Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            I could do nothing, and I stared at the fire even when Trent pulled me to a stand and gingerly took me in his arms, damp clothes and all. “I’m sure you saw her,” he whispered. “She was the coven’s most proficient practitioner, adept at high-level manipulations. She might have found a way to linger, to avenge herself and you.”

            Vivian . . . no, I thought, grief swamping me. “I . . . I have to go,” I said, taking a step out of his arms. Al stood at the stream with the girls, eyes bright and watching. There was no one left to say that I didn’t kill Vivian. There was no one to vouch for me in the coven. No one but Vivian knew Lee was the mage. If Lee had survived, Lee would be believed. Everything was falling apart. But mostly it was my grief that Vivian was . . . dead.

            “I have to get to the church.” I had to see if it was true. I had to know for myself, talk to Getty. Damn it, Jenks had been trying to tell me, and I hadn’t listened.

            “Tal Sa’han, perhaps now is not—” Quen said, and I rounded on him.

            “I am going to the church!” I shouted. Not Vivian, I thought, my eyes spilling over, hot tears dripping down my face. Please, not Vivian . . .

            And then my grief found an outlet. Lee . . . Like a switch, my tears vanished. Trent saw it and let go of me. He knew what it meant.

            Quen did not. “Rachel, you can’t best five coven members. That you are free is the only thing keeping the lid on Cincinnati. From what I’ve pieced together, Lee cut a deal with the I.S., the DC vamps, and the coven, promising them all a share of, or a return to, power if they forced Trent out. David is the only one still in control of his people. Ivy and Pike are in hiding, and Trent is now a persona non grata. Zack is trying, but if he says too much, they will silence him. Don’t ruin what little power he has.”

            I sank back down onto the stone, focus distant as I reached for my soggy socks and struggled to put them on for the trip home. David was okay because I had gotten rid of Parker, but everyone else?

            “I can’t get these damn socks on!” I shouted. Frustrated, I slumped where I sat, not sure what to do. In one ill-defined moment, I had lost it all. Lee had not only ruined me but taken down almost everyone who had stood with me. Lee’s sword had been my fear for what Vivian might think of me. I’d waited too long to show her what I’d done. It was my doing.

            “I have to go.” Giving up on my socks, I rose, an arm wrapped around my middle so nothing spilled out.

            “We will fight this, Rachel.” Trent tried to pull me close, but I’d have none of it, and I stepped away, my bare feet finding sticks and tiny rocks. “It will only take time,” he said. “The girls are safe. David is strong. Ivy and Pike are in hiding. We reassess and move forward. I’ve got a tent in my bug-out bag. Everything will look better in the morning.”

            Silent, I turned to the woods. Loss crushed me. It felt too late. Everything was gone. Everything.

            “Rachel?” Trent called as I started walking. I could get to my church easy from the ley line. Five minutes. Six if I kept stomping and cut my foot.

            “I’m fine!” I shouted back, but I wasn’t fine. Lee had killed Vivian. If I had shown her the stupid curse, she would have known it was lethal. She would have known Lee was lying to her. It could have ended right there. But I hadn’t, and everything she’d been was gone.

            “I’ll talk to her,” Al said around a breathy groan. “Before it begins to rain again.”

            You think so, you old demon? I thought as I passed his mushroom ring and my damp hair briefly lifted.

            Behind me, branches began to snap, and a muffled swearing rose. “Rachel, stop,” Al demanded. “Mother pus bucket, which one of you thought trees with thorns was a good idea?”

            Relenting, I drew to a halt. The moon was high, mirroring the one in reality, and I clenched my jaw, chin lifting as he came even with me, his eyes dark in the dim light, pinched with a shared heartache.

            “You are going to reality?” he asked, and I pushed past him to start walking again.

            “I need a new pair of jeans,” I said. “And boots.” And maybe a lamp.

            “Tomorrow,” Al said, and I jerked to a halt when he touched my shoulder.

            Shocked, I looked at him as he hid his hand as if he’d done something wrong. I could count the number of times that he had touched me, but it was the pain in him that struck me.