The Witch with No Name

Not believing what had just come out of his mouth, I spun slowly on a heel. He was right where I’d left him, eyes closed and his neck muscles tight. “You want me to be quiet?” I said, and he cracked a single eye. “We’re locked in a box and you want me to be quiet?”

Trent’s eyes opened all the way, and he looked at his watch. “Not bad. Most people would be at my throat in forty minutes. It’s been almost three hours.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re impressed!” Hands on my hips, I watched him swing his feet to the floor and stretch. “Landon not only gets control of the dewar but he also gets Lucy. Because of me. Because if not for me, none of this would be happening! Forgive me for being a little upset.”

He eyed me as he finished his stretch, elbows on his knees. “Why do you think everything is your fault?”

“Because it usually is.” Ticked, I gestured wildly. “If not for me you wouldn’t be in danger of losing the girls, the dewar would listen to you, and you wouldn’t be broke. And Tulpa.” My face scrunched up in sudden worry and my anger fell flat. “Trent, what if they kill him?”

“Tulpa will be fine.” He shook his wrist to spin the zip strip to a more comfortable spot. “I’ve had rival stables try to break into the grounds, and you were the only ones to make it.”

“Still, with one Uzi and a parachute—” I started, and he held up a hand.

“Second, I’m not broke.” Trent reached for his shoes, wiggling one on, then the other. “Third, Landon doesn’t understand what makes Lucy important. Having her doesn’t ensure a following. Stealing her does. Landon didn’t steal Lucy, he used the law, and it won’t bring him as much political power as he thinks.” He hesitated, bringing a foot up to retie a shoe. “And last, if it wasn’t for you and Jenks, I never would’ve had Lucy in the first place.”

“Even so.” Somewhat calmer, I came closer, wishing they had a chair in here. “They’d listen to you if it wasn’t for me. Because of who I am and who I protect.” Glum, I sat beside him as he laced up his shoe. Smiling, he put a hand on my knee. Crap on toast, how does he make everything seem so easy?

“Demons?” Trent patted my knee. “It’s admirable. The vampires are simply afraid.”

My breath came faster as I flexed my hand. That hadn’t been ley line energy that had spooled from me to make that circle in Cormel’s office, it had been straight from the mystics I had stolen from the Goddess. “They’re right to be afraid,” I whispered, uneasy. “I don’t know why the demons haven’t started turning the people in front of them at the grocery store inside out. Where do you think they are?”

Head cocked, Trent gazed about our small cell. “I think they’re sitting on a beach terrorizing sand crabs. That’s where I’d be if I’d just escaped from prison.” Rising, he stretched again. His dress shirt had come untucked, and it pegged my attraction meter.

Wrong time, wrong place, I thought glumly. “How long do you think they’re going to make us sit down here?”

Trent’s eyes met mine through the mirror as he finger-combed some continuity into his hair. “Oh, sunrise tomorrow, I think, when every vampire who gets his soul tonight suncides.” He arched his eyebrows at whoever was behind the glass before he turned to me.

“Then you think Landon will get enough support to bring the undead souls back?”

“Fear will push them into it.” He was tucking his shirt in. It looked like he was getting ready for something. “It won’t be long now,” he added as he looked at his watch. “I’d probably feel the charm down here if I wasn’t strapped.”

Frustrated, I got up. “I flinched. I was so worried about you being hurt that I wasn’t paying attention. And then, when I get Cormel where I want him, I chicken out.”

Eyes serious, Trent held both my arms to my sides, making me look at him. “I like you when you’re good.”

I pulled away and flopped down on the bed. “Great, that’s great,” I said sourly.

Trent hesitated for a moment, and then, with an odd, determined pace, he went to the sink. “Why don’t you take a nap. Just lie there and be quiet for a minute.”

My head turned and I stared at him. “Quiet?” I almost snarled. “You want me to take a nap? Ivy is somewhere down here . . .” My words faltered as he ran his fingers across the tiny lip over the mirror. “And you want me to take a nap,” I finished. “What are you doing?”

Trent’s shoulders stiffened. As I watched, he turned the water on full force, and steam billowed up, misting the mirror so I couldn’t see his face. “Washing up. Why don’t you just shut up? Your bitching isn’t helping anything.”

I’m bitching? “Excuse me?” I exclaimed as I sat up. “I seem to remember you in Cormel’s office, too. This was one of the dumbest ideas—” He wasn’t even listening to me, and my eyes narrowed, not in anger, but understanding. He was looking for bugs, the mirror eclipsed by steam. “One of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever let you talk me into!”