All Characters and Worlds Building Belong to Kim Harrison.
I was standing at the kitchen island in my church when I got the call from Newt on my scrying mirror asking me to summon her into my kitchen. I did not want to do that, but I knew she would just come over without warning at a different time if I didn't do what she wanted now. The church was empty at the moment except for me, Bis, and Jumoke and his new wife. Jumoke was in charge of the church's garden now, and he had taken a wife, another pixie girl who had the misfortune of being born with brown hair. Her family was so happy that she found Jumoke, who was a very well off pixie with his own garden, that they were taking turns helping the couple tend and protect the church's garden.
Jenks lived over at Trent's compound with his 4 remaining children, Belle, and her family; Ivy was living with Nina at Nina's condo; and I too lived at Trent's compound. Even though we were just using the church as an office for our runner business now, I kept a supply of spelling materials and a change of clothes there for times when I needed some time alone. Bis split his time between the church, the basilica with his Dad, and Trent's compound.
Trent had done some renovations to his personal apartments, giving me my own dressing room, closet, and bathroom attached to his private sitting room and bedroom. Trent did not want me to have a separate bedroom, and neither did I, so we shared his room. Now it was our room.
When I first moved my clothes into my new closet, it was funny to see my pathetic amount of outfits dwarfed by the huge closet. Little by little that has been changing as Trent has bought me more and more clothes, and has even hired a personal stylist to help me spruce up my look. If I hadn't already realized my preference for slutty party girl clothes and leather needed to be toned down, pictures in the papers of Trent and me at social events and charity parties showing me in cringe worthy outfit choices confirmed that I needed a change. I still wore my leathers for runs, as they still offered the most protection from scrapes and bruises. And not so secretly, Trent loved me in leather! He often asked me to wear them at home when we had the apartments to ourselves!
Today I was stirring some curses that I was doing for the first time, and I wanted to do these by myself in case I couldn't make them work. I had my own spelling kitchen in Trent's compound, but sometimes I wanted to be alone to spell.
I told Bis to go visit his father, and sent a text to Trent letting him know Newt was coming over to the church. I knew he would probably show up just to check up on me if he wasn't too busy with other things. I'd had to learn to let him know when anything out of the ordinary occurred, so he would do the same for me. It was part of learning to share my life fully with another person. Trent worried about me as much as I worried about him.
Because by together, I mean we have been married for the past 3 months. It was still a shock to me. Trent and I had gotten 'together' on a trip to Paris, and Trent had made an honest woman of me two days later. We had both been caught up in the passion of the moment, and were also both trying to keep each other out of the grasping clutches of the other's ex.
Trent was also extra worried about me because I was 3 months pregnant. It was the first demon birth in 5000 years, and also the only demon-elf birth ever recorded. Trent thought there had been other such hybrid births, but there were no records. It wasn't supposed to be possible, but when Trent's father had messed with my genetic make-up he had added some elf genes to my DNA, which could be why it happened. Or it could be because we were the first demon-elf pairing in 2000 years that both had their genetic damage repaired before adolescence. There were lots of theories. The bottom line was that I was almost 3 months pregnant, because like in a soap opera, I got pregnant in the first week after we were married. Since we both believed it wasn't a possibility, we hadn't taken any precautions. And, we had been giving it a lot of chances to happen! We were on our honeymoon after all!
Newt was the only demon who could come over from the Ever After without a summoning. So when she said summon her she meant just call her on the scrying mirror and formally invite her to visit.
"Rachel, calling Newt! Newt, I would be honored to have you visit me in my kitchen!" I called her while holding my scrying mirror. She was also the only demon who knew I was pregnant, and she had agreed to voluntarily spell herself to 'forget it' after every visit so she wouldn't tell anyone else. So it was a surprise to Newt every time she visited that I was pregnant. And at 3 months, the pregnancy was just beginning to show on my lanky frame.
Newt misted over and sat down at the big antique farm table. "Rachel, how are you my dear? Thank you for inviting me to visit you! Are we having a party? Do you have scones? You look like you have been eating a lot of scones, my dear. Did you swallow a melon? Oh...are you pregnant? Did I forget something again? Who is the father, Dali? I know it's not Al, because he knows I would kill him. Or, is it your elf? I understand how you could get carried away with your elf, elves are so good at sex. Is your elf good? I guess he must be. Now are you going to kill him?"
"No, of course not." I told her for the umpteenth time. I didn't know why she always asked me about killing Trent. She never elaborated, and I didn't want her to dwell on it.
"He's my baby daddy, and I love him. Besides, if I have a baby elf, I will need him to help me take care of him!"
"Of course, of course! Just wondering if you are done with him yet." Newt asked in a creepy stalkerish way.
"Newt, I will never be done with him, ever. Leave him alone. Don't forget, he is my elf!" I told her, exasperated.
"What did you want, Newt?" I asked her.
"Oh, yes, I have a present for you. I guess it can be a baby shower gift as I missed your shower. Or did I go?" Newt asked me.
"Yes, I mean no, you couldn't go, you were... Busy!" I didn't want to tell her she wasn't going to be invited; she'd be the last person I'd invite. No use making the crazy demon mad!
"You didn't have to get me anything, really!" I told her, worried about what she was planning to give me. A crazy soul in a jar, a dead ex-boyfriend, Ever After dust?
"Oh yes, that. I was going to give her to Al, but I was sure you'd not like that, because she's really part of your family. Please take care of her, she's your responsibility now. You can have two familiars now. Bye Rachel!" As Newt misted away, I heard a thump in the sanctuary and I rushed in to see a pile of silk with a petite foot sticking out of one side. What? The pile of silk that I guessed was a person didn't move. I cautiously walked over to it, and started pulling the silk pile up gently. It was a woman, a small, fragile, Elven woman. I looked again, and my eyes went wide and I dropped the silk and hurriedly backed up. It couldn't be, but it was, it was Ceri!
"Ceri?" I whispered as I gently picked up the woman and sat her on the couch. She opened her eyes, but there was no recognition in them. Her face was blank, and very pale. She was painfully thin, but other than that she looked OK. "Ceri?" I said again, a little louder. "Do you know where you are?" I felt like asking, Do you know who you are?
She did not respond, and her gaze remained blank. Then she curled up into a ball on the couch and shut her eyes. She was clearly traumatized. Where had she been for the last 6 months? Whose body had we buried 6 months ago when KuSoks the psychotic demon had left a Ceri look alike dead in Trent's office? It had been the reason Trent had gone voluntarily to the Ever After to work for KuSoks. KuSoks had still held Trent's daughter Lucy at the time, and he would have done anything to save her. Trent and I had worked together to kill KuSoks, and Trent and Lucy were OK. But Ceri had been killed by KuSoks, or so he told us. And the psychotic demon had left her broken and lifeless body in Trent's office to find.
Just then I received a ping on my phone indicating a new text. It was from Trent. 'I just got your text. Are u ok? Did Newt drop in? Is she still there? I'll be there in 10 minutes.'
I texted back to Trent: She came and left. I'm good. She left me a present. It's not urgent, so don't rush but I could use your advice.
I hoped he wouldn't rush over here, as the immediate crisis of Newt's visit was over. I was going to have to break the news about Ceri gently, though, both to him and especially to Quen, Ceri's partner. Quen was Ray's real Dad, not Trent. But everyone thought Trent was Ray's Dad.
The whole idea of Trent pretending to be Ray's real dad never made sense to me, and now it was going to be even weirder. Maybe they had decided to do it so Trent's protection as the Elven leader, or Sa'han, would extend to Ray as well as Lucy. Maybe it was just an elf thing. Maybe the elves all wanted to live a communal life. I doubted that Ellasbeth, Trent's ex-fiancé and Lucy's real mother, would have agreed to it if she had come back into Trent's life as she wanted. She was Trent's crazy ex that I had protected him from by marrying him. She was a vindictive, bitter woman who had grown up so spoiled that losing Trent had unhinged her. I still didn't trust her, but Trent kept forgiving her for each nasty thing she did, to keep her in Lucy's life. Ceri would have put an end to Ellasbeth's interference. Ceri had been a princess in her old life, and she never lost the haughty arrogance and belief that she was to be obeyed in all things that her royal status had given her. And everyone listened to her and usually obeyed her. Except me. I was the only person who could ever tell her no with impunity. And as I had rescued her from death after she had been a demon familiar for a thousand years, she actually listened to me.
I suspected that Ceri would put an end to Ellasbeth's interference in our lives, if she ever recovered. Oh Ceri! My heart was aching for Ceri, for Trent, and mostly for Quen.
I picked Ceri up, she was so light it wasn't even a strain, and put her in my old bedroom to sleep for now. We were going to have to take her back to the compound with us, to have her checked over by Trent's doctors, but first I had to break the news to Trent. Trent had loved Ceri, and they shared a public life together for a time, after Trent's engagement was broken and before Ceri's supposed death in the Ever After at KuSoks hands. I had loved Trent even then, but had thought there was no way we could ever be together so I had never let anyone know about my feelings, except Ceri. She had guessed.
I loved Ceri, but even now her return made me uneasy as anyone who wasn't blind could see that Ceri was the perfect partner for Trent on paper. She had loved Quen, her baby's father, but would have probably agreed to marry Trent to keep up the appearance of him as a happy daddy and husband, although she would never have shared his bed. A stab of jealousy went through me, which I quickly shoved away. I felt ashamed to have such thoughts. I'm not quite as sure of Trent's love for me as I thought, I realized.
But before worrying about the future with Ceri in our lives, we had to make sure there would be a future for her. Her well being had to be everyone's first priority. I sat down at the kitchen table and stared into my coffee as I waited for Trent.
But I needed Jenks, too. Or maybe I just needed some of his wise old man crap to tell me everything was going to be OK.
And just like that, Jenks flew in the house through the pixie hole in the kitchen screen. It was funny to see him wearing a red scarf tied to his arm in his own garden, but this was Jumoke's garden now, and Jenks was a visitor. He was also the landlord, but a visitor too.
"Jenks, how did you get here? Did you come with Trent? Is he here?" I demanded.
"The cookie maker is parking the car. He'll be right here. We got your last text, and it didn't seem like there was any immediate danger, so we didn't rush..." Said Jenks, suddenly cut off by Trent's loud voice coming from the sanctuary.
"Rachel!" Trent almost shouted. "Are you OK? Why in Tinks blasted hell did you let Newt come over before I could be here with you? You have to start thinking before you act! You've got responsibilities now!"
My anger boiled up, but knowing the blow I was about to deal Trent, it fizzled out before I opened my mouth. "Do you think I could stop Newt from coming if she wanted?" I asked him, mildly. "I just wanted to get her visit over. I'm sorry, you're right, I wasn't thinking. I won't do it again."
Trent's anger seemed to dissipate because of my agreement with him. He came into the kitchen, looked me up and down and then walked over and took me in his arms and kissed me lightly on the lips. "No, I'm sorry. I should have gotten over here sooner. And I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know you are totally able to take care of things, but I worry when you deal with Newt. She's so unpredictable." And he kissed me again, less gentle, and with more heat.
When Jenks made a gagging sound, Trent drew away. "Well, what did she bring you? Some burnt amber tainted cookies, a surface demon in a jar?"
"Trent, can you sit down at the table? Please? I need to sit down and I want you to sit next to me." I asked him, trying not to sound too upset.
"You're not ok, are you? What did she do?" Trent asked worriedly.
"Well she showed a creepy stalkerish interest in you, so please don't let your guard down when you are near her, ever." I said, seriously.
Trent smiled.
"Seriously, she's crazy and she may forget she can't touch you because you are an emancipated familiar. Please humor me on this, I don't trust her!" I told Trent.
"You're adorable when you are jealous!" He said.
I punched his shoulder lightly. "Take me seriously. Please."
"OK, I will keep my guard up if you promise you will never see her alone again, if you are in a position to avoid it. Pinky swear?"
We twisted our pinkies together, like we were still in Trent's father's Make A Wish camp, and then kissed to seal the deal, or really just because we both loved to kiss each other. And this time we lingered on the kiss.
"Pleeaassse!" said Jenks. "Can't you too think about anything else? What did Newt give you?"
I didn't know how to soften the blow to Trent, so I blurted it out.
"A person! She left me a person! A very traumatized person who hasn't spoken at all. And she looks exactly like Ceri! I'm so sorry Trent. But I think it may be Ceri. Don't ask me how. Newt just dropped her on the floor of the sanctuary and left without any explanation!"
Trent had blanched at Ceri's name. Now he asked with a mixture of dread, excitement, hope and fear, "Where is she?"
"In my bed, asleep, I think. She looked so tired. And completely blank. Could it really be Ceri? I.." Trent had jumped up from the table and rushed in to see Ceri before I could finish speaking.
I rushed to follow him.
"Oh, Ceri! Can it be you? Are you really alive? Is such a miracle possible?" He said in a loud whisper, looking up at me with such anguish in his eyes that I felt the tears start to slide down my own face. I remembered then that Trent felt responsible for Ceri's death and that he held a deep sense of guilt inside himself, that he kept buried, but was always there, nagging at his happiness. If she wasn't dead, he would be able to come to terms with that guilt, and let it go. I ached for his self absolution, and prayed it really was Ceri.
I put my arms around him and buried my head into his shoulder. "Oh, Trent, I love you, it wasn't your fault. You wouldn't have ever done anything to hurt Ceri, Quen knows that, I know that, hell even Ellasbeth knows that. Please, please believe me!" I begged him, squeezing him tighter and lifting my head to look into his eyes.
The look in his eyes was so hopeful, so honest, so raw; it broke my heart.
"Can it be her, Rachel?" He said in a soft voice, just a whisper really. I didn't know what to say, but I couldn't take the hope away from him, so I said, "It really looks like her!"
But we both knew disguise charms could be very powerfully made, and neither one of us wanted to see Quen destroyed by a false hope.
"Let's get Vivian here to look at her to see if she can see an active disguise charm. We'll take her to one of my off site clinics until we can make sure it's really her. The doctors can treat her and we can hire the best psychologists to work with her." He led me out of the room and shut the door softly. I saw the look of determination light up his face as he took charge of Ceri's care.
"Vivian, the leader of the Coven of Ethical Standards, how will you get her here? I'd think she's going to be too busy..."
Trent looked at me and smiled a big sincere grin. "She owes you for saving San Francisco and her but. Plus you are her new best friend, so you'll have to convince her!"
I frowned. "I think she likes you, Trent. Not me. You should talk to her."
He laughed, and the lightness in his voice lifted my heart. "You are so funny when you're jealous!" And then he hugged me hard, lifted me off my feet and kissed me with such passion and joy that I stopped breathing. Oh God, please let this be Ceri, and make her be ok. I thought, knowing that lifting the burden of Ceri's death from Trent would make me just as happy as having her back.
Trent was on his phone seconds later, arranging for Ceri's transfer to one of his off the books clinics. He had several clinics open in the Cincinnati area, paid for out of his private funds, or by insurance, I was never quite sure how that worked. And 30 minutes later I heard the sound of helicopter blades over the church. It put down right in the street, and people in lab coats rushed into the church, bundled Ceri into a stretcher and took her into the helicopter. Trent gave me a look, and I said, "Go with her, you need to make sure she gets settled in. Call me as soon as you know anything!" But he just shook his head and said, "She has known you the longest. You need to be with her too. Let's go. Jenks will take care of closing the church. I'll have someone come over here and get both of our cars and bring them home. Come on!"
I didn't know how to say no to him, I really never had, so I followed him into the helicopter, which then took off and headed out over the Hollows and into the country.
"The big question is, should we tell Quen, and what should we tell Quen?" Trent asked directly into my ear, to be hear over the noise of the helicopter.
"I don't want to tell him, but I think we have to. He'd never forgive us if he thought we'd held back information from him." I told him, thoughtfully. I hated to see Quen's heart break if it turned out not to be Ceri, but if it was, he'd want to be with her every minute he could. "I think you should go pick him up in the helicopter and bring him to the clinic. I can stay at her bedside until you get back. And you can stay on your phone with your doctors the entire trip, in case they need an immediate decision from you."
Trent ran his hand through his hair, the only sign of his agitation. " OK, good idea. I need to tell him in person. It's going to be a horrendous shock. Jonathan can watch the girls for us."