My body pulled within itself and an in instant, I was standing in Al's workroom. Al was standing near his table and relief washed over his face when our eyes met. I felt some of my own tensions ease and gave him a small smile.
I watched as his eyes flicked towards Jarzebak with a suspicious glare. "I felt you enter the ever after briefly and then you were gone, where were you?" he said in his polished British accent.
Jarzebak smiled warmly at Al, ignoring his coldness. "We popped over to my bedroom for a little chat, but here she is. I think she is even in her right mind now. You should have seen her slurring about before. I think I like human drugs."
Al grimaced. He had seen me drugged before and it wasn't a pretty sight.
Jarzebak continued, apparently enjoying the annoyance he was causing Al. "My bringing her here will cost you. I had to trade one of my demon marks to secure her." His eyes drifted towards my wrist. "I would accept her mark as fair trade."
The blood drained from my face but Al only scoffed. "Like hell, we will work something out later. Don't let the ley lines burn you on your way out."
Jarzebak turned to me and took my hands in his. "Until we meet again, Rachel Mariana Morgan," he said. And then he brought my hands to his lips and gave me another soft kiss.
I heard a small growl come from Al and turned my attention away from Jarzebak. When I glanced back, he was already gone and my hands were holding nothing. I brought my arms back down and wiped my palms on my jeans.
I turned back to look at Al and he was still standing with his arms folded across his chest glaring at me. Uh oh, he looked mad.
"Look, Al…" I started to say. But he held up a hand and I stopped cold.
"Do you ever use that pretty little head above your shoulders?" he growled and started to stride across the room towards me. I backed up. He looked pissed.
He reached me and I braced to be backhanded but he grabbed me by the shoulders instead. He pulled me towards him and I stood looking in wide eyes. He looked panicked.
"Why didn't you wait for me," he said. His voice was almost pleading. "Taking on Ku' Sox by yourself was insane."
"I'm, I'm sorry," I stammered.
Al released me and I regained some of my composure. "If I waited for nightfall, you probably would have just come and snatched me out of reality," I said with more than a hint of accusation in my voice.
"You're damned straight I would have taken you out of reality. Don't you have any survival instincts? I thought you were dead Rachel. Dead," he added for emphasis.
I was about to yell at him that I was dead but guilt crept inside me and I held my tongue. A silence stretched between us.
"How is it that you are still alive?" asked Al. It sounded like he was forcing his voice to remain calm. "I thought I saw you lying in a hospital, with no soul."
"I, uh.. I burnt up my aura when Ku'Sox dragged me into the ley lines. Trent put my soul in a bottle to heal."
Al's eyebrows rose. "Really?" he drawled. "Funny, he didn't mention that when I was beating the living snot out of him."
I grimaced, remembering Trent's broken leg and missing fingers. It would have been much easier for him if he had told Al there was hope of me living.
"And why couldn't I find you?" Al continued. "I tried to pop in and check on you when the collective discovered that you were still alive. Days later, might I add."
I looked down at my wrist and saw that the silver charm bracelet Trent had given me was missing. It must have stayed in reality when Jarzebak jumped me.
"Trent gave me an elf charm that cut off my ability to use demon magic and made me invisible to all demons," I answered truthfully. This was starting to sound really bad. I had let Al think I was dead. I shouldn't feel bad about cutting off contact from a demon but part of me did. I guess I was just drawn to drama.
"That little pus bucket," bellowed Al. He threw his arms in the air and started to pace around the room. "He is trying to keep you for himself. Nasty little man. Be careful Rachel, he has tried to kill you before and he will try again. If it wasn't for that stupid mark you gave him, I could have this all cleared up in a jiffy."
"What happened to you after I left?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well," he spat. "After I saw you dead, I had to report it to the collective. There is no way I could hide that from them. I was immediately thrown into prison. Damn it, Rachel. There was even talk of throwing me naked into the ley lines."
He paused and seemed to gather himself. "Lucky for me, a demon saw a your picture splashed across the cover of a newspaper while was working a summoning. He was generous enough to share that information with the rest of the collective. Rachel, most demons would have kept that piece of information to themselves."
I thought about all the press in the last week. Demons didn't know much about what happened in reality but I was practically a super hero in the media's eyes. I suppose some tidbits made there way into the ever after.
Al sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, it looked as though most of the anger had left him. "I am glad you are back," he said softly. I felt myself relax and I touched his shoulder.
"Look Al, I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you but I don't really want to stay here. I got my shunning removed. I won our bet. I want to go back to reality," I said.
"All demons want to go back to reality," he said. "But we can't. Unfortunately for you, the situation has changed. You are considered too precious of a commodity to be fighting bad guys and trying to blow yourself up. The collective thinks it would be best if you stayed here."
Apparently, Al thought I was trying to play super hero also. "Look," I said as I jabbed a finger at him. "You can't force me to stay here. I can be summoned out and if that doesn't work, I'll try jumping the ley lines myself. I've done it before and I can do it again. And don't even think about trying to kill anyone who knows my summoning name. I'll rearrange your dirty bits."
Al shuddered. Crap, had he really been considering killing off anyone who knew my summoning name? That would mean Jenks and Ivy.
"You need to talk to your little friends and tell them to stop summoning you. They will make themselves more of a target every time you leave. I don't think any other demons know who knows your name but they can certainly find out. Your business partners are even listed in the phone book," Al finished.
Damn, the phone book? All a demon would have to do is trick someone into releasing them and then look me up. It would be easy.
"You can't seriously think I'll just willingly stay here in the ever after with you, do you?" I asked.
Al thought about it a moment. "Perhaps we could allow trips to reality. With a chaperone."
"Ah, come on, not Pierce again," I mumbled.
"No, not Pierce. I don't trust that little toad's wart for a minute. I'm talking about myself," said Al. He smiled wickedly. I would be delighted to escort you into reality. I'll pop you over when the sun has set and return you here safe and sound before it rises."
His eyes seemed to gleam at the idea. He would probably enjoy spending more time in reality. The food was certainly better.
"But I won't get to see the sun," I groaned. True, I was on witch's time and we slept for a good portion of the day but I still had several hours of sunlight each day. I remembered how much I missed the sun when I had been cursed to live in the ever after.
"It is better than nothing, yes?" chirped Al. He seemed absolutely cheerful. "Maybe after you improve in your studies, the collective will allow you a few trips in the sun. I think this is your best option for now. And, if you let me jump you, your friends won't bring any more suspicion upon themselves by summoning you."
Al was starting to make sense and that was a scary thing. Damn him back to the turn.
"I'll consider this arrangement on a trial basis but don't go snatching people. And, it would help if you wore a disguise while you were in reality. I got my shunning removed but there are still a lot of people out there who wouldn't trust me running around with a demon."
Al clapped his hands together and then reached for one of my hands, bringing it to his chest.
"I will be an absolute gentleman," he proclaimed and I felt something drop in my stomach. Al would be spending time with me in reality.
Luffy fan: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please feel free to leave feedback. I am looking forward to some Al and Rachel time, wink wink. Maybe I'll get to add some in the next chapter or two.