I swallowed hard as I remembered him forcing Lucy into my arms and demanding I leave, Trent willingly becoming Ku’Sox’s slave to save her. “Don’t worry about it,” I said softly, and Ellasbeth looked between us, her lips pressed as she tried to figure it out. “Jenks is getting Ivy. Get them both out of here.”

“What?” Ellasbeth said as I pulled her to her feet. “Hey!”

Angry, I took out a little of my misplaced aggression on her, pinching her shoulder and getting in her face. “You want to be tied up again?” I said sharply, and her anger flashed to fear. “Then get out of here.”

The man at my feet moved, and I pulled out my splat gun and shot him in the back. With a little sigh, he collapsed. Ellasbeth looked at him, then me, standing before her with a gun in one hand, a knife in the other. Slowly I handed the knife to Trent, who double-sheathed it with his own longer knife. “I suggest you go fast and quiet,” I added.

“Where’s-s-s-s-s Ray-Ray!” Lucy bubbled, clearly not frightened, but hey, the girl had been kidnapped three times now.

Smiling, Trent jiggled her on his hip. “Shhh, Lucy. We have to be quiet to go find Ray.”

The little girl bounced happily, then suddenly concentrated on her fingers until she got them to snap. The flying rocking horse exploded into a puff of pink smoke, and the little girl laughed, delighted. If we survived this, I was going to have to talk to Al about the spells little girls should and shouldn’t know.

But she was being way too loud, and as Ellasbeth darted around the room gathering her purse, her coat, her heels ... whatever, I turned to Lucy, worried they wouldn’t get down that first crucial hallway. Trent wasn’t having much luck as Lucy kept making and exploding winged horses into little pink clouds “Lucy?” I said suddenly. “Do you want to play hide-and-seek?”

Trent sighed as Lucy stopped bouncing, her eyes going wide as she covered them. “Shhh,” she whispered, then flung her hands from her, smacking Trent in the face as she cried out, “Here I am!”

Smiling, I tugged her sweater straight. “That’s right. But you have to be quiet to find Ray. Shhhh. Ready?”

Trent’s free hand touched my waist, and I froze.

“Rachel ... I ...”

The door opened and I spun, relaxing when Jenks darted in, Ivy shutting the door softly behind herself.

“Just go,” I said, resisting the urge to straighten his hat after Lucy knocked it. “Ivy and I have this.”

Ellasbeth shrugged her long coat, looking at us as if jealous. “You can’t stop him without elven magic.”

“Watch us,” I said, my confidence faltering.

Jenks’s wings hummed. “Guys, my pixy sense is tingling.”

Trent stiffened. “It’s the curse. He’s starting it.”