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We appeared in my kitchen and Al released me. Taking a moment to readjust I saw Ivy in her seat with Jenks on her shoulder. Ivy was tense, there was next to no brown rim round her pupils. Jenks had gone all Peter Pan. I looked in the direction of Ivy's glare and found, to my absolute and utter shock, Trent standing by the fridge. He backed up a step on seeing Al and put the maimed hand behind his back. I wondered if Ivy and Jenks hadn't told him that Al usually came in with me on purpose.

Al chuckled and I turned back to him with a warning glare.

"Can't you just leave already?" I snapped. Al's face went blank and the fear came back. Then he looked at Trent and grinned.

"I only want to hurt him a little bit my itchy witch, at least until I can carry his darling girls off. You never let me have any fun" Al goaded and Trent stiffened. I really didn't want a fight in the kitchen, I felt like I couldn't go a week without someone trashing it. I shook my head at Trent to try and tell him not to rise to it and for once the elf seemed to understand. Al still didn't look like he was leaving.

"Was there something else?" I asked him, not bothering to keep the irritation out of my voice. I wasn't on his clock now and I wanted a shower so bad it hurt. Back in reality I was all too aware of stinking of burnt amber. Unfortunately I still wasn't reacting normally to the scent of it. It smelt good. Mixed with the cinnamon and wine of Trent and the incense of Ivy it was like an orgy in my nose.

"Actually, yes." Al replied, breaking me from my reverie of sniffing. I blushed slightly, hoping no one had noticed.

"Trenton Aloysius Kalamack, Miss Tamwood, Bug," Al continued, nodding to each of them in turn and Jenks stiffened. To my surprise he didn't go off on one, just sat there with red wings dusting heavily onto Ivy's shoulder. I wondered if he was helping her with the whole not vamping out thing.

"Rachel is under considerable threat from all manner of demons at this time. Should they catch her they will drag her off home with them and then force her to procreate. They won't face charges for it. It would be prudent to keep her on holy ground after dark. If she must go out then she'll need an escort." Said Al. He was straightening his cuffs which told me he wasn't all that relaxed. That was fine, neither was I.

"Al!" I yelled, "I don't need you to tell them for me, I can do it myself. Now go the hell away." The demon seemed to want to say something more but he disappeared instead. The kitchen was silent.

"Go shower Rachel," said Ivy "We'll talk about this after. And calm down." There was no brown left around her pupils now and Jenks was whispering something into her ear. Ignoring Trent, who was still looking awkward by the fridge, I stalked to my bathroom.

After a frustratingly short shower, because I didn't want Trent in my house longer than he needed to be, I came out to find they'd all moved into the sanctuary. Bis was waiting on the doorjamb for me and I put an arm up for him. He fluttered down and curled round my shoulders gratefully as I put a circle round my mind to shut out the lines.

"Hi Ms. Rachel, nice trip?" Bis asked and I shook my head. His tail curled a little tighter round my neck but he didn't ask any more questions. Smart kid.

Ivy was curled into her chair and Trent was stood by the piano. Did the man ever sit down? Whatever, not my problem. I didn't appreciate being checked up on. If he'd come with another job offer I was going to shove it so far up his elf ass that he'd be coughing up paper for weeks.

Ivy stiffened in her chair and gave me a look. Right, calm. It was hard, being angry was a whole load easier than being terrified. I parked myself on the sofa and waited for someone else to start the conversation. It was childish but I felt like a teenager about to be put under curfew. It wasn't even my fault this time.

"What did Al mean Rache?" Jenks piped up from the coffee table. There was a crash from the kitchen followed by pixie laughter and he winced, giving me an apologetic look.

"Don't sweat it Jenks, I'd rather they were in there." I told him, and he relaxed.

"So…?" Jenks prodded again and I sighed, not sure where to begin. Hey guys, I got drunk on ley line energy and the made out with Al and then Newt told all the demons they could rape me and then Al got all pissy cause I didn't wanna bump uglies. Hell no.

"Uhhh... Newt got pissed and lifted the ban on demons sleeping with me, then told them she'd be thrilled if I got pregnant. Al…" I stumbled on his name, thinking about how much fury I'd seen behind the glasses. "Al thinks that some of them, the demons, might come and try to grab me." Trent's eyes narrowed, he'd noticed my stumble over Al. Great. Ivy was motionless, clearly still taking it all in. Jenks buzzed angrily and flew up in front of me.

"I knew it was a bad idea. Tink's pink dildo Rachel, can't you go five fairy farting minutes without someone trying to grab your stupid witch ass?" Jenks exclaimed, hands on hips in full Peter Pan mode. He was wearing his sword and I wondered what trouble he'd been expecting. Maybe it was for Trent's benefit but I'd figured they were done with the macho posturing after Seattle.

"Ivy, tell her she's a stupid witch" Ordered Jenks. Ivy still hadn't moved.

"You're a stupid witch Rachel" Repeated Ivy, in a monotone, clearly not really listening to the angry pixy.

"Farting fucking fairies, you're no help vampire" buzzed Jenks, before turning to Trent "You'll tell her she's stupid right?" he appealed. The businessman remained impassive.

"Actually, I'm not sure this one is her fault. It's not like Rachel can control a mad demon." Trent replied, his mouth quirking into a small smile. Apparently he was on my side. He was definitely going to make a job offer, there was no other reason he'd stick up for me. Ivy shifted and we all turned to look at her.

"I'm with Trent on this. We should be looking at protection strategies, not telling Rachel what an idiot she is." Said Ivy. Jenks buzzed in irritation and settled back on the coffee table. It was kind of nice not to be treated like a kid for once. I was even feeling a little rosier towards Trent. Maybe we could have pie again sometime.

Trent moved to perch on the arm of my sofa. He was wearing his casual clothes and I picked out a grubby little handprint on the sleeve of his shirt. Fatherhood still looked really good on him and the cute little handprint was oddly attractive. He wasn't hiding his bad hand and the show of trust made me glow a little. We were getting the real Trent, not Mr. Businessman philanthropist or merciless biodrugs dealer.

"So long as Rachel stays in the church after dark and keeps the were, Wayde was it? With her during the day, then I don't forsee any successful kidnappings." Said Trent, thoughtfully. Oh goody, Wayde had a concrete reason to be with me all the time. Honestly though, I kind of wanted him around. Since I'd started taking him seriously I actually found Wayde's presence comforting.

"I'll try and make sure either Jenks, Wayde or I are around after dark for when she needs to use the kitchen" added Ivy. She'd grabbed a pen and paper from the coffee table and appeared to be making some kind of rota. Jenks flitted up to her shoulder and made approval noises. Seriously, a rota? Was I that bad at keeping myself safe? Slumping back in the chair I let the three of them plan my life over the next week. Wayde wasn't due back for a bit which was a small mercy, I'd bet on him trying to put me under house arrest.

"Rachel? Could I talk to you for a moment?" Asked Trent, gesturing to the corridor, "In private, please." The tips of his ears were a little pinker than usual and his posture was tense. My tummy did a little flip, Trent didn't usually make job offers in private. I wasn't sure I was going to like this "talk". I got to my feet and followed Trent out of the sanctuary. Ivy and Jenks were concentrating far too hard on their rota. Traitors.

Trent was waiting in the living room with his back to the door. The place still needed decorating properly. There was undisguised tension in the line of his shoulders where his shirt stretched across them. I stifled the urge to run my hands over them. Goddamn I had to stop thinking with my crotch and stop being a stupid witch and grow up and –

Trent turned and crossed the distance between us whilst I was telling myself off. His hands went to my shoulders as he leant down and pressed his lips to mine. Oh.