Chapter 3

The week had been pretty uneventful. I didn't have any runs and it was depressing. Business had been slow since I came out as a demon and I wasn't an assassin despite what people had heard. There was no sign of the Druchii, but having no attacks on me lately was making me nervous. Things were never this calm around me. I had my weekly visit to the ever-after and Al was not up for spilling the beans on the Druchii. He confirmed it was one of them then refused to let me look through his library for any information. He told me not to go sticking my nosy little witchy ass into matters that didn't concern me, whatever that was supposed to mean. He asked me to stay in the ever-after. After repeating myself about ten times that I needed to be on the other side of the lines for Trent to help me, and oddly enough he agreed. The feeling that was left from Trent's aura seemed to have finally subsided. It was just after noon and I was in the kitchen making cookies when the phone rang. I hurried out to get it hoping that it wouldn't wake Ivy.

"Vampiric Charms?" I wiped some cookie dough off of my fingers.

"Hello Rachel." Trent's velvety smooth voice melted into my ears. "I think I found something. Can you come over this afternoon, say around three?" I lost the ability to speak. God if he had any idea what just the sound of his voice does to me. "Uh Rachel, are you still there?"

"Yes. Yes, I can be there at three." I said snapping out of my trance. I blushed thinking about how I had just went speechless. I hope he didn't notice. I heard the hum of Jenks' wings and thought it was time to end the call. "I will see you then." I hung up without waiting for his response. I was such a stupid witch sometimes.

"Why you so red Rache?" Jenks landed on my shoulder with a sly look on his face. "That was the little cookie maker wasn't it?" He laughed. I moved my hair to cover my shoulder so he would have to find somewhere else to sit. He flew up and followed me to the kitchen.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I questioned him, going back to work on the chocolate chip cookies. I popped a filled cookie sheet into the oven.

"Belle is trying to get me to stretch my sleep schedule so that I sleep after the kids are up. We were trying to find the best way to have someone always watching you." He grinned as he came to a stop on the center island.

"I don't need a babysitter." I mumbled more to myself than to Jenks.

"Sure Rache and I poop ice cream cones." Jenks walked forward to steal a pixy sized bite of the cookie dough. "Why do you think Quen has been past here about six times today?" He started eating his dough and I wondered if it would make him as drunk as honey does.

"Quen?" I glanced out the window across the graveyard. Damn. Even Trent thought I needed a babysitter. It could just be Quen acting on his own without Trent's knowledge? It wouldn't be the first time. Ceri would have to know what he was up to though.

Jenks hiccuped but seemed to be able to stand on his own. "They care about you Rache. That's what friends are for."

"I have to be at Trent's at three. He thinks he might have found something about the Druchii. Do you want to come?" I finished scooping the rest of the dough out of the bowl.

"Yeah I'll go. I told Belle I would bring her sister something the next time we went over there." Jenks turned a light shade of red. I smiled. He knows as well as I that no one could replace Matalina but I liked that he had someone.

I went to stop at Trent's gatehouse when the guard waved me through. Trent really does trust me. I parked in the front lot where Quen was waiting for me. As soon as I opened the car door Jenks landed on his shoulder and asked for permission to deliver the item to Belle's sister. He nodded his approval and Jenks disappeared with a hum.

"So, who has you checking on me?" I asked the man with my hands on my hips. I could never pull off this pose quite as well as a pixy does.

"I was requested to periodically make sure you were safe Ms. Morgan." He turned his head to hide his smile.

"Quen!" I whined. "Who asked you? Was it Trent or Ceri?" I followed Quen through the compound, finally stopping in Trent's back office. Trent was sitting at his desk looking over a large book that looked very similar to one of my demon texts. Quen exited the office shutting the door gently behind him. Great. He was never going to answer my question now.

I flopped into one of the chairs in front of his desk. Trent still hadn't acknowledged me and I stood, snatching the book right out from under him and sat back with it in my lap. I don't know why it bothered me that he hadn't greeted me but for some reason it did. Trent raised an eyebrow and met my eyes.

"Hello Rachel." He smirked. "I see you would like to take a look at my book."

I snorted. That was classy. What's next Rache, are you going to belch the ABC's? Why do I keep acting like this around him? "So is this what you found?" I looked down at the page open in my lap. It was a charm to keep a soul out of a body. It looked pretty easy and the ingredients all acceptable by my standards. There were a lot of penciled in notes on how to modify it. There were so many different options on what you could do with a soul that it scared me. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed there was a charm to join two souls together, or one to allow a certain soul to come and go freely from your body, or that would permanently lock a soul into a body. I wonder if any of these would work on Ivy?

Trent studied me as I finished evaluating the spell. He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands in front of him. He was dressed down today, wearing a green polo shirt to match his eyes and causal khaki pants. He looked good. From the look of amusement in his eyes he knew that I knew he looked good too. Peachy. I hate it when he catches me checking him out.

"Would you be willing to try it?" He asked, not breaking eye contact.

"Beg pardon?" I genuinely was confused as to what he was referring. Did he want me to try him?

"The charm Rachel. Would you be willing to try the charm?" He never lost the look of amusement behind those green eyes.

I exhaled. "It doesn't say anything about what could happen if it doesn't work. What if we do it wrong and I open a way for souls to come in?" Elven magic made me nervous. It was wild and you never knew which way it could turn.

"I would never put you in danger." Trent said and I knew he meant it, well at least now. Two years ago I wouldn't have believed him. We had quite the history behind us. I trusted him with my life now and that's what matters. "Ceri approves of it. I had her look it over to make sure it would be safe for you. She offered to help you prepare it if you would like."

I smiled. I had learned from experience that you're better off watching Ceri get a spell prepared rather than helping her. Trent returned my smile knowing exactly what I was thinking. I laughed. "Ceri is already working on it isn't she?"

He ran his hand through his blonde hair. "Yeah. As soon as I told her you would be here this afternoon she began preparing it for you." I nodded and returned the book to Trent's desk. I was still getting use to making casual conversation with Trent and the word yeah sounded odd coming from him. "Did your de- Al, did he have any information for you?"

I found his anger towards Al kind of funny. I know the time he spent being a demon's familiar was part of it but sometimes I wondered if it was more than that. He reminded me of Ivy. She always came across as a jealous boyfriend and Trent had a lot of similar reactions.

"No. He didn't know who did it but he did agree that it was a Druchii. He wanted me to stay. I told him you were helping me and he let me come back." I explained.

His eyes widened and his mouth opened into an O of surprise."He trusts me to keep you safe. I guess our little stunt in my office was beneficial." Trent answered.

He had regained the emotion that had started to slip from him and his eyes were back to being filled with amusement. It was kind of nice not having to say everything that I was thinking. I was starting to like that it was almost like Trent could read my mind.

"Not your mind, just your face." He smiled another real smile. I like Trent like this. We worked really well together. I returned his smile. "Shall we go see if Ceri is ready for you?"

We both rose to head towards the door. He opened the door for me and set his hand on the small of my back. As soon as he made contact I felt a jolt of energy jump between us. It wasn't the same as when one person was low in their chi and you just equaled them out. This was something entirely different. It felt similar to what he had done in his office when we were talking to Al in the line. He removed his hand knowing I had felt the sensation.

"It didn't hurt." I whispered, he could hear me even if I could hardly hear myself.

He stepped out of the office and I followed him. I could get lost in Trent's place. We ended up in the kitchen attached to the common room. I was a little surprised that they didn't have a kitchen just for spelling in a place that big. Maybe they did and Ceri just liked to use this one.

Ceri was standing at the counter bent over a hand written list. She looked so happy. She smiled when she saw I was with Trent. The kitchen was amazing. It reminded me of mine, even having a center island. Everything was stainless steel down to the refrigerator. I smiled seeing the girls in a playpen in front of a large oak dinning table. They squealed when they saw their dad. Trent followed me over to the girls with a huge smile on his face. Those girls really were changing him.

"Hello my little ladies." I said, kissing both of them on the head.

"Rachel, you look wonderful." Ceri said, coming over to give me a hug.

I laughed. "I need to stop being such a stranger around here." I returned her hug. I was pleased she was happy here with her girls and Quen. "Do you need any help?" I asked as she returned to the spell.

She gave me a flat look. I couldn't help but grin at her knowing what her answer was going to be. Ceri and I turned at the same time as Lucy screamed for her father's attention since he was only holding Ray.

"She really is a love." Ceri said rolling her eyes. "She just wants all the attention from her father. I'm almost done here Rachel. Did Trenton explain what we were doing?"

"Well no." I turned my full attention to Ceri rather than admiring Trent's backside as he was bending to put Ray back and retrieve Lucy. I trusted Ceri. She had helped me with enough spells and potions for me to know she would never put me in danger. Now that I was a demon a little smut from a spell was of no thought to Ceri. I still didn't want it but if it would keep my friends or myself safe I was willing to take it.

"It's not a very common spell. It's elven but seeing as you can do wild magic it will work." Ceri gave me a long look. I think she knew I had finally put two and two together and figured out I could do elven magic.

"You knew demons could do elven magic?" I asked taking the finger stick she was holding out to me.

"Rachel I thought you knew?" Ceri looked confused. She studied my face seeing that I had no idea what she was referring to. She sighed. Ceri didn't always make me feel like the smartest person. "All elven magic can be performed by demons. You can do anything that Trenton can do and you can probably do it faster and better. Most demons choose not to use it. It's adaptive. It can cause more damage than good when in a battle."

"Does Al use it?" I asked Ceri.

"No. He doesn't trust it." Ceri replied.

I leaned forward and plopped three drops of my blood into the copper pot. I could smell the burnt amber and if I could then Ceri and Trent could.

"I knew I could do elven magic when Trent gave me the charms and the ring. I just didn't know that Trent had figured it out and didn't bother to tell me I was his guinea pig." Trent had pulled away from the girls and stood next to Ceri looking down at the list.

"I think when we have time to sit down and talk Rachel, there are some things I should tell you." Trent looked at me and I couldn't read his face. He almost looked like he was holding back anger. What did I do to irritate the elf now?

Ceri gave him a look that you only see mother's give. I laughed. I couldn't help it. He knew that look and he backed away from her.

"I will take the girls and put them down for their nap." He came up with the excuse, took the girls, and was out of the kitchen in about ten seconds. I was still smiling. Ceri could drive a multimillionaire from the kitchen with just one look. I loved my friends.

"So you just need to drink this and say these words." Ceri handed me a vial and pointed at some words on her paper. I looked over them. They were Latin. I hope I could pronounce them right.

I took the cap off the vile and chugged it. It tasted like burnt leaves and I had to stop the urge to spit it back out. Why couldn't these things ever taste like cotton candy? "hoc anima, servare spiritus ex, hoc magicae."

Ceri nodded her approval that I had said it correctly. I didn't feel any different. I hope I did it right. Suddenly it felt like the whole room was spinning. I was sick to my stomach and I sank to the floor. Ceri rushed forward.

"Rachel! Rachel! Are you alright? Rachel breathe!" Ceri yelled.

I hadn't even realized I was holding my breathe. I was waiting for the pain to hit like it did with a curse but I didn't feel it. I just felt woozy. I focused on Ceri, trying to keep from throwing up. Oh God don't let me puke in Trent's kitchen.

Trent must have heard Ceri yelling and burst into the kitchen. "What happened?"

He looked startled as he took in my sprawled body across his kitchen floor. I found him very attractive when he was showing his concern for me. He knelt down beside me and looked at Ceri, waiting for her answer. He smelled like the forest and his cologne. I wanted to lean into him to get a better sniff but I resisted. Ceri was watching us, her eyes jumping back and forth between us.

"I don't know. She said the incantation and then she dropped to the floor and wasn't breathing." Ceri was frantic. "I don't do elven magic Trenton."

"I'm fine." I finally managed to say, sure now that I wasn't going to loose my lunch. "I just got really light headed and felt sick for a moment."

"I don't like this Trenton. I'm not sure she should have reacted this way to that charm." Ceri said nervously.

"She's fine Ceri. She performed the magic on herself. It was bound to have some sort of side effect." Trent said as he smoothed his hair down and stood up.

"Go turn yourself Trent! You should have told me I would have a reaction to it!" I yelled at him. It wasn't really his fault but I felt better yelling at someone.

"You were never in any danger. I would have informed you if there was any serious risk." He said as his whole posture stiffened.

"Fantastic." I mumbled and got up from the floor. I felt fine again. Damn wild magic. "How will I know if it worked?"

"There isn't a way to check. We just wait it out and see if the Druchii possesses you again." Trent answered. This was not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to take my frustration out on him but he didn't deserve it. He was trying to help me and all I wanted to do was kick him in the shin.

"Well I think it worked Rachel." Ceri said. "You wouldn't have had any kind of reaction if the spell didn't work at all." She had a good point. Elven magic was unpredictable but if it wasn't performed correctly then I shouldn't have had a reaction. Then again I didn't always react the same way to magic that others did and it worried me.

"Wonderful. Rachel a word if you don't mind?" Trent questioned and without waiting for my response he took my elbow and led me out of the kitchen.