CHAPTER 21

Rachel and Ivy materialized in Al's kitchen, or rather what was left of it.

Either Newt had gone out of her way to cause as much damage as possible, or else her fight with Al must have been intense. It appeared everything that could be broken, thrown, or in any way damaged, had been. The glass in his cabinets was shattered, their contents strewn everywhere, the heavy wooden counter broken in half, and the huge, heavy spell pot overturned and crushed like so much tinfoil. There were scorch marks on the walls and ceiling. It looked like a war zone.

Rachel, stunned, gazed around. "Damn. I didn't know Al had it in him."

"I smell blood." Ivy's nose would normally lead her right to the source, but the ever after continued to play havoc with her senses, the stench of burnt amber overriding everything else. It made her skin itch, and she felt hot and cold at the same time. Worse, she was going to have to burn this outfit when she got home, she knew the odor never come out.

"Al's?"

Ivy shrugged. She had no idea what demon blood smelled like. "I don't think so."

"Where is it?"

Ivy took a moment to center herself, and took a deep breath. The burnt amber staggered her but Rachel was there to catch her. Before stamping it back down, however, she found the source. "There. Behind the counter."

"Stay here." Rachel went to look, a hand coming to her mouth to stifle a gasp. "Oh my God."

Ivy didn't need heightened senses to know what Rachel was feeling. "What is it?"

"Tom Bansen."

Ivy came to the redhead's side. "What's left of him." The witch who had gotten himself killed after foolishly touching the banshee Mia Harbor's baby, had been dismembered. His limbs and head were lying near his body, in relative position to where they would normally have been. That, while horrible, was not in and of itself what shocked Rachel. Tom Bansen had been dead for quite some time. If his body was in pieces, it meant the spirit inhabiting it had been lost. Pierce was dead. Again. "I'm sorry."

"Why would Newt do this? I mean, killing him is one thing, but this?" Rachel wasn't crying, she and Pierce had not been that close for that long, but while she never truly loved the guy she certainly never wanted him dead.

Ivy noticed something else on the floor near Tom's body. "Rachel." A statue that looked vaguely like a person, with a few stray red hairs on its head and a strip of purple cloth tied around its waist. "What is that?"

"I'm not sure." Rachel bent down to pick it up. As soon as her hand touched it, she gasped, she could feel a ley line flooding into her, and she went ramrod straight as her eyes were filled with a bright white light.

'Mistress witch…I mean, Rachel.'

'Pierce?' Rachel blinked. She wasn't seeing so much as feeling, yet it was as if Pierce was standing right in front of her. It felt like communing through a line, only more personal. He couldn't hear her, however. He had either recorded a message of sorts into this statue, or else a portion of his essence lingered, taking this last opportunity to speak to her before moving on.

'I'm sorry it has to be this way, but you need to know the truth. Don't blame Newt for what happened to me. I expected her to kill me, after I told her what I am about to tell you. Algaliarept is responsible for what happened at Kalamack's. Newt didn't come there on her own. Al convinced her to go looking for you and then dosed her with yew so she wouldn't remember. He wanted to make sure you were angry at her and that everyone else thought she was too crazy to be your teacher.'

Rachel frowned. 'Al? Damn it.'

'This is an effigy, Rachel. Al created it in order to connect himself to you. He used it to spy on you, to tap into your senses. He told me how aroused he became after experiencing you and Ivy in bed together.'

Rachel felt sick. 'I'd better not tell Ivy.'

'I was able to do this spell without Al knowing. It is playing directly into your mind, so no one else who may be around can see or hear what you are experiencing. Destroy the effigy, Rachel. You don't want to run the risk of anyone else using it against you.' Pierce was silent for a moment. 'I am spelling this before I go to Newt, to tell her what Al did to her and to you. If you are seeing this, it is likely all over, and hopefully Algaliarept is dead along with me, but do not mourn my passing, Rachel. I was already dead don't forget. With any luck, I have moved on to my just reward. Even purgatory would be better than this.'

'I'm sorry Pierce.'

'Fare thee well, Rachel Mariana Morgan. I am a better man having loved you.'

Rachel jerked back, away from the effigy and Tom's body, and right into Ivy's waiting arms. "Are you all right?"

"Pierce was, umm, saying goodbye." Rachel wiped her eyes. "It was Al. He tricked Newt into coming after us. He made this thing…" She pointed at the effigy. "…to screw with my head. Destroy it." She breathed a sigh of relief as Ivy stomped it to pieces. "Thank you." She rested her head on Ivy's shoulder as her vampire put her arms around her. "I don't want to go back to Newt, crap on toast, I don't want anything to do with any of them, but if what Pierce just said is true, it wasn't really her fault. I think she was genuinely trying to teach me." She gritted her teeth. "She killed Pierce, but it was because of Al. That son of a bitch!"

"Can we please go home now?" Ivy asked. "I think this place is making me sick."

Rachel shook her head. "Not yet." She held out her hand, tapped the line, and whispered under her breath. The pieces of Tom's body erupted in flames, and within seconds were reduced to ash. "Now we can go." Still in contact with the line, she put an arm around Ivy's midsection, and made sure to envision their bedroom before stepping into it.