Her attention flicked to me. "Uh, yeah," she said, then set her plate down to go to the fridge.

"I know I can do the spell; all I need is the recipe, the equipment, and a gathering of witches to siphon off the power." I looked at my bagel and sighed. This was going to be hard.

Ivy was silent as she poured a glass of orange juice, then said softly, "I'm sorry. This means a lot to you. Jenks is being an ass. Ignore him."

I ate another bite of my bagel and said nothing. Pierce was one of the few people who knew me before I had demon marks, or smut, or anything else. I had to help him if I could.

Ivy shifted to the sink to wash the crumbs from her plate, and knowing my agitation was hard on her instincts, I slid away a few feet. "Can't you just buy the book?" she asked, gazing at the porch light shining on the snowy garden. "If it's not demon magic, it should be out there."

My head nodded. It was nice that someone didn't think Pierce was a spy. "I'm sure it is, but level-eight-hundred Arcane ley line textbooks aren't common. They usually don't show up unless someone is teaching a class. Getting one before New Year's will be a problem. That and the crucible. If Robbie doesn't know where it is, it might take months."

The front door thumped shut, and Jenks darted in with the icy scent of a summer field on a winter night. He was in a much better frame of mind, and I couldn't help but wonder what Ford had told him.

"I'm out of here," I said, snagging my bag from the far chair before Jenks could try to start a conversation. "I probably won't be back until almost four. It's going to be bad," I said around a sigh. "Robbie has a girlfriend and my mom's nuts about her."

Ivy smiled, a closed-lipped smile. "Have fun."

I glanced at her sword on the counter, thinking I'd rather go with her and face ugly vampires than my mom and Robbie and the inevitable "when are you going to settle down" conversation. "Okay. I'm out of here." I glanced around the almost-tidy kitchen, and wondered if they would think it was weird if I said 'bye to Pierce. "You going to be okay here alone with Pierce, Jenks?" I mocked as I shoved the invoked locator amulet in my bag to ask my mom about, and Jenks flashed an annoyed red.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he muttered. "We'll have a nice chat, Mr. Ghost and me."

"A little one-sided, isn't it?" I said, and Jenks smiled, his eagerness worrying me.

"Just the way I like it. He can't talk back to me the way my kids do."

My coat and boots were in the foyer. "Call me if you need me," I said, and Ivy gave me a wave. Jenks was already on her shoulder, and the two clearly had things to discuss. Even more worrisome. Giving them a last look, I headed to the front of the church, keys jingling against my lethal-magic detector.

The pixies were busy in the corner with a terrified mouse, and ignoring the drama, I wiggled my feet into my boots and tightened them up. I shrugged into my coat, and looked out from the dark room into the shadowed sanctuary, still decorated with Ivy's Christmas stuff and my solstice things. A soft, warm feeling took me, relaxing me. I wondered if I could really smell the scent of coal dust and shoe polish, or if it was just my imagination. I hesitated when the tinkling of Rex's bell joined the noise of the pixies, and I watched her sit primly in the opening to the hallway to stare at me. Maybe she was staring at Pierce?

"'Bye, Pierce," I whispered. "Don't mind Jenks. He just wants to keep me safe." And with a small smile, I pushed open the door and headed out into the cold.

Ten

The dishcloth had long since become damp, but we were almost done and it wasn't worth the effort to get a dry one. Robbie was washing, I was drying, and Marshal was putting away with the help of my mom. The truth was, she was out here supervising so Robbie and I didn't lapse into one of our infamous water fights. I smiled and handed a bowl to Marshal. The scent of roast beef and butterscotch pie was heavy in the air, a big trigger for the memories of the Sunday nights when Robbie would come over. I had been twelve and Robbie twenty. And then it had all stopped when Dad died.

Robbie saw my mood shift, and he made a fist half in the water, half out. Squeezing his hand, he made a short burst of water arc up and splash into my side of the sink.

"Knock it off," I complained, then shrieked when he squirted me again. "Mom!"

"Robbie." Mom didn't even look up from arranging the coffee tray.

"I didn't do anything," he protested, and my mom's eyes glinted when she turned.

"Then don't do anything a little faster," she complained. "Honestly, I never understood why it took you two so long to get the kitchen cleaned up. Put some hustle into it. Marshal is the only one out here working." She beamed at him, making the young man flush when Robbie muttered a good-natured "Suck-up."

Robbie and Marshal had hit it off great, the two of them spending much of the evening with talk about college sports and music. Marshal was closer to Robbie's age than mine, and it was nice seeing my brother actually approve of one of my boyfriends. Not that Marshal was a boyfriend, but watching them made me wistful, as if I was getting a glimpse of something I'd turned my back on. This was what a normal family must be like, with siblings bringing new people into the family, becoming part of something bigger…Belonging.

It didn't help that most of the dinner conversation had centered on Robbie and Cindy. They were obviously serious about each other, and I could just see my mother becoming happier by the moment because Robbie might start a family and find himself part of the "circle of life." I'd given up on the white picket fence after Kisten had died—finding out my kids would be demons was the nail in the coffin—but seeing Robbie getting kudos for doing something I deemed not socially responsible for me to pursue was irritating. Sibling rivalry sucked.

With Marshal here, I could at least pretend. Both Mom and Robbie were impressed that he'd just sold his own business with enough profit to put him through getting his master's without having to work at all. The swim-coach thing now was just to lower his tuition and give him a whole lot more disposable income. I'd hoped he'd heard from admissions about my declined check by now, but apparently not everyone was working over the winter break.

Giving Robbie a light smack from the back of her hand for the suck-up comment, my mother pointed out to Marshal where the glasses went, then busied herself arranging the last of the solstice cookies on a plate. The round sugar cookies were bright with solstice green and gold, and lettered with runes of good fortune. My mom put her heart into everything she did.

As soon as her back was turned, Robbie threatened to shoot another jet of water at me. I closed my eyes and ignored him. I'd been trying to get him alone all night to ask him about that book, but between Marshal and my mother, I hadn't had the chance. I was going to have to bring in some help. Marshal wasn't devious by nature, but he wasn't slow on the uptake either.

Humming happily, my mom sashayed out with a plate of cookies. The stereo in the living room went on, and I grimaced. I had thirty seconds, tops.

"Marshal," I said, pleading with my eyes as I handed him a plate. "I've got a big favor to ask. I'll tell you all about it later, but will you keep my mom busy for about ten minutes?"

Robbie stopped what he was doing and just looked at me. "What's up, firefly?"

My mom came back in, and following the pattern we'd laid down when we were conniving kids, Robbie turned back to the sink as if I'd said nothing.

"Please…," I whispered to Marshal when he came back from sliding the stack of plates away. "I've got to talk to Robbie about something."