Chapter 5
Lee had been moved to one of the guest rooms and still hadn't woken. Ceri and Quen kept telling me not to worry. It took more time for someone to recover if they aren't use to channeling that much ley line energy. I felt like it was all my fault. Trent had used me to push all that energy into Lee. He had explained he needed to since the Druchii had already been in my head he would need more energy to get it out. It didn't even bother me that Trent had done it without my permission.
Ceri had made tea and we were all sitting in the living room with the girls waiting for Lee to wake up. Lucy and Ray were demanding my attention and I found myself laughing and smiling more than I had in a long time. Jenks was flying overhead making rainbow sparkles for the girls. He would dip low and I was waiting for one of them to get their chubby little hands on him.
"The charm we used for me, can Lee use it?" I asked Ceri, taking a sip of my tea. I really wanted some coffee. The bland taste of the herbs were just not hitting the spot.
"It would work on Lee. You or Trenton would be able to perform it. I could prepare another batch for him." Ceri kept trying to hand Lucy a cookie but she was so focused on catching Jenks that she didn't notice. I nodded but didn't respond. I hated that people I knew were in danger again. I still couldn't figure out if the Druchii was trying to get to me or to Trent.
"I think it's after both of us, Rachel." Trent said, drawing my attention to him. His hair was in all directions like he had just woken up. It was a look I couldn't remember ever seeing on him but I liked it. He was comfortable and he was able to be like that in front of me. He noticed my attention on his head and ran his hand through his hair which only increased the problem. I grinned.
"You're going to have to summon it Trenton." Ceri looked at me. "It's going to keep coming back. You have to find out what it wants."
Trent sighed. "I've been trying to find a way to summon it and I'm coming up empty. I had Rachel in the library earlier hoping we could find a spell to call it."
I jerked my head in his direction. We were not in that library looking for a spell. His ears started to turn red under my gaze and I looked away. Why did Trent have me in the library? I'm sure if he was intentionally trying to kiss me or whatever he was trying to do, there were much better places for it. Especially thinking about where it could have went if we had gotten carried away. No. I wouldn't even think about what had almost happened in the library. It was just a fluke one time thing.
"Then lets find the spell. Trent?" I stood and headed for the hall. Trent shrugged at Ceri and stood to follow me.
"Should we have cherry pie tonight Trenton?" Ceri called as we walked down the hall.
We heard her giggle as neither one of us responded. It was obvious Ceri had her suspicions about what was going on between Trent and myself. I could honestly say nothing was though. It made me kind of sad. I liked working with Trent. I wanted to be able to continue the relationship that we had developed.
We came to a stop in front of the large door again. Trent said the words for it to open. This time I recognized them as a charm to open locked doors. The line energy washed over us as we went inside. I headed to the shelves with the books that gave me the tingles. It seemed like a good place to start to me. I felt Trent's eyes on me but I kept my back to him. I was angry with him; I hated that he had lied to Ceri about why we were in the library. I didn't expect him to tell her he had tried to kiss me but he could have come up with something better than a spell I knew nothing about.
"Why are you mad at me now, Rachel?" Trent moved to the shelf next to mine and risked a peek at me from the corner of his eye. I snatched the book that I felt the tingles from off the shelf and slammed it on the table. Trent didn't even flinch. I pushed the book in his direction. I didn't know what we were looking for.
"I don't like you lying to Ceri. Why couldn't you just say we were down here reading a letter from you father? A notebook?" I frowned not wanting to make eye contact with him. Trent moved to open the book. He started flipping through the pages but I don't think he was really looking at them.
"I don't know Rachel. I like us being able to have secrets. This is a secret that was meant for us. I want to keep it that way." Trent continued to flip through the book. God I could be really thick sometimes. When he put it that way it sounded like that's the way it should be. Why do I always jump to conclusions about his motives? He isn't the same man that he was before.
"Trent I'm sorry. I didn't think of it like that." I moved forward to help him look through the book. "What exactly are we looking for?" He relaxed a little.
"Anything about summoning a soul. Maybe one for a ghost? We could modify it to work." He said as he kept turning pages. I smiled. We didn't need his book. There was the charm I had used on Pierce that we could modify for the Druchii. I reached over and closed the book. Trent looked at me, his eyebrows raised.
"Got it. I have a charm." I leaned back against the table. I saw Trent run his eyes up and down my body and I couldn't help but let my smile get bigger. "Do you remember from New Years at Carew Tower?"
"Yes." Trent looked less than pleased but I had a spell and he didn't so he would have to suck it up and deal with it. Trent was still looking at me and I had to look down at myself. Did I have baby slobber on me or something? My black working leathers looked fine. My red halter was slobber free also. Before I knew what was happening Trent was right in front of me. He had moved so fast. I immediately reacted. I dropped and flung my right leg out in a sweeping motion taking him down in one quick move. I jumped up and backed away. I hadn't meant to take him down. Everything happened so fast and I was on edge, I acted on instinct. Trent groaned and stood up.
"Damn it Rachel." Trent doesn't swear very often but this time it seemed appropriate. "What did you do that for?" He was rubbing his elbow giving me the impression it had hit the floor pretty hard.
"I..I...I didn't mean to." I backed all the way up to the book shelf. I couldn't go further back and Trent was making me nervous. What was going on with him? When did he suddenly become okay with the idea of physical contact between us? He moved towards me but he was slower this time. I saw him coming. I saw the look in his green eyes. He wasn't going to hurt me. Then why was I so sure that he was?
"Trent, I-" He was in front of me again. I had to look up at him and for the first time it didn't really bother me. He placed his left hand on the shelf beside my head and leaned forward. My breathing became faster. He smelled like warmed wine. That was a neat trick elves and vampires had. They could always draw in their prey with their intoxicating smells. Ivy had said I smelled familiar when the Druchii was in my head. She had smelled it before. I wondered if it was just that delicious elf smell or if it was the fact that it smelt like a ghost so reminded her of Pierce.
Trent saw the thoughts flickering across my face and knew my mind was somewhere else. "You figured something out didn't you?" He asked without giving me any space. He was close enough that all I would have to do was lean forward and I could make contact with his lips.
I smiled. "I was trying to figure out why the Druchii smelled so familiar to Ivy." As if on cue I heard a buzzing coming front Trent's pocket.
"Yes." Trent answered his phone, seeming quite irritated. He nodded twice then said we would be right there. He put the phone back in his pocket. "Lee is up. He may remember more than what you do."
He placed his other hand on the opposite side of the bookshelf by my head. I didn't move. I couldn't. I stayed completely still not knowing what Trent was about to do. He leaned forward until his lips were almost touching my ear. I felt my knees tremble but I wasn't about to let myself fall.
"I think it's about time that we talk about this relationship we seemed to have developed, Ms. Morgan." He whispered.
I opened my mouth to deny it but nothing came out. Who am I kidding? I couldn't lie about being attracted to the bastard when everyone knew that I was. I wasn't too sure we had a relationship but we definitely had something. I wanted to lean into him. I could feel the heat coming off of his body.
"Lee" Was all that I managed to get out, while I could feel him breathing on my ear and neck. It was sending tingles down my spine and it was becoming increasingly hard not to touch him. If he didn't back up soon he was going to find out just how attracted I was to him.
"Lee isn't going anywhere Rachel." He said as he closed the space between us. His body was pressed up against mine. I had been waiting to touch him since the first time I saw him in his office. I reached my hand up to run it through his hair. He didn't move. I leaned my head forward and let it rest on his shoulder. It felt nice being like this with someone. Kisten had been gone for so long. I didn't know if I was ready for this. I had just gotten to where I didn't think I hated Trent anymore. I felt my whole body relax and I leaned into Trent. I just wanted someone to be there for me. I missed that closeness, I missed being held.
Trent pulled away very gently. "Lets go talk to Lee."
He took my hand and led me to the door. His skin was warm and I found I didn't mind him holding my hand. Once out in the hallway he released it and I wasn't offended. I wasn't sure I would want anyone to know about what was developing between Trent and myself when I didn't even know yet. If this was something that was going to happen every time Trent and I were alone I thought about trying to be alone more often. By the time we made our way to the living room Lee was already sitting on the couch with Lucy in his lap. She was loving all the attention she was getting today.
"Hey there old man." Lee stood up and extended his hand to Trent. Trent smiled, taking his hand and patting him on the back. "So I should have known if this kind of trouble involved Rachel you wouldn't be far behind." Lee chuckled and returned to his seat.
"It appears that Ms. Morgan has a fair amount of difficulty staying away from disastrous situations." Trent smirked. "Do you remember anything?" He took the seat next to Lee and shifted Lucy to his own lap. I took the seat on the other side of Trent carefully leaving a fair amount of space between us. Lucy though, had other plans. She leaned over and grasped my hair. I had to move closer to Trent just so she wouldn't rip it out with her death grip.
"I do not always get into disastrous situations Trent." I sighed trying to remove Lucy's hand in the tangled mess that was my hair. I really did though. No matter how hard I try they seek me out. Both men turned their heads to look at me. "Okay. They seem to find me no matter what I do."
"Leave Rachel alone you two. She tries to stay out of trouble. She has helped both of you so I don't want to hear it." Ceri's tone was sharp as she bounced Ray in her lap and I assumed the pick on Rachel session was officially over.
"I remember sitting in a meeting at my desk in my office. Then there was someone else in my head. They read my mind. They knew who I was but little else about me. They made me end my meeting then jump the line over here. I don't even know how to jump them on my own!" Lee said getting more and more frustrated by the end of it. "I had no control. All it told me was that it needed to get to Rachel and that it needed you to do it."
Fan-freakin-tastic. I slumped further into the couch. I knew that it had to be after me, I just didn't know why. I had saved the elves! Why is it after me? How does it even know about the relationship I have with Trent if it's been in a bottle for 2000 years? Things weren't adding up. Someone else has to be involved. Trent had been watching me the whole time I had my little rant in my head. Lee was quiet and watched whatever was going unsaid pass between Trent and I.
"I agree Rachel. There has to be someone behind this that has had some sort of direct contact with you and the ever-after. The Druchii wouldn't pick you at random. If it was released in the ever-after someone had to have brought it to this side of the lines." Trent said.
Lee's eyes got huge. "Whoa! Trent, you can read her mind?"
Trent laughed. "Just her face Stanley. I do know Rachel pretty well."
I stuck my tongue out at both of them. I'm not sure if I liked it when they were together and not trying to kill each other, although I do enjoy not getting blown up. Lucy was starting to fuss now that I had gotten those chubby little fingers out of my hair. Ceri collected the girls and took them into the nursery. I needed to go home to get that charm for Trent. Ceri would be able to modify it to fit for summoning a soul. Ivy was probably wondering where Jenks and I had disappeared to. Jenks! Where was he?
"Uh, has anyone seen Jenks?" I asked finally remembering I hadn't seen him in a while.
"He's helping Quen out. They were doing a perimeter check when I got up." Lee answered. I felt better knowing he was with Quen. Jenks had thought about coming to work for Trent if I wasn't able to come back from the ever-after. I think he would like it here. The fascination elves had with pixies seemed to flatter Jenks much more than he would ever let on.
"I've got to head back to the church to get that charm. You and Lee probably need to talk about our little friend some more." I looked at Trent. I stood up and gathered my bag from one of the tables.
"Thanks Rachel. I owe you one." Lee said. He came over and surprised me with a hug. I returned it and gave him a huge smile.
"I'll walk you out." Trent stood and started moving toward the hall that led to the door. Trent and I walked in silence all the way to the front lot where my mini cooper sat.
"Jenks!" I yelled as soon as we were outside. He would hear me if he was out here with Quen. I leaned up against my car and looked at Trent. He came forward but stopped a few feet away from me. Oh. So we were back to giving Rachel her personal space now?
"I want to apologize for my behavior in the library. I'm not sure what came over me. If you are not ready to talk about...things because of your vampire I understand." Trent spoke so softly I could hardly hear him.
"I accept your apology although I believe it's not necessary seeing as you didn't really do anything Trent." My tone was flat and he could take that how ever he wanted. I saw something flicker behind his green eyes. I think I had just hurt his feelings. Now I felt like an ass. It wasn't necessarily because of Kisten but I didn't feel I needed to explain that to him. I shuffled my feet in hopes that Trent would keep the conversation going because I wasn't going to do it.
"Give me a call when you find that spell okay?" Trent said, finally meeting my eyes. I nodded. He moved forward and I sucked in my breathe. The man was just full of surprises today. His lips softly grazed my cheek. "See you later Rachel."
I stood there like an idiot. I watched him walk back into the house and all I could do was hold my hand to my cheek. He glanced back and I felt my face flush in embarrassment. I fumbled through my purse for my keys, needing to get out of here. Why can't I ever find things when I need them? I was going to let Ivy finally organize me if it would save me the trouble of looking like an unorganized oaf in front of Trent. I sat down and cracked the windows waiting for Jenks to get his pixy ass in the car.
"Finally." I said as he flew in through the passenger side and took his spot on the rear view mirror.
"Tink's little red panties! You sure smell an awfully lot like Trent." He grinned.
"Suck dish water Jenks." I threw the car into reverse and headed down the drive.