The Witch with No Name

“I did not!” I said indignantly. “I did not do one thing to resist arrest. If I had, I wouldn’t have been arrested! Where’s Captain Edden?” But as the vampire continued to smile at me, I was starting to have doubts. I hadn’t done anything wrong except fudge a little on why I was down here, but once you went into I.S. custody, they could make you sit in a room for over a day before they had to charge or release you.

And here I stood, my magic gone because I played by the rules. I could almost hear Al laughing at me, telling me I deserved to be locked up if I expected a demon to get a fair shake.

“Cormel wants to talk to you,” the vampire whispered.

“Back up, fang breath,” I said, and his nasty smile faltered because he hadn’t scared me. The reality, though, was a little different. Cormel? Great. He wouldn’t accept that this was madness. I couldn’t help him, and even if I could, I wouldn’t.

“You’re making a mistake,” I said softly, gaze flicking to Ivy being hauled up from the pavement, sullen and angry.

The vampire looked back at her. I didn’t like the way his lips curled in satisfaction. “Cormel wants you to fix this. Give him his soul.”

“And be blamed for it when he commits suncide?” I snarled. It was starting to thin out this side of the barrier, though it would probably be at least an hour before traffic would be allowed to resume.

“That way,” the vampire said, shoving me into motion. My mother was behind me, and Ivy in front. The I.S. van was dead ahead, and I wasn’t going to get into it. Once you went into the I.S. tower, the law didn’t seem to matter anymore. And they are afraid of demons? I asked myself, heart pounding. What did they know that I didn’t?

“He wants his soul,” the vampire said, pinching my shoulder as he pushed me along. “You either get it for him, or Ivy dies.”

My pulse raced. I looked at Ivy, then the van. I tensed to do something, spinning when Edden’s voice echoed out, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing, Uric? These are my people!”

My knees almost gave way, and the vampire, Uric apparently, stopped, hands scrabbling to catch me as he suddenly had my entire weight to hold. “Edden,” I breathed. “Thank God.”

Uric hauled me back up, and the entire group of us came to a halt, mere steps from the I.S. van. “Since when?” he said boldly, and I jerked when he twisted the band around my wrist to make it hurt. “She can’t work for you. She’s Inderland.”

Edden bulled his way forward, six uneasy but big officers behind him. “She’s a demon,” Edden said, gesturing. “There are no restrictive labor laws for demons. She’s mine. Let her go.”

The scent of angry vampire grew, and the man holding Ivy grunted as she jabbed an elbow into him. “She was resisting arrest,” Uric muttered.

“I was not!” I went slack in his grip to keep him from hauling me off, then stood up when he tried to scoop me into a carry hold. “Edden, I made no move to resist arrest, or I wouldn’t be here now and you know it! This is an abduction. Cormel wants me, and if I go in, I’m not coming out.” I hesitated as Edden chewed his lip, making his mustache bunch. “Edden!”

Edden’s eyes narrowed. He reached for me and Uric pulled me back. “Do the paperwork,” Uric said, and Edden’s eyes narrowed. Jenks hovered, unsure and uneasy.

“Hit me,” Edden said, and Uric’s hold on me tightened.

“E-excuse me,” I stammered, then exclaimed, “Ow!,” when Uric yanked me back a step.

“Hit him, Rache!” Jenks shrilled.

Uric gestured, and the men holding Ivy began wrestling her to the van.

“Rache!” Jenks shouted, and my mom pursed her lips.

“Hell, I’ll do it,” she said, and flung out her foot, kicking Edden square in the balls.

Clutching himself, he groaned as my mother muttered that she hadn’t hit him that hard.

Everyone was looking at him, and it suddenly dawned on me what he was trying to do. “Let go!” I shouted, wiggling out of Uric’s grip and doing a soft, barely there crescent kick at Edden’s jaw as he froze, clutching his privates.

“Get her down!” someone screamed, and my eyes widened. They were all coming at me. Both sides.

“Look out!” Jenks shrilled, and I was suddenly trying to breathe as three men pretended I was a loose football and fell on me. The pavement hit hard, and I think I blacked out for a second. Oh God, I couldn’t breathe, but it was Edden who hauled me up, a little rougher than he needed to as he shoved me at his men. I fell into them, gasping for air. Shit, I’d broken something, and his nose was bleeding. From the outskirts I heard a wolf howl rise, and a shiver ran up my spine.

“She’s mine!” Edden yelled at Uric, inches in front of him and angry as Edden had to peer up at him around his watering eyes and bleeding nose. “She hit me, and she’s mine! You hit an FIB officer, you go to the FIB. You can have her when I’m done with her. Got it?”