Chapters (42)
- Title Page
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Acknowledgements
- Also by Kim Harrison
- Copyright
- About the Publisher
- Cover
I had to think about that for a moment, first to piece together what he was saying, and then to figure out why we hadn’t left. I had nothing for Nick but bad feelings, yet here I was. “I need to sleep,” I finally said, “and I don’t want to do it on a bus touring Cincinnati.” My gaze returned to Pierce, finding a surprising amount of tension in him. “Relax. I’ve known Nick for a couple of years. We did okay until it fell apart. I don’t trust him, but I think he loved me in his own way once. Even if he did sell information to Al about me.”
That last had been barely muttered, but Pierce had shifted to look at Nick. “The lickfinger,” he said. “You’re a powerful more forgiving person than me, Rachel. I would have—”
His words cut off, and I looked at him sharply. “What?” I asked, remembering his black magic—magic not only black in name but deed, too. “What would you have done, Pierce?”
He dropped his eyes at my pointed look, silent, and I turned back to Nick in a huff. The more I knew about Pierce, the more I worried. And I didn’t need a babysitter.
Out the back window, I watched Nick hand the garage guy the bag from the coffeehouse and shuffle our way. Pierce squinted at Nick when he opened the door and leaned to look in. “You want those bands off?” Nick asked, holding the clippers up.
Immediately I shoved Pierce to get out, grabbing my bag in passing as I slid across and found my feet beside him. It smelled like acetylene torch and oil, and three ragged guys were watching us as I held out my wrist.The metal was cold against my skin, and I shivered when the zip strip was clipped through. The strand parted with a little thump, and I rubbed my wrist.
“God, that feels good,” I said as I reached for a ley line, realizing where we were in the process. Not far from the university. Cool. “Thanks, Nick.” My chi filled, and my shoulders eased when I spindled a little bit extra in my head. It was easier now to stand confidently under the eyes of men talking in low tones and accents hard for me to follow. My knees felt better, too.
“Thank you,” Pierce said stiffly, and Jax zipped down in a bow of silver dust, catching Pierce’s zip strip before it hit the stained concrete, taking both of them to a high shelf. I wasn’t surprised that Pierce remained looking like Tom when his band fell away. He’d probably keep his true appearance to himself for the same reason I was holding my old-lady disguise back.