I let a faint smile come over me. It was nice to have someone worried about me. “Sure. Thanks. Something with chocolate?”

“Chocolate,” Nick affirmed, standing up. He glanced from the vending machines across the room to Francis. The snot was leaning halfway across the counter, probably trying to get her phone number. I watched Nick walk away. For someone so thin, he certainly moved with grace. I wondered what he had done to have gotten hauled into the FIB.

“Something with chocolate,” Jenks drawled in a high falsetto. “Ohhhh, Nick. You’re my hero!”

“Get stuffed,” I said, more out of habit than anything else.

“Ya know something, Rache,” Jenks said as he settled himself further on my shoulder. “You’re going to make one really weird grandma.”

I was too tired to come back with anything. I took a deep breath, making it slow so nothing would hurt. My eyes flicked from Francis and back to Nick, anticipation making my stomach feel tight. “Jenks,” I said, watching Nick’s tall shape as he stood before the candy machine, his head bowed over the change in his hand. “What do you think about Nick?”

The pixy snorted, then seeing I was serious, settled down. “He’s okay,” he said. “Won’t do anything to hurt you. He’s got this hero complex thing going, and you seem to need rescuing. You should have seen his face when you were flat out on Ivy’s couch. I thought he was going to turn up his toes to the daisies. Just don’t expect him to have your ideas of right or wrong.”

My eyebrows pinched, hurting my face. “Black magic?” I whispered. “Oh God, Jenks. Don’t tell me he’s a practitioner?”

Jenks laughed, sounding like wind chimes. “No. I meant he doesn’t have a problem stealing library books.”

“Oh.” I thought back to his unease in the FIB office and then in the van. Was that all it was? Somehow, I didn’t think so. But pixies were known for their judge of character, no matter how flighty, flaky, or mouthy they were. I wondered if Jenks’s opinion would change if he knew about my demon mark. I was afraid to ask. Hell, I was too afraid to show it to him.

I looked up as Francis laughed, writing something down on a paper and pushing it toward the ticket lady. He wiped a hand under his narrow nose and gave her a ratty grin. “Good girl,” I whispered when she crumpled it up and tossed it over her shoulder as Francis headed for the door.

My heart seemed to catch. He was headed for the door! Damn.

I glanced up for help. Nick was struggling with the machine, his back to me. Edden was deep in conversation with an official-looking man in a bus uniform. The captain’s face was red, and his eyes were fixed to the boxes behind the counter. “Jenks,” I said tersely. “Get Edden.”

“What? You want me to crawl over there, maybe?”

Francis was halfway to the door. I didn’t trust Clayton outside to be able to stop a dog from taking a leak. I stood, praying that Edden would turn around. He didn’t. “Get him,” I muttered, ignoring Jenks’s outrage as I plucked him from my shoulder and set him on the floor.