Trent’s cell was ringing, and we stared at the twin doors before us—waiting. There was only a muted conversation from a TV. My pulse hammered, and then, so soft as to almost be imagined, the repeated ping of an incoming call rang from a tiny speaker.

It was coming from behind us.

I spun. Jenks darted to one of the doors across the hall, pointing at it with exaggerated excitement. I slid Trent’s phone away and took up the smooth feel of cool steel instead.

“No spells,” Trent hissed.

“You think I’m going to shoot Lucy?” I said tartly.

Frowning, he took up a position on one side of the door, and I took the other. “Housekeeping,” I whispered, trying to keep the key from scraping as I fit it, but it was the master key and it needed some persuasion.

“Let me.” Trent wrenched the handle and the key at the same time, and the lock clicked open.

Jenks zipped in before the door was even half an inch out of the frame. “Moss-wipe elf!” he exclaimed, and Trent shoved the door open in a panic. “Tink’s a Disney whore. Rache!”

Panicked, Trent lurched in, leaving me to try to get the key out of the lock so I could shut the door. That call might have carried, and the last thing I wanted was Landon to find us.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Jenks shrilled, and I finally got the key free. “I think you got him!”

Flushed, I shoved the door shut and bolted into the outer sitting room. Trent had one knee on the back of a big, blond, and unconscious man. The scent of ozone was thick, and Jenks’s dust sparked as it picked up the unspent magic. Behind them, Ellasbeth watched with wide eyes. She was tied to a chair and gagged, and my lips parted. Ellasbeth was tied to a chair? Oh, she was pissed, too, her face red and muffled shouts trying to escape around her gag. I wasn’t sure I wanted to untie her. Shaking with adrenaline, Trent looked up at me, then Ellasbeth. He made no move to untie her either, and the woman jumped in the chair, furious.

“Nicely done, Mr. Kung Fu!” Jenks said, clearly impressed. “You didn’t kill him this time!”

This time? I inched in. “Jenks, are we clear?”

“Yep.” He was grinning, hands on his hips as he looked at Ellasbeth’s fury.

Trent dropped the unconscious man’s gun. Face white, he strode to Ellasbeth and yanked the gag down. “Where’s Lucy?”

Ellasbeth took a gasping breath. “That son of a bitch!” she raved, blond hair in her mouth, her eyes everywhere. “He’s crazy! He’s going to kill the ley lines! He’s going to end magic!”

“Where is Lucy, Ellasbeth?” Trent demanded, and then his head snapped around at a delighted “Daddy!” from the back room.