He meant the demons, and my arm dropped, chilled against the cold metal. “Why are you concerned about Cincinnati or the vampires?”

“I’m not. I simply don’t want to go back.” He turned to me. “Ever.”

If he was proposing an end to magic, it was a good bet he had a way to fix it. “Then maybe you should try playing by our rules.”

“Maybe we already are,” he shot back.

“Right.” Mistrusting this, I leaned back in my chair, tugging my robe closed when it threatened to fall open. “So I break the lines to keep surface demons out and you here. Everyone is mad at me.” I hesitated as he beamed at me. “Except the demons, who set themselves up as king.”

“That’s about it.”

“You do it. I don’t have time to learn a new life skill,” I said, and he put a hand atop the table, leaning over me with his breath smelling of Brimstone.

“You are the only one with mystics in her.” He took a breath. “Rachel.”

I put a finger on his chest and backed him up. “So now mystics are a good thing?”

“Does it feel like a good thing?”

The birds were getting noisy, and I shook my head. It didn’t feel good. Not at all. “I didn’t ask for this,” I said, and Al looked toward the house.

“Be careful what you wish for,” he said, and I watched as a sheet of ever-after fell over him, clothing him back in his usual green crushed-velvet coat and top hat. His shoulders broadened, and his middle became thicker, more muscular.

“Because you might get it,” I finished, wondering why he’d changed until Ellasbeth’s voice rose in distress. Great, they were coming out here, and I tugged my robe closer. “Be nice,” I warned Al, and he gave me an innocent look.

Oh God, it wasn’t just Trent, but Ellasbeth and the girls, too. Lucy made a shrill demand when she spotted Al, thumping her fists into the door to be let out.

“Rachel didn’t charm you,” Trent said as the door opened and Lucy darted out before he saw Al and me waiting. “You simply fell asleep.”

“Trenton!” Ellasbeth shrieked, panicking as Lucy ran to Al.

“Allie, Allie, Allie!” the little girl cried, flinging herself at the demon’s knees. Al winced, hastily covering his crotch as she flung her doll around. Ray was no less captivated, watching Al from Trent’s hip, her evaluating eyes never looking away.

“Get her away from him!” Ellasbeth demanded, frozen at the door as she wanted to both fly at him and run back in the house.

“Good morning, Ellasbeth,” I said, and she looked at me, horrified and hyperventilating as I calmly sat at the table.

“Ellasbeth,” Al purred, delighting in the fear he’d instilled as he sat down and took Lucy onto his lap. “How nice to see you.”