Al was preparing to take me to Dali's restaurant. He wanted to show everyone that I was still in one piece and behaving like a good little demoness. He had agreed to jump me back to reality after dinner so I could explain the new living situation to Jenks and Ivy.

Al eyed my casual jeans and embroidered top. I had been trying to dress a little more conservatively these days since it felt like everyone and their mother was calling me a whore.

"Tsk, tsk, Rachel. This simply won't do," murmured Al. I felt a wave of ever after cascade down my body and I looked down to see an emerald cocktail dress. The satin fabric came up just above my knees. I looked down to appreciate the fine dress and caught a glimpse of ever after wash over Al. Gone was his typical crushed green velvet coat and buckled boots. He now stood in a black dress suit. His typical muscled bulk appeared slightly leaner and I wondered if he changed his body size to match his clothing.

"Shall we?" he said and offered me his arm. I took it and a minute later we were standing outside Dali's.

The host saw us and came to us immediately. "Rachel," the unfamiliar demon boomed. He took my hand and kissed it. My hands were seeing a lot of demon action these days I thought. He grinned at me and turned to Al and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to see you again Al. I have a table for you, right this way."

I peered into the restaurant and I could see that it was still held the cast of my memory. There were now picnic tables scattered throughout the Petrified Forest and the demons were dressed in casual summer clothing. I felt another shimmer and looked down to see that I was wearing the Capris and top that Newt had dressed me in when I had first created the memory. Al was walking next to me in cargo pants and a white shirt. I looked down to his feet and saw flip flops. His feet looked so normal and they were kind of cute I thought.

The host took us to a picnic table and I looked around. There had to be more than a hundred demons in the restaurant. Three times the number since the last time I was here. I wondered if my memory was the reason for high attendance. We had just been seated when Dali came striding towards our table.

"Rachel, Rachel, Rachel," he said in a voice full of delight. "So glad to see you here again. I'll have you know that your little death scare hasn't affected the accuracy of our book keeping at all. Your royalties and well accounted for."

I wondered how much demon money I actually had. I looked at Al and he seemed to be wondering the same thing.

"So, dinner can be on me tonight?" I asked, raising my eyes in question.

Al coughed as he was taking a sip of water. "No, no Rachel dear. I'll cover this. Please, just enjoy yourself."

Apparently, demons hadn't gotten the memo that women could pay for their meals these days. Oh well, I wouldn't complain.

Dali laughed and reached down to place a kiss on my cheek before excusing himself and seeing to the other customers. He had apparently moved up from hand kisses to cheek kisses. We must have been getting chummy, I thought.

A demon wearing a baseball cap and what appeared to be brightly colored swim trunks was making his way to our table.

"Tron," said Al. "As you can see Rachel is with us back again. We can see to your car once we have gotten ourselves settled."

Tron cast a quick glance at Al and met my eyes. "Yes, yes, very good," he said then took a seat at our table. He was practically staring now and it was making me uncomfortable.

I thought back to my earlier agreement with Al about not being in the sun without him. Getting my mom's car painted red and seeing it in the sun seemed impossible now. I cleared my throat. "Um, due to some recent developments, it is going to be more difficult to create a casting of the car that is both red and in the sun," I said.

Al nodded in understanding but Tron didn't seem phased. "Well, I wouldn't be against amending our contract a little. Perhaps if you let me pull the memory from you…" he finished.

I felt my breath suck in. "Uh, no, that isn't an option. I only want Al to pull the constructs." Tron's face fell. I searched my mind for some way to recover. "But perhaps I can create a red convertible instead. It is a much newer model."

Tron seemed to brighten at the idea. "Mmmmm, yes, I think that will do nicely." He shifted, settling into his seat. He wanted to chat. "So, Rachel, I was wondering what your views were on the meeting tonight."

Meeting tonight? "What meeting tonight?" I asked.

Al flushed. "It is that intolerable, Jarzebak," he muttered. "Rachel, I had nothing to do with this."

Tron grinned seeing Al's discomfort. "Ah, Al. You haven't told her?" he mocked. "The collective will be voting tonight on Al's claim as your teacher." I grimaced but it wasn't completely unexpected. "And," he continued, "They will be voting to disallow Newt from killing anyone who sleeps with you."

I sputtered. "What," I gasped. "Al, they can't do that, can they? Al, tell me they can't do that."

Al looked down solemnly. "They can but my rights to you are clear. You have been my student for the better part of a year and I have kept you safe. You wear my mark and it is clear that you would prefer to stay under my tutelage. Jarzebak may be part of the royal court but that doesn't give him the right to do whatever he wants."

I sat in shock. The regret of coming back to the ever after was sinking in. Trent and Peirce and sacrificed so much to give me a choice and I had just gone and thrown everything away with some drugs and rash decision making. Oh God, Peirce. Where was Peirce, I thought.

"Tron, could you please give me and Al a moment alone?" I asked through gritted teeth.

Tron nodded, seeming pleased and excused himself from the table. When he was out of earshot I turned on Al. "Al, what the hell? I'm really starting to regret my decision of coming back to the ever after. I thought you were in trouble. And, what about Peirce?" I asked.

Al seemed thrown off by my outburst of anger and questions. "First," he said, "I have the meeting with the collective under control. As long as you pledge your allegiance to me, everything should go swimmingly." He stopped and I waited for more. "Peirce is um, safe right now. In a bottle."

"In a bottle!" I yelped.

Al looked embarrassed. "Yes, well the idiot told me you were dead and it was he was to blame. What was I supposed to do? I lost control momentarily but remembered his potential value crossed my mind at the last moment and I thought better of it. I'll get him a new body soon enough. I still have one of your potions, thank goodness."

I guffawed. Al had killed Peirce? And Peirce had kept silent to protect me. This was sickening. "You bring him back right now!" I demanded. I stood up and jabbed a finger at him. "You bring him back or so help me, I'll ask to be somebody else's damn student." It was an empty threat. At least I think it was. No way was I going to request staying under Jarzebak's demon watch.

My gut clinched as I realized the restaurant had gone silent. I looked around and saw dozens of demon's eyes fastened on me. Our conversation was being noted. Crap on toast.

Al grabbed my arm and forced me back down to me seat. "Careful, itchy witch," he murmured. "I'll bring him back, no need to cause a scene."

I felt sick and could only stare at him. "And what's this about the collective voting on Newt's protection over me?" I whispered. "It sounds like something you could have mentioned. She doesn't really seem like the type of person to listen to what the collective wants anyways. A vote can't work."

Again, Al looked embarrassed. "Newt is likely to listen to the collective. At least, to some extent. It was their vote that kept her from killing Ku' Sox." He fidgeted with his napkin. "She is a crazy old bitch. She wants our race to die out. You can see why the collective would disagree with her. She holds great power but she isn't the only one making decisions around her. Your existence further diminishes her reach. She's likely to turn on you and kill you once she figures that out."

I felt my heart skip a beat. I had always known Newt was crazy but now I saw a clear reason for her to want me dead. Not good. "Al.." I moaned, not knowing what else to say.

Al looked at me with what might have been sympathy. Confidence then washed over his face and he took my hands. "Rachel, I can make this work. You are back now and we just need to tidy up a bit of paperwork. That's all this really is, red tape."

I looked at him doubtfully and then felt a sneeze coming. I sneezed and panic flashed across Al's eye's. "Rachel!" he exclaimed. I sneezed again. I was being summoned. "Rachel!" he cried out. I looked at him desperately but it was too late. I was being summoned back to reality.

Luffy Fan: Thank you so much for the reviews. I just started reading the Hollows two months ago and I completely devoured the books. It was driving me crazy that I couldn't read the next one so I thought I would make up my own story. This will probably be way off from what Kim Harrison has planned but it is fun to let my imagination go.