Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Really.” Anger stained my grief for Vivian. “At least my books are safe.”

            Trent put his new phone in a breast pocket, his gaze on the girls. His phone wouldn’t connect to anything in the ever-after, but Quen had probably downloaded his messages before David had crossed. “Ivy and Pike?” he asked.

            “Hiding,” David said. “Nina, too. You know the toxic hospital grounds that you tricked Constance into buying?”

            I found I could still smile. “No kidding,” I said, figuring they’d be safe there for a while. No one went into the abandoned hospital campus, afraid there might be a lingering T-4 Angel virus on a doorknob.

            “Bad news is that Finnis is coming in tonight to take over for, ah, you.”

            Great. Leaning over my knees, I sighed at my bare feet. My hair was in ugly straggles, and I pushed it behind my ear, angry at the world.

            “That is,” David continued, “unless you want to do something about it?”

            I had no words, and I simply stared at the fire, poking at it with a thin stick.

            “What do you expect Rachel to do?” Trent said, surprising me. “Vivian was her voice in the coven. With her gone, no one will believe Rachel. She’s accused of murdering a coven member with dark magic. She’s got the books to do it and the motive, if they believe Lee.” He hesitated, focus shifting to the fire. “Regaining my assets will be a trick, too,” he muttered.

            The tip of the stick smoldered as I sketched out Pike’s logo in the dirt. It was no fun being poor. It wasn’t anything to be ashamed of, though, and I’d been poor before. The shame was in being rich off someone else’s work. Unfortunately, it was a cold, immutable fact that I had twisted illicit magic in the past and likely would again. Vivian had been the only one who had trusted me to not hurt anyone with it. “Maybe it’s time to take a break,” I whispered, tossing the stick on the flames.

            David was silent for a moment. “You mind if I give you some advice?”

            “What,” I said flatly, and Trent got to his feet, his smooth, uncalloused hands brushing his jeans free of dirt.

            “I should check on the girls,” Trent said as he turned to Al. “Al?”

            “I’m not missing this,” the demon said.

            Trent took a breath as if to protest, then changed his mind and walked away.

            David was smiling, and it ticked me off. “What’s so funny?”

            Silent, he hunched over his knees and shifted the logs for a better airflow. “You are.”

            “Me?” I said, not liking that Al was listening. “Please. Tell me what’s funny. I could use a laugh.”

            “Just how long,” David said slowly, “do you think you will be content to sit here in self-imposed isolation and watch Cincy flounder before you step back in?”

            My anger evaporated and I slumped. “It’s gone,” I said. “There is nothing left.”

            David shook his head. “It’s not gone. It’s underground. Where it should have been all the time, if you ask me. When power is obvious, it gets challenged. And you were. By Constance. By Hodin. And now, Lee. Unlike the rest, Lee learned from their mistakes. You can’t be beaten by outright power, so he manipulated you. Frankly, you deserved it. You got cocky.”

            “Gee, thanks,” I muttered, but a sliver of guilt was rising, and I hated it.

            “You hid when Lee accused you of murdering Vivian, thereby giving up your freedom. Trent lost his money, and with it went your pull with the elves. With Finnis coming in, whatever influence you had on the I.S. and the vampires will shrink. Frankly, all you have left is me, and that’s not enough.”

            My frown deepened as I tugged my blanket tighter about my shoulders and watched Trent sit cross-legged under the wagon with the girls. “If you’re trying to cheer me up, you’re doing a sucky job of it.”

            “I’m not done yet,” he said, lips quirked. “Everything you think you lost is still there. But it won’t last if you stay here,” he cautioned. “The coven is gathering support to curse the demons into exile in the ever-after.”