Disclaimer: I don't own the Hollows or any of the characters associated with it; it belongs to the wonderful Kim Harrison.

A/N: This follows my story, "A Dish Best Served Cold". It's not necessary to have read that before this; the only two things you need to know are: 1) there is an established Ravy in this universe and, 2) Rachel is currently going to the Ever After twice a week, one normal day and one day split between lessons and research into saving Ivy's soul.

Prologue

"Rachel Mariana Morgan! Focus for once in your life! I don't want to be cleaning up your remains."

I sighed yet again. I was still trying to master ley line jumping, and Al wasn't making it any easier. I had already picked up on focusing on the destination, thanks to the crash course given to me by Newt when I had been stranded here by Lee Saladan. I had even managed to make several trips on my own to home, or, more specifically, to Ivy. Ivy was so happy to see my ability to leave the Ever After on my own, that she tried dragging me to our room for a more enthusiastic reward for my hard work. Al wasn't happy being left in the line waiting for me and he made his displeasure known to me. Despite having the sexiest girlfriend in the world, I had a hard time staying aroused when I was sneezing every five seconds. Needless to say, Ivy was overjoyed (and a little anxious) to welcome me home the next day.

The fact that today was only a half day for studies made Al even more short tempered. Al was expected to make progress on tutoring; my lack of progress was making him even harder to be around. I supposed that it was much like trying to teach something a little more complex to a kindergartener, but that analogy always seemed a tad too demeaning, despite how close to the mark on how Al made me feel.

I was having difficulty trying to go to any other location besides Ivy. I could envision the location just fine, but translating that to travelling there was where I was hitting a wall, hitting a wall almost literally one time. I had had several almost accidents; luckily Al was there to pull my butt out of the fryer, as it were. I could almost get there, but I would sometimes get stuck in some kind of in-between space or end up at a completely different place. Al had given me a long lecture on how interdimensional travel works, in an attempt to prevent me from getting stuck again; unfortunately, much of what he taught went completely over my head. He finally likened it to a frog jumping from one lily pad to another; the water in-between was that space where I would find myself stuck. That I could understand.

The problem was, it was more like lily pads in a river, where they were constantly moving along with the flow. Ley lines should really be called ley rivers, as the flow of magic was just that: a flow. It was one of the difficulties of working ley line magic; you had to attune yourself to the stream and allow it to flow through you. I had successfully done so with my own ley line, which I had an affinity to. I could pull on that line from a distance due to that affinity. Connecting to a different line was more difficult, as the line had different flow rates and intensity. If you were unprepared for it, the line could easily overwhelm you. I had a harder time adjusting to the new line enough to successfully jump to that location. Sure, it was easy enough latching onto a line to blast someone or spindle energy, but ley line jumping required an almost intimate connection to the ley line itself.

Thankfully, Al was not being the cruel bastard he could be, but the reason why was hardly more comforting. Newt had recently become interested in my education, especially with my increased visits to the Ever After. She had started attending all my lessons, which was rather surprising; she was often so forgetful, that it would have been less surprising for her to not show again after the first lesson. Al wasn't particularly pleased to have Newt here at each lesson. Before, Al could be lax in some aspects and teach at his pace; now he had to answer to Newt about everything that was being taught. If she didn't like the way Al was teaching me, Newt would be sure to voice her displeasure. Unfortunately, this meant that I was often the brunt of Al's anger at being monitored so vigilantly.

"Al, we've been at this for hours. I'm exhausted; can't we take a break?" Staying connected to a ley line for long periods of time often wore me out. I was practicing a line jump attempt, which sounded really odd, even for me. I was essentially practicing practicing. Al wanted to be sure that I was getting the basics down before making any further attempts at jumping. I had heard him exclaim that an 8 year old could grasp this faster than I could; his poor attitude on the matter was definitely not helping. At any rate, I had to stay juiced up for long stretches, which was wearying on the body and mind. I was barely standing right now. I felt like I could sleep for a week at this point.

Al waggled his eyebrows at me. "That's what she…" A loud harrumph from Newt stopped that tired old line from completing. If there was anything worse than Al's annoyance was his libido. Ever since I started coming to the Ever After twice a week, Al had made it a point to try to hit on me twice as hard. Despite his high standing now among demons, he felt the need to ensure that I was only working with him. He probably felt that, if I was sleeping with him, my loyalty wouldn't be swayed by another demon. I tried telling him he was barking up the wrong tree but he wouldn't listen. Coming onto me while in Ivy's form was a low blow, and I blasted him with ley line energy for even thinking about it. I had to bring Newt in on that case, as Al was determined to see me punished for my temerity. Since then, he hadn't appeared as Ivy.

"Fine, student, you may take a break. Please continue reading about ley line transportation. I expect to see better results when we reconvene in an hour." With that, Al disappeared, leaving me with Newt. Newt had actually been better in the past few weeks than I had seen her before; I wish I could say it was all due to me, but I hadn't done anything to have caused this behavior. I was just happy to be dealing with a somewhat sane Newt as opposed to the one I was used to. She was actually remembering things that we discussed, and would often work with me to better my understanding of who (or what) I was.

"Never mind Gally," Newt exclaimed. "Like most of the male demon population, they have very little patience. It's why most of the teachers were female and why the most excelled students were the girls. It's no wonder that we became the most powerful and dominant sex. Males would often be jealous of the power and prestige that females held."

Demons had originally been a matriarchal society? Interesting. Of course, with only one female demon now present, it had slid into the present patriarchy, as Newt rarely involved herself in politics or governmental work. It would really explain why Newt was so interested in me; maybe I looked like a way to return to the past society for her. Of course, she had been the destruction of that society…I still didn't know why Newt had gone on a murderous rampage, but I suspected it might have been the cursing of demons to become witches. Learning that had been a major blow; being a witch was my identity from birth. To lose that and become a demon overnight had been a trying time for me. I had come to accept it somewhat. Maybe Newt couldn't handle that strain; the strain caused by the elves when they destroyed her world. I had to wonder if she had been personally been affected by the curse; maybe a family member or loved one was remade into a witch and had to leave the Ever After. Waking from my thoughts, I noticed that Newt had started speaking again.

"…business to attend to, so I need to leave you with Gally. He will resume your lesson when he returns." With that, she popped out on the room, the quick whooshing of air in the empty space left behind the only reminder that she had actually been there. I sighed again, then cursed myself for doing so. Over the past few hours, it had felt like I had sighed more than I had spoken. Of course, dealing with Al was trying at best, no matter his mood.

An hour later found me still reading the enormous book on ley lines and their uses. I really hadn't made much progress, as I kept re-reading the same passages over and over again. Not only was the book very technical, which made it above my head, I was tired enough that what I read made little sense to me. I was still on the fifth page of the chapter when Al jumped back into the room. Satisfied that it appeared that I was actually doing what he asked me to do, he moved over to his seat, where he was undoubtedly preparing new ways to criticize my performance. He stopped for a moment, looked around briefly and got a big smile on his face. Great. He noticed Newt being gone, so the kid gloves were being pulled off.

"Rachel Mariana Morgan, where were we?", he started with delight. As he started to speak again, a chime sounded throughout his rooms. Al cocked his head, as if listening to some sound that I couldn't hear. He nodded his head. "Well, aren't you just the lucky one, my itchy witch? We're having guests. Time to see if you can handle the social niceties while they are here." A sneer had settled on his face; undoubtedly he felt empowered by the lack of Newt's presence. Yet another sigh escaped my lips.

"Al," I couldn't keep the exasperation out of my voice, "I'm not here to play maid or hostess. You're supposed to be teaching me ley line jumping, which I've yet to master. Shouldn't we be working on that instead of having a soiree?" I really had no hopes that Al would listen to me; his ego was too enlarged to take anyone's opinion over his own. It probably didn't help my cause that I was partially whining. I was tired and grumpy; playing nice just didn't wash with me right now. I stopped myself mid-sigh, as I didn't want him giving me grief over my lack of "respect".

"Now, now, student," he emphasized in a manner that showed his ire, "we will graciously allow these… neighbors," another glimpse of his temper, "to come see us. We mustn't look the part of an ungracious or unwilling host. Perhaps a few short hours would allow you to gain the composure you need to finally line jump." Al walked away from me, but I could hear him muttering under his breath, "slowest learner, even more so than children".

His memory must be good, because the last demon child was born over 5000 years ago. I had originally wondered how that had impacted demon society, to suddenly stop having children. Once I had found out that witches were those "children", I vowed to never speak of this knowledge to another witch, Inderlander, or human, because the lash back would be awful. Witches would have to go into hiding to escape the "justice" that would be mete out. No witch would be safe if the knowledge that we were descended from demons ever leaked out to the public.

My introspective was interrupted by a whooshing of air around me. I found myself stripped of the clothing that I wore here: a pair of comfy jeans, a green cotton shirt, and a nice pair of sneakers. It was quickly replaced by what is called a "sexy French maid" outfit. I had seen them worn often at Halloween, but I would never be caught dead wearing one. Well, I guess never is no longer never. I'm sure Al was laughing his ass off right now, knowing that this would piss me off to no end, especially considering my maid comment earlier. I was more ticked that I was essentially being excluded from the meeting or whatever it was; I was to be the servant and nothing more. I was really tempted to be the worst servant possible, but I didn't want to chance facing Al alone without Newt present.

I felt another sigh building inside of me, but I rolled my eyes and moved on. I often hated the situation I was in, beholden to Al and Newt as I was, but I would put up with it for years if needed. Every week, I had the chance to research on saving a soul, so that my roommate and girlfriend (I still blush at that) wouldn't have to live her second life without her true essence. I would wear anything if it meant that I could save Ivy. Squaring my shoulders, I proceeded to the kitchen, where I found several trays of food and drink already prepared. I grabbed the tray of beverages, perhaps a big too forcefully, as I had to juggle the tray slightly to prevent them from spilling. Need to stay on Al's good side right now…

I made my way into the formal sitting room, which was opulent compared to his previous dwellings. Al had spent a large amount of the money he made on my tulpa making skills, just to impress the occasional guest. There were high back chairs with ornate scrollwork on them, surrounding a circular wooden table with similar scrollwork. An ornate runner was placed on the table top, with a vase of exotic flowers on top of the runner. Expensive artwork adorned the walls, excepting the wall with a gorgeous fireplace. There was even an Oriental rug underneath the table and chairs. It seemed like a waste to me, but what did I know? Being rich was an oddity to me. It was as if one started caring about things that they never cared about before. I had no illusions that I would one day be rich; I'd settle just to get steady work for a change.

"Ah, here she is now!" exclaimed one of the 3 demons visiting. He was wearing blue jeans with a white t-shirt, a brown leather jacket completing the look. His black hair was perfectly done (almost too perfectly), as if it were sculpted. I remembered a TV show back around the Turn that the look came from, but I couldn't recall the name of the show or the person. "Come, come, love; join us."

This demon at least looked somewhat normal. Of the other 3, Al was the most dressed for the occasion, in his normal green velvet coat and stockings. One was wearing what looked like a caveman outfit, with long unkempt hair and an accompanying large club that was propped up against his chair. It looked more like a cartoon version of a caveman than what a real caveman would have worn. The last one was in a Roman soldier outfit, complete with helmet, shield and spear. It made me nervous to have those two present; they looked more like bodyguards of a sort than actual guests.

I turned to the demon who spoke to me, extending my tray to offer a drink. He graciously took one, giving me a smile and a nod. I guess demons can be courteous, if they choose. I turned to the other two, but neither moved to take a drink. I served Al last, in hopes that I might have irritated him. He simply smiled at me, which quickly turned into a smirk as he surveyed the outfit he bestowed upon me. I sneered at him, not caring if the others saw my response. I tried to move toward the kitchen, when my arm was grabbed. I almost spilled the drinks in my surprise, which would have easily become a "teaching" moment from Al. Luckily, I managed to keep them steady as I turned to the demon who held my arm. It was the leather jacket one, who impressively managed to beat out Al in his leering ability. Is it a male demon thing? He either wanted me or something from me, neither of which enamored him to me.

"Rachel Mariana Morgan, isn't it? I came here to specifically see you. Please stay with us. Hicpacth, please give this lovely lady your chair." The caveman got up from his seat, moving to stand behind the speaking demon. A quick glance at Al showed me that he was worried. Worried for me or for a potential lost resource was yet to be seen. "Please, Ms. Morgan, take a seat. I've been looking forward to speaking with you." Shrugging, I set my tray on the table, taking the empty seat proffered me. I slightly turned towards the speaker, in effect blocking Al out. There is no way that I would ever take up any offer this demon had for me, but it never hurt to put Al in his place. Let him sweat the few moments before I turned this demon down.

"Thank you, Ms. Morgan. My name is Nesbiros. And yes, I am here specifically for you. I couldn't help but notice the problem that you are experiencing with ley line transportation, so I wanted to come and offer up my services to tutor in this and many other things. Perhaps a different teacher might succeed where others had failed?"

I let a small smirk appear on my face before quickly extinguishing it. No need to antagonize Al too much, as that could backfire against me. At the same time, I don't want to outright say no; no need to make enemies if I could help it. Inwardly I laughed; Ivy would be impressed. The fact that I actually took the time to think things thoroughly would please her to no end; she had been constantly teasing and drilling into me the need to think before I acted. "Nesbiros, what benefit would it be to make you my teacher? Al here does a decent enough job, which is being supplemented by Newt. I don't think that you have anything to offer that I don't already have access to. Besides, I don't even know you; what made you think that I would take this offer?"

Nesbiros quickly glanced over to the Roman before returning to me. "Well, to be frank, I was only offering as a courtesy, considering the Council has already agreed to move your internship, as it were, to myself." Al let out a choke; apparently he had been drinking when this little announcement came up. "The Council has determined that Al is, how should I put this…not fully utilizing you to your complete extent."

They knew! Somehow they found or figured out that I could make demon babies, as it were. They planned on making me a little demon factory, with Nessie here as the first baby daddy. Crap! Newt was never around when she was needed. Unless, of course, the Council arranged for Newt to be absent during this time. I needed to get out of here now. I always wanted to have a family, but it was always in the white picket fence vision, not the being-locked-away-in-a-cage-except-during-mating-times kind.

As I started to move, Caveboy and Roman moved to surround me, obviously already prepared for me to run. Al was still sitting there with a stunned look on his face. What do you know? He can be shocked into silence. Of course, now was the time that I needed Al to be more like his normal self, full of swagger and self-righteousness. Before I could determine what options I had, Al made his move. He got a big grin on his face, throwing a quick ley line ball right at Roman. As Roman was more focused on me, he took the full brunt of the attack, flying backwards. This left me an opening (for which I was grateful), one that I immediately took.

I started moving towards the kitchen, figuring that I might be able to grab the few seconds I needed to concentrate on Ivy and get out of here. Unfortunately, even though Roman was still recovering from Al's hit, and Nessie was focusing more on Al, Cavey was still fully aware of me. He moved slowly, dragging his club behind him (I guess that he took the look seriously). I was still a few steps ahead of him, so I kept my path to the kitchen. Suddenly, a curse flew by my face, inches away from hitting me. The purple slime that went past me and landed on a wall, started dissolving the wall and anything else that it touched. Not only was Cavey a menace, but I stood a good chance of being hit by Nessie or Al during their duel.

I slipped through the open doorway into the kitchen. I grabbed my splat gun, which I never went anywhere without anymore, and prepared for Cavey to come around the corner. Seconds later, he rounded the arch and I let go with my ammo. Four shots later found him snoozing away at my feet. I grabbed a hold of the nearest line, which conveniently went through Al's new house. I started visualizing my trip to home and Ivy. I felt the distinctive flavor of my line and my love, taking them into myself to hold as an anchor. As soon as I started the jumping process, I felt a burning sensation hit me full on. I lost my grip on the line as the curse invaded my mind, a blazing path travelling through my nervous system. I screamed from the pain, feeling myself fall into the void between places. I quickly fell unconsciousness from the pain, sparing me the agony that I felt both from the curse and from failing to return to Ivy.