NAME: Kirk Baldridge
EMAIL:
TITLE: All About Us
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters, names, places, etc. They all belong to Kim Harrison, and I would just like to take this opportunity to thank her for creating them.
FANDOM: The Hollows
PAIRING: Rachel/Ivy
RATING: K+
SUMMARY: Al is in hiding, while Rachel finally gets the answer to one of her questions.
SPOILER: Sequel to You Don't Always Get What You Want and Sometimes You Get What You Need. It is set an undetermined amount of time afterBlack Magic Sanction. You need to read at least Sometimes first, because I'm not going to give too many explanations, so if you haven't read the story before this you probably aren't going to understand everything that's happening here.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For the sake of clarification, My Immortal and its sequel, Through Her Eyes, are a separate timeline from my other four Hollows stories, which-if you wanted to read them all-belong in the following order: You Don't Always Get What You Want, Love and Vampires, Disturbing, and Sometimes You Get What You Need.
Jenks and his brood had gone to the garden when they saw Rachel and Ivy come out of their room in their workout clothes, because he knew full well that what started as exercise between them never ended up that way. Most of the kids were split into groups and playing various games, while Jax and several of the eldest scouted the perimeter.
"Dad!"
The pixie took flight, joining his son Jo, who was standing on a high branch. "What is it?"
"Who's that?"
Jenks followed his son's pointing finger over the garden wall toward the sidewalk outside, where they could see a tall female. Human, witch or Were, there was no way to be sure from this distance. She had long blond hair, was wearing blue jeans that appeared to be painted on and a tiny blue top clearly designed to display impressive cleavage.
"I don't know."
Jo cocked his head. "Her aura looks really weird."
"You're right." Humans typically had a somewhat dull, single color aura; with those who did magic it was brighter and would have dark, or light, streaks depending on what sort of magic they performed. Witches tended to have gold auras, with similar streaking, while in Weres it was more often than not a variation of red. Jenks blinked. This woman's aura was churning like water, black and gold flowing together. "Tinks' a Disney whore! I've seen that before, but where?"
"What's she staring at, Dad?"
Jenks shook his head. As far as he knew, the only thing the woman could see from where she was standing was the wall. "Go check on your brothers and sisters." He drew his sword and dove out of the tree. "Hey, you!" She jerked her head up and around. The pixie hit an invisible wall and plummeted to the ground, shivering violently. He had never felt so cold in all his life.
"I'm telling you, it was magic."
Jenks was sitting on the island counter, with a toothpick that had been dipped in honey.
"Not like what you do though, Rache. This was hard. Unfocused. Like being hit with a sledgehammer."
Rachel bit her lip. "And you said her aura looked familiar?"
"Yeah. Damned if I know from where though."
Ivy shook her head. "Why the hell would she be staring at the wall?"
"I doubt she was," said Rachel. "If she was a witch, or even a skilled human, she could use her second sight to look through it. It's a perfect way to spy on the church. Who'd think to look for her out there?"
"Me, from now on," Jenks replied. "Tinks titties, Rache! Who's after you this time?"
Rachel glowered. "What makes you think it's my fault?"
"Because everyone likes me, and all of Ivy's enemies are dead," said Jenks. "You think it's the coven?"
"Maybe, but I haven't heard anything from them since they removed my shunning."
Ivy shrugged. "That doesn't mean they're not still watching you."
"Even if they are, it's not like I can call them up and ask." Rachel grabbed a piece of toast and began buttering it. "If this girl turns out to be a threat we'll deal with it. Can we please talk about something else?"
Jenks nodded. "How long has it been?" He frowned when Ivy and Rachel both looked at him funny. "Since you last had a sighting? You know, of the creatures we don't name to keep any of them from showing up?"
"Oh. That. Almost two weeks new." Rachel put her hand on Ivy's and squeezed it, sighing as her vampire smiled. "Two glorious weeks. I suppose I should decide what I want to do about the ever after."
Ivy arched an eyebrow. "What's to decide? You're never going back there, remember?"
"I can't just ignore it. Ivy, do you have any idea what kind of resources A…" Rachel stopped herself. They really had agreed to avoid saying any of the demons names. "…he had? Books, scrolls, ancient, undecipherable manuscripts, answers to the greatest mysteries are probably sitting around the library, just waiting to be found." She looked Ivy in the eye. "Haven't you ever wondered where you come from? The vampires, I mean. No living being on this side of the lines, that I know of at least, is old enough to know the truth. The demons, though, are thousands of years old. Even if none of them personally know, it may be written down somewhere. I always wanted to look, but you know who would never let me. He had an agenda. I'm my own boss now. If I can trace your origins, I'll be in a better position to possible work out a way to save your soul when you die. You still want that, don't you?"
Ivy nodded. "Of course." She wasn't afraid of death. Losing her soul, her inner self, and her ability to understand why she loved Rachel Morgan so desperately it hurt, however, terrified her. "You really think they know?"
"Maybe not. But I've just about exhausted all the resources I can find here." Rachel shrugged. "It's worth a try."
The room was silent for a few moments. Ivy shrugged. "If you're really going, I'm coming with you."
"You can't. You have to meet your sister for lunch, remember?" Erica had called the day before. She was looking at colleges and wanted her sister's advice. "It'll be okay, Ivy. I know how to lock his rooms, so no other demons can come in uninvited. Most of them don't know or care about me anyway. Call me when you're done and I'll come back."
Ivy gnashed her teeth. Rachel was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, even alone in the ever after, but she couldn't help worrying because every time they got involved with demons bad things happened. "Fine."
Jenks looked from one to the other and chuckled. "Tinks' diaphragm! You two sound like an old married couple."
"That could be the nicest thing you've ever said to us." Rachel leaned over the counter and kissed her vampire. "I'm going to take a shower." She held on to Ivy's hand. "You want to come with me?"
Ivy's eyes flashed back.
