let him out of the compound until this was over. Damn it, I had no right to let Trent become more involved than he already was. Lucy and Ray were too precious to risk. Ellasbeth, staring at me with her arms over her middle, knew it, too. But what choice did we have?
“Bye, Ray,” Ivy said again, beaming when she tried to make a kiss-kiss figure with her two fingers, getting her pinkie mixed up in there. “Bye, Lucy,” she added when Lucy called her own good-bye.
Quen set his palms on the table and stood, becoming almost a different person as he took on his familiar security duty. “Zack, will you come with me as I escort Glenn and Ivy to the front gate? I want to hear about that pass code.”
Zack froze, and then his chair scraped as he stood. “You bet.” Smile thin, he fell into line behind Ivy and Glenn, starting when Quen put his arm over his shoulder and began talking softly.
“Glad I’m not Zack,” Jenks said, circling me once before following them down.
Slowly their voices grew fainter, the soft sounds of Ellasbeth with Lucy at the table gaining precedence. I took a breath to gather my thoughts. Empty soul bottle from the vault, sleepy-time potions and splat gun from my bag. I was pretty sure I had enough leather here for breaking in. Maybe Trent had another jump spell. If we had to wait until dark, Bis could take Jenks’s place, though it would just about kill the pixy to be left out.
Ray was still on my hip, and I turned to the table. Lucy was done, struggling to fend off Ellasbeth as she cleaned syrup from her hair. “Ray, did you have fun with your mom?”
Ray nodded, her eyes on her sister. “Lucy got red. Bad marshmallow! Bad!”
My eyes flicked to Ellasbeth as Ray pretended to cough, and the woman flushed, retreating to the kitchen to wash out the rag.
“Yes, well, that tends to happen when you try to eat them all at once,” Trent said as he took Ray from me and expertly wrangled her into her high chair. Her bib was right there, and I tied it on without thought before sliding her bowl before her.
Trent leaned closer, smiling. “Anyone ever tell you that you could be a great mom?”
“My mother,” I said, but then my smile froze. A child was the one thing I couldn’t give Trent, the one thing that elves valued above all. But Ellasbeth could. As many as Trent might want and the enclave might demand from their Sa’han.
And the worst thing? She knew it.
“Trent.” Ellasbeth had wrung out the rag and was coming back with a handful of Cheerios to occupy Lucy until Ray was done. “We need to talk.”
I went still, wrapping my arms around myself as I suddenly felt out of place. It was just the three of us. Five if you counted the girls.
Jaw tight, Trent looked up. “I’m going with Jenks and Rachel. Thank you for watching the girls while I caught up on my sleep. Quen will drive you home if your car isn’t here.”
Ellasbeth’s lips parted, a delicate flush to her cheeks as she took in his dismissal. “Perhaps I should stay until this is over,” she said, pointedly sitting down at the table. “I don’t mind setting up a cot in the girls’ room.”
Embarrassed, I slunk into the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. Actually, I was surprised she wasn’t trying to stop him, but if Trent were dead, she’d have a better shot at Lucy, the legal paperwork that gave custody to Al aside.
“I appreciate your concern,” Trent said doggedly, focused on the girls. “But we have breathing space, and Quen and I are perfectly capable of maintaining their safety.”
Ellasbeth was looking at the sliver of glyph showing, and I pulled my robe tighter about my neck. “Putting the girls in the safe room is not maintaining a safe environment,” she said pleasantly, but the girls had felt the tension and were silently watching. “I’m not leaving until this is done.”
Trent’s eye twitched as he stood, and his anger flickered through me via our shared curse. It was shortly followed by fear and worry. Now that she was here, she’d have to be carried out. “Your part is over,” Trent said calmly, but Ray looked scared and Lucy was at a loss. “I appreciate you watching them, Ellasbeth. Girls, say bye to your mother. You will see her