you're afraid to do, but stop taking your guilt or shame out on me."
I was done, and kissing good-bye my chance at getting a Pandora's charm or him to understand, I turned my back on him and stomped to the window. The restaurant had shifted, and I was looking right down at the square. Damn it, why wouldn't he at least listen?
The familiar wing hum of Jenks brought my head up, and I wiped an eye an instant before he landed on my shoulder again. "You have a way with him, don't you," the pixy said.
I sniffed, wiping my eyes. "Look at that," I muttered. "The bastard made me cry."
Jenks's wings made a cool spot on my neck. "Want me to pixy him?"
"No. But now I don't have the chance of a ghost's fart in a windstorm to get that Pandora charm." That's not really what was bothering me, though. It was Trent. Why did I even care what he thought?
The soft scuff of a shoe on flat carpet and Jenks's soft oath brought me around, shocked to see Trent. He had a glass in his hand, and he extended it. "Here's your water," he said loudly, his jaw clenched.
I looked him up and down, wondering what the devil was going on. Behind him, Quen was doing his security thing, arms crossed and expression severe. It was obvious that Quen had made him come over. Sighing, I took the glass, turning to look out the window in the attempt to divorce myself from everything. I needed to find a quiet place, out of the way. "Jenks, could you see if the bathroom is clear?"
The pixy's wings buzzed a warning, but he lifted from my shoulder. "Sure, Rache."
In an instant he was gone, leaving in his path delighted coos of sound from some of the older ladies. "I don't have anything to say to you right now," I said softly to Trent.
Trent shifted to stand shoulder to shoulder with me. Together we looked over the edge to the mass of people down below. I should have just taken my chances in the parking garage as I had originally planned. This was starting to have all the signs of one of my famous backfires.
"I don't have anything to say to you either," Trent said, but tension was showing. I could play this game. I'd already lost, so it didn't matter.
"You need a Pandora charm?" the man said casually, and I jerked. Cripes, he heard me?
Pretending indifference, I breathed on the glass to fog it up. "Yes."
Trent put a shoulder against the glass and faced me. "That's a rare branch of magic."
Why does he have to be so insufferably smug? "I know. Elven, my mother says."
He was silent while the band took a break. "Tell me what you need to remember, and maybe I'll look into it."
I'd been down this path with him before and had gotten burned every time. I didn't want to owe him anything, but what harm would it do if he knew? Sighing, I faced him, thinking that leaning against the window like that looked really dangerous. "I'm trying to remember who killed Kisten Felps."
Trent's jaw unclenched. It was a small move, but I caught it. "I thought you'd want to remember something from the make-a-wish camp, or your father," he said.
I looked out the window again. They had a band down there. Ivy was probably having a lot more fun than me. "What if it was?" I whispered.
"I might have said yes."
Behind us, the party continued, excitement growing as the serving people started distributing champagne for the upcoming toasts. My eyes searched the ceiling for Jenks. I had to move. No one would be in the ladies' restroom when the clock ticked over.
Nervous, I tightened my grip on my bag. "What do you want, Trent?" I asked, trying to hurry this up. "You wouldn't offer if you didn't want something. Other than me dead, that is."
He smiled with half his mouth, then became serious. "How do you figure I want something? I'm just curious as to what makes you tick."
My head tilted, and for the first time all night, I felt in control. "You've approached me twice. You've touched your hair three times. You had a drink in your hand when we had our picture taken. That will be a first if it goes to press. You're nervous and upset, not thinking clearly."
Trent's face lost all expression. He dropped his head as if in irritation, and when he