Ivy gave him the once-over, her hip cocked. “You know of a place. Why didn’t you mention this before?”

“Because it was abundantly clear that you didn’t want my help,” he said dryly, hands clasped behind his back and coat shifting in the wind off the water.

“You’re not going to take Rachel alone to your place,” Jenks threatened.

I shifted nervously, thinking that standing on a riverbank with dogs coming for me wasn’t the best time to be eating crow, but I would. “Pierce, you’re my freaking hero for driving out here and saving my ass, but this is Trent we’re talking about. The ever-after is the only place I’ll be safe. If I run, his dogs will find me.” I stifled a shiver, but he saw, and I crossed my arms over my chest, pretending to be cold. I hated Trent’s dogs. I really did.

Pierce raised his hand in disagreement even as he pulled a pair of heavy-duty clippers from a back pocket and cut the zip strip off me. “I’m not an innocent in evading dogs,” he said, eyes meeting mine from under his loose curls. “I know a spot nigh close to here. An almighty safe place this side of the lines.” His eyes went to me, black in the solid darkness of a night with no moon. “There will be no black magic. You have my word.”

No black magic. Again I shivered as I remembered the awful sound of animals singing for my blood. We had left Trent’s woods, but he’d ride for me anyway. He was probably saddling Tulpa right now, cleaning his hooves with his daddy’s hoof pick.

Pierce took my hands. Ivy cleared her throat and Jenks clattered his wings. “I can offer you nothing but a hole in the ground,” he said. “But it is a hole never found by dogs or men with rifles. It was used to hide men and women on their way to freedom and is deeply spelled for safety.” He looked over the river as if looking into the past. “I used to be a conductor on the underground railroad, or did that not find its way into Ivy’s computer?” he said dryly.

I bit my lip, and Jenks’s sour look eased. “It’s better than the ever-after and Al,” he said to Ivy, and the vampire grimaced.

Go with Pierce? Alone? Was he kidding? Ivy clearly wasn’t happy with this either, but she finally nodded. “I’d rather have you on this side of the lines,” she said sourly.

Pierce frowned at her mistrust as Jenks dusted a bright silver. Standing beside the river, the witch seemed to change. His mood darkened, and his gaze lingered on the moving water as if testing it. Hands in the pockets of his coat, he asked me, “Can you swim?”