The Undead Pool (50 page)

My jaw clenched, and I tried to quash my gut reaction of heartache. I knew he saw it when his grip tightened. “Does it show?” I said, miserable. I'd been able to see around corners. I'd had thousands of voices telling me of whispers halfway across the city. I'd had a million defenders, ready to turn my wish to reality. It had been godlike. Even if keeping them would've made me crazy.

Trent leaned back, his hand still holding mine. “I thought so,” he said softly. “You gave that up. And Al.” He let go of me, his finger tilting my chin up to look at him. “I have my own guilt to chew on.”

“It's not your fault.”

Sighing, he watched the girls leaping at Jenks's shifting dust. “I wouldn't change anything, though I'll admit that my end of things is turning out to be more challenging than I'd anticipated. But there's a definite upside that I hadn't counted on.”

“Like what?” Jenks said as he dropped from his dust to the stroller's bar. “Is Rachel so good in bed she's worth losing a fortune?”

“Shut up, Jenks,” I said, and he laughed, sounding like wind chimes.

“I don't have to do what everyone expects anymore.” Smiling, Trent pulled Ray onto his lap and gentled the tiring girl to him. “I owe you. Forever, Rachel. You freed me.”

Jenks made gagging sounds when I flushed. Freed him? No. He'd freed himself. “You do know freedom is why I quit the I.S., right? And see how that turned out?”

He chuckled, but my smile faltered as I glanced at my wrist and the smooth skin there. My demon mark had vanished without fanfare last week, and with it, my last tie to Al. For some stupid reason, I missed it. Trent, though, was looking at Ivy and Nina trying on hats. “Oh, I think it turned out fine.” His eyes met mine over Ray's tousled hair, and I felt warm. “A little tiring, perhaps, but okay in the end.”

Beaming, I leaned in, hoping for a kiss. Jenks flew up and out of the way in disgust, but before our lips met, my eyes went over his shoulder to Jonathan. The distasteful man was not at the ATM. No, he was standing between us and Ellasbeth, striding forward under the shade with two men behind her.

Ellasbeth?
I thought, freezing. Trent's lips grazed mine before he realized there was a problem and drew back. Tingles raced through me, not all of them from the spark of wild magic. “Ellasbeth,” I whispered, and he turned, his jaw clenching.

“And she brought friends,” Jenks said snidely. “Trent, monologue or something. I have to cut the cameras or someone's gonna be in jail tonight for assault.”

“Make it fast.” Trent set Ray in the stroller, buckling her in before standing.

Jenks darted up and away and wild magic prickled over my skin as Trent tapped a line. Pulse hammering, I stood as well. A lion roared as I tapped a line, my chin rising as the energy flowed through me and back to the line, connecting me to everything, to all, to the universe—even if I could see only a hairsbreadth of it now.

“Stop right there!” I said, but Ellasbeth never slowed, motioning for the men and women she'd brought to circle us. Shit, there were more than two. She'd brought at least eight. People in bright shirts and shorts were scattering, running for the edges. “I said that's close enough!” I shouted as she kept coming.

Ivy and Nina tensed, but we all froze when Jonathan dropped out of the pergola, looking ugly and alien as he knocked the man behind her to the ground and crouching over him with a ball of black death in his hands. Trent grabbed my arm to keep me from moving, and I quailed when a half-heard whisper of promised death passed Jonathan's lips.

“Give me the girls, Trent!” Ellasbeth demanded, and Lucy called for her mother in delight.

Ignoring Jonathan, Ellasbeth continued forward. The second man with her moved, and with a growl that chilled my blood, Jonathan grabbed him about the neck. Suddenly the three were on the ground, scrabbling like wrestlers for an advantage as they heaved and struggled. Wild magic skated over my awareness, and Trent's grip on me tightened. There was an abrupt pop of magic, and the two men went still. Ellasbeth came to a shocked halt as Jonathan slowly got to his feet, the two men behind her unmoving.

“Holy toad shit!” Jenks exclaimed, and my pulse raced as Jonathan shook the lingering magic from him like water. His foot nudged a man back to the ground, and I breathed a sigh of relief. They were still alive. I hadn't been sure.

“Don't move,” Jonathan said to Ellasbeth, and the woman's face became white. “I will bring you down.”

“What the hell was that?” Jenks said as he landed on my shoulder with the fading scent of burnt amber.

“That was Jon, defending me and mine.” Trent's grim expression made me wonder how often he'd seen something like this. What did he need me for?

People were at the outskirts, watching behind trash cans and low walls. Stymied, Ellasbeth nevertheless took a step forward. “Give me my girls!” she exclaimed, flicking her eyes to Jonathan and back again.

There were Weres among the watchers I realized, circling behind Ellasbeth's men. Ivy and Nina had dropped back, rightly worried about getting caught in the magical cross fire.

Trent made sure Ray was okay before he faced her. “Ellasbeth,” he said, her name holding a wealth of emotions: fatigue, disappointment, relief, and anger. “Were you waiting for the news, or did you feed it to them to hurry it along so you could make your flight out?”

“Give them to me!” she demanded, making a sideways step, closer to us and away from Jonathan.

“If you have to ask, you don't deserve them,” Trent said, his bitter sarcasm clear.

“You're destitute,” she said, her confidence wearing thin as she stood in the sun with her straw-yellow hair and perfect dress suit. “Or you soon will be. You can't maintain custody, and if you don't give them to me now, the accusations will become worse until you are in jail or dead. Save them the humiliation of seeing their father made a public ridicule.”

Trent shifted his weight, hiding me another inch behind him. “Father. Nice of you to admit that in front of all these witnesses.”

Her security had noticed the Weres. One of them motioned to Ellasbeth to leave, and she frowned. “You're making this harder than it needs to be.”

“Easy is tasteless and bland,” he said, and her expression twisted with anger.

“I will turn you into a pauper unless you give them to me!”

At that, Trent took a step forward. Lucy was fussing, trying to get to Ellasbeth, and I distracted her with a tiny globe of light. “Wealth is not a determining factor of parental fitness,” he said softly, his words reaching everyone. “Or are you calling a million parents unfit because they work for a living? Lucy is mine by right,” Trent said, his voice ringing out. “And again by ancient trial that you demanded. You stole Lucy from me, Ellasbeth. Slunk away in the night with her in your belly like a thief. I took her back. She's mine.”

“You slept with that demon whore!” Ellasbeth raged, face red and arms waving. “How could you do that to me!”

My jaw clenched, but I stayed where I was. This wasn't about me. It was about Trent and Ellasbeth.

“You slept with her!” she raged. “And you think anyone will still follow you? You are done, Trent.
Done!
”

Ticked, I focused on watching her security, every single one of them flanked by at least three Weres. The scent of broken heather grew stronger; Trent was pissed. “Read your history, Ellasbeth,” he said bitterly. “Demon and elf pairings happened all the time. It just so happens that both parties agreed this time. Get out of my city.”

She crossed her arms, then forced them down. “It's not your city anymore.”

Eerie and unreal, a muted howl rose up from behind the green. It was taken up by another, and then a third, circling us in a soft binding. When it died out, another could be heard in the distance. Two more rose from different directions, probably outside the park. Ellasbeth's people began to look at one another. One man set his weapon down, turned, and walked away.

Head lifted high, Trent moved closer to me. The girls were with us. Jonathan still had the first two men cowed. Behind her, a woman and a man left, their pace fast and stilted. “Cincinnati will always be my city,” Trent said. “Even if I am penniless and wash windows to feed myself and my children. Leave. Don't come back unless it's as the thief you are so I may hunt you down.”

“I'm warning you, Trent,” Ellasbeth said, but her threat cut off when Jonathan let the two men up, whispering in their ears until they staggered away.

“Trent . . .” she said, then louder and in shock, “Come back here!,” when the shaken men ignored her and walked away. “Get back here!” she demanded, but they kept going. All her security went with them. Trent smiled, the girls silent between us. She had lost, and I could see in Trent a pained realization. He hadn't wanted it this way, but she was forcing it on him.

“Trent,” she pleaded, shoulders hunched, but it was too late. “Come with me. I can convince them it was a mistake. This doesn't have to happen. None of it.”

“And be indebted to you the rest of my life? Be your puppet? No.”

“For the girls' sake,” she tried next, and Ray whimpered, reaching for Trent.

“Exactly,” he intoned. “For the girls' sake.” Jonathan inclined his head and retreated so the two of them could see each other clearly over the fifteen feet. As I watched, Trent seemed to grow not taller, but more substantial. His aura almost glowed into the visible spectrum, and I wondered if the Goddess was watching, sending her mystics to bring witness to this.
Do they see me? Do any of them know it's me?

“As Sa'han, I am in my rights to refuse the enclave's summons, but you can tell them this.” Trent took another step, and she looked even more alone. “Birthright is given. Power is earned. I still have it, and it is growing, not failing. This lost wealth will strip the dross from me and show what I am. This union between me and the demons proves my foresight and courage. The girls are
mine
. I'm still willing to allow you to see them because I have felt the pain of being apart and it was almost too much to bear, but if you try to take them again, I will come down on you with everything I have.” He took a slow breath, and I saw her shiver. “Do not push it, Ellasbeth. You've not seen the depths of what I'm capable of.”

Her eyes flicked to Jonathan. She swallowed hard, eyes welling as she looked at the girls, and then, head falling, she turned. Heels clicking on the cobbles, she strode away, not acknowledging the watching people.

“ 'Scuse me,” Jenks said tartly. “I have a little dusting to do.”

Ray called out after him as he left. I was shaking, uneasy, as a few Weres peeled off from the rest and followed Ellasbeth out. Slowly the crowd faded back, leaving only the zoo security with their green uniforms and two-way radios. Jonathan came forward with a dangerous grace I remembered but had never given much credit to. He could have killed them. It would have been easy, both to do and to live with afterward, and
that
was why I was Trent's security, not him.

Trent inclined his head at the last of the Weres, and the man touched his nose before fading into the dispersing crowd. I couldn't tell what pack he belonged to, but I probably owed David a favor.

“Thank you, Jonathan,” I said, numb, as the tall man took Lucy and set her in the stroller. Zoo security was beginning to ring us, and it was clear we had to leave.

“I didn't do this for you,” the man growled, his long fingers ugly as he snapped the buckles around the little girl. Trent cleared his throat in rebuke, and he stood. “Excuse me,” he said, the scent and feel of wild magic lingering about him as he handed Trent his card back. “I'll take the girls and find some damp towels.”

They were already clean, but Trent nodded, evidently needing a moment to collect himself. I watched as Jonathan pushed the girls to a nearby water fountain.

“What did he say to them?” I asked.

“I've no idea.” Trent wiped the back of his neck, and the scent of cinnamon and wine grew strong. “But Jon is probably the reason I survived and my siblings didn't.” He looked up, his expression grim in the dappled shade of the pergola. “Quen is good, but Jon has no restraint and acts without thinking beyond the moment. He was with me the night my siblings died. He's like having a loaded gun on the nightstand with kids in the house. Unsafe even now.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, and he touched my elbow, trying to get me to walk over to the water fountain. Nina and Ivy already had, closing in around the most vulnerable members of the group. It was time to go.

“I'm sorry about this,” Trent said, glancing to where Ellasbeth had stood. “I knew she was going to try something, but I honestly thought she'd be a day or two after the media broke. And at the zoo? I am truly sorry. You being here was not my intent.”

I made my steps slow, reluctant to reach the sun and the lack of privacy. “I'm glad I was. Like I said, are you okay?”

Trent hesitated, a faint smile beginning as he looked from the strange, mixed-up group. Jenks had joined them, and his dust seemed to be the glue that bound them. “Tired,” he admitted, but his touch had become tighter about my waist, pulling me to him.

“No doubt,” I said as we rocked back into motion. “It's after noon.”

“Not that tired,” he said, leaning to whisper it. “Just . . . tired? Are you . . . tired?”

Oh!
Getting it, I felt myself warm. “Gosh, Trent,” I whispered, both pleased and flustered. “People are watching.”

“Let them watch,” he said, motioning for Jonathan to take the girls and go before us. Looking as if he'd rather eat slugs, the tall man maneuvered the girls onto the path and started forward. Ivy and Nina with their new hats fell into place behind them, leaving Jenks to fall back to us. His dust sparkled as we found the sun, and tugging me closer, Trent stole a quick kiss.