“That’s mine,” he said needlessly, his expression heavy. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me? I’ve got resources for this kind of thing. I can make you disappear, too, but with sunny beaches and little umbrellas in your drinks.”

I considered it and dismissed it in the next heartbeat. I didn’t want to hide, I just needed a place to catch my balance.

“No way!” Jenks shouted. “Rachel is not going anywhere! She left once, and see what happened? That was a bad idea. Pierce doesn’t have a brain in his head. Don’t listen to him, Rache. We got this.”

Ivy raised her hand. “I hate the beach,” she said mildly, and Lee smiled.

“Fair enough,” he said, standing in the middle of our kitchen and meeting everyone’s eyes with his own. “I’m out of here. Good luck.”

“Same to you, Lee.” I impulsively gave him a hug, whispering, “Tell Trent he can suck my toes and die, okay?”

He chuckled, rubbing my head for luck before turning and walking away. I let him get away with it, then carefully fixed my hair. There was a brief pixy hail in the sanctuary as he passed through it, then silence. The church felt almost empty. Sighing, I turned to my library under the center counter. If the coven was coming for me, it was going to be a busy night.

“You spelling tonight? ” Jenks asked as I pulled a mundane spell book out and thumped it on the counter.

“You know it.” Now that Lee was gone, I could get serious. My thoughts strayed to the demon texts, inches from my knees. There were things in there that would stop intruders dead in their tracks. It would be so easy. And wrong. No, not an option.

“I can’t believe you were considering leaving again, Rache,” Jenks said, indignant, his wings stilling to nothing as he landed on the rim of the spell pot I’d just gotten down. “You leave and you’re dead. I don’t care how far Lee’s money can take you. We’ve been in the garden long enough to shore up the defenses, and they’ll have to get through that to reach the church. How long can you stay in a bubble?”

“A bubble won’t help her if they set the church on fire,” Ivy said dryly.

“Maybe I could put the church in a bubble,” I mused as I turned pages, thinking there had to be a way out of this. Besides going to Trent and signing his lousy paper, that is.

“Gas and electrical lines,” Ivy said, always the doomsayer. “No good if it’s witches coming for you. Besides, you want to hide here for how long?”