DISCLAIMER: I don't own:) If only . . .

RPOV

Lucy was sitting on my lap, and Ray was being held by her abba, who was standing at the door. Quen was in his usual black uniform and he was talking to someone on his cellphone. Trent, I think. The rich elf was at his medical wing because one of his stable hands had been kicked in the face by Red. From what I was able to over hear, the guy had a concussion. Poor him, I thought, tickling Lucy and grinning as she began giggling. Ray turned at the sound of her sister laughing and she stretched her hand to her.

"Lucy!" The sweet, almost-one-year-old little girl said, looking back at her abba carrying her. Taking in her request, Quen put her on the ground. She hobbled onto her legs and made a slow walk to Lucy and me.

"Ray!" Lucy crowed, jumping in my lap. Sharp pains raced up and down my leg. Making a pained face, I lowered Lucy to the carpet. I loved holding that little girl, but man, she's a jumpy thing. She didn't seem to mind, though. Ray reached us and fell back on her bottom with Lucy cheering her on. Ray had began walking a month ago. My heart gave a painful tug as I thought of how close Ceri had been to seeing her daughter walk for the first time. I had seen it on video; her first time had unfortunately been when she and Lucy were with Ellasbeth. At least Quen was there.

"Yes, Sa'han," Quen said, snapping his phone shut. He walked to us, sitting on the couch a seat from me. He was smiling at his little girls communicating with each other. Turning to me, he asked, "Are you hungry?"

Thinking back on my not-so-pleasant early morning, I said, "Yes." I had eaten a few of Trent's brimstone cookies, but that's all. I was feeling ravenous.

"Sandwiches okay?" he asked, getting to his feet with a grace. After my nod, he went to the kitchen. He reappeared moments later with a tray of small sandwiches.

"Thanks," I mumbled after he had set the tray on the coffee table. I reached for one, taking a bite and moaning in bliss. My God, how can a sandwich taste so good? Almost immediately, I had finished that one and I was reaching for another. Lucy and Ray were sharing one, taking turns taking tiny bites. Quen was drinking some of his coffee while watching Lucy and Ray with a soft smile tugging at his lips.

I've been here since five. When Trent and I had gotten here, he offered me Ellasbeth's room to catch up on my sleeping, but I reclined. It felt weird knowing that she was back in his life and to sleep in her room would feel as if I had taken another bubble bath in her bath tub. He had then offered me his own bed to sleep in, and I said yes. It was eleven something. I'd woken up about an hour ago after a very realistic dream concerning Trent. Damn. His stupid, nice scent that clung to his covers and pillows had found it's way into my sleep. I'm never going to sleep in his bed again, I vowed to myself, flicking a glance to his bedroom door.

As if summoned by my thoughts, Trent walked in the room. As soon as Lucy caught sight if him, she yelled out, "Daddy!"

Grinning, he went for her, kneeling in front of both of his girls. He took a bite out of Lucy and Ray's sandwich after Ray raised it to his face. Placing a kiss on both of their heads, he stood up and sat between Quen and me, our thighs touching. "You look well-rested," he told me, taking a sandwich for himself.

Swallowing loudly and feeling my cheeks warm, I said, "Yup." Trent glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. Hiding behind another bite, I mmm'd in reply.

"When you're finished here, would you mind accompanying me to my spelling hut. I think I might have found something." he said to me. I nodded, finishing my sandwich and getting another. Damn, these were too good. "You can take the sanwiches if you want." he added. Was he rushing me? I wondered, taking a huge bite and chewing slowing. Annoyance crossed his eyes, and I smiled at him.

Quen stood up, saying,"I'm putting the girls down for their nap." He picked the two girls up and went to their room. I smiled when I heard Lucy complain, "No, Abba!"

"Ray's birthday is in a week," Trent said in the new silence, "we're having a small dinner. Would you be there?"

I turned to look at him. Months ago on Lucy's birthday, they had done pretty much the same thing. Except it hadn't been a small thing. There had been dozens of rich kids from other wealthy families and the such. And a freaking clown. I wondered why Ray's birthday was just going to consist of a small dinner. Then I thought of Ceri.

Knowing my thoughts, Trent whispered, "Quen doesn't want a big celebration. He says that Ceri had wanted a small gathering of the people that made Ray happy. "

"And who will they be?" I asked, trying to smile and failing. I understood Ceri's way of thinking. Ray was the shy type, and having the attention on her in a big crowd, she'd panick. Lucy, other the hand, will eat up the attention.

"Well," Trent murmured, "Of course Quen and I. Maggie is, too. I asked Jenks while you were in the ever after and he's bringing his family. And I hope you come. " he finished, staring into my eyes.

Finding it hard to breathe with him looking at me with warmth, I choked out ," Well, duh." I tucked a strand of red curls behind my ear and asked hesitantly,"Ellasbeth isn't coming?"

His face pinching in irritation, he grunted, "No. Apparently, she's busy that day." My own face scrunched up in disgust. "At least you'll be there." he said, touching my hand that was on my knee. "Are you finished?"

"Umm, " I said, "Yeah, yes. Help me up." Trent obediently stood, and reached down for me. When on my feet, I thanked him.

He held my elbow, keeping me steady. "Maybe I should have made you something to minimize the pain."

Gritting my teeth, I said, "I'm fine. Besides, I've had worse."

"Fine, let's go."

Trent and I were in his spell hut, sitting on the cot with our backs against the wall and our legs stretched out. We were reading through a really old demon book, and I had the thought that maybe I needed to work on my latin some more. Trent was translating, and it was embarrassing. I was the damn demon here; I ought to be the one translating.

"This was the one I found interesting," Trent told me, taking the huge text from me and putting it on his lap.

He pointed to the curse, and I read it out loud, "Somnium tempore." Thinking it sounded familair, I asked, "What does that mean?"

"Dream wish." He answered.

I slapped his shoulder, loudly saying, "That is the curse Al was talking about!"

Trent glanced at me, then rubbed his shoulder where I had hit him. I rolled my eyes. I hadn't hit him that hard. "Are you sure?" I nodded, and he said, "Then this sucks."

I smiled at his word choice, then blanched. "How does it suck? We know the curse now."

"Yes, but this curse can be adapted to alternate uses." His brow furrowed and I had the small desire to smooth it out. "It has the alternate endings, but now we have to find the one that was put on us."

"But how does it suck?" I asked, dumbfounded. "Even if there are other ways to complete this curse, it still shortened our search for a curse." Trent ignored me, so I added, "How many endings are there?"

"A dozen." he muttered.

"Then let's get started." I put a hand on his shoulder, and leaned into him, looking down at the page, I read out loud, "Somnium interpretationem. What does that mean?"

"Dream interpretation. It's used when someone wants to know what your dreaming about."

"That's personal." I read another, "Somniculosus?"

"Dreamy, "Trent translated, "For putting someone down in a permanent sleep, dreaming whatever the person responsible wants them to dream."

"Opulentis?"

"Wealthy. For when one wants all the riches of his dreams."

"Nota Blanda?"

"Love-letter. For when someone wants to let the person they secretly love know they love them, but are to cowardly to do it face-to-face."

"That's not cowardly, "I said, feeling affronted for who ever had used this curse before, "If they are scared, that doesn't make them cowards."

Trent turned his face to me. "If they are in love, they should just tell the girl. The worst that will happen is they get rejected. Why waste a curse for that?"

"You've never been in love, have you?" I asked, noticing that he was only inches from me. Gulping, I turned back to the book. "How about amoris-crinem?"

Trent looked at me for a few more seconds, then looked to where I was pointing. " Love-lock. Used when someone wants to trap another in love with either themselves or someone else."

I rose my eyebrows. Finding another one, I read, "Graviditate?"

Trent was about to answer when he bowed his head and pulled the ancient text closer to his face. " Pregnancy. Used for when someone whats to impregnate an untouchable woman." My eyes widened and I leaned on him more.

"What? Let me see." Trent set the heavy text on my lap. "What does it say?" I asked, when none of the latin made sense to me.

"It says that this curse is used when someone wants an untouchable woman to get pregnant." Trent said, his breath warm on my ear and neck.

"Newt threatened to kill any of the demons if they had sex with me." I whispered.

"An untouchable woman." he breathed, "Maybe this is the curse that was put on Al."

"Maybe. How do we remove it." I asked, ire filling in me. Damn it, I wasn't a freaking demon broodmare!

"We'll need the blood of whoever cursed Al." he said, "that's the hardest thing that we need to get. Blood from you and Al, too. There's a counter curse here, so all we need to get is the blood from whoever cursed him."

"That's all?" I said, thinking that it couldn't be that easy. But then again, we had to find the culprit.

Trent reached over me, putting his finger under a word. "Noxium." he breathed, "Hurtful. This curse is placed on two persons and one gets injured as in the nightmare of the other."

Looking at Trent, I said, "That might be the curse on us."

"We need to remove it, " he said fiercly, "Like the one one you and Al, it's simple, only that we need the blood from the one who cursed us."

"Okay, so how do we find them?"

Trent looked into my eyes, "I don't know."

"Maybe Al knows?" I said carefully. I know he'd want to remove the curse on Trent and I, but what of the curse on him and I?

Trent took the book back into his lap. "You didn't happen to bring your mirror, have you?"

"No." I said, thinking back to that compact mirror I was always promising to myself I was going to make.

Setting the book on the other side of him, Trent scooted to his feet and walked to the the picture of his mom. He grabbed his cell that he'd left there, and texted someone. He walked back to me, and sat on the edge of the cot. "I texted Quen to bring me my scrying mirror." he said, putting a hand on my leg.

He has a mirror? "You have a mirror?" I asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Smiling, he said, "Because I had been meaning to call you with it and surprise you."

I laughed. "You would have thrown me off. When did you make it?"

He chuckled, "Last month, I believe." We laughed for another moment, then Trent asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty." I admitted, thinking my throat felt a little dry.

"I have white wine in here," he offered.

My thoughts went to two months ago when he had kissed me. Get a grip, Rachel, I scolded myself, he offered you some wine, not to kiss you. I froze when I realized I didn't know what I would do if he did end up kissing me. Do you want to kiss him? I asked myself. Thinking I was going to regret it, I said, "Yes, that'll be just what I need."

Rubbing my leg, Trent stood up and went to a crate in the corner. He got a bottle and two wine glasses. When he returned, he handed me the glasses so he could take the wrapping off the bottle. I gave Trent the glasses back when he held his hand out for them, then took the wine-filled glass he gave me. Tapping his glass with mine, Trent drank half and I mirrored him.

"I'm surprised you got cups, Trent," I told him, thinking that I'll have to take a bottle back to the church with me. This wine was delicious.

Sitting back down, Trent said, "Why would I do that?" Putting his hand back on my leg, he questioned, "Would you like us to share a bottle again?"

I grinned at him, placing my good leg on his lap. I felt re-e-e-eally good. Man, I'm going to regret drinking with him again. Trent and I finished our last gulp, and he poured us some more wine. "Should I even be drinking this?" I asked him, the good feeling beginning to fade as I thought of Al.

"I don't see the harm," Trent said after finishing his glass, "And that reminds me."

Trent got up, the cot shifting at his movements. He got a text from his bookshelf, then returned. As he sat, he took my half full glass and his empty one, setting them on the ground and opened the book up to a bookmarked page. "This was the other thing I wanted you to see." He began, looking at the alien inscriptions. I didn't think they were latin. "This is an elfish spell for preventing demonic pregnancy."

"What?" I exclaimed, scooting closer to him to see, "I thought you said you didn't know of a contraception charm for demons."

Trent cleared his throat, saying, "I did say I would check my library for something. Did I not?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "So what do we do?"

"It isn't difficult. All you need to do is sit still while I say these few words while praying to the Goddess." I could do that. "Give me your hand," Trent demanded. I placed my hand in his, feeling tingles prick along my skin. Trent closed his eyes, whispering, "Ta na shay." His hand clenched mine, and a swirl of wild magic peeped at my awareness. I recognized those words for when he called upon his Goddess. "Ka se skii, herre op qu gatac." Okay, now he lost me. Trent repeated those words again and again.

I felt a drop in my stomach, and I gasped in surprise. Pain twisted like a knife in me, and I hunched in on myself. Trent squeezed my hand in comfort, and he continued in his soft chant. Bile rose in my throat. Gagging, I tried to pull from Trent, but he only gripped my fingers harder. Stars crossed my vision as he pulled on my arm and brought me almost on his lap. His other hand rubbed soothing circles on my back, but it just made the pain in my lower belly pulse even more rapidly. In a sudden halt, the pain vanished, taking with it the rising stomach acid and stars.

"Rachel?" Trent whispered, worry coloring his voice.

Panting, I said, "What in the turn was that?"

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you about the minor discomfort." He said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Minor discomfort!" I rasped, "how about you do that spell on yourself, and see if it's just a minor discomfort, you little cookie maker!"

"The instructions said it would cause a slight burning." His voice was hard. I ignored him, and touched my lower belly. My God, it had felt as if my insides had been on fire. Slight burning, my ass. "The spell was destroying the sperm inside of you," he explained. That figures.

"So, I'm good, then?"

"Yes." Relief flooded me, then Trent added, "For now. We'll have to do a repeat when your demon has dream sex of you again."

Just like a standard contraception charm. "Thank you," I said, grateful, thinking Al was probably going to get pissy.

"Your welcome." Trent set the text on the floor, retrieving our glasses in the process. He filled them up, then gave me mine. I up-ended the wine, my vision blurring just slightly. When Trent went to re-fill me, I took the bottle and put the opening to my lips. After taking a large gulp, I returned it to him. Showing me his white teeth as he grinned, he put his glass to the ground and drank from the wine bottle.

After passing the bottle between us a few times, Trent asked, "How's your leg?"

"Hurts a bit, but I'll live." I retorted.

Trent ran a palm up my leg and thigh, leaning closer to me. My breath caught, and I bit back a sigh of content. His hand on my thigh was warm, and a spark of who-knows-what seemed to soak into my skin. Passion and desire flamed to life. I tried to quench it, but with Trent inches from me and his hand touching me, I was unsuccessful. He moved closer to me, putting his other hand on the other side of me. I felt trapped being practically under Trent, though I couldn't find it in me to care.

"Trent," I breathed, when our lips were an inch from touching. He said nothing, just gazed intently at me.

Finally, he said,"I don't have to be drunk to kiss you, Rachel. I do believe that I told you this before."

Heart pounding, I answered, "That's what you said."

He didn't move from me, or closer to me. Deciding to worry about it another time, I closed the inch between us, and pressed my lips to his. Our lips melted together as we kissed gently. I buried my hands in Trent's silky hair. A slip of tongue touched mine, and I responded, thrusting my own into Trent's mouth. Kissing me harder, he eased himself on top of me and I obediently laid myself against the cot.

His hands ran over my good leg, and I wrapped it around his waist. Needing air, I moved my face aside. Trent's lips never left my skin. He kissed my neck, avoiding the hickey I had. Wanting more, I tapped into a line and pushed a small wad of energy into Trent's chi. He grunted, moving a hand to cup my breast. His mouth began to move against my chest, moving lower and stopping when he reached the deep V of my shirt.

Sweet tingles of bliss traveled all over my skin. I lifted my chest to his face, encouraging him on. He put a hand under my shirt, moving it higher and higher with a taunting slowness. Trent's fingers brushed the underside of my breast, pulling a moan out of me. I grabbed his face, kissing him with all my might. Our tongues found a mesmerizing pattern, and I groaned in pleasure as his hand cupped my breast. Trent pulled back, yanked my shirt up and touched his moist lips to my breast.

I hugged Trent's shoulder as he gave all his attention to my chest. Upon feeling his lips go south and to my stomach, I moaned a soft, "Trent." He mmm'd in reply. I pushed another wad of energy at him, and he went back to kissing my lips with a demanding passion.

"Sa'han?"

We started, looking to the door. Trent's and mine's faces turned red as Quen gawked at us, a mirror in his grasp. Oh God, I had forgotten he was coming.