“Oh for the love of the Turn!” I protested, exasperated. “Al let me have the day off because he wanted to beat Pierce to a pulp, not because I damaged my aura. I’m fine! Just … go pick out something for the grill, okay?”

The tall woman raised an eyebrow and cocked her hip as if she didn’t believe me. I could understand why. Al rarely let me have his night off, and I think my coming back early had interrupted her plans. Though I’d seen no evidence of it, I was sure the living vampire took my weekly twenty-four-hour absence as an opportunity to slake her “other” hunger—the one that we couldn’t find a bottle of in the grocery store.

“I said I’m fine,” I growled, tugging the eco-friendly sack she made me shop with higher up on my shoulder. “Will you let me breathe?”

Giving me a look, she turned on a booted heel and walked through the produce section, looking like a model in jeans and a short black-and-dark-green jacket. Spiked boots made her even taller. Her lightweight cloth coat was a step away from her usual leather, but the gold trim made it scrumptiously rich. She was growing her hair out again, and the straight black was almost down to her shoulders once more. Ivy could have been a model. Hell, Ivy could be anything she wanted. Except happy. Ivy had issues.

“Good God,” I muttered. “What a pain in the ass.”

Ivy didn’t miss a step. “I heard that.”

Alone for the first time in hours, my tension eased. Today had not been fun. I hadn’t slept well after getting back to the church. The sliver of trust I’d put in Al was seriously in doubt. Not that I ever trusted him, but I’d thought our arrangement had bestowed a measure of honesty between us. Guess not. I wasn’t happy with Pierce either. He was a teenage crush from a time when life spread long and wide, and consequences reached only to Friday, date night. I was done entertaining crushes, angry with Pierce for having risked everything to impress me. I wasn’t impressed, and he could fall into a volcano for all I cared.

It had almost been a relief to be awakened from a restless sleep at an ungodly ten in the morning by the sound of Jenks’s cat, Rex, crashing into walls while chasing pixy kids. Ivy had actually made me breakfast, then hung around in the kitchen messing with her computer while I’d whipped up a batch of sleepy-time charms. Then she made me lunch. I’d finally told her I was going grocery shopping just to have some time alone. I figured she’d stay home, but no-o-o-o. Jenks had all but laughed his wings off and said he’d watch the church. Smart man.

Apparently I’d told Ivy just enough about Al’s trickery to worry her. She knew enough about witch magic to realize that messing with auras might give me insight into how to save her soul. Maybe that was her problem. I was sure that my “progress” would make it to Rynn Cormel’s ears, her master vampire and the man we both looked to for protection from other vampires. I should be thankful, but I really detested the dead vamp.