Ever After (The Hollows 11)

"Curious," Ku'Sox said, walking the edge of our circle like a lion in the shadows. "Both of you together? Unexpected." His eyes slid to the ley line. "And potentially troublesome."

Satisfied, I stood straighter. A drop of sugar-coated anger slipped through my fear. "We can prove you did this," I said, and he rolled his eyes. "I'm going to Dali and-"

My words cut off as a wash of energy made Ku'Sox flicker. Trent moaned when it melted away to show Ku'Sox holding Lucy on his hip. The fair-headed little girl was only a year old, innocent of the monster who held her and happy with the world. Her little mouth curved up in a smile when she saw me, and then she cried out when she saw Trent, reaching with her hands for him to come take her.

"Rachel, I can't," Trent said, ashen. "She's my daughter."

"You'll go to Dali and what?" Ku'Sox said as he held her on his hip, his arrogant expression mocking. Beside me, Trent's breath quickened. Shit, he might do anything, I thought, and I grabbed his arm, refusing to let go lest he walk through his circle and break it. This was what had happened in the clearing with Quen and Lucy, and I vowed it would have a new ending.

"Down!" Lucy demanded imperiously when she saw Trent, then, "No! No!" when Ku'Sox tightened his grip.

"She's my godchild. You broke our agreement," I said as the little girl's pout drifted into the realm of a tantrum, and the clean-shaven demon in his three-piece charcoal suit smiled a perfect, evil smile.

"File the paperwork." Frowning, Ku'Sox jiggled Lucy, but she wouldn't be distracted, her hands extended to Trent and pleading for him to come get her. I didn't think I could hate Ku'Sox any more. Trent's hands were fisted, his breathing shallow. Bis's ears were down in indecision, and Jenks hovered at the top of Trent's circle, waiting for instruction. I didn't know what to do. Ku'Sox might hurt her.

Seeing us frozen, Ku'Sox turned the magic wreathing his hand inward. Making a fist, he opened it to release a dozen tiny winged horses, pink, purple, and red. "Love is such a fine weapon when utilized fully," he said as Lucy caught sight of them and was predictably distracted.

I stiffened when he set the wildly wiggling toddler down, but then he gestured, and the horses galloped into the dark, down the broken path and away from me. Shouting in delight, Lucy wobbled after them, her little riding outfit making her a darling of wealth and privilege.

Trent jerked, catching himself before I had to. If we broke the circle, Ku'Sox would have us at his mercy. Still within our sight, Lucy lost her balance and plopped backward onto her butt. Laughing at her own mistake, she crawled to a retaining wall and regained her feet. My teeth clenched, and my heartache turned to hatred. "I'll kill you if you hurt her."

"And then I'll kill you again," Jenks said, his dust an eerie black.

"If either of you touch her, I will eat her soul alive," Ku'Sox said mildly, brushing nonexistent dust from his shoulder. From somewhere in the dark, Lucy giggled.

"This could all be over if you agree to come with me, Trenton Aloysius Kalamack," he said as he stood before us. "Ceri is no good at fixing things," he added, looking scornfully at the small gargoyle when Bis hissed at him. "You need to learn some respect, goyle."

Lucy toddled up, the newly risen moon making her hair a silver halo. Shouting in glee, she threw herself at Ku'Sox's knees, a purple winged horse in her grip. Trent groaned, and my stomach twisted at Ku'Sox's fake smile. "Aren't you a love!" he said brightly as he took her in his arms and rose, giving me an empty black stare when the little girl looked away. Trent was beside himself.

"As you can see, I've not hurt little Lucy," Ku'Sox said, smiling. "I think elf children are sweet, actually. I don't have that grudge against the elves that my kin do. The new world wouldn't have that ugliness."

"Genocide is not a viable path to world peace," I said, seething. "I can prove you broke my line."

Seeing my anger, Lucy began to frown. The horse in her hand was dead, but she didn't let it go. Ku'Sox didn't seem to care. "Do that," he said, holding out a cookie to the little girl, but she'd have none of it anymore and wanted down. "I'll simply say we were working together and you backed out of the deal, leaving me to take the blame."

I thought of those life rafts in the form of infants. The panic I was holding seemed to shake its chain, gaining another few inches of freedom. They'd likely kill me for sure, four days or not. Dali was right. My silence was buying my continued existence.

Lucy ignored the cookie Ku'Sox kept pushing at her, holding her hands out to Trent instead. "Down!" Lucy shrilled, squirming and kicking him. "Do-o-o-own!" she howled when he held her tighter, throwing the cookie Ku'Sox was trying to pacify her with at him. She truly was Ellasbeth's daughter and had the vocal power to prove it. "D-a-a-a-addy!" she cried, reaching out to Trent, her little hands opening and closing. "Daddy!"

Ku'Sox gave her a little jerk, and she screamed at him, filling the night with her anger. Fear lit through me, and I swear he closed his eyes in bliss when he saw it. Lucy kicked furiously, howling and pinching his arm. Having endured enough, Ku'Sox gave her a shake, and the little girl vanished in a wash of ever-after. For a moment, her last cry of outrage echoed against the trees and castle, and then even that was gone.

"No!" Trent raged, a blur as he lunged at Ku'Sox. I gasped as he threw a ball of black-rimmed energy. It tore through his circle. Jenks was up and away in an instant, Bis hot on his dust trail.

"Trent!" I shouted as the cooler air rushed over me. Ku'Sox snarled, deflecting whatever it was right back at Trent. Every blade of grass, every leaf, took on a razor edge. I lunged for Trent but was jerked back by my hair.

"Ow!" I howled, my scalp on fire as Ku'Sox swung me around and threw me to the ground. I got my knees under me, and the demon shoved me down again, so hard my breath was knocked out. Just within my sight, Trent writhed on the ground, taken out by his own magic.

"You are troublesome," Ku'Sox said, and he sat on me, pinning me. There was a circle around us keeping both Jenks and Bis powerless, but I could still tap a line. I flooded him with it and he only sucked in his breath, enjoying it.

"Get off!" I shouted into the gravel, then screamed in pain when he wrenched my arm back, nearly dislocating it.

"Playing with elves?" Ku'Sox said, and the agony let up. He traced the outline of my tattoo with a soft finger, and I shuddered, breathing in the scent of carrion and trying not to throw up. This was exactly why I hadn't wanted to try to fight him. Why did no one listen to me?

"You kill me, and they will be looking at you to fix the line," I rasped in the dark, scared to death as I felt him fingering the elven chastity ring. "They know you're responsible for it."

"As you say," he drawled, and I felt the ring spin on my finger. "But we also both know they're cowards, and if you can't overpower me, then they'll kill you to gain my good graces again. Is this how you found the strength to shift the imbalance back to the proper line?" he said, tugging experimentally at the ring. "Ingenious, melding your abilities with an elf to best me. Tsk-tsk. Mustn't play with wild animals."

"No, wait!" I shouted, helpless, and he gave a tug.

Ku'Sox's cry of pain was like audible lightning, jerking through me. My arm thudded down on the gravel path, numb and unmoving as he was suddenly not sitting on me but writhing three feet away-his circle broken. It was the ring. It had its own safeguards, and they had just saved my ass.

"Rache! Get up!" Jenks was shouting, his sparkles filling my vision and lighting the night. Dazed, I sat up, dead arm cradled in my lap. "Get up!" he yelled again, and I staggered to my feet. Ku'Sox was picking himself up off the ground. He was between me and Trent, the elf still gasping at his own spell. For an instant, we froze, and with a snarl, Ku'Sox turned to Trent.

"No!" I shouted as the demon went for him, but it was too late, and I ran smack into Ku'Sox's circle. "Trent!" I exclaimed as I hammered on it, shocks of fire cramping my arm.

Ku'Sox had pulled Trent to his feet, and I was sure it was the last I'd see of him, but with his arm around Trent's neck, the demon bared his teeth at me. Teeth clenched, I pushed my fingers into his field. There had to be a weakness, a hole. Pinpricks turned to fire, and agony pulsed with my heartbeat as I pressed harder.

"Rache! You're burning your hand!" Jenks shouted, and with a cry of frustrated pain, I spun away, fingers throbbing. I couldn't do it. He was stronger than me. But I'd known that already.

Ku'Sox looked me up and down, evaluating."Clever, giving your elf the master ring," he snarled, clearly out of sorts for the wallop he'd taken, his back hunched and his perfect hair out of place. "I'm willing to wager I can take this one," he said, wrestling Trent's arm up. Trent tried to wiggle free, and Ku'Sox flooded him with energy. I saw it dancing over him like ants, sparkling in the dark. Trent groaned and went still, his eyes bloodshot as he hung in Ku'Sox's grip, his hand with the chastity ring splayed open.

"You son of a bitch!" I shouted, burned hand cradled as he pulled the ring from Trent and let him fall to the ground, a slumped shadow in the dark. There was a quiver in my chi as the connection failed, but it didn't matter.

He was going to take him, I thought in anguish as Ku'Sox made a fist around the ring and let the twisted mass of metal hit the ground beside Trent.

"Mustn't play with demons, little elf," Ku'Sox mocked as he leaned over Trent and nudged him with a foot. "You'll end up dead, and I need you. Come with me of your free will, or I will cause you more pain, more heartache than you can bear."

"No-o-o," Trent breathed, the pain in his voice cutting me to my soul.

"I'm not going to let you do this!" I shouted, and Ku'Sox straightened, the lamplight making his expression on his long features ugly. Looking at him past the strands of my hair, my hatred grew. "I know how to fix the line, and we will stop you," I vowed. "This will see you dead. I'm done being nice."

Trent's head came up. With a lip-curling sneer, Ku'Sox dismissed my words. "Kill me? Chances are you won't, but no need to take chances."

I stiffened when the circle surrounding Ku'Sox and Trent fell, but he wasn't interested in me anymore. "You, I can take. Come with me," Ku'Sox said, pointing at Bis, and the gargoyle spread his wings in alarm.

"Bis!" I shouted as both he and Ku'Sox vanished in twin pops of inrushing air. Shocked, I stared, unbelieving in the new silence. Ku'Sox had taken Bis? Why? But the answer was obvious. Without Bis, I couldn't fix the line, rings or no rings.

Ashen-faced, I stared at Trent. He was as stunned as I was. The lantern's glow fell upon the three of us, Jenks's dust shifting to a dismal blue. They were gone. They were gone!

I stared for three seconds at where Bis had been. "No!" I shouted, unbelieving this had happened. "This is not fair!" I shouted at the sky, staggering three steps, but there was nowhere to go. "It's not fair," I said softer, then began to cry. I didn't want to, but the tears came.

Sobbing, I dropped where I was, curled my knees to my chest, and just cried. He had Lucy. He had Ceri. And now he had Bis. Bis. He had Bis, damn it. I was responsible for the kid. And Ku'Sox took him like plucking a flower from a field. I was so stupid.

"Rache? You okay?" Jenks asked from my shoulder, and I lifted my head, wiping my eyes only to get grit in them. Jenks was okay. I knew he would be. Ku'Sox must think he wasn't a threat.

"Ask me Saturday morning," I said, my resolve beginning to gather.

Jenks flitted up to my knee, his flight wobbly but growing more steady. "How are we going to get him back?" he asked, his face tight and his determination obvious.

Moving slowly, I got to my feet, too numb to even look at Trent. He had lost Lucy again, and I didn't want to see that pain. "Plan C," I said. Trent had seen me cry. I didn't care. That butcher had Bis, Lucy, Ceri . . .

Jenks landed on my good hand, and my arm ached where Ku'Sox had pulled it. "What's plan C?"

Taking the remaining chastity ring off my finger, I threw it into the dark. Between me and the river was the broken line, and I looked at it, shaking. He'd taken Bis, Lucy, and Ceri. If I got the chance, I was going to kill him.

"You don't want to know."