"This is for your own good," the demon said, eyeing me from over his glasses, Pierce still hanging in his grip. "He'll kill you, Rachel."

"I don't freaking care! Knock it off and pay attention to me!"

Pierce gurgled, and Al's focus became distant. Nervous, I let go of his arm and backed up into Jenks's dust. "You didn't rescue him to be your boyfriend?" Al asked, shifting his blood-smeared, white-gloved fingers around Pierce's throat.

"No!" I exclaimed, glancing at Jenks. "Why does everyone think he's my boyfriend?"

Pierce collapsed as Al dropped him. The demon stepped elegantly over the crumpled man, and I backed to the window as elegant swearwords in an old-world accent spilled out from the downed witch. Jenks's eyes widened, the pixy clearly impressed.

Al was looking at me in disbelief. "Not your lover?"

"No."

"But he is Rachel candy," Al said, his confusion too honest to be faked.

Behind him, on his hands and knees, Pierce pulled his head up. His blue eyes were vivid, and his hair was mussed. "Go to hell. You can't kill me until I'm alive."

"Looks like I can make you hurt, though," Al said, and Pierce clenched into a ball.

My neck started to sweat. Okay. Al was here, he was listening. "Al," I said loudly, trying to get the demon's attention back on me as he leaned over Pierce and poked him. "We need to talk about you snagging people. You need to stop it. Not only is it going to get me worse than shunned, but do you really want to be known as the demon who snatches instead of the demon who cleverly outwits stupid humans and Inderlanders? Come on. This is your reputation we're talking about."

On the floor, Pierce took a heaving breath of air and relaxed as Al quit whatever he was doing to him and straightened. "You can't have this one here," he said.

"Neither can you. Let him go."

Pierce's eyes met mine. "Mistress witch…There are things you don't understand. If you could only allow it in yourself to let me explain."

Al put a foot on his neck, and Pierce choked. Jenks flew down from the unseen rafters, his dust lighting the small space. "It doesn't make a difference," I said, my thoughts going to Nick and his belief that you can outsmart demons and wondering how he was doing. "We all do what we have to in order to survive. It's up to me to become involved or not, and I'm not."

"I'm sorry, Rache," Jenks whispered.

A thick smirk was on Al's lips. "Dali wouldn't help you, eh?"

"I didn't ask him."

"No?" Al questioned, and he pulled his foot from Pierce's neck.

I shrugged, though it was hard to see in the dark. "Why bother him when I can talk to you, demon to student." Cocking my hip, I made sure he could see my silhouette before the lighter darkness of the window. "The only student. In five thousand years. Yours. Not Dali's."

Worried, Jenks began dusting even more heavily, lighting a small space. Al made a small noise in thought. "You wouldn't," he said confidently, but there was doubt.

My heart pounded, and I gave him a mocking look. I doubt he could see it, but my posture was clear enough. Behind Al, Pierce opened one eye, finding mine immediately. There was defiance in him yet, helpless as he was. Strong beyond belief, but needing my help. Damn it, he was classic Rachel bait. "I only snatched him to get your attention," I said. "Now that I've got it, this is what I want."

"Damn my dame!" Al shouted, hands raised to the ceiling. "I knew it! Not another list!"

Jenks had let a burst of light go in his surprise, and in the new glow, I held up a finger. "Number one," I said. "Don't you ever not pick up when I'm trying to get in touch with you. I don't call unless it's important, so answer your line, okay?"

Al brought his attention back down from the ceiling. "You really don't want to have sex with him? Why? What's wrong with him?"

I flushed and held up a second finger. "Two, I want a little respect. Stop hurting people with me. And no more snatching."

"Respect," Al huffed. "Too bad. So sad. Respect needs to be earned, and you haven't given me anything to buy it from me."

Behind him, Pierce edged away, but before he could gain his feet, Al jabbed his foot backward, and the witch went sprawling.

"Respect?" I echoed. "You think I still need to earn your respect? How about me not summoning you even when I wanted to talk to you? How about me knowing all your friends' names and not summoning them? How about me not working with them so they can get their own bloody familiars? I could walk away from you and go to any of them. At any time. Done."

Leaving him was an empty threat, but because I had snatched Pierce from him, with no ley line magic and limited resources, he was listening. I didn't want another teacher. Maybe I should tell him that.

The light from Jenks's last dusting had faded, and I couldn't see Al's face. He wasn't moving, though. "Three," I said softly, "I want to stay your student. You probably want to keep it that way, too, huh? Don't push me on this, Al. I'll leave, and I don't want to."

Pierce looked riven, and Al's expression became unreadable.

Taking a breath, I focused on Al—who had been listening intently. "So what's it going to be? Are you going to be nice, or naughty?"

In a smooth motion, Al swooped toward Pierce, grabbing him by the shirtfront and hoisting him up. "Sorry about that, little runt," he said, zipping up his pants and arranging his collar in motions so fast that it left Pierce shocked, and scrambling. "Terrible misunderstanding."

He gave Pierce a smack on the back, to send him stumbling. Face red, Pierce caught his balance and pushed Al's hands off him. Stiff with pride, he turned his back on us as he tugged his clothes back where they should be, ran a hand over his hair, and then turned around. I wouldn't look at him.

Jenks had moved closer to me in the fast exchange, and he hovered suspiciously. I wasn't satisfied, though, and I stayed where I was, my back to the window. "So you agree, no snatching, smacking, killing, or scaring people with me. I want to hear it."

"This one doesn't count," Al said. "It's not retroactive."

"Good God! This is an addiction!" I exclaimed, but seeing I'd pushed him far enough—and that he and Pierce already seemed to have an agreement—I nodded. "Say it," I insisted.

Pierce was edging away from Al. The motion wasn't lost on the demon, and he jerked him back. "I won't snatch, harm, or scare to death people with you or use checking up on you as an excuse to cause trouble. You're worse than my mother, Rachel."

"Mine, too," Jenks muttered.

"Thank you," I said formally. I was shaking inside. I'd done it. I'd freaking done it. And it hadn't cost me my soul, or a mark, or anything. Hallelujah, she can be taught!

Al gave Pierce a shove away and strolled closer to me. I tensed, then relaxed, putting my gun away. I could smell the burnt amber flowing from him, and Jenks hovered backward, sword hefted as if ready to throw it. I didn't move, numb as Al sidled up alongside me and together we eyed Pierce, nervous under our combined scrutiny. "If you give him a body," he said lightly, "I will kill him."

I looked at Al. His eyes didn't look strange anymore, and it scared me. "I don't know that curse," I said blandly.

Al's jaw clenched and released. "He will eventually try to kill you, Rachel. Let me save you the trouble of killing him in turn."

Tired, I started tucking things away. The empty bottle, the crucible, the used finger stick. My hands were shaking, and I made a fist. "Pierce isn't going to kill me."

"You got that right," Al and Jenks said simultaneously.

"Tell him what you are, itchy witch," Al added after a wary look at the pixy. "See what happens."

Pierce had been in my church for almost a year. I doubted very much he didn't know what I was. It was only just after midnight, but I was ready to go home. "Why don't you leave before someone recognizes you," I said as Jenks landed on my shoulder. My adrenaline was gone, and I was cold in my little black dress. I looked around, but apart from the two bottles of potion still on the sill, there was nothing of mine except Pierce standing stoically by the window, trying not to look naive as he gazed down at the streets of Cincinnati full of people partying. "I'm already shunned, thanks to you," I finished.