Saying nothing, Jenks stilled his wings and dropped to the ground. Side by side, we started through the shoulder-high grass to the looming presence of the church. The steeple stood out black and strong against the pale blue of the sunset sky, and I wondered how Bis would take it when he woke up. Must be a bitch to be out of it so deeply.

“I don’t know how you do this,” I said as we detoured around a rock that was probably only the size of my thumb.

Jenks’s wings shrugged. “It’s easier when you can fly. They’ll have a hard time of it.”

He was talking about the fairies. “Feeling sorry for them?” I asked.

“Tink’s panties, no!” he protested, but it was wispy and drained. Jenks turned at a thumping of feet, and I wasn’t surprised to see Pierce jogging to catch up with us.

“You’re of a mind to untwist the curse?” he asked, face shadowed in the dusk and the fire behind him. His features were indistinct, and I shivered again. It was so cold.

Pierce was on one side of me, Jenks on the other, and it was the safest I’d felt in a long time, though a snake could eat me. “I have to talk to Ceri about the fairies. I asked them to live with her,” I said, and Pierce started, a happy grunt coming from him.

“That’s an all-fired good scheme,” he said, and Jenks looked over my head at him.

“Of course it’s a good plan. Rache doesn’t come up with stupid plans. She’s always got an out. You just think she doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

I wish. I held the coat tighter, my feet numb with cold. I’d been thinking all day about how I might get the coven off my back. They seemed to think that Trent could control me, so if I could control Trent, I might have a chance. Not through the familiar bond, but good old-fashioned manipulation. The Pandora charm had reminded me of an old tradition, one I needed to start again.

“Fairies in his garden,” Jenks said, clearly liking the thought. “And wingless ones at that? Trent is going to be more unhappy than a skunk in a troll’s garden.”

Seeing him nearly smile, something went to my heart and twisted. God, I hoped he found a new love. But where? In a few years, he’d be the oldest pixy to ever live. He wasn’t going to find anyone with the emotional experience he now had. He’d need that. Deserved it.

We reached the steps, and I looked up. It was only four steps, but they looked huge. Turning, I found Ivy watching. Ma-a-a-an, I did not want to be carried in like a baby.