Chapter Twenty-two
Ivy's head was down as we walked into the parking lot, aiming for my red convertible under a distant security light. Snow had covered all but the warm cars, and the world was white and black. "I'm sorry," she said, not looking at me. "I could have gotten you killed in there."
I breathed in another lungful of cold air to try to clear my head. "I'm fine. You didn't."
"I could have." She slowed to let me go first between two cars, looking at me with her face deceptively placid. "Your aura was compromised and you can't make a circle. I'm sorry. Asking you to do that when you're not well was a mistake. They were expecting you to die in there, or worse."
Linking my arm in hers, I pulled her after me, angling for the shortest path to my car. I could see it, its bright red paint looking gray in the streetlight and the snow sticking only to the cooler roof. "I guess we fooled them, huh?"
Ivy stiffened, but I wouldn't let her pull out of my grip in the narrow passage. If I didn't touch her, she wouldn't believe that she was worth the emotional baggage she brought to both our lives. "I'm fine," I said, becoming serious. "I wanted to know who killed Kisten, too. Now we know more." Not exactly how I would have chosen it, but okay. "Don't worry about it."
Ivy predictably pulled out of my grip the moment we came out from between the two cars, glancing over her shoulder through the snow to the quiet building. "I'm not going to be that person anymore," she said, and my eyes widened when she wiped her eyes with the back of a gloved hand to show a glint of moisture in the security light. "I can't do this," she whispered, clearly shaken to her core. "Rachel, I'm sorry. I understand that I can't bite you again. I'm sorry I ever tried. You're better than that, and I'm bringing you down."
"You are the strongest person I know!" I protested, but she shook her head, wiping her eyes again. She was down to the bare bones of herself. Skimmer had shaken her to her core.
"Anyone I once called a friend wouldn't have been able to do what you did in there," she said, chin trembling. "Or if they did break us apart, it would have been to take Skimmer's place. I don't want to be that person, and I won't be. I'm off blood. Completely."
My eyes widened, and I felt a slip of fear. Sensing it, Ivy's jaw clenched and she strode away. "Wait, Ivy. That's not necessarily a good idea," I called after her.
"Piscary is dead, I can be who I want," she said over her shoulder.
"But you're a vampire," I protested as I followed, worried. "It's what you are!"
She stopped, turning to stare at me, and I came to a halt, a car between us.
"Look, I'm not saying I want you to bite me," I said, gesturing. "But I've lived with you while you're on a blood fast, and the more you try to be what you aren't, the more confused you get and the harder it is to live with you."
Ivy's mouth opened. Betrayal shone in her eyes. "Abstinence is all I've got, Rachel." Turning, she paced to the car, a shadow of black among the gray and white of falling snow.
"Nice one, Rache," I muttered, thinking there had to be a better way to have said that. Hands jammed into my pockets, I slowly pushed myself into motion. The ride home ought to be swell. There was only so much a little green cardboard tree could do. Ivy on a blood fast was not fun, but she was right to be pissed at me. How could I not support her desire to be who she wanted to be? I did support her, but going on a blood fast wasn't the answer. She needed to break the cycle. She had to end the addiction completely. There had to be something in Al's books for this. Or maybe Trent...
My bag smacked the taillight of the car I was passing, and I followed Ivy's footprints into the frozen slush of the aisle. The sliding sound of a van's door opening brought my head up. Ten feet from my car, a man lurched out of a white minivan beside Ivy. She wasn't paying attention, her head down and looking vulnerable. Shit.
"Ivy!" I exclaimed, terrified by the glint of a pistol in his hand, but it was too late. The man shoved her, and she was pushed into the side of a nearby SUV parked half a car away. "Hey!" I shouted, but then I spun at the soft sound of snow compacting beside me. My instinctive crouch put me eye to eye with Mia.
"Witch," she said, lips blue with cold, and then she reached out.
Adrenaline pounded, and I flung myself backward, my right foot slipping out from under me when I hit the bumper of the car I'd just passed. I went down, arms flailing and purse falling from me. The banshee grabbed my wrist, where my glove and coat parted, and I froze, kneeling before her. Her baby had almost killed me. Shit, shit, shit!
Mia's hood had fallen back, and her eyes were wisps of blue under the spotlights. Cold fingers encircling my wrist, she leaned closer. "Who did you talk to today?" she asked, her voice precise and angry.
Heart pounding, I looked past her. Ivy had her face against the window of the SUV, her arm twisted and a gun to her head. There was a baby car seat in the open van, and the happy babble of a baby drifted out. Why in hell hadn't I brought my splat gun? "You're wanted for questioning," I said, thinking one swift kick and she'd be off me. "If you come in, it will look good."
The words sounded stupid the moment they left my mouth, and Mia squinted, making the skin around her eyes tighten. "You think I care?" she said imperially. "Who did you talk to?"
I tensed to smack her, and Mia's eyes, almost white in the dim light, dilated to pupil black. My breath hissed in, and I almost collapsed. A scintillating flood tingled through me, rising up my arm. Cold followed close behind it, and the feeling of being pulled inside out turned my stomach. Like a puppet with cut strings, I sagged, my arm stretched out with my wrist in Mia's grip.
"S-stop," I stammered, head bowed as I struggled to just breathe. Damn it, what was I doing? I never should have taken this case. She was a freaking predator. A top-of-the-line, ancient predator, like an alligator. As I knelt there, going cold and thick, I could feel myself dying in stages, watching, and unable to stop it.
I gasped as the pulling sensation quit. Warmth eased back, but it was less, settling like a sloshing tub over my soul. Haggard, I brought my head up to find Mia's blue eyes waiting. They were cold and uncaring. Reptile eyes. Behind her, Ivy watched. Her cheek was against the tall vehicle, and her jaw was clenched, making her look helpless, frustrated, and really mad. We were in front of a freaking jail-the woman had enough guts to rule the world. Maybe she thought she already did.
"Someone is following me," Mia asked coldly. "Who did you talk to?"
My knee had gone wet, and my arm hurt. An ache was spreading from it to my back. Mia withdrew a step, drawing me into the slush-rutted aisle, and I rose to my feet like a pull toy. Her other hand went around my throat, her wedding band catching the light. "Wait," I blurted in panic when the first threat of my aura leaving lifted through me again.
Seeing my understanding, Mia smiled. She was beautiful in the falling snow, smaller than me, but cold-so cold and uncaring. "That's me taking your life, witch," she said, snow melting on her upturned face. "The more you struggle, the stronger I am. Who did you talk to? Someone is following me. Tell me or you die right here."
A cold sweat broke out on me. The woman was like a slipknot. I was a rabbit in a raptor's talons.
"Rachel, just tell her!" Ivy shouted, then grunted when Remus encouraged her to keep her mouth shut.
"Don't hurt her!" I called out, eyes fixed on Ivy, helpless against the SUV. My fear grew worse when I remembered what Remus had done to Glenn. Son of a bitch. Why shouldn't I tell Mia? I licked my lips, and Mia tightened her grip. A soft ache pulled through me, and I said, "A banshee named Ms. Walker. It was another banshee, from the west."
Mia's eyes widened, and her grip almost fell away. "In my city? That...thing is in my city?" she said, her high voice carrying a shocking amount of hatred. Her eyes had gone vampire black-clear in the lights from the parking lot-and I wondered if the two species were related.
"I think she's going to kill you for Holly," I said, wondering if a quick palm thrust to her chin while she was distracted might break me free, but I was too scared to try. She didn't have to touch me to take my aura. "You and Remus both. Your only chance to keep her is to come in now. The FIB will take her temporarily, but you'll get her back. Let me go." Please, let me go.
Her focus returned to me, hatred making her look like a wronged queen. "You brought The Walker here," the slight woman accused, and I felt myself go weak, sparkles showing at the edges of my sight. "You're working with her!"
"I didn't bring her here!" I cried, and I heard Ivy grunt in pain. "You did," I panted. Damn it, how do I get into these situations? And don't they monitor their parking lot? "She heard I survived a banshee attack and thought it was because Holly had gained control. I told Ms. Walker it wasn't Holly but the dark banshee tear in my pocket, but she still wants Holly. Mia, I can help you if you let me go." Though only God knows why I'm doing this. Survival?
Mia's breath steamed as she gauged my words. In a quick burst of motion, she let go of my throat and took two steps away. I gasped and fell back against the trunk. Weight supported on an elbow, I held a hand to my throat and looked at the small woman, trying to decide how much aura I had left. It didn't feel like a lot, but I was able to stand up and move without becoming dizzy. She didn't need to touch me to kill me, but at least I had some room now.
Behind her, Remus took the gun from Ivy's head and backed up out of her reach. His weapon was still pointed at her, though. I watched Ivy visually measure the distance between them, and knowing the gun would beat her, she fell into a tense pose. Behind Remus, Holly gurgled, excited by the emotions reaching her.
Mia stood in the falling snow, disgust clear in her expression. "I would have stayed to make sure you were dead if I'd known The Walker would find out about Holly."
"We all make mistakes," I said, knees weak. "You mean Ms. Walker?"
"The Walker," she corrected me. I could almost hear the capital letters, and Mia's disgust grew. "She's an assassin who kills with the grace of a falling log. If she's east of the Mississippi, in my city, your assessment that she wants Holly is correct." Her delicate jaw clenched. "She won't have her. Holly is special. She's going to give us back our power, and I'm not going to let that bitch take the credit."
The whining complaint of a tired Chevy trying to start in the snow broke the stillness. At the far end of the lot, a pair of headlights lit up and a big engine roared to life. Suddenly nervous, Remus called out, "Mia?"
I shook my head, trembling. The cold was eddying about my feet, telling me Mia was still sucking in my aura, but at least she wasn't actively taking it. "I'm sorry, Mia," I whispered as Holly started fussing in the open van. "We know it's Remus who's special, not Holly. We know it's a wish that lets him hold her. Ms. Walker doesn't care. She wants your daughter, and she's going to kill you to get her."
Ivy shifted from foot to foot, probably blaming herself. No one moved as the car drove past, two aisles over, headed for the exit. An idle thought drifted through me. Why hadn't I seen anyone come out of the building? Remus, too, wasn't liking it. "Mia...," he prompted, the security light showing his worried features.
Mia watched the car's taillights as they hesitated at the street, then slowly drove away. The banshee brought her attention back to me, her expression shifting to show an inner excitement. "Holly is special," she insisted. "And you're going to make sure I keep my daughter, Rachel Morgan."
"Why would I help you?" I said dryly. "You're a freaking parasite."
"Predator, not parasite, and you need me," she said, reaching out.