“Still…” Al exhaled as he sat in the chair across from me. His shirt was open, showing a sliver of smooth flesh. “Pushing through a line is like scraping your bike on the pavement.”

Treble had a thick claw delicately in the coffee press as she plucked out a tablespoon of the wet grounds and ate it. “I’ll say. She made one hell of a ley line, dragging her sorry existence a full twenty feet as the earth turned under her until she got out.”

I made a what?

Al choked, setting his coffee down and dabbing at his lips. “Treble, leave.”

She glared at Bis. “And you left her there!” she berated him, making his ears droop even more. “Ignorant pebble. Stay out of the lines until you’re taught, or I’ll stone you myself!”

Bis was trembling, unable to look up, and I had my hand atop his back. I’d made a ley line? No freaking way! “You need to lighten up,” I said, and she hissed, her tail lashing as she started jamming coffee grounds into her mouth as if she’d never see them again.

“Rachel, don’t threaten the gargoyle; they bite,” Al said, his furrowed brow giving me the impression the gargoyle had let slip something Al hadn’t wanted me to know. “Treble, leave.”

“Well, she did!” Treble protested, grounds spilling from her mouth.

Al’s skin tone went black, and I swear, a hint of horns appeared. He was halfway between himself and that vision of a demon god. “Leave.”

Sullen, the gargoyle hopped to the fireplace, hanging by the mantel with her wings wide to block the heat. Folding them, she scuttled up the flue, making bits of mortar fall into the fire. Bis’s claws relaxed, and I yelped when they dug into me again when Al said, “You as well, Bis. Let me jump you home. No need to make any more holes, yes? I want to talk to Rachel.”

“Uh,” I stammered, trying to get Bis’s claws out of me as my thoughts flashed back to the vision of Al naked before the fireplace as a black-skinned devil.

Al smiled at Bis, playing the good cop as his skin lightened again to its usual color. The demon appeared relaxed, resting easy in his chair in a soft white shirt and with a tiny cup of coffee. “You should tell Ivy and Jenks that Rachel is okay. I’m sure they’re worried.”

Since when was Al concerned about Ivy and Jenks? Bis shook his head, but scary visions of a naked big Al aside, I wanted him out of here so I could hear about the ley line I’d made. No. Way. “Go on, Bis,” I said, unwinding his tail from me. “If I’m not back by sunrise, have Ivy summon me home.”