The Witch with No Name

Trent gestured to Bis, and the gargoyle jumped to my shoulder, his tail wrapping tightly around me to secure his hold. The kid could jump only one at a time on his own, but if I warped everyone’s aura to look the same, we could all go together. Probably. “I’ll try to contain the damage, but if worse comes to worst, Jumoke and Izzyanna can move into my gardens. You, too, Jenks,” he added, and Jenks frowned, a black dust falling in the center of the golden sparkles. “Belle doesn’t have out-of-season newlings to look after,” he added, and Jenks stiffened.

“I’m wherever Ivy and Rache are.”

Trent’s arm slipped around my waist. “I don’t want any of you hibernating. Can you get them there safely, Jenks? We can’t go. It’s the first place they’ll look for us, and I can’t take this to my girls.”

Looking even more disgusted, Jenks nodded again, his expression softening as he saw Izzy holding her tiny middle. “Call me.”

Trent’s expression relaxed, making me love him all the more. “Thank you,” he said, looking over the church as if it was his own. “Have Quen escort Ellasbeth out and close the grounds. He’s to go into hiding if he has to, but Ellasbeth is not to leave with the girls.”

My gut hurt at the thought of damaging the church. It’s just a pile of rocks, I told myself, but it was my pile of rocks.

“It’s going to be fine, Rachel,” Trent said, but the pinch to his brow said differently. “Ellasbeth will be years contesting it in the courts. We’ll be back long before that.” I met his eyes, and he added, “The trick will be to die convincingly without doing too much damage.”

“You think a modified heat charm?” I said, knowing there was a firewall between the old part of the church and the new.

Trent shook his head, his eyes on the vampire at our feet. He took a breath to say something, then froze. His eyes went to the hallway.

Jenks’s wings clattered. Jumoke and Izzy darted out, wings silent. “See you in a few days,” Jenks said as he circled me, his dust falling as if in protection. “Trent, if she dies, I’ll cut your pointy ears off and eat them in front of you.”

I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but Bis had tightened his grip. “Where do you want me to jump you?” he asked, clearly worried and smelling of iron and pigeon.

The tunnels? I thought, but it was too late, and we ducked below the counter at the soft scrape of shoe in the living room. “Go!” I mouthed to Jenks, and he gave me a last disparaging look as he darted out. This was going to be tricky. We had to destroy the back of the church and get out before it took us with it, and do it all so whoever was attacking would think we were caught up in it.

“Victor?” a masculine voice hissed, and I glanced at the vampire, his legs still in view of the hallway. Oh yeah. What about him?

“Now!” Trent shouted, and we stood, my hand reaching for my splat gun.

What in hell am I supposed to do? I wondered, shooting at the vampire in black.

Apparently it was the right thing as the man snarled, showing me his teeth as he rolled in to make room for the rest. The window over the sink exploded inward, and I swung my gun, little puffs of air unnoticed in the howl of attack.

Someone touched me. It wasn’t Trent, and I loosed a blast of energy through my body, sending the vampire screaming in pain to fall backward into two of his buddies.

“That’s right!” I yelled, shooting at them, but they darted back and my spells broke harmlessly against the cupboards. “Run, you little chip-fanged wannabes!”

My heart thundered. Eyes wide, I found Trent. He looked magnificent, magic arching from hand to hand as he blasted anyone who got a foot inside the kitchen. There were six down already, and he took out the two I’d missed even as I watched. Breathless, I smiled as he shouted and blew a hole right through the wall and four more crashed backward into the fireplace. That was okay. Ivy had been talking about opening the two rooms up.

“Trent!” I shouted, realizing Bis was still on my shoulder, his wings open as he kept his balance. “I think we can do this!” I wouldn’t have to leave my church. I wouldn’t have to abandon the only place I’d ever felt was mine.

His expression was wild. He met my eyes, and something plinked through me. He loves me, I thought, knowing he’d do anything if it would keep me safe, even if that meant letting me do something stupid like try to save my church.

A head poked up behind the smoldering couch, visible past the broken wall. There was a sudden flurry of motion, and five bodies dove out of the open back door. The one remaining slowly stood. Smirking, he dropped something heavy. I watched it fall as if in slow motion.

Trent grabbed me, spinning me down and around. Bis’s wings flapped madly as we hunched into a ball.

The last vampire launched himself at the door, fleeing.

I gasped, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Now, Bis!” Trent shouted, and the world exploded.