Title: Life's a Witch and then you Die
Author: AdventureLucky7
Fandom: The Hollows
Pairing: Rachel/Ivy (Seriously I will get there, it's just going to take a bit…)
Rating: Mature, for language so far
Disclaimer: The Hollows characters and universe belong to Kim Harrison, I am just borrowing them for the story.

Summary: What happens when Rynn Cormel forces Rachel to find answers, and she discovers answers to questions she wasn't even asking? Rachel/Ivy, Ivy/Rachel, Ravy

A demon curse.

How in the turn had this happened? The church was sanctified; no demon could have cast the curse inside the church, unless it was Newt. My blood when cold at that thought, but no, if the church was defiled I would have seen it with my second sight. Breathing in the air through my nose, I noticed I also couldn't smell brimstone.

Getting to my feet again, my eyes flickered to Keasley, he looked grim. I could tell the witch knew what it meant that I couldn't break Ivy's sleep with salt water. My anger came back in full force. I hate when the rules of the game change.

Only one thing to do now and I stalked to the garden to call Al. The turn preserve that bastard if he had anything to do this, I gritted my teeth. This might be some elaborate ruse to get me to for help.

Al answered my call pretty quickly, "Yes my itchy witch? Miss me already?"

"Al," I growled and quickly filled him in on the happenings in the church. When I finished Al was silent as if thinking, "I will be right there," he said soberly. Part of me was glad that Al was taking my fear seriously, another part of me was nervous. Al never takes anything I say seriously, he didn't even mock me before he agreed to come.

Al appeared suddenly several feet away from me in the garden, and sat down delicately on the nearest tombstone pinching his nose. "Rachel, who did you piss off this time?" My mouth opened to protest, but instead decided to think over the question. "No one recently," I grumbled instead.

I sat down on a tombstone not far from Al and looked over my garden, missing the glow of pixy children. "Al, how do I revive Ivy and Jenks?"

"You said the fog was green?" Al asked, ignoring my question. I nodded my head.

"A Nyx Somnus curse is my guess, since the vampire is still breathing. What's interesting is that the somnus curse doesn't require a sacrifice, its cousin Nyx Thanatus does, but then your vampire would be dead." I felt my stomach drop but Al was too lost in his assessment to notice my reaction and continued, "What's more a demon can't cast a curse on sanctified ground, otherwise it would be defiled." Al paused for a moment lost in thought, trying to figure out the puzzle. I had more pressing questions.

"Al, what about Ivy and Jenks" I tried again, forcing my teeth not to clench in the process.

"Itchy Witch, the more important question to ask is what curse is creating that turn awful smell? I honestly don't know how you stay alive sometimes; you can't seem to focus on the immediate danger." Al's retort was slightly nasal this time, and I noticed he was back to pinching his nose shut.

"I am focusing on the immediate danger; I stay alive because Ivy and Jenks guard my back." I said hotly sticking my hands in my jacket pockets in a defensive gesture. My fingertips brushed something foreign and frowning I pulled out a business card. It simply read, "H.L.G." Confused I turned it over and I felt dread begin seeping through every bit of me; on the back of the card someone had written "Having fun yet?" There was a fucking smiley face at the end of the question.

Trembling with rage I remembered that I had bumped a woman in the club, running the memory through my mind I came up blank on any kind of physical description. Who in the turn was H.L.G., and what kind of fucking game was she playing?

"What's that?" Al asked pointing to the card in my hand.

"My guess? The person who attacked the church slipped me this card while I was out tonight." I handed the card to Al for him to see.

As soon as the card touched the demon's hand it began to morph, wrapping itself around Al's wrist. The demon tried to drop the card but it was too late. Instead of holding the card Al was now wearing an inch wide golden bracelet. Two lines of cuneiform writing stretched across the surface, branded deeply into the gold. The demon's eyes glowed red, and he let loose a string of obscenities in several different languages, most of which I didn't recognize.

My eyes had widened at the beginning of Al's tirade, but my patience wore then very quickly. Sitting in the garden screaming might make us feel better, but it wasn't productive. "Al!" I shouted interrupting the demon, "what in the turn is that?"

"The demon equivalent of a collar, that damn witch has collared me! I will rip a hole through her stomach and shove her head so far up…" I waved my arms in front of Al interrupting what I am sure would have been a very creative end for H.L.G.

Al took a deep breath, "Itchy witch, there are only a few small ways for a demon to stay on this side of the line when the sun rises. One is to possess a willing body; the second is for a collar like this!" Shaking the bracelet in my face he continued, "I am as vulnerable as a human until I kill that damn witch and get my powers back!" Well, that's interesting information to have. It was possible to shackle a demon's power, just like those pesky zip ties the F.I.B. had used on me before to keep me from tapping a line.

"Who's H.L.G?" I asked tucking away the new demon information Al had let slip.

Al winced, "Hortence Lenora Granville."

My head whipped up and I glared at the demon. "The same witch you said wouldn't come here? That Hortence? The same one powerful enough to make you her familiar?" I asked incredulously, my voice going up an octave.

Al cleared his throat, "Yes, and my guess is she is the same witch who cast the demon curses in your church."

My head spun at that thought, and I reached back to grip the headstone I was sitting on so I wouldn't topple over. There was another one of me? Another witch that could twist demon curses? Except this witch had twisted a deadly black demon curse, which meant she had no conscience. I didn't even want to think about all the curses in my demon books that someone with no conscience would find interesting. Groaning I put my head between my legs to keep from passing out.

I needed another plan, and I needed Ivy and Jenks.

"Al, tell me how to break the Nyx Somnus curse. We need both of them before Hortie shows up at my door looking for you."

"Hortie?" Al snorted at the nickname I had given our common threat, "I can give you the means to break the curse, but at a price."

"What price?" I said sitting up, turn take this bastard. Al brought this trouble to my door and now he wants payment for making things right.

"Protection." Al said.

I crossed my arms, I wasn't surprised by the request, but we needed some parameters. When dealing with demons, always set parameters on the agreement. "Here are my conditions: My partners and I aren't killers so don't think we are taking Hortie out for you, and we offer protection for the next 30 days or until your bracelet falls off. Whichever comes first."

"Agreed," Al said, and shook my hand. When he removed his hand a new demon mark marred my inner forearm.

Clearing my throat, "Ivy and Jenks?"

Al smiled at my question, "Kiss her."

Stunned, I just stared at the demon, "Kiss who?"

"The vampire," Al said, clearly enjoying my reaction.

"Do I look like Sleeping Beauty to you? Be serious Al."

Laughing Al replied, "I am serious my itchy witch, and I think technically the vampire is sleeping beauty which would make you prince charming. Besides, where do think humans have gotten all their inane stories?"

I sat in shock on the tombstone trying to wrap my brain around kissing Ivy. My palms were sweating just thinking about it.

"If kissing the vampire is a problem you could just kill Hortie, it would save us both a lot of trouble." Al suggested in an innocent tone.

I glared at the demon, "Not happening Al, I am not a murderer. What about the pixies?"

"They need a kiss too, but you're going to have to find someone else to do that. They're simply too small I think."

That made sense; I had no idea how to kiss Jenks without squishing him. I stood up and headed to the kitchen, my palms still sweating. Ivy and Rachel sitting in a treeeeeee… my internal voice sing-songed. The turn take me, I hoped my nerves settled down, vomiting on Ivy was something I really didn't want to do.

When we reached the kitchen Keasley and the Weres were waiting for me. I had gone to the garden alone, the less people talking to the demon the better. At the sight of Al, David began growling, his lips pulled back to show his teeth.

"Pipe down pup," Al said, "My itchy witch and I have an agreement, no harming her friends." David's growling lessened to a rumble as he looked at me.

"Just don't talk to him or make any deals. Trust me, making deals with demons never works out in your favor." Al grinned in response to my explanation, clearly enjoying the warning and the look of apprehension my friends gave him.

Ignoring the demon I turned to David, "Can someone go get Jih's husband from Keasley's garden? We need another pixie to wake up Jenks and the hoard. I'll take care of Ivy." There was no need to explain why; everyone in the kitchen had been able to hear my earlier conversation with Al.

Serena and Kally volunteered to go to Keasleys, I nodded my thanks, and both ladies hugged me before heading out the door. Glancing in the direction of the sanctuary, I sighed a moment and headed to wake Ivy. Swarms of butterflies were bouncing around my stomach, do butterflies fly in swarms? I would have to look that up sometime, maybe when I was researching how to date women.

"Good luck Princess Charming!" I heard Al call from the kitchen once I was out of sight. I shook my head in irritation, glad at least for the privacy while I woke Ivy.

Once in the sanctuary I knelt beside Ivy and gently rolled her from her side to her back. Why in the turn am I so nervous? I kiss people, it's not rocket science. Mentally berating myself I leaned over and cupped Ivy's face gently while I pressed my lips to hers.

Soft, that's the first thought that came to my mind when I kissed Ivy. I found myself reveling in the sensation and the smell of incense that engulfed me. Pulling back I studied the vampire for a change in her condition, nothing. I bit my lip in confusion; her lack of response had better not be a cosmic commentary on my technique. I leaned down to try again but just before our lips touched I saw Ivy's eyes pop open in surprise. We both stayed frozen for a moment, my lips hovering over hers, staring at one another.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Ivy asked her voice slightly husky. My eyes fluttered shut as I felt her breath wash over my lips.

"Kissing you," I answered closing the distance between us again.


Holy geeze! The witch and the vamp finally kiss!

Will they live happily ever, will Rachel turn into a pumpkin at midnight, and why in the hell am I mixing up my fairy tales? Wait, should that be pixie tales, or demon tales? Damn, sometimes this universe really f's up my vernacular.