White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows 7)

Someone's phone started to ring, ignored until I realized it was mine. Relishing the chance to extricate myself, I fled to the front door where I'd left my bag and searched it, thinking "Break on Through to the Other Side" must be Pierce's idea of a joke. Not bad, considering he had a hundred and fifty years of music to catch up on. "Sorry," I said when I read Edden's number. "I should take this. It's my cop friend's dad. The one in the hospital?"

My mom made flustered waving motions, and I turned my back on them for some privacy. A ping of adrenaline pulsed through me. I didn't think this was about Glenn, but I didn't want to tell them I was working on bringing in a banshee. Robbie thought I was irresponsible enough already.

My mom and Robbie's excited conversation retreated to background noise when I flipped the top open and put it to my ear. "Hi, Edden," I said in greeting, immediately recognizing that he was in the office by the faint chatter. "What's up?"

"Don't have your TV on, do you," he said, and a second flush of adrenaline built on the first.

"What is it?" I said, looking for my boots. My first thought was Glenn, but Edden sounded excited, not upset.

"Mia is at Circle Mall," he said, and my eyes darted to my bag, glad now I'd brought the charm. I didn't need it, but I'd know for sure if I'd done it right or not. "She was in the food court," Edden was saying, "her and her baby soaking up the ambient emotions. I'm guessing it wasn't enough because a fight broke out and turned into a riot. Never would have found her otherwise."

"Holy shit," I breathed, then covered my mouth. My eyes went to my mom's, and she sighed when I leaned against the wall to put on my boots. "Is Remus there?"

"Ye-e-ep," Edden said dryly. "We've got most of the bystanders out and the mall locked down. It's a mess. I'm on my way there now, and I'd like you there to help bring her in. She being an Inderlander and all. I don't have many of them on my payroll."

He didn't have any on his permanent payroll for legal reasons. My hands were shaking as I shrugged into my coat, but it was excitement. "I can be there in ten minutes. Five if I don't have to park my car."

"I'll tell them you're on the way," he said, and I made a noise so he wouldn't hang up.

"Wait. I'm going to be a while. I need to go back and get Jenks." If I was bringing in a banshee, I needed him. I'd like to have Ivy, too, but she was out.

"Alex is on his way to get Jenks already," Edden said, and I zipped my coat closed and dug out my keys, smacking the bad-mojo amulet with my knuckles. "I called the church first, and he wanted in on it."

"Thanks, Edden," I said, truly pleased that he was sending someone for Jenks not only because now I didn't have to, but that he'd thought of Jenks at all. "You're a peach."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said, and I could hear his smile. "I bet you say that to all the captains."

"Just the ones who let me kick ass," I said, then broke the connection.

Excited, I turned to the living room. I froze, seeing Mom, Robbie, and Marshal sitting on the couch together, all staring at me. I looked at myself, already dressed for the cold, and I warmed. My keys jingled as I shifted, and I gave them a sick smile. Damn it, I was ready to walk out the door, and I had forgotten all about them. Oh crap. We'd driven Marshal's car.

"Uh, I have to go," I said as I put my keys away. "There's a problem at the mall. Uh, Marshal?"

Marshal stood, smiling in a rather fond way that I wasn't sure how to take. "I'll get the car warmed up while you say good-bye."

Robbie's expression was dark, like I should sit and have coffee with them instead of going to do my job, but damn it, runs happened when runs happened, and I couldn't live up to his ideas of what my life should be. "Rachel-" he started, and my mother put a hand on his knee.

"Robbie. Shut the hell up."

Marshal made a guffaw he quickly shifted into a cough, but I felt miserable. "Don't worry about it," the tall man muttered from beside me, then purposely bumped into me as he put on his shoes. "It's not a problem."

"Mom," Robbie protested.

My blood pressure spiked. Maybe we should have brought two cars, but then I'd be leaving Marshal alone here, and that wasn't any better.

Putting her hand heavily on Robbie's shoulder, my mother stood. "Marshal, I'll pack your pie up for you. It was nice to see you again. Thank you for coming over."

Marshal looked up from tying his boots and smiled. "It was a real pleasure, Mrs. Morgan. Thanks for having me. I enjoyed the pictures."

She hesitated, a hint of her worry showing, then she nodded and hustled into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," I said to Marshal.

Marshal touched my shoulder through my coat. "It's okay. Just bring the pie out with you, okay? Your mom makes great pie."

"Okay," I whispered, and he turned and left. A brief gust of cold air blew in. It was snowing again. I still felt bad, and when I turned from shutting the door behind Marshal, I almost ran into Robbie. My head snapped up, and immediately my worry turned to anger. He was staring at me, and I stared right back, eye to eye, me in my boots and him still in socks.

"Rachel, you are such an ass sometimes. I can't believe you're walking out of here."

My eyes narrowed. "This is my job, Bert," I said, hitting the nickname hard. "Mom doesn't have a problem with it. You aren't around enough to have a say, so get out of my face."

He took a breath to protest, grimacing and dropping back when Mom hustled in from the kitchen, two pieces of pie on a plate covered with clear wrap. "Here you go, sweetheart," she said, elbowing Robbie out of her way to give me a hug good-bye. "Give us a call when it's over so we can sleep this morning."

Relief spilled through me that I didn't have to explain or that she wasn't trying to make me feel guilty for cutting out early. "Thanks, Mom." I breathed in her lilac scent as she gave me a quick squeeze and rocked back.

"I'm proud of you," she said as she handed me the pie. "Go kick some bad-guy ass."

I felt the prick of tears, glad she accepted that I couldn't be the daughter she wanted, and that she was proud of the daughter I was. "Thanks," I managed, clearing my throat to get the lump out of it, but it didn't work.

Giving Robbie a sharp look in turn, she said, "You two make up. Now." And with nothing more, she took the tray of coffee and returned to the kitchen.

Robbie's jaw tightened, belligerent to the end, and I forced myself to relax. I knew better than to walk out of here mad at him. It might be another seven years before I saw him again.

"Look," I said. "I'm sorry. But this is what I do. I'm not nine to five, and Mom's cool with that." He was looking at the bad-mojo amulet in my open bag, and I hid it behind my back. "You'll try to find that book, right?" I said, suddenly unsure, then I tightened my scarf.

Robbie hesitated, and then his shoulders eased. "Yeah. I will," he said around a sigh. "But I don't agree with what you're doing."

"Like you ever did," I said, finding a smile somewhere as I opened the door. "I'm happy for you and Cindy," I said. "Really. I can't wait to meet her."

At that, he finally smiled, too. "I'll give you her phone number," he said, gesturing to the night, "and you can call her. She's dying to meet you. She wants to do her thesis on you."

I jerked to a stop in the threshold and turned. "Why?" I asked suspiciously, and he lifted one shoulder and let it fall.

"Uh, I told her about your demon marks," he said. "I mean, she's a witch and all. She was going to see the smut on your aura and figure it out."

I came back inside and shut the door. "You told her what?" I said loudly, glad I had my gloves on to cover the demon mark on my wrist. I really needed to push Al into taking his name back so I could get rid of at least one of them.

"Sorry," he said smugly, not looking at all apologetic. "Maybe I shouldn't have, but I didn't want her to meet you and not have an explanation about the smut."

I waved a hand between us. "I mean, why does she want to do her thesis on me?"

Robbie blinked. "Oh! Uh, she's majoring in criminology. I told her you're a white witch with demon smut gained saving someone's life. That you can still be good and be covered in smut." He hesitated. "That's okay, isn't it?"

Giving myself a mental shake, I nodded. "Yeah. Sure."

"Here," he said, handing me the envelope with the tickets. "Don't forget these."

"Thanks." The banshee tear was a hard lump in my pocket when I shoved the tickets away. "Maybe I'll trade them in for an earlier flight."

"That'd be great! We'd love it if you came out early. Just let us know, and we'll get the guest room cleaned up." He smiled at me toothily. "You know you're welcome anytime."

I gave him a hug good-bye before I stepped away and opened the door. The night had a dry sharpness, and I looked at Marshal, waiting, as I went down the shoveled walk. The porch light flicked on, and I waved at the shadow by the window. Robbie's last words went around and around in my thoughts, and I kept repeating them, trying to figure out why they bothered me.

"The mall?" Marshal said cheerfully when I got in, probably glad that I'd pulled him out from under my mom's often one-sided conversation. I handed him the pie and he made an appreciative "Mmmm."

"Yes, the mall," I said before putting on my seat belt.

The car was warm and the windows defrosted, but cold hit me when Robbie's last words finally penetrated and I blinked fast. I'm welcome anytime. I knew he had meant them to be full of acceptance, but that he had felt the need to say them said much more. He was getting married. He was moving on with his life, becoming a part of it, immersing himself and finding a place on the wheel. By getting married, he was no longer just my brother, he was someone else's husband. And though we argued a lot, a bond was being broken by the simple fact that he was no longer alone. He was a part of something bigger, and by inviting me in, he had unintentionally told me I was an outsider.

"Your mom makes really good pie," Marshal said, and I smiled at him across the long seat. Mindful of the ice, he put the car in gear and slowly headed for the mall.

"Yes, she does," I said, depressed. Maybe I should look at it as if I hadn't lost a brother, but had gained a sister.

Ri-i-i-i-ight.