I've had half of this chapter written for a good three weeks now and regrettably hadn't gotten around to finishing the second bit. I'm still not 100% pleased with the ending - I'll probably edit that tomorrow while I'm waiting for my experiments to run at work :P But! For all you patient souls, here is the most recent chapter of "Blood for a Silver Soul!"

My drive to the church was uneventful. I can't say that I was upset. I was less than prepared to face my lovely pixie tenants. While Jenks's family is nice and all, they're space not one for quiet. I was greeted with a relatively quiet household. The only noises that assaulted me were those of roughly one dozen pixie children. Compared to the five dozen that have lived there previously, this was a vast improvement. All that I could gather from their high-pitched keening was that their father was out of the house.

As I collected my things and made my way through the entryway, I murmured my thanks to the pixie kids for giving me the message. I hiked my shoulder bag up and moved from the entryway into the main sanctuary. Though it hadn't been a sanctuary for very long time, the space still seemed reverent. The tall stained-glass windows lined the walls and let in the early afternoon sunlight. Jenks had insisted on getting broken one fixed – a misfired black magic spell from one of my ex-boyfriends had caused the breakage – so that he could "sleep better at night."

The sanctuary had changed over the past couple of years. It now had Kisten's old pool table and Ivy's baby grand piano space creasing its hardwood floors. Though the pool table was technically mine, it was really both Ivy and mine's. We had both been Kisten's girlfriends at one point or another. God, we were so weird.

My fingers danced across the green felt, no longer torn or nicked. We had finally resurfaced the worn table after it had been totally burned by a coven witch's spell, and I enjoyed the feeling of the smooth felt. Jumoke, Jenk's dark-haired son, flew up and bobbed in my line of sight. His wings were a stoic blue and his dust flitted down in equally calm motions.

"Ms. Morgan, my father wanted me to keep you informed about things at the church while he was out," he said quietly. "I thought you'd like to know that Ms. Tamwood and Ms. Ledesma are in the rear living room."

I frowned at his second statement. If Nina was in the back of the church, it would be harder for the living vamp to keep her undead master from possessing her on the unsantified ground. Then again, I sighed internally, it wouldn't matter much right now. The church was still blasphemed from Newt's last visit. Getting it re-blessed the first time had been a pain. A second blessing by the same priest was sure to be out of the realm of possibilities. And all the numbers I'd called had hung up when I got to explaining that yes, I was a demon who needed her church to be re-sanctified.

I nodded to Jumoke and slowly walked to the back of the church. "Thanks Jumoke," I said in a blandly cheerful tone. I didn't know what to make of Nina's presence and I quite honestly didn't want to think too hard about it. Ivy's decisions were her own, but I didn't have to like that she was dating the preferred mouthpiece of a severely demented master vampire.

Passing through the hallway that linked the sanctuary to the closed off living quarters, I stopped in my room to drop off my shoulder bag. Mine and Ivy's rooms were converted from the church's offices to two small, functional bedrooms across the hall. I didn't bother to stop in my bathroom to check if my hair was still in its presentable braid. No matter what I did, I could never compete with the grace and beauty of either of the two living vamps hanging out in the back of the church.

I strode into the kitchen, calling out to inform the pair of my presence. Both had of course heard me as soon as my car had turned onto the road, but I still wanted to be polite. My bland smile turned into a twinge of true contentment as I settled in behind the counter in my kitchen.

I loved my kitchen. Ivy had renovated it before she'd moved in and had spared no expense. From the dual ovens –no mixing spelling and cooking there- to the hanging rack that held my herbs and plants to the gleaming fridge with its blue-lit icemaker, the kitchen was a sacred place to any spelling witch. My slightly less attractive addition of a carved protection circle wasn't as classy as the expensive furnishings, but it was equally as necessary. Safety when spelling was critical and it wasn't like our landlord would complain. My magic had saved Jenks' hide nearly as often as his backup had saved mine. He could tolerate some scratched linoleum if I could tolerate his kids' odd keening that they were doing right now.

"Alright, everyone making noises that could kill small dogs, get out of the kitchen!" I barked. "You'd think you were all raised in the outdoors." I got the expected shrieking laughter at that comment, but they did leave in a flurry of dragonfly wings. Belle had yet to appear, but I was certain that she would be corralling the pixy children about and help Jumoke keep them in order.

I massaged my temples and took in the relative silence. A soft noise from the doorway into the living room caught my attention and I looked up to see Ivy leaning against the frame. Her straight hair framed her slight Asian features, highlighting her small smile and bright eyes. She was in a good mood, then, and I had a feeling that the spunky DMV worker was to blame. "Hi," she said softly.

Smiling, I leaned back on the counter. "Hey yourself," I returned. She smelled of dusky vampire incense and I allowed myself a brief moment of bliss. We'd both decided that us together wouldn't work, but I could let myself enjoy the perks of being around a happy vamp. Then, I shoved the artificial relaxation out of my mind and nodded my chin to gesture behind her. "You and Nina having a nice afternoon?" I asked. They hadn't been there when I'd left for Trent's estate.

She nodded slowly and her smile twitched wider. "We just got back from the house," she explained. It was the safe house that Ivy brought Nina to frequently. The DMV worker, though strong in spirit, still needed to be watched pretty carefully to be sure that her urges remained checked. Having housed an undead had awoken stronger desires in Nina than the average living vamp had to deal with.

"Ah, nice," I replied. There wasn't much I could say. Glad you didn't have to knock her out? Hope the blood lust wasn't too bad last night? Make any shadows? Ivy and I were friends, but her lifestyle was still a bit of a mystery to a non-vamp like me.

She nodded blithely. "We were going to spend some time here before going out later. There's rumors that that new skating rink –the one built near where Aston's used to be?- is going to be opening tonight," Ivy explained.

Nina appeared silently behind the other vamp, her dusky complexion contrasting beautifully with Ivy's pale skin. She rested her hand on Ivy's shoulder and cocked her head to the side. "Is Rachel coming with us?" Nina asked in a quiet voice. "I think that would be…fun." Her voice had paused before resuming with just a touch of raw sensual tension.

I fought my hand from rising to touch my hidden vampire bite even as it tingled under the living vamp's gaze. Swallowing hard, I pretended to ignore how the room was suddenly smelling a hell of a lot better with the younger vamp's presence. Ivy seemed to tense and her nostrils flared in a telling motion. "I think I'll pass, Nina," I replied in a light voice. "I don't think I'll be any more wanted there than I was at Aston's." I fought to keep my voice from warbling, breathing slowly when I managed the task.

With a smooth motion edging on the eerie quickness that she took pains to hide, Ivy pushed herself from the door frame and went to the fridge. I watched as she wordlessly poured two glasses of orange juice. Nina hadn't moved from her position, nor had her eyes left me. It was unsettling, but as long as both Ivy and I were in control of how we reacted, there shouldn't have been any reason we couldn't keep Nina calm.

"I think they would be hard pressed to keep a day-walking demon from doing as she pleased," Nina pressed. She took a step forward, her motions smooth and predatory. Ivy intercepted the motion and handed her one of the glasses with a cold look in her eyes.

"Rachel doesn't want to come, Nina," she said in a loud voice. "And she's probably right about getting kicked out. The media still wants to blame her for the ley lines getting messed up a few months back."

I nodded in what I hoped was a relaxed motion. Propelling myself into motion, I went about the cupboards and picked out a few random bowls and cooking supplies. I'd figure out what I could cook or spell after the room stopped smelling like vampire incense and tension. By showing my back to Nina, I was trying to prove that I wasn't afraid of her. Nope. Not at all afraid of the supped-up vamp with undead powers.

"It's fine, really," I said between gritted teeth. "I swear that I will join you guys one night for something else. Just not tonight," I turned and looked at the Hispanic woman. Her expression was less focused and more contemplative as she sipped the citrus drink.

She pressed her shoulder gently against Ivy's, seeming to gain more control in the subtle action. "You will?" Nina asked. She sounded genuinely surprised. Her predatory gaze had fallen away from the surprise. I nodded, feeling guilty for the situation in the first place. I'd been ignoring all of their invitations, sexually charged or otherwise, for as long as they had been tentatively dating, and I felt like an ass for never having actually taken them up on any.

Ivy relaxed visibly and the tension in the room finally broke completely. "We will have to make sure that you don't get too freaked out by whatever daredevil thing Nna has next up her sleeve," she murmured softly into her orange juice. I rolled my eyes, though I was still a bit unnerved. Daredevil with vamps could be exciting or deadly.

"No skydiving?" Nina pouted. Her brown eyes searched Ivy's face with such intent I knew that I had been essentially forgotten about. Ivy smirked and looped her arm about the latino girl's to bring herback into the living room. "We can plan something just as good," she promised. Joy.

I looked down at the cooking supplies that I'd ammassed. While I'd probably not need the colander, everything else was perfectly suitable for baking a cake. Opening the windows to let out hot air would also let the scent of vamp incense out of my kitchen and nose.

I slid the colander back in its home by the sink. Since I was already there and the room was going to get hot as soon as I preheated the oven, I slid the window open. Fresh air from outside spilled in with a rush. Some pixies squealed and tumbled from their hiding spot on the curtain rod.

"Argh!" One cried as he tumbled head over ass before righting himself in a flurry of wings. I chuckled and swatted him away with a weak motion. "Didnt't your mother ever tell you not to evesdrop? You'll only find trouble," I said with a laugh.

"Yes ma'am," he replied sheepishly. One of his sisters called him something anatomically improbable and the pixy streaked away from my line of sight in a blur. Now I could look out through the screen into the garden beyond. The afterniin sun lit the yard up splendidly, my carefully tended plants reaching up to the sky in all their beautiful -or sinfully ugly, as the case sometimes was- lengths. Beyond the garden past the low wall was the graveyard. I could see Pierce's marker, the eroded angel still recognizable.

I sighed unhappily, my moment of content musing turned dark. The knowledge that Pierce's soul was at rest didn't deter my wonder if he would one day just appear, strolling in from the backyard, shouting a tale of having fought off Al just to drop by and get coffee. The dark magic user had always surprised me from the moment when we'd met on the solstice (?). That he was truely gone, not just in purgatory, was a heavy feeling.

Pushing those thoughts back to join the melencholy of the others that I'd lost, I forced myself away from the window. "Cake," I said aloud. A mission statement of something that I could accomplish to make today just a bit closer to normal. Moving with forced purpose, I gathered up the supplies and set about mixing and stirring the necessary ingrediants. I wrinkled my nose at the eggs that I took out of the fridge. The sulphites would give me a headache, but I hadn't picked up any egg whites from the store. I also reasoned that the fractional amount in the cake probably wouldn't be any worse than when I helped Trent down a whole bottle of wine.

Bis appeared in the kitchen somewhere between the last bit of mixing and pouring the batter into the pan. He wrangled a scoop of the raw batter from the bowl before I could stop him, his wings moving up and down in a gargoyle chuckle. I scolded him with a smack from the back of the mixing spoon, which really only succeeded in giving the goyle more batter to snack on. He jumped up to the top of the fridge with his spoils after a quiet, "Sorry Rachel."

I balanced the cake pan in one hand as I wrangled with the oven's door. Tugging it open, I slid the pan smoothly onto the racks and straightened to look at the apologetic gargoyle. "It's really not a problem, Bis," I said with a blithe smile.

He flushed dark for a moment before returning to his normal grey coloration. "You just seemed mad, is all," he admitted, his heavy claws shifting nervously. "For a while now, actually." His bright red eyes darting furtively away from mine.

Fully aware of the two living vamps the next door over, I did the smart thing and took a moment to think before I spoke. Yes, I'd been a bit testy lately. Work was harder than ever to get, thanks to the paper's rumors about me being related to Ku'Sox's cursing the ley lines. Add to that dealing with the loss of Ceri and the gain of a half-stable living vamp who was also the girlfriend of my roommate and you have the mixings of a perfect piss-Rachel-off cocktail. Jenks's kids were raring to move out in waves, making him something between irritable and elated, depending on the day.

And I wasn't moving anywhere. It stunk fairy farts.

"It's been a rough couple of weeks, Bis," I sighed. With Nina nearby, I didn't really want to get into talking about feelings with the goyle. His wings slumped, making a pang of guilt rush through me. Guilt and feeling left out. That's what had constituted my life as of late.

I walked over to the fridge and snapped my fingers in front of his nose to catch his attention. "Hey, rock head," I teased, "I didn't say that for you to get all upset. I am sorry about being a lump – an angry lump- for the past couple months."

Bis nodded and settled more comfortably atop the fridge. "We just worry about you, you know."

"Coming back from Trent's angry isn't exactly unexpected," I countered, opening the door to hunt for an open can of frosting. I had seen one last week leftover from some cupcakes that Ivy had baked to bring to the hospital.

The gargoyle above my head laughed, an odd sound as it vibrated through the metal refrigerator. "I suppose that is true," he mused.

I closed the fridge after one last glance through the shelves. The frosting was nowhere to be found and that would throw an annoying kink into my cake plan. "Hey Ivy?" I called out. "Do you know if that extra frosting from last week got thrown out?" I heard the television suddenly go quiet as she muted it, but Ivy still paused for a moment longer than necessary.

"It got used," she finally replied. I didn't like the soft giggle that Nina made and I really did not want any more information about just how it got used. "Ah, do you need it for something?" she continued after another pregnant pause.

I started cleaning up chocolate coated bowls, piling them into the sink in a motion that was as much habit as fear of a disgruntled Ivy once Nina wasn't around. "I was only making cake," I replied teasingly. "I can leave it unfrosted for now."

"Are you sure?" Her voice was louder now and I turned to see Ivy was standing in the doorframe again. Her face was slightly flushed, like I'd caught her with her hand in the cookie jar. Hell, what did I care? It wasn't even my frosting. "I can run out and grab some at the market. Then we can have some after lunch," she offered.

A cheer rose up from the pixies in the other room and a few swarmed in to dart about Ivy's head. It was one of those moments when I wished I could raise one eyebrow –a talent I coveted- as I shrugged. "I suppose that's settled."