Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            I slumped as the magic left me, cold and empty. Parker’s pale leg showing from under the blanket was changing, becoming unnaturally thin and bony. Her foot lengthened, toes turned to claws and finally became furred. Her cries became whimpers, and stopped.

            Jenks hovered close, his green eyes wide. “Is it done? Is she a wolf?”

            Slowly, Parker pulled her leg under her and lurched to four feet. The blanket fell away.

            She was a wolf, silver with black feet. One ear was savaged nearly to her skull, and she was missing an eye. Both were raw with new damage, marring her beauty.

            “I’m sorry it came to this,” Cassie whispered, and the wolf’s remaining ear swiveled. There was intelligence in her gaze, but it was that of a wolf. Parker was no more.

            David pulled Cassie closer in protection, and with that slight movement, Parker bolted. There was the sound of rustling leaves and grass, and she was gone, lost in the rain-wet urban wilds surrounding Cincinnati. Maybe I should give Doyle and Glenn a heads-up.

            “Damn, Rache!” Jenks said, clearly approving. “Hey, the amulet still works.”

            I looked to see that the amulet had swung free of my shirt, the green glow slowly fading as the wolf vanished.

            “She is an animal,” David whispered. “Did you see?”

            I felt sick, but it was done and could not be changed. I had killed everything that was Parker except perhaps her will to survive, and I was unable to meet Al’s eyes when his hand touched my shoulder and dropped away.

            “It was a gift,” Cassie said, her expression pinched in heartache. “Rachel, don’t you ever think you could have let her go. She would have come after all of us. Her mind was broken.”

            “I have to go.” The thought of Trent struck through me like fire. “I have to find Trent,” I said as I tugged my shoulder bag high. “Can I borrow someone’s car?”





CHAPTER


            24

            It was raining again, and if it wasn’t Saturday, traffic would have been nearly at a standstill. But as it was, I zipped through a yellow light at an empty intersection, taking the corner too tight as I tried to simultaneously call Trent and drive. He hadn’t answered the first two times, but hey . . . third time’s the charm.

            “Tink’s titties, Rache!” Jenks shrilled as he hung on to the stem of the rearview mirror. “Put the phone down and drive. Let me call Quen. He might know where Trent is.”

            “Thanks.” I set the phone into David’s nifty cell caddy, and Jenks dropped, his sparkles an annoyed green and gold. “David’s car corners as if it’s on ice,” I added.

            “I’m telling you, Trent is fine.” Jenks used the palm of his hand to scroll through my recently called list. “You left him in a hospital, for Tink’s sake.”

            I left him with Lee. Exhaling, I looked at my pearl ring, and my hands clenched the wheel harder. My phone was ringing, and I almost grabbed the phone when Quen finally picked up.

            “Rachel. Can I call you back?” the older elf said, his low voice holding a distracted, irate tension: one hundred percent annoyance, zero percent interest.

            “Where’s Trent?” I blurted, and he seemed to hesitate.

            “Ah . . .” There was the click of a door closing, and then, louder, “About that . . .”

            My hands were white-knuckled on the wheel, and I came to a too-short halt at a stop sign, tires squeaking on the wet pavement. “Quen, Lee is the mage. I got it from Parker herself. I left Trent with him at the hospital, and he isn’t answering his phone. I believe her. Where is he?”

            Jenks’s wings were slack and unmoving as he stood by my phone, and when Quen said nothing, fear struck me, quick and sharp. “Quen?” I prompted, and he took a breath.

            “I would question if Parker was lying myself, except this makes my morning make sense,” Quen said. “The I.S. is here with a warrant to search for unspecified contraband, both drug and magic. They are being unusually thorough.”

            “Lee blames Trent for the death of his little girl,” I said, not liking Quen’s almost blasé reaction. “Trent isn’t answering his phone. He doesn’t know that Lee has gone off his rails. Someone died to make that second chakra ring, and, ah . . . Parker . . .” I pushed the guilt for her down deep. The woman would rather have died than been incarcerated. Now she was free.