Ivy has a run from Rynn to shutdown whatever operation an undead and his witch scion have going on. Rachel stays at the church replenishing her charm inventory. Apparently the undead was keeping a people farm; his scion made charms to disguise his undead appearance to lull people into trusting the undead. The setup was something like a cult.

Ivy attacked the vamp and was about to deliver a blow to bring about his final death when the witch scion threw himself on her causing her to miss. That's when the I.S showed up. The witch scion resisted arrest and attempted to perform a lethal spell. The I.S runners detected it and were able to redirect it back at him. With his death, the spell making the people docile was broken. The undead was arrested, the people sent to the hospital to get checked out and the black witch's body carted to the morgue. Ivy gave her statement and went back to the church.

When she got back to the church she ran into to Rachel who had finished with her charms and made cookies. As Rachel offered Ivy a cookie their fingers touched and a hot flush came over Rachel's body and she became dizzy and faint. The plate of cookies fell to the floor and Rachel would have followed if Ivy had not caught her. The feeling seemed to intensify then was gone. Ivy asked what was wrong but Rachel said she didn't know but was okay now. Ivy had intended to only stop by the church long enough to change clothes then go report to Rynn. But now she was worried about Rachel and since Jenks was not at home Ivy wanted to stay and watch over her. As Rachel kneeled down to pick up the broken plate and cookies she insisted again to Ivy that she was okay and told her to go ahead and meet with Rynn and that she would be fine on her own. Before leaving Ivy made Rachel promise to go to bed and rest. Rachel agreed and promised to after she was done cleaning the cookie pans. So Ivy left to tell Rynn what happened that night with the undead and the I.S.

After Ivy left, Rachel finished cleaning pans and as promised went to bed. She woke up thirty minutes later soaked in sweat, tangled in her sheets, with her heart in her throat. She had had a nightmare or series of nightmares. She had dreamt about every man she was ever involved with. They had each starred in their very own x-rated dream. But Rachel felt fear because she didn't want to be aroused but in the nightmare she couldn't help herself and it had felt so real. To calm down she took a long cold shower. When she finally got out she was shivering. She was tired but didn't want to go back to sleep if there was a chance she would have the nightmare again. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her skin was very pale and now had a washed out look. Her green eyes were very wide and looked haunted. Rachel was very tired but didn't think she'd be able to fall asleep again. She briefly considered shooting herself with a sleepy time potion but shuddered when imagining herself trapped in her nightmare unable to wake up. Then she remembered that humans had medicine that made them fall into a dreamless sleep. She didn't normally take human medicines but was more open to it since that time she took an aspirin for a headache. She didn't have any human meds but thought that Ivy might have some. Rachel put on her robe and made her way to Ivy's bathroom. She found the pills in the mirror cabinet. After reading the directions she decided to give them a try. Then she noticed that there were only two pills left. After taking the pills she went to Ivy's bedroom to leave a note to let Ivy know that she had used up the last of the pills. As Rachel walked into Ivy's room she breathed in Ivy's scent. Ivy's scent worked to calm Rachel almost as well as the soothing pheromones Ivy put out. Rachel went to the bedside table to leave the note. She sat on the bed and started to write. Rachel paused in midsentence as she wondered how it would feel to lie on satin sheets. She decided to lie down for a moment just to see how it felt. As she laid her head on Ivy's pillow she breathed deeply of Ivy's scent and felt safe and comforted. She was thinking that the next time she got some money she should buy some satin sheets when she fell asleep.

Ivy came home from talking to Rynn. He wasn't pleased about the I.S's involvement but couldn't fault Ivy. At least that was what he said. Ivy bristled at his implied displeasure but could not argue because Rynn was protecting both her and Rachel. Ivy sighed. She was tired. It was morning and all she wanted to do was sleep. As Ivy walked to her room she paused across the hall at Rachel's bedroom door. But she didn't hear Rachel's breathing. Ivy frowned and quietly opened the door to peer in. That's when she saw the disheveled bed. Ivy's nostrils flared the room stank of fear. She became alarmed and started yelling Rachel's name. She checked Rachel's bathroom, the sanctuary, the kitchen, the belfry, mostly everywhere. By this time she was getting more and more worried. The only room she hadn't checked was her bedroom. She opened her bedroom door. And when Rachel's scent hit her so did a wave of relief. Until she noticed Rachel hadn't woken.

"Rachel," Ivy called.

Then Ivy noticed an empty bottle of pills on the bedside table. Next to the bottle was a note that read "Dear Ivy, I'm Sorry." Fear stabbed through Ivy. She jumped on the bed and started shaking Rachel and yelling her name; causing Rachel to finally wake up.

"What, What," Rachel grumbled as she started to bat Ivy's hands away.

"Didn't you hear me calling you," Ivy asked. Fear and worry in her voice.

"No, I was asleep," Rachel replied grumpily.

"I thought you were dead"

"So you thought shaking me hard enough to rattle my teeth would bring me back to life"

The fear and worry on Ivy's face was replaced by anger.

"I thought you had killed yourself," Ivy said.

"I would never kill myself"

"Then what was with the sleeping pills and suicide note?"

"Suicide note?" Rachel asked in puzzlement.

"Dear Ivy, I'm sorry"

Rachel winced. Realizing that Ivy might have a legitimate reason for actions and it was in fact herself that was being an ass. That was also when she fully registered her situation. She was sitting up in Ivy's bed with only a robe on which had somehow managed to fall open during her argument with Ivy. With said vamp straddling her lap. Uh Oh Rachel thought when she noticed Ivy's eyes were black.

"Uh you know what Ivy, you were right," Rachel said. "This is my fault and I'm sorry for yelling at you." "I'm gonna go back to my room now," Rachel said, slowly moving backward.

"No, Don't go," Ivy said in a voice like gray silk.

Rachel froze and slowly turned back to face Ivy. She gulped when she saw Ivy's gaze on her neck.

"Ivy, when was the last time you had blood?"

"About two weeks ago," Ivy replied.

Rachel's fear spiked and she started to sweat. She knew she was pushing Ivy's buttons but was unable to calm down. Rachel yelped when Ivy pushed her back down to the bed and started nuzzling her neck.

"I thought you weren't going on a blood fast anymore," Rachel asked in a trembling voice.

"I'm not, but now that I separate sex and blood," Ivy said, tracing circles on Rachel's neck with her fingers. "I have to find new people that are willing for me to take only blood."

"Ivy I don't want you to bite me," Rachel said gasping. "Remember we talked about this. I don't want to be bound." "Please don't bite me."

Ivy inhaled and exhaled.

"That's not true. You want me to bite you. I can tell." Then Ivy licked Rachel's neck where her scar used to be. Rachel's back arched and she was left gasping.

"Say yes," Ivy whispered.

"Y-No, I said no and I meant it."

"Then why were you waiting in my bed when I got home?"

"That's because I had a nightmare."

When Rachel thought back to the nightmare she had parts of her body tightened, perked up, and got moist. Ivy's nostrils flared and she turned her focus off Rachel's neck. Rachel thought frantically. I don't know how long I can hold out if she keeps playing with my neck but if it's something else… Before she could over think it she grabbed one of Ivy's hands and placed it on her chest and kissed Ivy full on the mouth. Ivy stilled.

Rachel had planned to stop kissing her when Ivy was distracted, but then the hot flush returned and she no longer wanted to stop. And in the end it was Ivy that broke off the kiss.

Rachel grunted and reached for Ivy again.

"Rachel, wait," Ivy said, grabbing Rachel's arms to stop them from wrapping around her neck.

"Why?"asked Rachel in an absentminded tone.

"You kissed me," Ivy said as if that was explanation enough. "Why did you kiss me?"

"I liked it," Rachel blurted out in a wondering tone.

"What does it mean that I liked kissing you?" Rachel asked, alarm clear in her voice.

"Rachel, calm down its okay." "It was probably just the pheromones I was putting out." Ivy said in a calming voice.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, you must be right," Rachel said in agreement.

"Yeah," Ivy agreed in a dry tone. "You never answered my question." "Why did you start kissing me, anyway?"

"You were vamping out. And you tried to bite me. I remembered what you said about separating blood from sex so I …"

"You were willing to have sex with me just so I wouldn't bite you," Ivy said in a shocked voice. Ivy's face showed disbelief then changed like Ivy had a sudden thought and not a good one.

"You were going to have sex with me then leave," Ivy said bitterly.

I was hoping it wouldn't have to go that far, Rachel thought, but didn't say it aloud.

"Ivy, no." "I wouldn't have left because it would have been my fault," Rachel said trying to explain.

"So what you would have just slept with me once and never again," said Ivy, tone still bitter.

"Ivy…. No wait," "That's not… I wouldn't," Rachel stammered.

"What you would have slept with me out of guilt?" Ivy said angrily.

"No, Ivy… damn it, that's not what..," Rachel paused to think of words that would explain exactly what she meant and how she felt. Rachel took a deep breath and plunged on.

"I haven't been close friends with a girl since Jasmin at Trent's dad's Make -A- Wish camp. During my teenage and adult years I've mostly had guy friends. Those friendships never stayed platonic except for Jenks and that's because he's married with over fifty kids."

"What about Marshall?" asked Ivy

"Uh, well we didn't exactly stay platonic either," Rachel admitted.

"You had sex with Marshall," said Ivy in surprise.

"No, but we did something that was more like dry humping." "Anyway, that's not important right now," Rachel said quickly. "What I'm trying to say is I don't normally have platonic friendships and the only reason our friendship stays platonic is__"

"Because I'm not a man," Ivy broke in.

"Ivy, stop interrupting me!" Rachel exclaimed in exasperation.

Ivy put her head down in a show of submission and made a go ahead gesture. Rachel continued.

"The only thing that kept me from sleeping with you is that I didn't know if I would like it enough to do it again. I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship."

Ivy's head jerked up. "Kept?" Ivy asked in a questioning tone.

"Well now that I know you have pheromones that would make me like it…," Rachel trailed off.

"You would be okay with being made to like something," Ivy said shaking her head slowly in disbelief.

"Just until I get used to the idea," Rachel said. "The feelings are already there, Ivy, I love you. Sometimes even when you're not pulling an aura I think you're sexy. When you kissed me that first time I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was jealous of Skimmer and Rynn. When you're happy, I'm happy. And when I kissed you I liked it even though it was caused by the pheromones."

"It wasn't caused by pheromones," Ivy said softly.

"What?"

"I only told you that to calm you down. Only if you were bound could I affect your mind and feelings," Ivy explained. "There weren't any pheromones to make you like the kiss."

"Oh," said Rachel