“You get my standard sitting rate,” Trent said, almost shouting over Ellasbeth’s hysterics as Al picked Lucy up. “You stay on the top floor and out of my room. And my spelling hut. And everything else. No phone, no scrying, no showing them off to anyone. I want them here in my apartments at all times.”

“De-e-e-elighted,” the demon said, then vanished with both girls.

“Trent!” Ellasbeth screamed.

Giving her a sidelong glance, I sidled up to Trent. “You forgot to tell him no visitors.”

Trent’s breath hissed in between his teeth. “Oooh, I did, didn’t I.”

“Trenton Aloysius Kalamack!” Ellasbeth exclaimed as she pushed between us, her face red. “Where are my girls?”

He pointed inside when Lucy’s laughing giggle echoed into the patio. Hand to her mouth, Ellasbeth bolted inside. “You’re welcome to stay,” Trent said loudly, but she was already inside. Only now did a faint worry line wrinkle his forehead. “Tell me this isn’t a mistake.”

Smiling, I gave him a hug. “This isn’t a mistake,” I said, feeling his arms take me in and make me strong. “He’s the only one who might agree to play by our rules. The rest need to be shamed into it. Thank you.”

I dropped back to see a lingering worry in him. “I’m going to miss you today, too.”

He was tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, and I felt loved. “Maybe we can have dinner or something.”

But I knew that I’d be lucky to end today still standing. If Felix had committed suncide, Nina was going to be out of control and Cincinnati’s old vampires would be a conflicted terror of want, desire, and fear. What tore at me though was that Ivy’s hope of ever saving her soul was now tied to a maybe.

And as I gave Trent a kiss and felt his grasp slip from me, I vowed that Ivy was going to get her happy ending. Even if it killed me.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

My breath caught and I stomped on the brake when the car ahead of me squealed to a stop. Head swinging, I flicked my eyes to the rearview mirror, wincing until the car behind me stopped as well. I was trying to get to Fountain Square. Ivy and I were having lunch before digging through the mess at the church. Yes, I should be in some library looking for how to close the lines, but Ivy needed me, needed me to tell her that one blood orgy wasn’t the end. Besides, I had to do something normal for a few hours before I started saving the world again.