but today . . . I had other things to worry about.
“Glenn and I are arranging a press release tonight. The six o’clock news,” Ivy said, and I jerked my eyes from Zack. Was she crazy? The I.S. wanted this buried.
“This is great!” Jenks said sarcastically as he dropped down and helped himself to the maple syrup clinging to the bottle top. “Glenn is quitting the Order. Ivy’s going to get fired. Hey, Glenn, you could go into partnership with Ivy and Nina since Ivy’s ditching Rache and me.”
“I am not ditching you,” Ivy protested as she shifted on the couch. “I’m quitting the firm.”
Glenn stiffened. “You didn’t tell me you weren’t going back to the church.”
She frowned, eyes furtive. “Nina and I have been asked to come to DC to present ourselves to the long undead. Now.” Her eyes flicked to mine. “I’m sure we’ll be back by Christmas.”
“I thought you said you weren’t leaving until the first of the year,” I said, alarmed, and she shrugged, looking helpless. For a moment, there were just the sounds of the girls making their slow way upstairs. Clearly Lucy was happy to see her dad. “Christmas is good,” I said, though once she was out of Cincy, there was no guarantee that she’d come back.
“It’s only a few weeks,” Ivy said softly, but I could hear the unsaid issues—issues that came with having the will to say no to the undead. It only made them more eager to find the point where you broke and said yes, and Ivy was very good at saying no. It drove them crazy with bloodlust.
“Hey, uh, would it help if Trent or I went with you to explain about the auratic shells?” I offered, trying to change the subject. “Trent could use the good press.”
“It would,” Glenn said, hunched over his knees as he looked toward the sound of giggling girls. “But I don’t want either of you involved in the initial release.”
Because of the girls, I thought, guilt sliding through me. “We’re already involved. Up to our necks involved,” I said. “We could do a private town meeting if you’d rather.”
Glenn winced, and Jenks chortled rudely. The last one wasn’t that bad, I thought, but Ivy, too, was shaking her head. “I’d rather do it publicly,” she said. “Behind closed doors gives the undead too much of an advantage. How reliable is that curse that proves the suspects’ souls have been tampered with?”
“Enough to satisfy me.” I drank my coffee almost to the bottom of the cup, jerking when I felt Trent’s sudden anger through our shared curse. It spilled through me like hot honey, tightening my gut and stiffening my back. He wasn’t tapping a line, but something was sending ley line–like tingles through me. “But enough of Cincinnati thinks the demons are responsible, so that’s questionable help,” I finished, squirming as I worked to shunt the excess energy from me. Us.
Lucy’s shout that she wanted the green one—whatever the green one was—came loudly, and Trent came up the stairs alone, his hair in disarray and his pace fast as he went to the kitchen. “Ellasbeth gave in to Lucy’s every whim,” he said, and I watched with wide eyes. “She’s being understandably difficult. It’s going to take three days to deprogram her.” Mood bad, he took the bowls Zack had left to cool and set them on the table. “This is perfect. Thank you, Zack.”
But Zack wasn’t listening, his expression empty as he watched Quen and Ray come up the stairway. The little girl was holding his hand tightly, her face scrubbed and her hair tucked behind her pointed ears. A blanket with horses on it was in her grip, and she looked precious in a yellow sundress and matching tights. The air was tense between Quen and Trent, and it was clear words had been said, as they weren’t looking at each other.
“That’s so sweet it will give you diabetes, Rache,” Jenks said as he hovered at my ear. But I didn’t think that was why Zack had turned away, envy pinching his brow. Being raised by the dewar had probably robbed him of his parents.
And then Ellasbeth minced up the stairs with Lucy on her hip, ruining the moment.
“Look, Lucy,” the woman said with forced cheerfulness as she wrangled Lucy into her chair. “Zack made you breakfast. Be a good girl and eat it up.”
I thought it was a bad idea to equate being good with eating, but I couldn’t