I tilted my head to find his eyes. “No, because my mom slept with someone other than my dad to have a kid. Twice.”
His fingers tracing circles stopped. “I forget that about you.”
I tugged the blanket back up to cover us, content. “I’ll talk to Ivy, but she already said yes to you and the girls. What’s a few more?”
Trent made a noncommittal mmmm sound, but I was sure it would happen now, come hell or high water.
My sneeze came from nowhere, and I jerked hard enough to make Buddy lift his head.
“You’re kidding, right?” Trent said as I sneezed again, then a third time, a huge spasm of demand. “It’s six fifteen,” he said as I got up and went to get my bag, left out on Ceri’s old rocker. “I thought demons slept till noon.”
“We do.” I came back with it, bare feet silent. Give me a freakin’ second, I thought as I sneezed again, arms flashing to hold my middle as it ripped through me, hurting my throat.
Head down, I dug out my mirror and plunked down beside him with the red-tinted glass. Buddy leaned against my leg, eyes mournful as he looked up at me. “Six frickin’ fifteen in the morning,” I muttered as I placed my hand on the cool glass and tapped the line. A shudder rippled over me at the coming connection, and I steadied myself. There was only a fading discomfort from my patchy aura. Sleeping beside Trent had truly done my aura wonders. “Sorry about this,” I said, then lost my connection when I sneezed.
“Things happen. Besides, I’m your sword, mirror, and shield today.” He hesitated. “Maybe I should call Al,” he added, and I smoothed my hair flat. He’d tapped a line, and the residual energy was slipping from him to me where we touched. It was kind of distracting, and I shifted a few inches down the couch.
“It’s probably him,” I said as I put my fingers atop all the glyphs again and dropped myself into the collective. “Rachel here,” I said aloud so I wouldn’t look even more crazy, my words mirrored in the demons’ between-reality “chat room.”
My breath quickened as my awareness expanded. A masculine flavor spilled into me, domineering and supercilious. Are you okay? The thought rose in me as if it was my own, but that’s how the collective worked. I would have waited until noon, but you tapped a line.
Dali? I stifled a flash of fear before he felt it. I had tapped a line. It hadn’t just been in my dream. Damn it, I could have killed Trent. What the hell was going on?
Rachel, are you well? Dali’s thought came again, and I hid my worry before he saw it. This is a courtesy call to ascertain your well-being.
“At six in the morning?” I said aloud so Trent could be in on half the conversation. “You need to get off Al’s case,” I said as I felt a surprising amount of relief well up. It was from Dali, not me, and I frowned. “Al does a good job keeping me alive. You checking up on him is as irritating as all hell.”
It’s because of Al that I’m calling, but if you’re well, I’ll untwist the restraining curse and assess our options.
Whoa. Wait up, I thought, pressing my hand harder into the cool glass. Restraining curse? Dali, what is going on? It was just a simple aura depletion. I’m fine! Is Al okay?
Dali was silent, his thoughts shielded from me with a thousand years of practice.
Dali, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll never make you another tulpa as long as you live, I threatened, and a wisp of Dali’s concern slammed into me, stealing my breath away.
He tapped a line while sleeping. I never would have known but he opened the weapons vault, Dali thought, and I looked at Trent. Seeing my fear, he scooted to the edge of the couch.
“Al tapped a line in his sleep?” I said aloud to bring Trent back into the conversation. “Was it a nightmare?” The memory of how I woke sang through me, sour and full of discord.
He didn’t say, Dali thought. If you agree, I’ll remove the curse that has him immobile.
“Yes, remove it,” I said, almost panicked. “Why ask me?”
Dali hesitated, then reluctantly thought, Because you, Rachel, were his target.
CHAPTER
10
Phone to my ear, I stared out the front window of Trent’s car as we crossed the