Mood worsening, I got in and closed my door before he could do it. My belt clicked shut, and he slid behind the wheel and started his little gray car up. I didn’t say a word as he pulled out and headed for the bridge. David’s cologne became cloying, and I cracked the window.

“You don’t mind going in without your charms?” David asked.

His tone lacked the expected disgust, and I seized on that. “I’ve gone in charmless before,” I said. “And I trust Ivy to get them to me.”

His head didn’t move, though his eyes tightened in the corners. “My old partner never was without his charms. I’d laugh at him when we’d go in and he’d have three or four of them hanging around his neck. ‘David,’ he’d say, ‘this one’s for seeing if they’re lying. This one’s for knowing if they’re under a disguise. And this one’s for telling me if they’re carrying a bunch of energy around in their chi and are ready to blast us all to hell.’”

I glanced at him, my mood softening. “You don’t mind working with witches.”

“No.” He took his hand off the wheel when we rumbled over a railroad track. “His charms saved me a lot of pain. But I can’t tell you the number of times he spent fumbling for the right spell when a good right cross would have settled things faster.”

We crossed the river into Cincinnati proper, and the buildings made flickering come-and-go shadows on me. He was prejudiced only when sex came into the picture. I could handle that. “I’m not going in completely helpless,” I said, warming slightly. “I can make a protection circle around myself if I have to. But I’m really an earth witch. Which might make things difficult as it’s harder to bring someone in if you can’t do the same magic.” I made a face he didn’t see. “Then again, there’s no way I can beat Saladan at ley line magic, so it’s just as well I’m not even going to try. I’ll get him with my earth charms or my foot in his gut.”

David brought the car to a slow halt at a red light. Face showing the first signs of interest, he turned to me. “I heard you brought down three ley line assassins.”

“Oh, that.” I warmed. “I had help with that. The FIB was there.”

“You brought Piscary down yourself.”

The light changed, and I appreciated him not creeping up on the car ahead of us until it moved. “Trent’s security officer helped me,” I admitted.

“He distracted him,” David said softly. “You were the one who clubbed him into unconsciousness.”

Pressing my knees together, I turned to look at him straight on. “How do you know?”

David’s heavy jaw tightened and relaxed, but he didn’t look from the street. “I talked to Jenks this morning.”

“What!” I exclaimed, almost hitting my head on the ceiling. “Is he okay? What did he say? Did you tell him I was sorry? Will he talk to me if I call him?”