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Looking like he didn't care, the master vampire eased forward and, very slowly, took her perfect hand in his scarred one. "You're too kind."
Ivy looked at her fingers among his, blinking fast.
"Rachel is a powerful young woman," he said, and I suddenly felt like I'd passed some sort of test. "I can see why you are attracted to her. You have my blessing to cultivate a scion relationship with her, if that is what you want."
My anger rose, but Ivy shot me a look to shut me up. "Thank you," she said, and I got even more mad when Ry
Ry
Try another angle? I thought, seeing the hinted hunger in him, luring her. Working on a sequel, are we? I didn't agree with how vampire society worked, but Ivy took a relieved breath, her eyes positively lighting. "Yes," she said quickly, but then her gaze slid to me.
"Go," I said sourly, glad she hadn't seen the demolished kitchen. "I'll be fine."
She eased closer to Ry
"Al won't be back." I glanced at Ry
Ivy pulled away from him, reaching for me. "He was here?" she said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" I said, backing up until her outstretched hand dropped. My gaze went to Ry
"I told you not to go onto unsanctified ground," Ivy almost scolded. "God, Rachel, I made you a sign!"
"I forgot, okay?" I shot back at her. "I took it down because it ticked me off, and I forgot. I was so flustered about your master vampire paying me a visit that I forgot!"
Ivy hesitated, then said softly, "Okay."
"Okay," I repeated, feeling my anger die at her quick admission.
"Well…okay."
I glared at Ry
"I'll get on hallowed ground," I said, just wanting her to leave.
Ivy took a rocking step toward the door, then hesitated. "What about di
"Marshal is coming over," I said, looking pointedly at Ry
A flash of jealousy passed over Ivy, dying fast. Ry
"I'll see you about sunrise," she said, and the master vampire's eyebrows rose. Ivy gave me a tight-lipped smile and turned to Ry
"Ivy," he said, offering his arm.
"Mr. Cormel," she said back, sounding flustered as she didn't take it. "Um, could you sign your book for me before we go?"
My breath hesitated, and I stiffened. Oh, God. Not the vampire dating guide.
Ivy turned to me, her expression eager. I didn't see this side of her often, and it was kind of scary. "You've still got it, don't you?" she asked. "Is it still on your bedside table?"
"Ivy!" I exclaimed, backing up, my face hot. Crap. Now he knows I've read it. My thoughts flicked to page forty-nine, and I stared in horror when Ry
Ivy was starting to look ticked, and Ry
"I've already perused it," I said loudly, and the door shut behind them with a soft click.
"God help me," I muttered as I fell back into Ivy's old couch and breathed in the puff of vampire incense that I'd kicked up from the cushions. If she wanted Ry
My thoughts drifted to Kisten, and I wondered if she felt any of the guilt I did.
The quiet of the church soaked into me, and in the distance, I heard the sound of a car starting up. "Kitchen," I said to myself, and sat up. Yeah, I had told Ivy I'd get on hallowed ground, but I wasn't going to let that mess sit until tomorrow. Tomorrow I was going out with David, and once I knocked some sense into a happy band of demon summoners, I'd have my life back. Such as it was.
I stood in the threshold of the kitchen and sighed at the destruction. Maybe I could pay the pixies to clean it up. But they were tucked into the stump until the warmth of sunrise, so, resigned to the mess, I scuffed in. My back hurt as I picked up the broken clock and set it on the counter. Most of the rack was on the floor, and deciding I'd pile everything up now and sort it later, I went to the cupboard to get the broom.
It was going to be a long night.
Eleven
The moon was shining in the kitchen window as I wiped my footprints off the island counter. I was almost finished with cleaning up. It had taken a twenty-pixy-escort trip out to the shed for my toolbox, but I'd found a metal plate and a few wood screws to tack the rack together. I wasn't going to put anything heavier than herbs on it, but at least it wasn't hanging cockeyed from the ceiling. Yes, I had told Ivy I'd get on sanctified ground, but for some inane reason, I trusted that Al wasn't going to show up, as some weird thank-you for not siccing Minias on him. Tomorrow he'd try to abduct me again, but tonight I was safe. And I never had told Ivy when I'd actually get to holy ground. Besides, Marshal was coming over, and the kitchen table was less datelike than the couch.
Tossing the dishcloth onto the table, I knelt before the open shelves under the counter. I had simply shoved everything in there on my first pass through, and it was a mess. If I couldn't hang the smaller spell pots and utensils back up, I'd have to do some rearranging. My splat gun sat in the small spell pot nestled in with the rest on the bottom shelf, right where I'd need it if I was crawling. That was where it would stay. But the ceramic spoons needed a new home.
Gathering up the spoons and long utensils, I arranged them in a glass vase I'd pulled out of the back of a cupboard. I pushed my spell books down and used the vase as a bookend, taking up the space where the book Al had destroyed had been.
Unhappy, I sat back on my heels and considered my smaller library. I'd never be able to replace the book he had burned. Sure, I could pick up another at just about any charm shop, but mine had had notes and everything in it. I wondered if perhaps I ought to move the more valuable demon curse books onto hallowed ground. I'd been lucky Al hadn't destroyed one of them instead. Or maybe I was unlucky, seeing as I still had them.
My fingers tingled as I pulled out the three books in question. I stood, and after ru