The Witch with No Name

“This is not what I wanted to do today,” I said, hands still intertwined as we looked for the first hints of the intruders.

Trent’s grip tightened at the sudden sound of pixy wings. Hands clasped, we turned as Jenks slipped in through the crack under the door. His dust was a dull silver, and he stopped in shock when he saw us looking at him.

“You’re up!” he said, a thread of brighter gold slipping from him. “And dressed. Tink’s titties, you were sleeping? Seriously?”

Trent’s fingers left mine. “Who’s in the garden?” he asked.

“Oh yeah.” Humming closer, Jenks landed on the sill, hands on his hips in his best Peter Pan pose. “Jumoke and Izzy are doing a count, but it’s vampires. None of them is Cormel’s.”

My teeth clenched. “Son of a bastard,” I whispered as I reached for my phone, only to remember I’d left it in the kitchen. I had Trent’s, though, and I handed it to him. “Where’s Ivy?”

“Out,” Jenks said, bringing both Trent and me up short. “She and Nina took Buddy to a vet-in-a-box to get him checked about an hour ago.”

“She left?”

“Yeah. That’s when the vampires showed up. I wasn’t going to bother you unless they moved. Hell, if I’d known all you were doing was lying next to each other with your clothes on, I would’ve told you right off. Tink’s diaphragm, you were sleeping?”

Ivy isn’t here. My first flush of fear shifted to an ironic relief, and I sat on the edge of my bed so I could pull up my socks without taking off my boots. “They aren’t after Ivy. Why?”

“I’m more concerned with who.” The dim light from Trent’s phone made his face severe. “No calls, not even a text,” he muttered. “I suggest we leave the church, circle around back, pick off one at the outskirts, and find a quiet place to chat. Mark’s is open, isn’t it?”

My lips parted. “And let them have the run of the church? I just got it cleaned up!”

Jenks bristled. “We can take them, cookie bits.”

Trent glanced up, a hard, I’m-down-to-salvage look to his face. “No doubt. We can stay and fight them off, but we’ll leave significant damage to the church and we might never find out who sent them or why.”

Allow them access to everything in the hope that they don’t damage or steal it all? It hadn’t worked in World War II, and I didn’t expect any difference now. “I need my splat gun,” I said breathily, and I walked out into the dark hallway.

Jenks’s wings clattered behind me. “We can’t sneak out, anyway. We’re surrounded.”

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I’d feel better with a little more to back my words up with than a smile and whatever magic I knew by rote. I strode into the kitchen, panic icing through me when a dark shadow swooped forward. Almost falling, I slid into a defensive duck. The ley line iced painfully through me as I recognized the sound of Bis’s wings and drew a surge of power back.

“Bis!” I said, my exclamation barely above a whisper. “Give some warning, huh?” I hadn’t been able to feel Bis’s presence since Newt changed my aura, and I kind of missed it.

“Sorry.” Black teeth catching the light, he landed on top of the fridge and gave Trent a bunny-eared kiss-kiss.

Bis didn’t look sorry, and I glanced over the dark kitchen wondering what I could eat without opening the fridge. The light would tell them we were awake. I plucked at my shirt, wishing I’d taken a shower. I knew I stank of burnt amber, but my nose had gone deaf. Irate, I reached for my coffee, cold and untouched, at the table. “Where’s Belle?” I asked, grimacing at the tepid bitterness. Rex could take care of herself, but I worried about the flightless fairy.

Bis ruffled his wings, red eyes seeming to glow as he glanced out the window. “With Rex. Real professionals. No high heels or noisy phones. They know how to sit still and not move.”

Trent looked up from texting something to Quen, probably. “Your life is never boring, Rachel.”

“I could do with a little boring.” My reach to open the nuker hesitated. It had a light, too. Disgusted, I set the cold cup on the counter and warmed it up with a charm. Ceri had taught me this, and a stab of regret cooled my anger.

“Nice,” Trent said. He’d seen me do this before, but probably not with such quickness. I was edgy, and I jerked again when Bis landed on my shoulder.

“You want to jump out?” Bis said eagerly. “Let them find an empty church? We need to go soon. The sun is almost up.”

My eyes flicked to Trent. That was why they were waiting. Sunup would put Bis and an easy escape out of reach. I was starting to like robins a lot more.

“We are not abandoning the church,” Jenks said, wings clattering.

Keeping silent and my options open, I scooped up my splat gun and checked the hopper. The charms were not old, but they weren’t new either—and vampires were fast.

“Rache?”