"Ivy?" Rachel found herself standing outside of the vampire's bedroom for the second time in less than 24 hours. The door was half way open, letting the light from the hallway brighten the dim room without revealing the private space.
Ivy had heard Rachel come down the hall with a purpose in her step. Her witch hadn't left the church and they hadn't spoken about anything too personal in the hours since breakfast. Opening the door the rest of the way Ivy took in Rachel's tense form and did her best to relax her own posture, waiting for the witch to start the conversation.
"What did you want for dinner? I was thinking some sesame chicken and a salad." Rachel felt her heart rate start to increase as nerves started getting the best of her.
"Sounds good, can we hold off on it until tomorrow? Glenn called and I told him we could catch a movie. I'll even pick up some of those tiny mushrooms you like salad while I'm out." Ivy watched as Rachel moved two steps back and briefly brought her arm around her middle before dropping it back to her side.
"Yeah, sure, tomorrow, I've got leftovers anyways." It really wasn't leftovers so much as the dinner Ivy cooked that no one ate seeing as she was out on a run and Ivy had trusted her to show up or call as conformation she was alive. She couldn't exactly blame her roommate for declining when Ivy had a standing invitation from someone that didn't push the woman than pull back the moment she reacted.
"Rachel," Don't do this to me. The words were there, but they would be of no use. "I'll be back by breakfast." Why there was no doubt that she very much loved the witch, she just hated that Rachel wouldn't never truly understand. Maybe if she begged and pleaded with her that might change. God knows reasoning with Rachel never did her any good. The problem was that begging was just as manipulative as dumping pheromones in the air. Whatever heartache it might save her it wasn't worth a lifetime of wondering if Rachel actually chose her, or simply gave in to spare her the pain.
"Sure Ivy. Go enjoy your date." Rachel moved back down the hall towards the kitchen without a glance back at Ivy. As long as she didn't look towards Ivy she wouldn't do anything stupid, such as start an argument about something she had no right to argue about.
As her witch moved out of sight Ivy put the finishing touches on her makeup, distracting herself from the urge to wrap her arms around Rachel. It was more than simple comfort, the idea that her aura would heal Rachel, protect her when she most vulnerable, had been at the forefront of her thoughts for months.
There was nothing to compare it to that didn't fall far short of explaining it. She had tested the reaction between them literally hundreds of time and each time she could feel it. Maybe it had always been there, but now when she brushed against Rachel, or gave her a quick hug, there was something connecting them that went beyond the physical and emotional levels.
Having exactly the 45 minutes it would take to go from the church to the theater, with leaving the car at Matthew's then dealing with traffic, Ivy closed the door, leaving her previous thoughts there for when she returned, and started on the process of exiting the church. "Rachel, I am heading out. My cell is on and the contacts list is on the same sheet as the schedule."
Ivy knew Rachel could hear her, but when she didn't get a response she stopped and waited. Rachel's opinion of Glenn was obviously at the heart of Rachel's sudden behavior, but what that opinion was Ivy couldn't exactly understand. Her witch had never shown anything except a general fondness for Glenn, but lately she had started picking up feelings of disdain from Rachel that lingered in the room for a while after Glen's name entered the conversation.
Resigning herself to being a few minutes late and double checking on Rachel Ivy wasn't surprised to find Rachel moving between the fridge and counter, doing her best to pretend she had been purposely ignoring her. That wasn't unusual, but got her attention was the smell of depression on the air that had mixed with Rachel's scent. Given the witch's typical reaction to anything relating to ether of their personal lives was anger and confusion the more subdued emotion surprised her. "Rachel, if something comes up please call me."
"Sure Ivy, no problem." The seconds clicked by as Rachel starred at her roommate, who just stood there, before she turned her attention back to reheating the food and Ivy crossed into the backyard, which was odd, closing the door behind her with a soft click. The sound left Rachel wanting to scream at the woman to turn around and talk to her. It seemed like a curtsy to talk to someone when less than 24 hours ago had been pinned to a door, but instead her roommate was off to spend her night with their supposed friend to do things Rachel didn't want to think about her doing with the stupid cookie.
It wouldn't help to start pushing Ivy though. She had tried that a few times in recent months and the most she got was Glenn had become a regular benefactor for Ivy's controlled instincts and somehow a nymph named Daryl ended up as Glenn's roommate. All that had taken months of awkward conversations she wasn't inclined to repeat.
Neither the dinner alone, nor her plan to simply let the world drift by as she simply relaxed on the couch alone, had helped improve her mood. There was the lingering thought that being alone might be the problem, but that was the general point of a shunning. The only break in the routine came from the miserable Saturdays spent in the ever after. The obnoxious landline making its presence known drew her attention away from the supposed comedy on the TV and towards being told by whoever was on the other end they would call back later. "Vampiric Charms, Rachel speaking."
"Ms. Morgan, its Jason Fleece, you cleared out one of my properties yesterday."
Rachel felt the melancholy start to fade from her system as adrenaline and fear kicked in. Fleece Properties was the name on the check that had been deposited in her account just in time for several other companies to take most of it out. If there was a problem her bank account would end up deeper in the red than a hole in the ever-after. "The warehouse where the warlocks weren't paying for rent, right?"
"That would be the one, yes. I am sorry about that incident with the door. We had no idea they were going to react violently."
"No problem. All part of the job." For once her life Rachel kept the stupid comment on the tip of her tongue. Fleece Properties was a human company, according to Ivy's research, but one that owned several industrial development projects in the Hollows. There was no chance in hell someone from the company had tried to find out anything about the squatters besides that they were interlanders. "I already signed that liability waver if that is what this is about."
"No, no, nothing involving lawyers. In fact, I need your firm's help again at the same warehouse."
"More squatters?" Going for round two of guess the interlander species trying to kill you with inanimate objects didn't sound that appealing, but the previous check did include enough hazard pay that Jenks would get his rent on time.
"Actually it's the same ones. After an inspection of the property an employee found a room in the unfinished section of the warehouse that he said was covered in symbols. I don't have a very good description as after he opened the room he started to have trouble breathing."
"Warlocks are capable of creating lethal traps if given the time needed to work them into place. I hope you stopped your searches after that." More times than not warlocks would end up killing themselves rather than spelling anything effective enough to drop a trespasser and if they had done it right the police would already be involved. Still, most humans didn't know that and collecting two paychecks for one job didn't happen very often.
"I assure you no one has gone further than the gate since the room was found and even that took some convincing. The accident wasn't fatal, simply an overreaction, but I would like it investigated all the same."
"How quickly do need this done?" Reaching for the pad of paper and pencil, Rachel felt the cobwebs clear with the thought of actually being able to pay cash for something without first getting the cash from Ivy.
"I know its last minute, but if your firm could confirm the site as safe before six I could have crews back to work by the afternoon."
It was already late in terms of business hours, plus six in the morning was a terrible hour to be awake for most interlanders, but Ivy had been going on about needing repeat customers and a scared human with deep pockets seemed like someone that should go on their mailing list. "I could meet someone out there in an hour, but it would be an emergency call. Our hourly rates double and if there are any active spells there will be a cost to disarm them."
"I look forward to seeing you there in an hour than Ms. Morgan." With that the call ended and Rachel left the unmarked paper on the couch as the remnants of her dinner were hauled into the kitchen. Some property manager too terrified to move beyond a chain-link fence sounded dull. A CEO wanting to make sure everything goes according to schedule why wondering around a property with possible active wards sounded like work.
Smiling as she set the dishes in the sink Rachel looked towards the garden. Being one in the morning Jenks was asleep, but the sooner the job was over the sooner she could curl up in bed. The brief debate of letting him rest and going out alone ended before it could begin. On the off chance furniture wasn't the only deadly thing the rogue practitioners had access to pixie back up was a good safety precaution.
Setting up the coffee maker before heading back towards the section of the church where the bedrooms were Rachel set her phone on the dresser and grabbed some clothes. A quick shower and a coffee to go would have to suffice in place of an early night in bed, but it beat just waiting around for Ivy to return home.
There it is, chapter 3. Took longer than I expected as there was something missing and its only been in the last couple of days I figured out how to pull it all together. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed (even those that did it anonymously thus preventing me from sending rambling replies to them) put this story on their favorites and set alerts. I've really enjoyed writing this pairing thus far so don't be surprised if I contribute some more stories to the Hollows fandom revolving around Ravy while working on this one.