"Out pricing new refrigerators." His wings blurred into motion, and he rose, his reflection in the mirror making twice the glow. "She spent the morning at Cormel's, but she came back to shower before she went out. She told me to tell you that since you're not in the ever-after today, she got an appointment to see Skimmer at six."

Six? After sunset. Nice. I had wanted to have lunch with my mom and Robbie today, but I could postpone it a little. "I heard her come in." I sat up and blearily looked at the clock again. I didn't like that Ivy had been with Rynn Cormel, the pretty monster, but what could I say? And why does my mouth taste like apples? Leaning over, I pulled Rex across the mounds of covers to me for a cuddle hello. I liked her a lot more now that she would let me touch her.

"Are you going to get up?" Jenks added, his wings hitting a pitch akin to nails on a chalkboard. "Marshal is in the kitchen."

Doughnuts. I could smell coffee, too. "I'm not even dressed," I complained as I let go of Rex and swung my feet to the cold floor. "I'm a mess." Thank God it's daylight, or Al might come over and decide to take him, too.

The pixy crossed his arms over his chest, giving me a superior look as he stood beside my giraffe. "He's seen you look worse. Like the time you rolled your snowmobile into those fir trees. Or when he took you ice fishing and you got minnow guts in your hair?"

"Shut up!" I exclaimed as I stood. Rex jumped to the floor and went to stand under the doorknob, waiting. "And stop trying to fix me up with him," I said, fully awake and irritated. "I know you asked him to come over."

He shrugged with one shoulder, looking embarrassed. "I want you to be happy. You aren't. You and Marshal have a good time when you do stuff together, and Pierce is dangerous."

"I'm not interested in Pierce," I said, glaring at Jenks as I shoved my arms into the sleeves of my blue terry-cloth robe and tied it closed.

"Then why are you hell-bent for pixy dust on trying to rescue him?" he asked, but the severe attitude he was trying for was ruined by the smiling stuffed animal beside him. "If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have hurt yourself last night."

"Last night was me trying to keep Al from abusing his right to check on me to abduct other people," I said in a huff. "That it might get Pierce back is no small thing, but do you really think I'm only going to rescue people I want to jump in the sack with? Not that I'm looking to jump in the sack with Pierce," I amended as Jenks raised a pointed finger. "I rescued Trent, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did." Jenks dropped his hand. "I never understood that either."

Rex stretched on her hind feet to pat the doorknob, and I went to my dresser for a set of undies. "Hold on, Rex," I crooned. I knew how she felt. I had to go, too.

"Rache, even if you do help him, I don't trust the guy. I mean, he's a ghost!"

My eyebrows rose. This is why he's suddenly gung ho on Marshal, I thought. Jenks thought he was the safer of the two. Irritated, I slammed the drawer shut, and he rose up in a burst of light. "Will you get off it!" I exclaimed. "I am not attracted to Pierce." At least, not enough to do anything about it. "If I don't make Al treat me with respect, everyone around me is in jeopardy. Okay? That's why I'm doing this, not because I need a date."

Jenks's wings hummed. "I know you," he said in a hard voice. "You can't get to a happy ending from here. You're self-sabotaging by chasing something you can't have."

Self-sabotaging? Is he not even listening to me? Black socks in hand, I looked up at him, finding we were eye to eye. "You watch too many daytime talk shows," I said, then shut the drawer. Hard.

Jenks said nothing, but his words kept pricking me as I yanked a pair of jeans off a hanger. Mia had said I was running, afraid to believe someone could survive being with me, that I'd be alone out of fear. She said that even though I lived with Ivy and Jenks, I was still alone. Upset, I looked at my sweaters, stacked up in the organizer Ivy had gotten me, not really seeing them. "I don't want to be alone," I breathed, and Jenks was suddenly at my shoulder.

"You aren't," he said, his voice heavy with concern. "But you need someone besides me and Ivy. Give Marshal a chance."

"This isn't between Marshal and Pierce," I said as I pulled out a black sweater. But my thoughts kept returning to Jenks yelling at Ivy to pick me up because he was too small to do it. Ivy couldn't touch me or show me she loved me without that damned blood lust kicking in. I had good friends who would risk their lives for me, but I was still alone. I'd been alone since Kisten died, even when Marshal and I did stuff together. Always alone, always separate. I was tired of it. I liked being with someone, the closeness two people could share, and I shouldn't feel I was weak for wanting it. I wouldn't let what Mia said become the truth.

Tucking my clothes under my arm, I smiled thinly at Jenks. "I hear what you're saying."

Jenks rose up and followed me. "So you'll give Marshal a chance?"

I knew his being too small to help me had torn him up. "Jenks," I said, and his wings went still. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm okay. I've been picking myself up off the floor for twenty-six years. I'm good at it. If Marshal and I were to change things, I'd want it to be for a real reason, not because we were both lonely."

Jenks's wings drooped. "I just want you to be happy, Rache."

I glanced at Rex, twining about herself under the knob. "I am," I said, then added, "Your cat needs to go out."

"I'll get her," he muttered, and when I opened the door, both he and the cat darted out.

"Marshal?" I peeked around the door frame to find that Jenks and Rex had already reached the back living room and that the hall was empty. "I'll be right there."

From the kitchen came the sound of a sliding chair, followed by Marshal's familiar, resonant voice saying, "Take your time, Rachel. I've got coffee, so I'm happy." There was a hesitation, and as I waited to see if he was going to look into the hall, he added in a preoccupied voice, "What's in the potions? It smells like carbonic wax."

"Uh," I stammered, not wanting to tell him they didn't work. "Locator charms for the FIB. I have to invoke them and put them in disks," I added so he'd leave them alone.

"Cool," he said softly. The squeak of Jenks opening the pixy/kitty door was obvious, and confident that Marshal wasn't going to peek into the hall, I made the dash to my bathroom, easing the door closed when I heard Jenks and Marshal start to talk.

"Oh, that's nice," I whispered when I saw my reflection. Black rings made an obvious showing under my eyes, and I was as pale as Jenks's ass. I'd showered before bed to try and warm up, and sleeping with damp hair had left it looking like snakes had been in it. Thank God Marshal hadn't come out of the kitchen. My complexion amulet would take care of the circles, and I got the water going and slowly undressed while I waited for it to warm.

Carefully, until I knew how dizzy it would make me, I sent my awareness to my ley line out back. Vertigo eased in, and I let go of the line immediately. I wasn't going to be setting a circle any time today, but it was better than last night, and I hoped I wasn't putting myself in danger by walking around not able to set one.

"Nothing different from the first twenty-six years of your life," I whispered, but then again, I hadn't had vampires, demons, and freaked-out elves gunning for me then either.

Because I was mindful of Marshal waiting, my usual twenty-minute indulgence became a hasty five-minute splash-and-dash. My thoughts kept cycling between Marshal in my kitchen and Pierce in the ever-after. Complaining to Dali wasn't a good option. Neither was trying to jump the lines until I could hold one without pain. Al wasn't playing fair, and it was up to me to make him. There had to be a way to get him to respect me other than resorting to Dali.