Hollows 11 - Ever After (18 page)

He chuckled, but I thought he might be serious as I followed him inside. The hallway was brightly lit and sported beautiful close-ups of orchids in the morning dew, but the air smelled stale after the rich scents of the garden.

“You’re going to have to look at it in the girls’ closet,” he said as we started down the carpeted hallway, heading back to the great room.

“A closet?” I said, trying to keep up with him. “You keep your magic books in a closet?”

“You keep your splat gun in a mixing bowl.”

True.

Jenks flew ahead as we entered the lower level of Trent’s great room. To my right was the huge three-story window ward that Lee had made, letting in light and sound but little else. Beyond its faint shimmer was the highly landscaped outside living area with a grill/kitchen and swimming pool. At the far end of the gigantic room was a fireplace large enough to roast an entire elephant in. In between was the grand staircase up to Trent’s apartments.

“Since learning my father’s vault downstairs was not secure, we moved everything to the girls’ closet,” Trent was saying as he headed for the stairway. “Ceri put some kind of demon ward on all the upstairs rooms. They aren’t holy, but it has the same effect. There’s no way in or out but the door, which only Ceri, Quen, and I have access to. If you ask me, it’s safer than my father’s vault. But the reason Ellasbeth insists you look at it there is because it’s temperature and humidity controlled and the book is ancient.”

That Ceri had warded the girls’ rooms sounded about right, and I touched the smooth finish of a couch as we passed. The ground floor here was basically a big party room. Past the stairway was a dark and silent bar area, and behind that the kitchen and underground parking. I knew, because I’d run through it more than once. Damn it, what was I doing having tea and cookies with Ellasbeth while Ceri suffered all that Ku’Sox was capable of?

Jenks dropped from the ceiling, an excited silver dust trailing from him. “Rache!” he exclaimed as he landed on my shoulder, his wings never slowing as they drafted my hair back. “You’ll never guess who’s here!”

“Who?” I asked, almost afraid.

From the third-story apartments, I heard Quen’s distinctive gravelly voice say, “I’ll speak to the chef immediately, Miss Withon.”

“See that you do,” said an imperialistic feminine voice, and I stopped short at the foot of the stairs.

Quen? He was okay? He was back!

Chapter Eleven

I
spun to Trent. The smug brat was smirking. “Why didn’t you tell me Quen was back!” I shouted, my urge to smack him hesitating when Quen dryly cleared his throat. Distracted, I looked up at the railing. Quen was there, his pox scars standing out strongly against an unusual paleness. Ray was in his arms, and the little girl clung to him. Both Quen and Trent were smiling. Ellasbeth was not.

Trent’s hand went to my arm to lead me upstairs. “Why did you let me believe Quen was dead the morning he recovered from his vampire bite?” he said, and I jerked my arm away from him as we found the first step.

“I was a little preoccupied with Takata being my birth father,” I said, heart pounding as I took the stairs two at a time.

Trent kept up, maddeningly graceful. “It wasn’t my place to tell . . .”

My eyes narrowed. “Not your place . . . Are we even now? You little . . . cookie maker!” I exclaimed, knocking him off balance when we found the eight-by-eight landing for the first floor. Ellasbeth gasped, but Trent was laughing, even as he caught himself. Quen was here. He was okay.
Finally
something was going our way.

Seeing me lurch up the last of the stairs, Quen straightened to try to hide his fatigue. Our eyes met, and the older man nodded solemnly. On his hip, Ray gurgled happily. The little girl was in a sweet full-length jumper/Indian-looking robe of some sort cut from a subdued orange-and-brown paisley, her brown hair braided and looped out of the way. Hearing Jenks’s wings, she pushed from her father’s shoulder to find him. She was a beautiful blending of Ceri and Quen, and again I was struck by the frailty of this small family.

“Rachel,” Quen said simply, and I pushed past Ellasbeth in her cream-colored business suit and matching heels.

“That’s not going to do it,” I said as I pulled the older man into a hug, getting Ray mixed up in there somewhere. The curious scent of cinnamon and wine that all elves had mixed with the throat-catching odor of hospital. Under it was his masculine pull, a faint hint of controlled magic and ozone to give it some interest.
He smells different from Trent,
I thought. Trent’s magic smelled powerful, but Quen’s had a darker tang than Trent’s shadowed glow.

Suddenly realizing Quen’s arms had gone around me in what had probably been self-defense, I pushed back, embarrassed. “They let you out? When?” I said, wincing when Ray grabbed my hair and pulled me in.

The older man made a noise of admonishment, disentangling her fingers and then, unexpectedly, tugged me back to him with one arm, turning us both to the common living room visible through the wide archway. “They didn’t let me do anything. I left. It’s good to see you,” he said, his voice rumbling through me. “You’re the one who sent those damn demon-scented petits fours, aren’t you? They woke me up at midnight, and I left at two.”

I grinned as I slipped out from under his arm. He looked tired but good, the injuries to his nervous system obviously repaired enough to function. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No, but everything will eventually come back,” he said, and I gave him a light punch on his arm and wrinkled my nose at Ray.

“Tomorrow morning, probably,” I guessed. Three days. That’s how long it took to renew an aura so it didn’t hurt when you tapped a line. What had Ku’Sox done to him?

Trent was making his way to Ellasbeth. Having seen our reunion—and not being a part of it—the woman had retreated to the small kitchen behind the large sunken living room. Four doors led to four suites—Quen and Ceri’s, Trent’s, the girls’. The fourth had been Ellasbeth’s when she had been his fiancée, and by the sound of it, it might be again.

My heart ached at the toys scattered in the living room, and a crayon-scribbled picture of horses was pasted to a door, a sad two feet from the floor. This was the closest that Trent would ever get to a normal family life, and I was angry that Ku’Sox had spoiled it.

Suddenly unsure, I followed Quen and Ray to the sunken living room, having to wave Jenks’s dust out of my way. The last time I’d seen Ellasbeth was when I’d arrested Trent at their wedding. I hadn’t known she’d been pregnant with Lucy at the time, and I didn’t know if it would have made any difference. The well-dressed, sophisticated woman looked broken as she sat at the small kitchen table, her expensive cream-colored slacks and coordinating top and jacket rumpled. She was tired, jet lag and worry having taken their toll on her perfect makeup and upright posture. Even so, I balked as her eyes found mine.

Her strawlike, straight hair looked fake next to Trent’s wispy strands, and her build was too strong to have only elf in her. She was not full blood, and it showed. Money had a way of erasing that, though, and her family was almost as influential as Trent.

Jenks’s wings shivered against my neck as he took refuge, and a chill went through me. “Oh, there’s trouble with a high-end handbag,” he said, and I agreed.

“Ah . . . hello,” I said, feeling awkward, as if she’d come home and found me naked in Trent’s tub. No, wait. She had once.

Ellasbeth stood in a smooth, controlled motion of grace, and I jerked to a stop. Quen gave me a “good luck” look as he continued into the lower living room area with Ray, and Jenks abandoned me, wings clattering.
Chicken.
But all she did was extend her hand, a stiff expression on her face. “Thank you for agreeing to help Trent get Lucy and Ceri back.”

That was
not
what I had expected, and I cautiously took her unworked hand in mine. Her voice wasn’t inviting, but it wasn’t cold, either. My thoughts returned to Trent’s words in the greenhouse. She wanted back into his life? Why? Power? Parental and social pressure? Lucy? I didn’t think it was to spend the rest of her life with Trent, but it wasn’t my business.

“Ah, it’s the right thing to do,” I said, letting her hand go and forcing myself to not hide mine behind my back. Her touch had been cold, and I maintained my pleasant expression. No, it wasn’t my business, but Trent would tie himself to this woman if he thought it was what duty required of him. He’d do it for everything she represented despite her having nothing he wanted.

Her smile widened, but didn’t get any warmer. “Still,” she said, her hands clasped before her to look like a proper 1940s wife in her monochromatic dress suit and matching purse. “It’s very noble of you to risk your life when you don’t have a personal stake in the outcome.”

Lemon-yellow dust sifted from the light fixture. Ignoring Jenks’s silent comment, I smiled right back at her. “But I do. Lucy is my godchild, and Ceri is my friend. I freed her from the demons before, and seeing her cry over having a home, husband, and children when she never dreamed of freedom makes me a tad protective of her when some demon tries to take it away.”

“I see.”

I see? Did she say I freaking see?
“Besides,” I added when her eye twitched. “If I don’t help him, who will?” My unspoken
you?
was obvious.

From Ceri’s high-backed embroidery chair, Quen cleared his throat. Trent had his back to us, busy in the kitchen making coffee, and Jenks simply sent down another shower of sparkling dust, the crystal in the fixture tinkling as it shook from his laughter.

Inclining her head, Ellasbeth smoothly sat back down. “I’ll make sure you’re well compensated.” My smile froze as I suddenly became hired help standing before her.

Damn, she was good.
“I don’t work for Trent,” I said, suddenly feeling outclassed. Her eyes were on my pinkie ring, and I think she’d recognized it as matching Trent’s. “I work
with
him.”

Stop it, Rachel,
I thought as I realized I was in danger of arguing with an idiot.
It wouldn’t hurt you to be nice. She just lost her daughter, not once but twice.

Exhaling, I leaned against the counter, forcing her to turn if she wanted to keep me in her sight. “Ku’Sox won’t hurt either of them,” I said as Trent passed between us to hand Ellasbeth a cup of coffee. “Ku’Sox wants something, and this is the only way he can get it. Hurting them will only piss me off, and Ku’Sox knows that.”

Ellasbeth’s beaming smile to Trent vanished. “Can we please stop saying his name?” she asked, and on his way back to the kitchen, Trent shot me a look to be nice.

“Why?” I crossed my ankles and leaned deeper into the counter. “It’s not like saying it does anything.”

“Coffee, Rachel?” Trent said as he shoved a cup at me, and I scrambled to take it before it sloshed over. A faint blush was showing on Ellasbeth. Maybe that had been a tad petty.

“Ah, you have a book for me to look at, right?” I prompted, then took a sip.

“It’s in the safe room. Look at it in there.” Chin high, Ellasbeth pushed away the cup of coffee Trent had brought her. Out of her sight in the kitchen, Trent hung his head, his free hand rubbing his temple.

Quen rose, his motions slow and pained. Ray was slumped against him, the little girl valiantly fighting sleep and starting to lose. “I’ll show you.”

Jenks peeked over the fixture at me, laughing. It made me feel as if I’d lost something. Damn it, I could be nice to this woman. I didn’t have to be her best friend, just not smack her while we breathed the same air. “Thank you, Ellasbeth. This is going to be a huge help,” I said, but it sounded forced even to me. “We’re going to get them back. It’s going to be okay.”

She looked up. The worry and fear of the last two days pooled in her eyes as she met mine and held them. I don’t think anyone had told her it was going to be okay, and upon hearing it—even if she didn’t believe it—she began to break apart. Tears welled and she quickly turned away, her posture becoming more stiff, more closed. It must be hard when the only comfort you got was from the person you most disliked in the room.

Trent set his coffee aside, the cup hitting the granite loudly. “Quen, while you’re showing Rachel the safe room, Ellasbeth and I will be in the gardens.”

“Why?” Ellasbeth said in distrust as she fumbled in her matching purse for a tissue. “I can help.”

Trent touched the woman’s shoulder, and I shoved a twinge of jealousy away. “If you’re open to it, I’d like to discuss the possibility of joint custody.”

Ellasbeth’s eyes widened. “Trent,” she said breathlessly. “I don’t want to have to need a joint custody agreement at all.”

From the chandelier came a tiny “Eeeeewwww.”

“I just want us to all be together as we are supposed to be,” she said, gazing up at him, tears spilling from her. “I want my family! What if we can’t get her back! What if . . .” Sobbing, the elegant woman dropped her head into her hands and sat alone at the table and cried. Uncomfortable, I glanced at Quen—who clearly didn’t care—then to Trent. He seemed unsure, and I made a face at him to do something. Anything.

Grimacing, he pushed himself into motion, pulling her to her feet so he could hold her. That was even more uncomfortable, but at least she wasn’t crying alone. “Shhhh . . .” Trent soothed, even if he did look a little stiff doing it. But awkward or not, they looked beautiful together. Sophisticated. “Ceri lived among demons for a thousand years,” Trent said, holding the woman as she shook. “Lucy is resilient and brave. The demons won’t hurt her as long as they have a hope I’ll give them what they want.”

My stomach hurt, and I looked away.

“We can talk in the garden,” Trent said, starting to guide her to the stairway. Jenks dropped down from the light fixture, and my lips parted when Trent made a small finger movement to tell him to stay.

Oh, really?
I thought, watching Trent help Ellasbeth down the wide stairs, a hand under her elbow as she continued to warble about home and family, and how she had been an idiot.

Idiot. Sure. My thoughts drifted back to her standing at the basilica’s altar, furious at me for ruining her wedding day as I handcuffed Trent for suspicion of murder. I’d ruined
her
day.

Ray perked up at the sound of Jenks’s wings, and she watched with sleepy eyes as he dropped down to me. “Tink’s little pink rosebuds, you two are like dogs snarling,” he said, and I scowled, looking at the top of the stairway.

“I didn’t hit her, did I?”

He laughed, but I still felt ill. If Ellasbeth was going to be in Trent’s life, I’d probably better start kissing ass if I ever wanted to see the girls again.

Jenks landed on my shoulder as I went to help Quen up the two shallow stairs. I was still wondering about that finger motion. “Is he seriously considering . . . that?” the pixy whispered as Ellasbeth’s voice rose from the great room.

“Looks like it,” I breathed. “If you ask me, she’s nothing but bad news. But they look good together.”

Quen grunted as he got to his feet, unbalanced from Ray and his injuries that he wouldn’t tell me about. Shaking off my offer for assistance, he headed for the nursery, his left leg sluggish on the two stairs.

“Is that what you see?” Jenks said, jerking me back to my last comment. “That they look good together?”

I tried to eye him, but he was too close. “You don’t think they do?”

Pushing open the nursery door with his foot, Quen shook his head. “The joining of the two houses would do a lot in bringing the two factions of our society together. I’m glad someone finally talked some sense into that woman.”

He seemed genuinely pleased, but I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to Ceri, Ray, and Quen if Ellasbeth entered the family.

“Good thing the man likes frustrating women,” Jenks said, and I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear to shove him off my shoulder. I could still hear Ellasbeth’s tearful protests bracketed by Trent’s musical voice. The farther they got from us, the more hysterical she was getting, and her voicing her doubts wasn’t helping.

“She is wearing your ring, Trenton!” echoed, and then the door slammed shut.

We only had days, and despite Trent’s confident words, I didn’t have a plan; I had a goal whose solution revolved around a book I hadn’t seen yet.

My heart sank as I looked over the dark nursery lit by a friendly, smiling full moon with cows jumping over it.
Oh God, Ceri and Lucy.
I’d get them back if I had to tear the ever-after apart line by line. “Was it Nick in the woods?” I asked Quen as he nudged a walk-’n’-ride out of the way to get to the closet door.