“Yeah, fun,” I said, giving Trent a sharp look. If Jenks didn’t come back, I would be all over Trent like a pissed…demon. “No airplanes on the way home,” I added, and Trent nodded carefully, so as not to unbalance Jenks.

“No airplanes,” Trent said.

“And keep him warm. He likes it warm.”

“God, Rache. Shut up!” Jenks said, sitting down, looking right on Trent’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine. We’re probably just going to steal his grandmother’s ring back.”

Somehow, as I settled back into the leather, I doubted that, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d just saved or damned my ass.

Sixteen

The sun was almost up, and I stretched beside the car in the brightening, predawn damp, feeling all the bruises that I’d gotten in Margaritaville. There weren’t many people around this time of day, either Inderlanders or humans, and a quiet hush held our voices down. It was either that or we were all too numb to say anything. Here among the buildings, the fog had retreated, but the glimpse I got of the bay on the way in said that it would be a while before it lifted and I’d get a glimpse of Alcatraz.

Squinting up at the brightening sky, I breathed deep to bring in the scent of salt, old garbage, exhaust, and the sticky smell of the petunias in the huge planters outside the hotel. The air felt slippery from the salt, and I shifted my shoulders as if trying to fit in a new skin. The hotel stretching above us looked nice, I guess. Ivy had made the reservations, so it would have to be. Trent had a room here, too, which was convenient. He was currently with Vivian and the doorman. I lifted my bag out of the trunk, then Trent’s. Ivy already had her bag, and was heading in, the small carry-on rolling quietly behind her. I hurt all over, and I set the bags down with a click of plastic.

“Jenks, stay close,” I said when I caught sight of the pixies tending the huge flowerpots. They looked almost militant. A traveling pixy was almost as rare as a sole traveling vampire.

Jenks darted from me to prove he wasn’t scared, the overhead light glinting on his sword. “God, it feels good to be at sea level,” he said, facing the unseen bay. “Smell that?”

I winced, my thoughts drifting to Alcatraz. It seemed a whole lot more real that I might end up there now. “Sure. Nice.” But it did feel good to get out of the car. “You want to go in and check the lobby for lethal charms?” It might be overkill, but we did have reservations, and I wouldn’t put it past the coven to hit me here—seeing that Vivian had ridden almost the entire way with us and they probably didn’t want a credible witness to my death.

Giving me a thumbs-up, he followed Trent inside when the doorman returned to his station to call a cab for Vivian. She was staying down on the bay with the rest of the coven in someone’s house. Glancing at Pierce, who was standing alone and looking like a doorman himself with his vest and hat, she came up to me, smiling.