memories of Al's awkwardly given kindnesses when none was expected, and then my pity for the loss of his wife, his life, his love, being forced to live in a hole in the ground, an understanding found, a respect granted unasked, vulnerable and fragile.

  "Al?" Trent said, and I blinked, not comfortable having shared that with him.

  "I-I . . . " I stammered, then shut my mouth, unable to explain. Al was cruel, vindictive, angry, elegant, powerful. He gave me strength, he gave me wisdom, not only about magic, but about myself. He was a lot like Trent, only harsher around the edges.

  Sensing my emotions, Trent turned away, head down and grimy hair shifting in the gritty wind. "I will never understand you. How can you forgive so easily?"

  "Yeah? Well, that's what's going to save both our asses," I said, hoping it was a prophecy, not a prayer.

  "Take her!" Ku'Sox shouted. "Finish her!"

  Heart pounding, I shifted my feet to find solid earth beneath the scree. My will strengthened our circle, and I felt Trent do the same, wild magic seeping up from the earth to send darts of gold through the black smut crawling over the barrier. "What's the matter, Ku'Sox?" I mocked when Dali and Newt exchanged worried glances. "Since when do you need anyone's help? I though this was between you and me? How come you called them? Can't do it yourself?"

  "You are hiding behind a stinking elf!" he snarled, gesturing wildly.

  "He smells quite nice," I shouted back, making Bis giggle. "And it's not hiding, it's using my resources to the fullest! You can use Nick if you want. "

  Ku'Sox's eye twitched. Next to me, Trent lifted his chin. "I stand with Rachel to fix the ever-after," he said quietly, making a sharp contrast to Ku'Sox's loudmouthed bullying. "I stand to save the demons. What do you stand for, Ku'Sox Sha-Ku'ru?"

  Trent held up his mutilated hand, his ring glinting. Newt leaned to see and Al winced, dragged behind her as she came forward a step. "Al. Where did you get a working set of slavers?" she asked, and then she blinked in what had to be shock. "They're using them backward! Is that even possible?"

  Al slowly got to his feet, saying, "Apparently. And I didn't give them to her, she made them herself. "

  "No wonder she was able to strike me down," Newt said smugly, but I didn't think anyone believed her.

  Ku'Sox limped forward. "You're not going to help me finish her? She's using an elf!"

  "So?" Dali said, gesturing. "This is your issue. Your word against hers. If you can't best her, then maybe she is right, and you are-wrong?"

  "She ran away!" Ku'Sox said, gesturing, and I stiffened as I felt another demon show up. He was on the outskirts, listening. "It proves she's at fault! I'd take her down now, but she's grown inventive. "

  "I think you mean powerful," Newt said slyly, jerking Al closer to make his chains clink.

  Dali crossed his arms, looking more confident as several more demons misted in beside the first. "Why should I help you? She fixed my line. My rooms won't be shrinking when the sun comes up. "

  "But she was the one who broke them!" Ku'Sox glanced nervously at the accumulating demons between us and the waning moon.

  "Did she?" Dali's head tilted, and the demons popping in one by one discussed.

  Breath held, I did a mental count. Dali's line was the one running through Trent's compound? I looked at Trent, seeing his pale face as he figured it out as well. On my shoulder, Bis squirmed. He'd chosen what lines we jumped to with precision-mine, Newt's, Dali's . . . and Al's?

  "You are blind fools!" Ku'Sox paced in the fading light from Trent's and my last joined magic. "If she doesn't die before the sun rises and the energy tide shifts, you will lose too much, and the ever-after will fall regardless of whose lines get fixed. "

  "Then kill her and let's get on with it," Newt said, making Al scowl at her pleasant smile. "I tried already, and she hit me. "

  "Hey, would any of you mind if I go take care of a few things and get back to you in about an hour?" I said loudly, then ducked when Ku'Sox sent a token shot of energy at us.

  It hit the barrier and was absorbed cleanly, making the surrounding demons buzz with interest.

  Trent leaned close, whispering, "I think it's funny how they keep trying to kill you when all you want to do is save them. "

  "Happens to me all the time," I said wryly, and he chuckled.

  "Me too. "

  A feeling of shared kinship darted through me, lighting both our thoughts, and Bis seemed to warm.

  "I need your help," Ku'Sox growled, pacing forward. "I can't best her when she's with an elf. The sun will be up soon, and by then it will be too late. "

  The demons behind Dali didn't like that, but Newt was undeterred. "Perhaps Rachel can. "

  We had to get this done, and get it done now. Trent had the drive to kill Ku'Sox. I had the power, but neither of us had the skill to best a demon taught the arts of war. Blinking, I brought my head up, finding Al waiting, a devious smile on his face, his bound hands held out to me. Al did. My eyes went to his hands, and his gloves misted out of existence to show his wedding rings. Perhaps the three of us could actually do something.

  "We need Al," I whispered as Ku'Sox paced up and down, raging at us.

  "Don't be foolish. We can't even get to him," Trent muttered back.

  "They aren't going to help him," I said, looking to the east and fidgeting. "They won't help us. We need to forcibly take him. "

  Trent frowned as Ku'Sox grandstanded, claiming another twelve hours of negative energy pressure would put the mass of the ever-after under a viable threshold. "We need Al," I said again, and this time, Trent turned to me, his eyes flicking up to Bis's as the gargoyle bobbed his head. "We can't overpower Ku'Sox without the knowledge Al has. We need him!"

  An ugly expression came over Trent, and I got into his face, mad. "Get over it, Trent!" I hissed, taking his arm. "You used me, and now I'm calling it in! What kind of world do you want your children to grow up in? One where they fear demons, or one where they understand them?"

  Trent jerked away, angry and unwilling. Behind him, I could see Al waiting. "I am yours," Trent said sullenly, and I swear, I saw Al's lips move in tandem, his expression elated.

  "Let's get him!" Bis shouted, and I staggered as he sprang from me, our circle bobbling for a moment as he punched through, spinning madly to avoid Ku'Sox's sudden curses.

  "Bis!" I cried, feeling the broken glory of the lines vanish. Then I bolted to Al while Ku'Sox was staring at the sky. I knew Trent would get my back, and I felt him gather a spell, flinging it madly in the hopes of scoring on the distracted demon.

  A thunderous boom behind me sent me stumbling, and I crashed into Newt. We went down, me on top of her. "Sorry!" I cheerfully cried as I grabbed my fist and swung my elbow into the side of her head. It met with a thump and my arm went numb. Breath hissing, I got off her, scrambling to find Al and drag him away. I'd broken three boards with that move before, and Newt was down-for a moment at least.

  "Oh, you're going to pay for that, itchy witch," Al said, beaming at me, and I sketched a fast circle around us, catching quick glimpses of exploding fireballs and demons in white robes scrambling to find cover.

  "Hey, if I'm going to get blamed for hitting her, I'm going to hit her," I said. "Are you okay? Can you tap the lines?" In my mind, elven spells were unwinding, wild magic singing through me. It was as if I was in two places at once, and the adrenaline pounded through me. My head was high, and I breathed deep. When Trent spelled, he sang.

  "Circle, circle!" Al shouted, and I ducked, deflecting a black ball of something.

  "Not until Trent gets here," I said, seeing Bis swooping around to drop another rock on Ku'Sox. I fumbled at Al's bindings. They were simple cords, but my fingers hummed when I touched them. Clearly they were spelled.

  "He's wearing the slaver, yes?" Al said, grabbing my hands and yanking me out of the pa
th of another spell. "He'll get through. Your energies resonate as one. "

  My fingers on the knot hesitated. Ivy. Could I save Ivy with this?

  "Look out!" Al shouted, shoving me backward, and I fell, my breath knocked out of me.

  Al was standing over me, shouting to the skies, and fingers scrabbling, I reached out for the circle I'd scraped in the dirt, still not having breathed. Rhombus, I thought, getting a slip of air in, and Al jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting left outside. Dizzy, I looked up. Newt was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe, blood leaking from her ear as she sat on the ground and scooted backward to sit against a large rock.

  "See!" she crowed, pointing. "I told you she hit me!"

  Shaky, I sat up, moving a stone out from under my backside. Dali, too, was watching, standing in the middle of everything with his hands on his hips and a frown on his face as if nothing could touch him. Trent was ducking behind rocks as Ku'Sox pulverized them, each jump moving him closer. Trent's charms were circling in my head, filling me with the need to do something, wild and demanding, drawing on me as needed to supplement his strength.

  The demons weren't helping. They weren't hindering, either. Only the strongest could ensure the demons' continued existence. I wanted it to be me.

  "Trent!" I shouted, and he sprang for us. Ku'Sox took aim, then flinched when Bis dropped a rock on him. Snarling, the demon shifted his attention to Bis.

  "No!" I shouted, helpless.

  Bis spun, headed for the shelter of my bubble. Under him, Trent pounded over the rocks. Ku'Sox snarled, eyes on the sky as he wound up. Fixed on Bis, he didn't see Dali stick his foot out, and the demon face-planted into the dusty stones.

  Okay, maybe they had a favorite here, after all.

  "Oh, sorry," Dali said, getting between us and Ku'Sox to help the demon up, brushing him off and getting in his line of sight until Bis backwinged into the bubble, landing on my shoulder, his red eyes wide in excitement.

  Trent was a moment behind, slipping through the protection bubble and sliding to a sudden, awkward halt inches from Al-far too close. Al smiled down at him with his thick, blocky teeth, and Trent smiled right back, more than a hint of deviltry in his green, green eyes. Trent was humming, and my thoughts hummed with him. I was alive with him, and it was glorious. Indescribable.

  Trent's eyes met mine, and we both flushed.

  Behind him, a rock exploded as Ku'Sox's discarded magic rolled into a rock. The watching demons complained loudly, and I felt a dozen protection circles go up.

  "Yes, yes, slave rings have a silver lining," Al grumped, holding his bound hands out. "If you two are done mooning over each other, I could use some assistance. "

  I started, and Bis giggled from my shoulder.

  "They are charmed," Al said loftily, as Trent touched them and a strand of wild magic spun through my mind. The curse holding Al quavered, resisted . . . and finally fell when I gave Trent's magic a push.

  "Mar-r-r-rvelous," Al drawled, a dangerous light entering his eyes as he turned to the east, to Ku'Sox. His thick hands clenched, and my skin prickled at the energy he drew in from his line atop the valley overlooking the dead city. "You work well together. Good to know. "

  "Do we jump?" Bis asked, riding the high of the innocent.

  I looked over the flat plain below us, seeing the world spread out, dim and red under the rising moon. It felt right that here, at the top of the world, it would end.

  "We fight," I said, and Al chuckled, low and long.

  Ku'Sox was pacing, his form low and hunched as he watched us in our bubble.

  "Wear my ring," Al said, his glove gone as he held out one of his wedding bands. I didn't think he'd ever wear them again.

  Trent reached for it, and Al closed his fist. "Rachel is the fulcrum upon which all things will shift tonight. You, Trent are bound to her. She and I are bound together. Only Rachel can focus both our strengths. An elf's drive for justice, a demon's lifetime of skills, and Rachel's strength. "

  I swallowed hard, flinching at a spark of energy cascading over our bubble. Al and I wearing his wedding rings? Now that I knew what they really were, it held an entirely different feeling.

  "I'm okay with that," Trent said, and a slow smile curved over Al's face.

  Al looked at Trent for a moment as he remembered something, then his eyes rose to mine. "I never thought I'd work with an elf-again," he said, and he slipped his ring on my finger.

  I wavered as his energy mixed with mine, Bis hissing as the strength of both men seeped deep, reading their own surprise as they found common ground within me. "Can I survive this?" I said, meaning to be flippant, but finding I really wanted to know. I was humming, overly full and both of them demanding I do something. It was too much. I looked past our bubble to see Newt standing next to Dali, watching without a hint of emotion showing.

  "Prince of the elves, eh?" Al said as his heavy hand took my elbow and shifted me to look east.

  "Yup," Trent said, and I shivered as his music fell through my mind. I knew what to do with it. I had only to speak.

  "And you are the world breaker," Al said to Bis, and the gargoyle's grip on me tightened.

  "No!" he exclaimed, delighted. "Really?"

  "And I'm your sword," I added. I had once been Trent's sword, too, when he was on his elf quest.

  "You still are," Trent whispered, reading my mind through the bond of the rings.

  I sighed. "And what am I to you, Al?"

  "My maid," he said brightly. "Shall we do this?"

  I let the bubble fall. We would meet the next day free, or dead.

  Ku'Sox snarled at us, and I thought he looked like a dog. "The moon is rising! Rachel, face me and die!"

  "Quite right!" Al said. "Make war when the moon rises. Make love when it sets. " He winked at me, and I gathered the line to me. "Ku'Sox, you slimy little worm! Now you will see what a demon is!"

  "By the Goddess!" Trent cried as my knees collapsed and I fell, the serpent of black magic unwinding from my head. The power of the demon bands was twofold, not just each of us having our strength combined, but instinctively knowing what the other was doing. It was beautiful. It made us deadly. It was an ancient war machine. The rings were made for this. And now we had access to the weapons vault.