Ivy sat up from the backseat, a pale arm sliding around her neck. “No, we’re trying to abduct you,” she whispered. “There’s a difference. You’d have more fun if we were trying to pick you up.”

The woman took a breath to scream, and I tapped on her window, shaking my head.

“I wouldn’t,” Ivy breathed, her eyes a nice steady brown.

“Yeah!” Jenks shouted through the glass at her as he hovered at her eye level. “It will only get her excited. You won’t like her if you get her excited.”

“Unlock the door,” Ivy demanded, and Barbie fumbled for the lock, scared.

I opened the door, smiling now so she wouldn’t be so frightened, but it kind of backfired. “Slide over,” I said, gesturing. “Go on. You’re skinny. Get in the passenger seat.”

“Money?” she said, white-faced. “You want money? I don’t have any brimstone. Here, take my purse. Take it!”

“I’ve already been in your purse,” Jenks said from the dash. “You don’t have any.”

“Just slide over,” I said, concerned someone was going to notice me. “Now, Barbie, or I’ll turn you into a frog.”

Jenks’s wings clattered, his dust a happy silver. “She’ll do it!” he warned. “I used to be six feet tall.”

Ivy rolled her eyes, but the woman awkwardly moved over the console. “You really need to stop making up stupid names for people you come in contact with,” the vampire muttered, shifting with her. “It’s not respectful.”

Mood improved, I flipped the seat to put the bag of coffee on the floor. “That’s her real name,” I said as I got in, and Ivy winced.

“Sorry.”

“Please don’t hurt me!” Barbie said, really scared now, and I felt bad as I took the keys Ivy handed over the seat and started up the car with a satisfying rumble.

“Hurting you isn’t in the plan,” I said as I carefully backed up and put it in drive. “So please don’t do anything to change it. All we want is your car for a few hours, and then we will drop you off in downtown Cincinnati with a story that will get you a ghostwritten novel and a movie of the week. Okay?”

Barbie licked her lips. “You’re Rachel Morgan, aren’t you,” she said, eyes wide.

I met Ivy’s eyes in the rearview mirror, not sure if I should be flattered or not. Ivy shrugged, and when Jenks snickered, I turned to the woman, smiling my warmest.

“Yep, and you’re going to help us save the world. What’s your parking spot, Barbie?”

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One