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Title: Return to the Hollows
Author(s): Jaina
Fandom: The Hollows aka Rachel Morgan aka that series by Kim Harrison
Characters: Rachel Morgan, Ivy Tamwood,
Genre: Drama, angst, romance
Summary: Rachel is always making mistakes. One day things go too far. Some mistakes can't be fixed or gone past. Some mistakes are lasting, and some have consequences that can change lives.
Disclaimer: All characters, and the universe that they go with belong to Kim Harrison. I'm just playing in the sandbox. No infringement is intended.
Spoilers: Goes through White Witch, Black Curse, although I don't think they're particularly glaring or massive.
Notes: My thanks to my beta for this one,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
infinitlight She was awesome enough to look over this massive fic for me, and I really appreciate the time, effort and level of detail that she put into looking over this. Also the number of times that she had to uncapitalize were and warehouse. Sorry, dude. My bad.
Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven
Part Eight
"David!" I spoke quickly the moment he answered the phone.
This was my fifth phone call in as many minutes. The moment I had heard what the were pack had been looking for I knew that I needed to call David. I was responsible for the fact that the Focus was inside him, and I wouldn't let him get hurt on my behalf. Later, I could worry about Trent trying to kill me. Again. My first priority was warning David and making sure that nothing happened to him now.
My pack status was Alpha Female Emeritus at the moment. Nothing more than an honorary title, but it still meant something to me. I had called him when I knew I would be back in the Hollows for a few days and we had agreed to meet for lunch sometime, but neither of our schedules had allowed it so far. I had wanted a chance to catch up and see what was new in his life, but it didn't seem like that was going to work out today, either. We both had more important things to do.
"Rachel? What's the matter?"
"You need to be careful. Trent Kalamack told one of the rival were packs that you have control of the Focus and they're going to be coming after you."
David let out a sigh. It sounded like one of relief.
"David?"
"It's okay, Rachel." He sounded resigned, calm. "We've been preparing for this day for years. I knew it was coming. We're ready."
I wasn't so sure. I had been attacked enough times to know that no matter how well you thought you were prepared, you usually weren't really prepared at all. The best laid plans and all that.
"If I can help-"
"No," David said in a clipped voice. "This is were business, Rachel. We can handle this." He paused, "I know you're worried, but you've trusted me with this for over a decade now. I promise I won't let it fall into the wrong hands."
"Okay." What else could I say? "If you need me, you have my cell."
"I'll call," David promised, and then hung up.
I stared at the phone in my hand, feeling vaguely unsettled as I snapped it closed. David would do the best that he could, and at least he had a warning now. I would have to trust that he could take care of his end of the problem. This wasn't something that we could go to either set of authorities about without making the situation much, much worse.
That just left Glenn.
I had told him that I would come back inside and fill him in on what Mike, my new found were friend, had told me. There was only one problem with that. It would involve me telling Glenn about Trent's involvement, and that wasn't something I was prepared to do. I had gotten so close to Trent only to have him slip through my fingers far too many times to involve the FIB again. Trent was the one who had made this personal. He was the one who'd been having witches murdered to draw me back to the Hollows.
I had always known, somewhere deep inside, that it would eventually come to this between Trent and I. He wasn't content to have me outside of his control and I had managed to stay outside of his control for years, refusing every job offer that he had given me before I had left the Hollows. Apparently he had finally decided that there was only one way left to control me.
Well, Trenton Aloysius Kalamack was about to discover that I was more witch than he could handle.
Instead of walking back into the FIB offices, I walked away.
*** *** ***
I had one advantage when it came to Trent. In the years that had passed since I had left the Hollows, I developed a lot of my skills that had been woefully lacking when I left. Spells that I wouldn't have contemplated at the time were a matter of course now. That was why I wouldn't be sneaking back into his office for a second time. Trent had had the intervening years to refine his security, too, and I did not feel like being turned into a mink again. There was every chance that it wouldn't work out so well for me another time.
A block away, I glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure that no-one was behind me. When I didn't see any lights, I flicked off my own headlights, and down-shifted, until the car was creeping along as quietly as possible. Finally, I killed the engine, my hand hovering over the key for several minutes as I sat and waited to see if anyone was coming.
The shadows from the tall trees that made up the edge of the woods on Trent's property were long and deep in the barely-there light of the moon. In the darkest part of those shadows the car was almost invisible. Or that was what I was hoping, anyway. This was also the clearest shot I could get of Trent's office. The faint glow of distant lights was visible between the dense trees and undergrowth. That was what I was focusing on.
I drew blood with a fingerprick and let a drop fall onto the amulet. The moment the blood hit it, the amulet began to glow faintly. It crackled so loudly that I almost dropped it. All the sounds around me were suddenly amplified. Crickets chirped in my ear. The thin creaking of branches was as loud as cracking ice in the middle of a frozen lake. I could have sworn I heard an owl's wings as it flew through the night air. Damn, this spell was good.
Even so, I was wincing as I fine-tuned it, trying to get it positioned exactly right. Leaning to get just the right angle, my arm was dangling awkwardly outside the car when I finally caught a snippet of something that sounded like voices. I froze, faint tremors beginning to run through my arm as I held the awkward position, and strained to hear more of what was being said.
"We have a problem, Sa'han."
I held my breath. I knew that from this distance there was no way that they could see or here me, but it sounded like I was standing right next to the person speaking.
"What is it, Jonathan?"
I made a face at the mere mention of his name. Jonathan was my least favorite of Trent's henchmen, although Quen was scarier.
There was a sound like someone clearing their throat.
"Our sources inside the FIB have reported that the werewolf that was captured at the warehouse disappeared for some time, although he was never seen entering or leaving the interrogation room. No note was made of it, perhaps because Morgan was with him both before and after he disappeared."
Tink's contractual hell, their informant was very good. I wondered about the receptionist that had flirted with me, my mind skimming through everyone that had so much walked past me in the halls while I was there. Really, it could be anyone. Trent's reach had always been frighteningly impressive. Especially at the times when that reach had stretched to include me.
"So Morgan may have had time to make him talk?"
"We have no way of knowing how much his alpha told him about what he was going to do."
"I don't like to rely on luck to make certain that things turn out in my favor. The were needs to be taken care of, Jonathan."
There was a delicate cough. "Won't his alpha be upset, sir?"
"If he was careless enough to let this happen, then he will simply have to deal with the consequences of his actions."
"Of course." There was a slight pause. I closed my eyes tightly, willing him to keep talking and my arm to stop aching. "What do you want done about Morgan in the mean time, Sa'han?"
"Nothing, yet," Trent said decisively. "It would be unwise to make her aware that she is the true target of these attacks until we're ready to finish what has been begun. For all of her foolish actions, she has proved surprisingly skilled at keeping herself alive over the years. I'm not ready to risk scaring her into disappearing completely for a second time." The venom in Trent's voice was surprising.
"What about Tamwood?"
I blinked, so startled that I almost lost my grip on the amulet in my hand. I fumbled with it for a few seconds until I held it securely again.
"Do not approach Tamwood." Trent's voice was no longer the same calm, mellow tone that he used whether he was threatening to kill someone or raising money for the city's orphanage. It had risen dramatically, as he snapped the words out. "We were fortunate that Morgan never thought to wonder what had happened to Tamwood. She blamed what happened on Tamwood's lack of control and didn't think to examine outside influences. If we try to get at Morgan through Tamwood for a second time, she may suspect something, and I do not want that." Trent sighed. "It would have been better if the plan had worked completely, and Tamwood had eliminated Morgan for us, but at least this way Morgan's fear of Tamwood will keep them from working together."
I heard what Trent was saying. I understood the words. What I couldn't accept was the meaning. It was obvious, so obvious, now that I had practically had it spelled out for me. Of course, Ivy wouldn't have bound me of her own will. She loved me, and it was why she had refused time and again to attempt a blood balance with me while Piscary was still alive. She had been terrified that he would use her to harm me, so why would she harm me herself?
It made no sense. Hot tears tracked down my face as every assumption that I had held onto for over a decade came crashing down. Every bit of anger that I had held onto to keep my heart from breaking completely fell away as I realized that Ivy had been every bit as much of a victim as I had been. It wasn't her fault that I had been bound to her, and I had done what she had always feared the most. I had left her alone.
It was a testament to Ivy's strength that she had managed to rebuild her life. I bit my lip hard and swiped at the tears on my face. I took a deep breath and struggled to get my breathing back under control. In my distraction, I had let my arm slip from the precarious angle that I had been holding it at, and I had lost the sound from Trent's office.
I cast back around for the spot that I'd had, hoping to hear something else. I had found out more than I ever expected, if not what I had come here hoping to find. Unfortunately there was nothing incriminating yet, at least nothing that I could take to Glenn to get a warant. It was all talk with nothing to back it up. Conversation, after all, that I didn't have a recording of and shouldn't have been listening to in the first place.
Trent still had quite a few things going for him. There was only one thing working in my favor. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to kill me. I wasn't sure why yet, but it certainly wasn't the first time someone had tried to kill me and not even the first time that Trent had tried it. Now that I knew what he was doing, I could stop him and when I did, I would make sure that he would end up in jail for it for a very long time.
He had already ruined my life; it was the least that I could do for him in return.
*** *** ***
My heart was pounding so fast that I felt lightheaded. My throat was dry. Maybe all of the moisture had migrated to my palms. They were damp and sweating as I clenched one hand into a fist and raised it to knock on the door. I certainly hadn't expected to be here for a second time.
I'd barely had time to knock before the door swung open. I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, I had been buzzed in at the gate, but when the door opened it wasn't who I had expected at all.
"Marion." I swallowed and to my dismay, swayed slightly on my feet. I reached out quickly and steadied myself on the door frame.
The shape of his brown eyes was so familiar. After all, I had looked at them for years in his mother's face. His eyes, however, were full of suspicion.
"You were here earlier."
"I was." There was no reason to deny it.
I wondered what Ivy had told him. Did he know about the relationship that we had once shared? I winced inwardly, thinking about how weird it had been when I had found out that Takata was my father. This was nothing like that, of course, except that I was his mother's former lover, and as I knew run in's with your parent's ex were always awkward.
"Is Ivy here?"
Stupid, stupid question, Rachel. Where else would she be at this time of night, with her son at home? It wasn't like Ivy was a runner anymore. She kept respectable Inderland hours now.
He nodded but didn't say anything else. He was watching me, his head tilted so that he was staring up at me from underneath a fringe of dark hair. I glanced away, taking in the room around me. The framed pictures that hung on the wall, even in the entryway. I stepped away from him, drawn to a particular photo, not realizing how close I had gotten to it until my finger was running down the edge of the frame.
"That was taken on my tenth birthday." His voice from just behind my shoulder made me jump. I hadn't even heard him move.
"It's beautiful," I whispered. Ivy was standing in the sun, a nearly blinding smile on her face as Marion ran toward her.
"I know who you are."
Marion's words sent a shiver down my spine. I realized an instant later that he was pulling an aura. He was trying to be intimidating. Slowly, I turned to face him.
"Okay," I said with a calm that I didn't really feel.
"You left her."
I swallowed, feeling the breathtaking agony of Trent's revelation hit me again.
"I did." It was more complicated than that, of course. But the kid was right. That was what it all boiled down to. I had left.
"She's been miserable."
I smiled, tipping my head towards the picture behind me. "She looks pretty happy to me."
"She loves me," he blurted out, sounding young and slightly embarrassed by the statement. "She tries to be happy for me, but she's not really. Even when she's as happy as I've ever seen her, there's still a layer of sadness underneath it." He took a deep breath and glared at me. "You should leave. You're just going to hurt her more. That's all you ever do; Jenks told me."
If I had thought that Trent's revelation was awful, this was worse. Hearing about Jenks' disappointment, knowing that he had died angry with me was awful. And maybe, Jenks wasn't wrong. So far, I had done nothing but hurt Ivy.
"I'm going to make it right," I said, my hand clenching into a fist at my side.
His head snapped up like I had hit him and I realized abruptly that my nails had dug into my hand so hard that they had drawn blood. Marion took a faltering step back. For an instant his eyes went black, and then he blinked. Just as quickly, the darkness was replaced by rich brown.
"How?" he demanded.
It wasn't a sound, or a smell, or anything that I could consciously identify, but I suddenly knew without looking that Ivy had entered the room.
"Marion," she spoke softly. "It's okay."
"It's not," he shot back defiantly. "It's not okay, Mom."
She walked to his side slowly, and wrapped an arm around him, pulling her close to him. Ivy brushed the hair back from his forehead and kissed it lightly. He squirmed back from it, but not from her. She leaned closer to him, and spoke softly. The low murmur of her voice was the only sound in the room.
Her eyes met mine across him. Marion nodded slowly and looked up her.
"You'll be okay?" That protective determination was back in his voice, but it was calmer now. It made me glad that he cared about Ivy so much.
"I'll be fine," Ivy reassured him, as she let him go and stepped back. "Rachel isn't here to cause trouble."
"No," I said, my voice breaking over the simple word as I watched Ivy. "No," I repeated more firmly. "I'm not."
Marion shot me one last warning look before he backed out of the room. When he was gone, Ivy let out a deep breath and walked away from me, pacing the room until she had reached the window. She stared out into the shadowed grounds.
"Ivy...." Now that the moment was here, I wasn't sure what to say. I'm sorry seemed so small and inadequate. It seemed impossible to convey what I was really feeling. "The were who attacked me told me that Trent had-"
"Rachel," Ivy cut me off sharply. "Why are you here?" she asked tiredly. "I asked you to leave earlier."
"I know. I know," I repeated more slowly. I had actually forgotten about that in my hurry to get back here. "I wouldn't have come back if it wasn't important," I said desperately.
Ivy rolled her eyes and turned away. "That seems to always be your story lately."
"Just let me explain, Ivy. Please," I begged her.
If she hated me, if she still wanted me to leave and never come back after I had a chance to explain what I had discovered, I would understand. I had hurt her so badly, worse than I had ever hurt her, even before we had become a couple. My stomach sank, as I held my breath and waited for her to speak.
"All the difference in the world!"
Ivy blinked, taken back by my sudden outburst. She looked up at me from under the thin fringe of her bangs.
"It won't change the fact that you're bound to me."
I flinched. It was an involuntary response that I hadn't quite managed to control yet.
Ivy looked as if I had slapped her. "See," she said softly. "You're still scared of me. That's the last thing I've ever wanted. Just let me go. Please. We don't have to see each other ever again. It will be the best thing for both of us."
With the incredible strength of will that Ivy had always shown in spades, Ivy pulled herself up until she was standing once again with her usual regal bearing.
"No," I blurted out. "No, that would not be the best thing."
Throwing out what little common sense I had, I crossed the distance between us and reached out for Ivy's hands. Her long fingers were icy cold and limp against my skin. I squeezed lightly, hoping that she would look at me, or respond somehow. Ivy shutting me out was suddenly worse than anything else. It was what she had done to Piscary. I had always wanted to help her, to save her from people like Piscary who had hurt her, and now I was hurting her just as badly.
"I went to Trent's tonight," I said in a rush, hoping that she would at least listen to me. "I overheard him talking to Jonathan. Ivy, he said that he did something to you, to make you bind me. It wasn't your fault."
Ivy's breath caught, and her fingers tightened until they were painfully gripping my own.
"What do you mean?" she asked in a whisper that I had to strain to hear, even as close to her as I was.
I let go of one hand, and reached up to brush a lock of hair that had fallen across her face back behind her ear.
"I mean, that it wasn't your fault. Trent did this to us, Ivy. There was nothing you could have done."
Her first choking sob caught me by surprise. Then her arms went around me and she held me tightly. Her fingers twisted into the thin fabric of my sleeves as she held on to me like a drowning women. The first sob was followed by another until tears were streaming down her face.
I had only seen Ivy break down like this once before; then I hadn't known how to comfort her. Now I knew and I could. I wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my face against her shoulder. I held her just as tightly as she was holding me, as her body shook against mine. I rubbed soothing circles on her back and just let her cry.
"It's okay, Ivy," I whispered into her ear. "I promise. It will be okay."
"You." She sucked in a breath. "Can't." Another breath. "Promise that."
"No, I can't." I said regretfully. "But I can promise that I won't ever leave you without knowing everything that's going on, again."
"Don't say that unless you mean it," Ivy said sharply.
"I mean it," I countered immediately. "I shouldn't have to promise it; I shouldn't have run away." I held her tighter. "I should have trusted you."
*** *** ***
Morning light was seeping faintly in through the heavy curtains on the windows. Ivy shivered against me. I ran my fingers lightly up and down her arms, feeling the goosebumps on her bare skin. I pressed a kiss to the top of her shoulder and then gently laid my chin on it as she leaned back against me.
Sometime during the night, after our harsh words, and tears, we had ended up like this. Neither one of us had wanted to move, so in the end we had simply stayed. My hips were sore and my legs stiff, but there was no way that I would say anything about it or try to move. It might break this moment between us. My arms slipped further around Ivy's waist, and I flattened my hands against her stomach.
"What do we do now?" Ivy's voice sounded loud as it broke the silence.
"I'm going to take down Trent." For the past hour, he had been consuming almost as much of my thoughts as Ivy.
"And after that?"
Ivy had always liked a plan. Me, on the other hand....
"I don't know." I touched her shoulder, and then her chin, turning her face towards me.
I couldn't help the little smile that slipped over my lips when she looked at me. The rich, deep brown of her eyes was startling, and for a second I found myself lost in them. My breath caught and then quickened, my heart beginning to race. Her eyes flashed black in an instant.
Her lips quivered. Would she...
And then Ivy blinked, and looked away.
"Ivy," Her name fell from my lips like a sigh.
I rested my forehead against her shoulder, and relaxed when she gently touched my arm. My bravery had faded as I looked into her eyes. It wasn't fear that she would hurt me. It had been a very long time since Ivy's black eyes had scared me. Instead they meant love and lust, desire and arousal. Although, whether they still meant love after all this time, there was no way to know. That was what had made me look away from her - shame.
Ivy had been just as much of a victim of Trent as I had. She had no idea why she had bound me, since that had never been her intention. She had loved me as I was. And in that part of the plan, I had been Trent's unwitting accomplice. I had hurt her far more deeply and thoroughly than he ever could have, even if he had killed her twice.
"Ivy," I repeated her name again, hoping desperately that she would understand. "I don't know what's going to happen when this is over with Trent."
"I don't either, Rachel." She paused and I felt her shift. "Look at me, please."
I swallowed and looked up. The pain in her eyes broke my heart.
"The only thing I ask, Rachel, is that you say goodbye."
It was as much rebuke as I would ever hear from Ivy, and it landed perfectly on target. Knowing Ivy, it had taken a lot for her to just ask for that much.
I nodded and bit my lip. The last thing that I wanted to do right now was think about leaving. Looking over at Ivy's slim form, curled beside me on the floor, I wondered what she would say, if I told her that I was thinking of making the Hollows my home again. Would she be happy about that? Or had we hurt one another too badly to ever be friends - or even friendly acquaintances - again?
"Mom?"
I jumped and squeaked at the sudden interruption. Marion appeared at the door, glancing around the room, expression puzzled until he spotted us.
"Mom, what are you doing on the floor?"
Ivy smiled, a full real smile, that tugged at my heart for an entirely different reason.
"We were just discussing a few things," she said, and held out a hand to him.
She pressed the other to my knee, keeping me still and beside her when I went to jump away from her.
He took her hand, braced his feet and helped her to her feet. I knew she could have easily used her living vamp strength to rise in one graceful motion, but she let him work a little bit to help her up like any normal kid. It made me smile too, and I was still smiling as Ivy held her hand down to me.
My fingers curled around her own without hesitation. Ivy drew me gently to my feet, and if I wasn't quite as graceful as she had been, I was certainly far away from a clumsy, middle-aged housewitch. When her eyes slipped away from mine it was a loss that I could almost feel.
She draped her arm around Marion's shoulder, and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"How would you like to stay with your Aunt Erica for a few days?"
His first reaction was a wrinkled nose, and I couldn't help but laugh. He looked so much like Ivy with that one gesture, down to the same wrinkles.
"Sorry," I muttered when he caught me looking and turned sulky. "Does she still talk like she used to?"
"All the time," came Marion's aggrieved complaint. "She asks me a question and then doesn't even let me answer."
While her chatter could get annoying, I had always found it easy to spend time around Erica when I didn't want to talk. There was no need to, and no way to get a word in edgewise even if I had wanted to. It was comforting in its own way. Obviously, Marion didn't appreciate that just yet.
"Be nice," Ivy chided gently. "I know she lets you get away with murder."
His eyes lightened with mischief for an instant as he glanced up at her sharply.
"I do exactly what she says," he protested.
Ivy pinned him with a knowing gaze that made him flush and look down, and then gently squeezed him on the shoulder.
"Why don't you go pack a few things? I'll have some breakfast ready when you get down here then, I can take you over to Erica's."
"Okay, Mom," he said with a grin. Despite what he had said about Erica, he didn't seem too upset about going to see her. Something told me that she hadn't changed much in the intervening years, and I had a feeling that Erica spoiled him horribly. She probably made a pretty awesome aunt.
Ivy turned her attention back to me when he was out of sight. "I need to make sure he's safe with Erica, before we can start."
"Safe? From what?" Besides the usual. Growing up the child of a very prominent living vampire was no walk in the safe, well lit park. More like the nasty, overgrown park at midnight on the night of a new moon, where there were lots of shadows for the extremely dangerous monsters to hide.
"I have responsibilities now, Rachel. Marion is my first priority. Always." Her voice held an icy edge that wasn't directed at me.
"I know," I said quickly. "I wouldn't want it any other way, but I don't know what that has to do with-"
"If you think I'm letting you go after Trent alone, with no one to back you up but Glenn...." Her voice trailed off at the slightly guilty expression on my face. "Without even Glenn," she corrected herself, with a shake of her head. "It's not going to happen, Rachel. Trent is going to pay and we're going to do it together."
"Okay," I said simply. It felt like a demon had been sitting on my shoulders and now he had been banished. What had seemed daunting now seemed completely possible. With Ivy and I working together, nothing had ever been able to stop us.
"Partners?" Ivy asked, holding her hand out to me. She said it confidently, but the hesitance in the way she moved revealed her vulnerability.
"Partners," I agreed, taking her hand.
With that gesture, something fell into place. It felt like coming home.
Author(s): Jaina
Fandom: The Hollows aka Rachel Morgan aka that series by Kim Harrison
Characters: Rachel Morgan, Ivy Tamwood,
Genre: Drama, angst, romance
Summary: Rachel is always making mistakes. One day things go too far. Some mistakes can't be fixed or gone past. Some mistakes are lasting, and some have consequences that can change lives.
Disclaimer: All characters, and the universe that they go with belong to Kim Harrison. I'm just playing in the sandbox. No infringement is intended.
Spoilers: Goes through White Witch, Black Curse, although I don't think they're particularly glaring or massive.
Notes: My thanks to my beta for this one,
infinitlight She was awesome enough to look over this massive fic for me, and I really appreciate the time, effort and level of detail that she put into looking over this. Also the number of times that she had to uncapitalize were and warehouse. Sorry, dude. My bad.Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven
Part Eight
"David!" I spoke quickly the moment he answered the phone.
This was my fifth phone call in as many minutes. The moment I had heard what the were pack had been looking for I knew that I needed to call David. I was responsible for the fact that the Focus was inside him, and I wouldn't let him get hurt on my behalf. Later, I could worry about Trent trying to kill me. Again. My first priority was warning David and making sure that nothing happened to him now.
My pack status was Alpha Female Emeritus at the moment. Nothing more than an honorary title, but it still meant something to me. I had called him when I knew I would be back in the Hollows for a few days and we had agreed to meet for lunch sometime, but neither of our schedules had allowed it so far. I had wanted a chance to catch up and see what was new in his life, but it didn't seem like that was going to work out today, either. We both had more important things to do.
"Rachel? What's the matter?"
"You need to be careful. Trent Kalamack told one of the rival were packs that you have control of the Focus and they're going to be coming after you."
David let out a sigh. It sounded like one of relief.
"David?"
"It's okay, Rachel." He sounded resigned, calm. "We've been preparing for this day for years. I knew it was coming. We're ready."
I wasn't so sure. I had been attacked enough times to know that no matter how well you thought you were prepared, you usually weren't really prepared at all. The best laid plans and all that.
"If I can help-"
"No," David said in a clipped voice. "This is were business, Rachel. We can handle this." He paused, "I know you're worried, but you've trusted me with this for over a decade now. I promise I won't let it fall into the wrong hands."
"Okay." What else could I say? "If you need me, you have my cell."
"I'll call," David promised, and then hung up.
I stared at the phone in my hand, feeling vaguely unsettled as I snapped it closed. David would do the best that he could, and at least he had a warning now. I would have to trust that he could take care of his end of the problem. This wasn't something that we could go to either set of authorities about without making the situation much, much worse.
That just left Glenn.
I had told him that I would come back inside and fill him in on what Mike, my new found were friend, had told me. There was only one problem with that. It would involve me telling Glenn about Trent's involvement, and that wasn't something I was prepared to do. I had gotten so close to Trent only to have him slip through my fingers far too many times to involve the FIB again. Trent was the one who had made this personal. He was the one who'd been having witches murdered to draw me back to the Hollows.
I had always known, somewhere deep inside, that it would eventually come to this between Trent and I. He wasn't content to have me outside of his control and I had managed to stay outside of his control for years, refusing every job offer that he had given me before I had left the Hollows. Apparently he had finally decided that there was only one way left to control me.
Well, Trenton Aloysius Kalamack was about to discover that I was more witch than he could handle.
Instead of walking back into the FIB offices, I walked away.
*** *** ***
I had one advantage when it came to Trent. In the years that had passed since I had left the Hollows, I developed a lot of my skills that had been woefully lacking when I left. Spells that I wouldn't have contemplated at the time were a matter of course now. That was why I wouldn't be sneaking back into his office for a second time. Trent had had the intervening years to refine his security, too, and I did not feel like being turned into a mink again. There was every chance that it wouldn't work out so well for me another time.
A block away, I glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure that no-one was behind me. When I didn't see any lights, I flicked off my own headlights, and down-shifted, until the car was creeping along as quietly as possible. Finally, I killed the engine, my hand hovering over the key for several minutes as I sat and waited to see if anyone was coming.
The shadows from the tall trees that made up the edge of the woods on Trent's property were long and deep in the barely-there light of the moon. In the darkest part of those shadows the car was almost invisible. Or that was what I was hoping, anyway. This was also the clearest shot I could get of Trent's office. The faint glow of distant lights was visible between the dense trees and undergrowth. That was what I was focusing on.
I drew blood with a fingerprick and let a drop fall onto the amulet. The moment the blood hit it, the amulet began to glow faintly. It crackled so loudly that I almost dropped it. All the sounds around me were suddenly amplified. Crickets chirped in my ear. The thin creaking of branches was as loud as cracking ice in the middle of a frozen lake. I could have sworn I heard an owl's wings as it flew through the night air. Damn, this spell was good.
Even so, I was wincing as I fine-tuned it, trying to get it positioned exactly right. Leaning to get just the right angle, my arm was dangling awkwardly outside the car when I finally caught a snippet of something that sounded like voices. I froze, faint tremors beginning to run through my arm as I held the awkward position, and strained to hear more of what was being said.
"We have a problem, Sa'han."
I held my breath. I knew that from this distance there was no way that they could see or here me, but it sounded like I was standing right next to the person speaking.
"What is it, Jonathan?"
I made a face at the mere mention of his name. Jonathan was my least favorite of Trent's henchmen, although Quen was scarier.
There was a sound like someone clearing their throat.
"Our sources inside the FIB have reported that the werewolf that was captured at the warehouse disappeared for some time, although he was never seen entering or leaving the interrogation room. No note was made of it, perhaps because Morgan was with him both before and after he disappeared."
Tink's contractual hell, their informant was very good. I wondered about the receptionist that had flirted with me, my mind skimming through everyone that had so much walked past me in the halls while I was there. Really, it could be anyone. Trent's reach had always been frighteningly impressive. Especially at the times when that reach had stretched to include me.
"So Morgan may have had time to make him talk?"
"We have no way of knowing how much his alpha told him about what he was going to do."
"I don't like to rely on luck to make certain that things turn out in my favor. The were needs to be taken care of, Jonathan."
There was a delicate cough. "Won't his alpha be upset, sir?"
"If he was careless enough to let this happen, then he will simply have to deal with the consequences of his actions."
"Of course." There was a slight pause. I closed my eyes tightly, willing him to keep talking and my arm to stop aching. "What do you want done about Morgan in the mean time, Sa'han?"
"Nothing, yet," Trent said decisively. "It would be unwise to make her aware that she is the true target of these attacks until we're ready to finish what has been begun. For all of her foolish actions, she has proved surprisingly skilled at keeping herself alive over the years. I'm not ready to risk scaring her into disappearing completely for a second time." The venom in Trent's voice was surprising.
"What about Tamwood?"
I blinked, so startled that I almost lost my grip on the amulet in my hand. I fumbled with it for a few seconds until I held it securely again.
"Do not approach Tamwood." Trent's voice was no longer the same calm, mellow tone that he used whether he was threatening to kill someone or raising money for the city's orphanage. It had risen dramatically, as he snapped the words out. "We were fortunate that Morgan never thought to wonder what had happened to Tamwood. She blamed what happened on Tamwood's lack of control and didn't think to examine outside influences. If we try to get at Morgan through Tamwood for a second time, she may suspect something, and I do not want that." Trent sighed. "It would have been better if the plan had worked completely, and Tamwood had eliminated Morgan for us, but at least this way Morgan's fear of Tamwood will keep them from working together."
I heard what Trent was saying. I understood the words. What I couldn't accept was the meaning. It was obvious, so obvious, now that I had practically had it spelled out for me. Of course, Ivy wouldn't have bound me of her own will. She loved me, and it was why she had refused time and again to attempt a blood balance with me while Piscary was still alive. She had been terrified that he would use her to harm me, so why would she harm me herself?
It made no sense. Hot tears tracked down my face as every assumption that I had held onto for over a decade came crashing down. Every bit of anger that I had held onto to keep my heart from breaking completely fell away as I realized that Ivy had been every bit as much of a victim as I had been. It wasn't her fault that I had been bound to her, and I had done what she had always feared the most. I had left her alone.
It was a testament to Ivy's strength that she had managed to rebuild her life. I bit my lip hard and swiped at the tears on my face. I took a deep breath and struggled to get my breathing back under control. In my distraction, I had let my arm slip from the precarious angle that I had been holding it at, and I had lost the sound from Trent's office.
I cast back around for the spot that I'd had, hoping to hear something else. I had found out more than I ever expected, if not what I had come here hoping to find. Unfortunately there was nothing incriminating yet, at least nothing that I could take to Glenn to get a warant. It was all talk with nothing to back it up. Conversation, after all, that I didn't have a recording of and shouldn't have been listening to in the first place.
Trent still had quite a few things going for him. There was only one thing working in my favor. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to kill me. I wasn't sure why yet, but it certainly wasn't the first time someone had tried to kill me and not even the first time that Trent had tried it. Now that I knew what he was doing, I could stop him and when I did, I would make sure that he would end up in jail for it for a very long time.
He had already ruined my life; it was the least that I could do for him in return.
*** *** ***
My heart was pounding so fast that I felt lightheaded. My throat was dry. Maybe all of the moisture had migrated to my palms. They were damp and sweating as I clenched one hand into a fist and raised it to knock on the door. I certainly hadn't expected to be here for a second time.
I'd barely had time to knock before the door swung open. I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, I had been buzzed in at the gate, but when the door opened it wasn't who I had expected at all.
"Marion." I swallowed and to my dismay, swayed slightly on my feet. I reached out quickly and steadied myself on the door frame.
The shape of his brown eyes was so familiar. After all, I had looked at them for years in his mother's face. His eyes, however, were full of suspicion.
"You were here earlier."
"I was." There was no reason to deny it.
I wondered what Ivy had told him. Did he know about the relationship that we had once shared? I winced inwardly, thinking about how weird it had been when I had found out that Takata was my father. This was nothing like that, of course, except that I was his mother's former lover, and as I knew run in's with your parent's ex were always awkward.
"Is Ivy here?"
Stupid, stupid question, Rachel. Where else would she be at this time of night, with her son at home? It wasn't like Ivy was a runner anymore. She kept respectable Inderland hours now.
He nodded but didn't say anything else. He was watching me, his head tilted so that he was staring up at me from underneath a fringe of dark hair. I glanced away, taking in the room around me. The framed pictures that hung on the wall, even in the entryway. I stepped away from him, drawn to a particular photo, not realizing how close I had gotten to it until my finger was running down the edge of the frame.
"That was taken on my tenth birthday." His voice from just behind my shoulder made me jump. I hadn't even heard him move.
"It's beautiful," I whispered. Ivy was standing in the sun, a nearly blinding smile on her face as Marion ran toward her.
"I know who you are."
Marion's words sent a shiver down my spine. I realized an instant later that he was pulling an aura. He was trying to be intimidating. Slowly, I turned to face him.
"Okay," I said with a calm that I didn't really feel.
"You left her."
I swallowed, feeling the breathtaking agony of Trent's revelation hit me again.
"I did." It was more complicated than that, of course. But the kid was right. That was what it all boiled down to. I had left.
"She's been miserable."
I smiled, tipping my head towards the picture behind me. "She looks pretty happy to me."
"She loves me," he blurted out, sounding young and slightly embarrassed by the statement. "She tries to be happy for me, but she's not really. Even when she's as happy as I've ever seen her, there's still a layer of sadness underneath it." He took a deep breath and glared at me. "You should leave. You're just going to hurt her more. That's all you ever do; Jenks told me."
If I had thought that Trent's revelation was awful, this was worse. Hearing about Jenks' disappointment, knowing that he had died angry with me was awful. And maybe, Jenks wasn't wrong. So far, I had done nothing but hurt Ivy.
"I'm going to make it right," I said, my hand clenching into a fist at my side.
His head snapped up like I had hit him and I realized abruptly that my nails had dug into my hand so hard that they had drawn blood. Marion took a faltering step back. For an instant his eyes went black, and then he blinked. Just as quickly, the darkness was replaced by rich brown.
"How?" he demanded.
It wasn't a sound, or a smell, or anything that I could consciously identify, but I suddenly knew without looking that Ivy had entered the room.
"Marion," she spoke softly. "It's okay."
"It's not," he shot back defiantly. "It's not okay, Mom."
She walked to his side slowly, and wrapped an arm around him, pulling her close to him. Ivy brushed the hair back from his forehead and kissed it lightly. He squirmed back from it, but not from her. She leaned closer to him, and spoke softly. The low murmur of her voice was the only sound in the room.
Her eyes met mine across him. Marion nodded slowly and looked up her.
"You'll be okay?" That protective determination was back in his voice, but it was calmer now. It made me glad that he cared about Ivy so much.
"I'll be fine," Ivy reassured him, as she let him go and stepped back. "Rachel isn't here to cause trouble."
"No," I said, my voice breaking over the simple word as I watched Ivy. "No," I repeated more firmly. "I'm not."
Marion shot me one last warning look before he backed out of the room. When he was gone, Ivy let out a deep breath and walked away from me, pacing the room until she had reached the window. She stared out into the shadowed grounds.
"Ivy...." Now that the moment was here, I wasn't sure what to say. I'm sorry seemed so small and inadequate. It seemed impossible to convey what I was really feeling. "The were who attacked me told me that Trent had-"
"Rachel," Ivy cut me off sharply. "Why are you here?" she asked tiredly. "I asked you to leave earlier."
"I know. I know," I repeated more slowly. I had actually forgotten about that in my hurry to get back here. "I wouldn't have come back if it wasn't important," I said desperately.
Ivy rolled her eyes and turned away. "That seems to always be your story lately."
"Just let me explain, Ivy. Please," I begged her.
If she hated me, if she still wanted me to leave and never come back after I had a chance to explain what I had discovered, I would understand. I had hurt her so badly, worse than I had ever hurt her, even before we had become a couple. My stomach sank, as I held my breath and waited for her to speak.
"What is there to explain, Rachel?" she asked, still sounding so very tired. "What difference will it make?"
"All the difference in the world!"
Ivy blinked, taken back by my sudden outburst. She looked up at me from under the thin fringe of her bangs.
"It won't change the fact that you're bound to me."
I flinched. It was an involuntary response that I hadn't quite managed to control yet.
Ivy looked as if I had slapped her. "See," she said softly. "You're still scared of me. That's the last thing I've ever wanted. Just let me go. Please. We don't have to see each other ever again. It will be the best thing for both of us."
With the incredible strength of will that Ivy had always shown in spades, Ivy pulled herself up until she was standing once again with her usual regal bearing.
"No," I blurted out. "No, that would not be the best thing."
Throwing out what little common sense I had, I crossed the distance between us and reached out for Ivy's hands. Her long fingers were icy cold and limp against my skin. I squeezed lightly, hoping that she would look at me, or respond somehow. Ivy shutting me out was suddenly worse than anything else. It was what she had done to Piscary. I had always wanted to help her, to save her from people like Piscary who had hurt her, and now I was hurting her just as badly.
"I went to Trent's tonight," I said in a rush, hoping that she would at least listen to me. "I overheard him talking to Jonathan. Ivy, he said that he did something to you, to make you bind me. It wasn't your fault."
Ivy's breath caught, and her fingers tightened until they were painfully gripping my own.
"What do you mean?" she asked in a whisper that I had to strain to hear, even as close to her as I was.
I let go of one hand, and reached up to brush a lock of hair that had fallen across her face back behind her ear.
"I mean, that it wasn't your fault. Trent did this to us, Ivy. There was nothing you could have done."
Her first choking sob caught me by surprise. Then her arms went around me and she held me tightly. Her fingers twisted into the thin fabric of my sleeves as she held on to me like a drowning women. The first sob was followed by another until tears were streaming down her face.
I had only seen Ivy break down like this once before; then I hadn't known how to comfort her. Now I knew and I could. I wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my face against her shoulder. I held her just as tightly as she was holding me, as her body shook against mine. I rubbed soothing circles on her back and just let her cry.
"It's okay, Ivy," I whispered into her ear. "I promise. It will be okay."
"You." She sucked in a breath. "Can't." Another breath. "Promise that."
"No, I can't." I said regretfully. "But I can promise that I won't ever leave you without knowing everything that's going on, again."
"Don't say that unless you mean it," Ivy said sharply.
"I mean it," I countered immediately. "I shouldn't have to promise it; I shouldn't have run away." I held her tighter. "I should have trusted you."
*** *** ***
Morning light was seeping faintly in through the heavy curtains on the windows. Ivy shivered against me. I ran my fingers lightly up and down her arms, feeling the goosebumps on her bare skin. I pressed a kiss to the top of her shoulder and then gently laid my chin on it as she leaned back against me.
Sometime during the night, after our harsh words, and tears, we had ended up like this. Neither one of us had wanted to move, so in the end we had simply stayed. My hips were sore and my legs stiff, but there was no way that I would say anything about it or try to move. It might break this moment between us. My arms slipped further around Ivy's waist, and I flattened my hands against her stomach.
"What do we do now?" Ivy's voice sounded loud as it broke the silence.
"I'm going to take down Trent." For the past hour, he had been consuming almost as much of my thoughts as Ivy.
"And after that?"
Ivy had always liked a plan. Me, on the other hand....
"I don't know." I touched her shoulder, and then her chin, turning her face towards me.
I couldn't help the little smile that slipped over my lips when she looked at me. The rich, deep brown of her eyes was startling, and for a second I found myself lost in them. My breath caught and then quickened, my heart beginning to race. Her eyes flashed black in an instant.
Her lips quivered. Would she...
And then Ivy blinked, and looked away.
"Ivy," Her name fell from my lips like a sigh.
I rested my forehead against her shoulder, and relaxed when she gently touched my arm. My bravery had faded as I looked into her eyes. It wasn't fear that she would hurt me. It had been a very long time since Ivy's black eyes had scared me. Instead they meant love and lust, desire and arousal. Although, whether they still meant love after all this time, there was no way to know. That was what had made me look away from her - shame.
Ivy had been just as much of a victim of Trent as I had. She had no idea why she had bound me, since that had never been her intention. She had loved me as I was. And in that part of the plan, I had been Trent's unwitting accomplice. I had hurt her far more deeply and thoroughly than he ever could have, even if he had killed her twice.
"Ivy," I repeated her name again, hoping desperately that she would understand. "I don't know what's going to happen when this is over with Trent."
"I don't either, Rachel." She paused and I felt her shift. "Look at me, please."
I swallowed and looked up. The pain in her eyes broke my heart.
"The only thing I ask, Rachel, is that you say goodbye."
It was as much rebuke as I would ever hear from Ivy, and it landed perfectly on target. Knowing Ivy, it had taken a lot for her to just ask for that much.
I nodded and bit my lip. The last thing that I wanted to do right now was think about leaving. Looking over at Ivy's slim form, curled beside me on the floor, I wondered what she would say, if I told her that I was thinking of making the Hollows my home again. Would she be happy about that? Or had we hurt one another too badly to ever be friends - or even friendly acquaintances - again?
"Mom?"
I jumped and squeaked at the sudden interruption. Marion appeared at the door, glancing around the room, expression puzzled until he spotted us.
"Mom, what are you doing on the floor?"
Ivy smiled, a full real smile, that tugged at my heart for an entirely different reason.
"We were just discussing a few things," she said, and held out a hand to him.
She pressed the other to my knee, keeping me still and beside her when I went to jump away from her.
He took her hand, braced his feet and helped her to her feet. I knew she could have easily used her living vamp strength to rise in one graceful motion, but she let him work a little bit to help her up like any normal kid. It made me smile too, and I was still smiling as Ivy held her hand down to me.
My fingers curled around her own without hesitation. Ivy drew me gently to my feet, and if I wasn't quite as graceful as she had been, I was certainly far away from a clumsy, middle-aged housewitch. When her eyes slipped away from mine it was a loss that I could almost feel.
She draped her arm around Marion's shoulder, and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"How would you like to stay with your Aunt Erica for a few days?"
His first reaction was a wrinkled nose, and I couldn't help but laugh. He looked so much like Ivy with that one gesture, down to the same wrinkles.
"Sorry," I muttered when he caught me looking and turned sulky. "Does she still talk like she used to?"
"All the time," came Marion's aggrieved complaint. "She asks me a question and then doesn't even let me answer."
While her chatter could get annoying, I had always found it easy to spend time around Erica when I didn't want to talk. There was no need to, and no way to get a word in edgewise even if I had wanted to. It was comforting in its own way. Obviously, Marion didn't appreciate that just yet.
"Be nice," Ivy chided gently. "I know she lets you get away with murder."
His eyes lightened with mischief for an instant as he glanced up at her sharply.
"I do exactly what she says," he protested.
Ivy pinned him with a knowing gaze that made him flush and look down, and then gently squeezed him on the shoulder.
"Why don't you go pack a few things? I'll have some breakfast ready when you get down here then, I can take you over to Erica's."
"Okay, Mom," he said with a grin. Despite what he had said about Erica, he didn't seem too upset about going to see her. Something told me that she hadn't changed much in the intervening years, and I had a feeling that Erica spoiled him horribly. She probably made a pretty awesome aunt.
Ivy turned her attention back to me when he was out of sight. "I need to make sure he's safe with Erica, before we can start."
"Safe? From what?" Besides the usual. Growing up the child of a very prominent living vampire was no walk in the safe, well lit park. More like the nasty, overgrown park at midnight on the night of a new moon, where there were lots of shadows for the extremely dangerous monsters to hide.
"I have responsibilities now, Rachel. Marion is my first priority. Always." Her voice held an icy edge that wasn't directed at me.
"I know," I said quickly. "I wouldn't want it any other way, but I don't know what that has to do with-"
"If you think I'm letting you go after Trent alone, with no one to back you up but Glenn...." Her voice trailed off at the slightly guilty expression on my face. "Without even Glenn," she corrected herself, with a shake of her head. "It's not going to happen, Rachel. Trent is going to pay and we're going to do it together."
"Okay," I said simply. It felt like a demon had been sitting on my shoulders and now he had been banished. What had seemed daunting now seemed completely possible. With Ivy and I working together, nothing had ever been able to stop us.
"Partners?" Ivy asked, holding her hand out to me. She said it confidently, but the hesitance in the way she moved revealed her vulnerability.
"Partners," I agreed, taking her hand.
With that gesture, something fell into place. It felt like coming home.
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I think Ivy's relief was so completely overwhelming that it just kind of overshadowed everything else, even, mostly, any bitterness or anger she might have towards Rachel.