In the Leyline of Fire (The Hollows, 2 of 7+)
Title: In the Leyline of Fire (2 of 7+)
Author: Wye (w.y.back)
Fandom: The Hollows
Pairing: Ivy/Rachel
Rating: R to be safe
Spoilers: Up to White Witch, Black Curse
Disclaimer: Rachel, Ivy, Jenks and the rest of the Hollows belong to Kim Harrison and her publishers. Only the story below is mine.
Author’s Note: Thanks to everyone for the encouraging feedback! Thanks also to Madlaxx for being such a patient beta, and for getting me into the Hollows in the first place.
2.
The nightmares were horrible. At first, demons were chasing me, and I’d forgotten how to draw a circle. Then another one took over, banshees surrounding me, threatening to tear my soul away.
Only that one wasn’t quite a dream, was it? Desperation jerked me into consciousness. I was never so happy to wake up in my life.
The first thing I heard was the flutter of pixie wings, followed closely by a running description of Tink’s frilly pink underwear. Mild daylight - the pre-noon kind that was still too early for witches and vampires - was seeping through the windows. That meant I’d been out for at least twenty hours.
“The banshee?” I asked a relieved Jenks hoarsely. My mouth felt as dry as dust.
“The I.S. took her.” At my look of surprise, the pixie explained, “They may not care much for you or me, but she attacked a Tamwood residence. Last living heir and all that.”
“Yeah? Where were they last year?” I muttered. Ivy had nearly gotten killed by a rampaging banshee back then and the I.S. hadn’t been much help.
Jenks shrugged. “They probably caught flack for that, which is why they couldn’t ignore this one. Either that, or Ivy threatened to let the F.I.B. get the collar on a banshee.”
My eyes fell on the chair pulled up next to my bed. “Did she...is she okay?”
“Yeah, Ivy stomped whatever was left of that banshee into oblivion. She just got up to shower," Jenks continued, confirming my suspicion that Ivy had stayed the night to watch over me. "She’s feeling a little guilty, says she should've known that something like this was bound to happen."
I leaned back tiredly. "She should know better."
"So should you!" Jenks swooped in front of my face, hands on his hips as he let me have it in full Peter Pan pose. "For the love of Tink, Rachel, what were you thinking, letting a banshee in?!"
I didn't have the energy to argue. "She looked like a harmless old woman."
"So do half of the undead in the Hollows! You could've -"
"Jenks, shut it," Ivy reproved mildly as she stepped into the room. She was in her house clothes, a comfortable old shirt over a pair of leggings that did nothing to hide her trim figure underneath, and her hair was spiky-wet from a shower. She held a cup of coffee in her hand, freshly brewed by the aroma of it. "She just woke up. We can argue with her later."
I ignored the implied threat in the last part of her statement. “Hey.” I reached out, and Ivy put down the coffee on the night table and grasped my fingers. Oh we're getting good at this.
Her hand was warm from the steaming mug. "Feeling better?" she asked, her eyes a clear shade of brown.
“Yeah, though I really want off on the banshee go-see list,” I replied. “How did you guys get here so fast? I thought you and Jenks were on a run?”
“Jenks’ kids," she explained. "They caught a whiff and knew right away what she was. They flew to Keasley, and he called us.”
"And we practically freaking flew back!" Jenks interjected. "I nearly froze to death on that ride, Ivy! That bike of yours should be licensed as a weapon, the way you drive. I thought we were going to die half a dozen times!"
I grinned. I've had my share of rides on Ivy's bike and most of them had scared the daylights out of me. Living vamps with their love of speed, inhumanly fast reflexes, and motorbikes? Bad combination, unless you happened to be a motorcycle dealer.
I felt Ivy pull away at Jenks' interruption, and its reminder that we weren't alone. I nearly let her, and our hands loosened.
Then I decided not to. She was my friend and she'd just saved my life. Besides, it was just Jenks. I could hold her hand if I wanted to; Jenks would understand. I tightened my grip, just in time to recapture her fingertips.
Her brown eyes went wide. She glanced at our hands and then at me, one eyebrow quirking up in an elegant expression of inquiry I couldn’t manage if my life depended on it.
Then she did the most unexpected thing. She tugged lightly until her fingers slipped from my grasp, and stepped away.
At first I just stared at her in shock, not quite believing it. Then when I did believe it - because there she was, moving away from me - a feeling so desolate swept over me that I had to shut my eyes. Suddenly it felt like I might cry.
Vampire incense wafted closer. "Your coffee's getting cold, Rachel."
"I don't w-" I began sullenly, when I felt a slim but very strong arm slip under my shoulders and effortlessly lift me until I was sitting up on the bed. I opened my eyes and found Ivy's concerned face inches from mine.
"You need something warm," she said gently, "and the caffeine will help."
She was right. The heat of the coffee was comforting as it went down. The caffeine would probably keep me up for a couple of hours, but at least it wasn’t brimstone.
As soon as she helped me back down and put the cup away, I hesitantly reached for her hand again. Though an eyebrow shot up briefly once more, this time she held me easily.
“Thanks for...” I waved my free hand around, not knowing exactly what to say. For saving my life? For carrying me to bed, and watching over me, and making the best coffee day after day? For letting me see you again, when I thought we’d run out of time?
She just smiled, but the glimmer in her eyes told me she understood. “Just be careful who you let in next time.”
“Hey, she looked like a real Grannie Annie,” I couldn’t help pointing out in my defense. “Maybe not when you saw her but how was I supposed to -“
"That's the weirdest thing."
Our attention snapped to Jenks as he spoke. I felt my face turning red as the pixie flew closer, peering with intense concentration at our still-joined hands. Then he showed much the same interest in looking at the rest of me. “Your aura’s much better than it should be.”
I’d forgotten that pixies could see auras, but now I listened closely as Jenks continued. “It should be packed tight around you. Remember last time?”
I nodded. “All I had left was an inch-thick layer. It’s the sign of an unstable aura, right?”
“Yeah well...your aura’s not unstable right now.” The pixie scratched his head. “How are you doing that?”
Ivy and I traded looks. I had told her about how her aura had protected me before, when the banshee who’d nearly killed both of us had drained mine. Back then, Ivy’s pure, beautiful aura had swept over my dark, damaged one and protected me from the power of a ley line when I spelled. She hadn't felt anything but she’d seen for herself the difference it made, the way it shielded me from pain. That’s why she had gone to me first yesterday, instead of tackling the banshee directly.
Jenks flew around - his equivalent of pacing - as we told him about the spell I’d used on the remains of Kisten’s killer. Well mainly I was doing the telling while Ivy nodded here and there.
“So it only works when Ivy touches you?” he asked at the end.
“I think so,” I said uncertainly. “At least that’s how it feels.”
“Why don’t we find out?” Ivy suggested. Her expression was intrigued as she dropped my hand. Again.
I knew she was doing it for me, but another part of me was getting a little ticked off by how easily Ivy Tamwood seemed to let go of me these days. Honestly, what kind of hunter-type strategy was that?
I bit my lip as Jenks hovered closer. She was still hunting me, wasn’t she? And that was okay because I was letting her.
“What does her aura look like now?” Ivy asked.
Jenks flitted. “Back to unstable, but...”
I sat up a little straighter. “But what?”
“I’m not sure, but it seems better somehow. Not as thin, or the colors are stronger.” The pixie landed on the edge of the bed, still staring at me. “This is just freaking weird.”
“Never seen anything like it before?” Ivy guessed.
“I’ve never even heard of anything like this before,” he admitted reluctantly, obviously torn between annoyance and a powerful curiosity.
“Jenks,” I spoke up as something occurred to me, “do you remember what I told you? What happened when Ivy and I -” I glanced at her nervously, but we had to understand what was happening “- when we shared blood?”
Just as I feared, Ivy shut down at that. Her expression became closed and controlled, and I couldn’t blame her. After our first year of living together, I had wanted to understand her, and afterwards I’d sought a blood balance with her. But then Kisten had been killed, and for a moment I thought I’d been bound by his killer. That had so terrified me that I decided never to let anyone break my skin again.
But we remembered. And though I’d made my decision, and Ivy had sworn off my blood, not letting herself take it even when she’d almost died, the memory and purity of those moments when our auras had joined hung over us even to this day. I had never felt anything like it before or since, and sometimes... sometimes I admitted to myself that I wanted to share that experience with Ivy again. Maybe one day, when it was safe for the both of us.
“You mean the way your auras merged?” Jenks asked.
“Yeah. I think that’s similar to what’s happening now.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. Ivy’s not taking your blood right now.”
“Maybe because we’ve shared blood and mingled auras before...?” I left the idea hanging. I hadn’t really given it that much thought yet. Having united once, did our auras find it easier to bond again? But that didn’t make sense, because if that were the case it would’ve happened to every vampire and every person they’d drunk blood from.
Jenks shrugged and turned to Ivy. “How about you? Have you come across anything like this? Heard or seen anything in some confidential vampire book?”
Ivy shook her head. “You forget, most vampires keep the connection between blood and auras a secret. It's not the sort of thing we discuss. People - most people,” she amended after a glance at me, “wouldn’t be so eager to get bitten if they knew. Besides, usually it’s the other way around. We take auras, not...” She gestured towards me, not sure what to call it.
With a considering look, Ivy moved towards the bed. “Do we need to figure it out right now? As long as we know it’s helping, why not use it? If that’s all it takes, then I just need to watch over Rachel tonight. Only this time I’ll,” her hesitation was miniscule, “hold her hand or something.”
“Ivy, no. You haven’t slept yet,” I added quickly, in case she got the impression that it was the hand-holding I was protesting. Maybe other people wouldn’t catch it, but she seemed tired to me. “My aura will recover eventually. I just need a few days.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And what if another Grannie Annie comes around? You need to be able to use your magic again, Rachel. Without pain. The sooner the better.”
“And you need to be able to fight if anything like that shows up here,” I argued back. “Plus you have to finish your run. You need to sleep eventually.”
“Who said anything about not sleeping? I can sleep in a chair.”
“Oh sure, that’s really comfortable,” I scoffed.
“I’ve slept in worse -“
"Maybe it would help if the two of you slept together," Jenks said with a thoughtful expression.
We whirled around at him. "Jenks," Ivy growled warningly, while I flushed.
“Tink's panties, I didn't mean sex!” he huffed. “Think about it. If it works when you’re holding hands, what would happen if you spent the night together? Side by side, more contact...”
Our entire bodies touching. I swallowed. I’d never told anyone but I’d let myself imagine that once, what it would be like to slide into Ivy’s bed. It had seared itself into my mind as clear as day, the way she’d turn over with an easy smile, the soft sound she’d make as I drew closer.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Ivy murmured.
What?!
Jenks made a sound of impatience. “Why not? You said yourself that if it helps Rachel -“
“You’d rather sleep in a way that’s sure to put a crick in your neck then lie down comfortably next to me?” I cut in, wavering between hurt and indignation.
Ivy sighed. “Jenks, can you give us a minute?”
The pixie looked like he wanted to protest, but when he noticed how pissed off I was he left gladly enough.
“Why won’t you do it?” I asked as soon as Jenks was out of sight.
Ivy turned back to me, her expression carefully neutral. “You still have Rynn’s book?”
“The vampire dating guide?” I nodded.
“Then you know what’ll happen if we sleep together.”
Our scents would mix, and we’d be in bed, probably in nightclothes, and...oh crap. “I’ll wear the perfume.”
She rolled her eyes. “Rachel, you’re going to be right next to me the entire night. Even the whole bottle wouldn’t make a difference. It’s not meant to last that long, and besides, even if I couldn’t smell you I’d see you. Trust me, this is not a good idea.”
“We don’t have to do it in your room.” I felt myself turning red as I realized how that sounded. “I mean we don’t have to do anything other than sleep.”
“Of course, that’s easy for you to say.” There wasn’t even a flicker of emotion in her eyes, no bitterness, not the slightest accusation, nothing.
But it still hit me. I was being unfair. I knew how Ivy felt about me, and how hard she had to fight her instincts when she was around me. Why was I pushing? Because. I should give in because it was the sensible thing to do. Only... I raised my eyes until I was looking straight at Ivy. “It’s not as easy as you think.”
She stiffened. “Rachel,” she said warningly. The chocolate in her gaze darkened.
I was getting tired, and I knew that given time Ivy would wear me down with her inescapably logical arguments. But this wasn’t about logic and doing the smart thing. This was about doing what felt right. And it felt right to trust her.
So I lay back against my pillows and did something I never had before except with my parents and, to a more limited extent, my brother Robbie, and even then rarely as an adult. With a deep breath, I let the layers of my bravado fall away and showed her exactly how weak I felt. “Ivy, please.”
One glance was all it took - a glance before which I felt exposed and completely vulnerable - and the powerful vampire was defeated. She sighed. “You’re asking for trouble.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Ivy eyed me knowingly. “No, you’re not.” She picked up my empty cup. “I’m going to finish my run today, but I’ll leave Jenks here to watch over things. I’ll see you tonight.”
For some reason, her mention of tonight made my heart speed up. “Here?”
The vampire’s grin at my unease was just a shade sultry. “No, Rachel. You got to say yes. I get to say how.”
“How...?” I repeated faintly. Suddenly it seemed like I was reduced to one-syllable words.
She approached and leaned over me a little. Vampire incense enveloped me, soothing whatever trepidation I felt, though her words quickly did the opposite. “My room. My bed. All you have to do is show up, witch. If you haven’t come to your senses by then.”
“But -“
“I have a bigger bed.”
“Oh.” I lay back. “Um. Okay.”
Dark eyes bored into mine as Ivy straightened. “You have all day to change your mind, Rachel,” she pointed out.
“I’m not going to,” I answered swiftly.
“We’ll see,” she said, but she was smiling as she left the room.
Author: Wye (w.y.back)
Fandom: The Hollows
Pairing: Ivy/Rachel
Rating: R to be safe
Spoilers: Up to White Witch, Black Curse
Disclaimer: Rachel, Ivy, Jenks and the rest of the Hollows belong to Kim Harrison and her publishers. Only the story below is mine.
Author’s Note: Thanks to everyone for the encouraging feedback! Thanks also to Madlaxx for being such a patient beta, and for getting me into the Hollows in the first place.
2.
The nightmares were horrible. At first, demons were chasing me, and I’d forgotten how to draw a circle. Then another one took over, banshees surrounding me, threatening to tear my soul away.
Only that one wasn’t quite a dream, was it? Desperation jerked me into consciousness. I was never so happy to wake up in my life.
The first thing I heard was the flutter of pixie wings, followed closely by a running description of Tink’s frilly pink underwear. Mild daylight - the pre-noon kind that was still too early for witches and vampires - was seeping through the windows. That meant I’d been out for at least twenty hours.
“The banshee?” I asked a relieved Jenks hoarsely. My mouth felt as dry as dust.
“The I.S. took her.” At my look of surprise, the pixie explained, “They may not care much for you or me, but she attacked a Tamwood residence. Last living heir and all that.”
“Yeah? Where were they last year?” I muttered. Ivy had nearly gotten killed by a rampaging banshee back then and the I.S. hadn’t been much help.
Jenks shrugged. “They probably caught flack for that, which is why they couldn’t ignore this one. Either that, or Ivy threatened to let the F.I.B. get the collar on a banshee.”
My eyes fell on the chair pulled up next to my bed. “Did she...is she okay?”
“Yeah, Ivy stomped whatever was left of that banshee into oblivion. She just got up to shower," Jenks continued, confirming my suspicion that Ivy had stayed the night to watch over me. "She’s feeling a little guilty, says she should've known that something like this was bound to happen."
I leaned back tiredly. "She should know better."
"So should you!" Jenks swooped in front of my face, hands on his hips as he let me have it in full Peter Pan pose. "For the love of Tink, Rachel, what were you thinking, letting a banshee in?!"
I didn't have the energy to argue. "She looked like a harmless old woman."
"So do half of the undead in the Hollows! You could've -"
"Jenks, shut it," Ivy reproved mildly as she stepped into the room. She was in her house clothes, a comfortable old shirt over a pair of leggings that did nothing to hide her trim figure underneath, and her hair was spiky-wet from a shower. She held a cup of coffee in her hand, freshly brewed by the aroma of it. "She just woke up. We can argue with her later."
I ignored the implied threat in the last part of her statement. “Hey.” I reached out, and Ivy put down the coffee on the night table and grasped my fingers. Oh we're getting good at this.
Her hand was warm from the steaming mug. "Feeling better?" she asked, her eyes a clear shade of brown.
“Yeah, though I really want off on the banshee go-see list,” I replied. “How did you guys get here so fast? I thought you and Jenks were on a run?”
“Jenks’ kids," she explained. "They caught a whiff and knew right away what she was. They flew to Keasley, and he called us.”
"And we practically freaking flew back!" Jenks interjected. "I nearly froze to death on that ride, Ivy! That bike of yours should be licensed as a weapon, the way you drive. I thought we were going to die half a dozen times!"
I grinned. I've had my share of rides on Ivy's bike and most of them had scared the daylights out of me. Living vamps with their love of speed, inhumanly fast reflexes, and motorbikes? Bad combination, unless you happened to be a motorcycle dealer.
I felt Ivy pull away at Jenks' interruption, and its reminder that we weren't alone. I nearly let her, and our hands loosened.
Then I decided not to. She was my friend and she'd just saved my life. Besides, it was just Jenks. I could hold her hand if I wanted to; Jenks would understand. I tightened my grip, just in time to recapture her fingertips.
Her brown eyes went wide. She glanced at our hands and then at me, one eyebrow quirking up in an elegant expression of inquiry I couldn’t manage if my life depended on it.
Then she did the most unexpected thing. She tugged lightly until her fingers slipped from my grasp, and stepped away.
At first I just stared at her in shock, not quite believing it. Then when I did believe it - because there she was, moving away from me - a feeling so desolate swept over me that I had to shut my eyes. Suddenly it felt like I might cry.
Vampire incense wafted closer. "Your coffee's getting cold, Rachel."
"I don't w-" I began sullenly, when I felt a slim but very strong arm slip under my shoulders and effortlessly lift me until I was sitting up on the bed. I opened my eyes and found Ivy's concerned face inches from mine.
"You need something warm," she said gently, "and the caffeine will help."
She was right. The heat of the coffee was comforting as it went down. The caffeine would probably keep me up for a couple of hours, but at least it wasn’t brimstone.
As soon as she helped me back down and put the cup away, I hesitantly reached for her hand again. Though an eyebrow shot up briefly once more, this time she held me easily.
“Thanks for...” I waved my free hand around, not knowing exactly what to say. For saving my life? For carrying me to bed, and watching over me, and making the best coffee day after day? For letting me see you again, when I thought we’d run out of time?
She just smiled, but the glimmer in her eyes told me she understood. “Just be careful who you let in next time.”
“Hey, she looked like a real Grannie Annie,” I couldn’t help pointing out in my defense. “Maybe not when you saw her but how was I supposed to -“
"That's the weirdest thing."
Our attention snapped to Jenks as he spoke. I felt my face turning red as the pixie flew closer, peering with intense concentration at our still-joined hands. Then he showed much the same interest in looking at the rest of me. “Your aura’s much better than it should be.”
I’d forgotten that pixies could see auras, but now I listened closely as Jenks continued. “It should be packed tight around you. Remember last time?”
I nodded. “All I had left was an inch-thick layer. It’s the sign of an unstable aura, right?”
“Yeah well...your aura’s not unstable right now.” The pixie scratched his head. “How are you doing that?”
Ivy and I traded looks. I had told her about how her aura had protected me before, when the banshee who’d nearly killed both of us had drained mine. Back then, Ivy’s pure, beautiful aura had swept over my dark, damaged one and protected me from the power of a ley line when I spelled. She hadn't felt anything but she’d seen for herself the difference it made, the way it shielded me from pain. That’s why she had gone to me first yesterday, instead of tackling the banshee directly.
Jenks flew around - his equivalent of pacing - as we told him about the spell I’d used on the remains of Kisten’s killer. Well mainly I was doing the telling while Ivy nodded here and there.
“So it only works when Ivy touches you?” he asked at the end.
“I think so,” I said uncertainly. “At least that’s how it feels.”
“Why don’t we find out?” Ivy suggested. Her expression was intrigued as she dropped my hand. Again.
I knew she was doing it for me, but another part of me was getting a little ticked off by how easily Ivy Tamwood seemed to let go of me these days. Honestly, what kind of hunter-type strategy was that?
I bit my lip as Jenks hovered closer. She was still hunting me, wasn’t she? And that was okay because I was letting her.
“What does her aura look like now?” Ivy asked.
Jenks flitted. “Back to unstable, but...”
I sat up a little straighter. “But what?”
“I’m not sure, but it seems better somehow. Not as thin, or the colors are stronger.” The pixie landed on the edge of the bed, still staring at me. “This is just freaking weird.”
“Never seen anything like it before?” Ivy guessed.
“I’ve never even heard of anything like this before,” he admitted reluctantly, obviously torn between annoyance and a powerful curiosity.
“Jenks,” I spoke up as something occurred to me, “do you remember what I told you? What happened when Ivy and I -” I glanced at her nervously, but we had to understand what was happening “- when we shared blood?”
Just as I feared, Ivy shut down at that. Her expression became closed and controlled, and I couldn’t blame her. After our first year of living together, I had wanted to understand her, and afterwards I’d sought a blood balance with her. But then Kisten had been killed, and for a moment I thought I’d been bound by his killer. That had so terrified me that I decided never to let anyone break my skin again.
But we remembered. And though I’d made my decision, and Ivy had sworn off my blood, not letting herself take it even when she’d almost died, the memory and purity of those moments when our auras had joined hung over us even to this day. I had never felt anything like it before or since, and sometimes... sometimes I admitted to myself that I wanted to share that experience with Ivy again. Maybe one day, when it was safe for the both of us.
“You mean the way your auras merged?” Jenks asked.
“Yeah. I think that’s similar to what’s happening now.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. Ivy’s not taking your blood right now.”
“Maybe because we’ve shared blood and mingled auras before...?” I left the idea hanging. I hadn’t really given it that much thought yet. Having united once, did our auras find it easier to bond again? But that didn’t make sense, because if that were the case it would’ve happened to every vampire and every person they’d drunk blood from.
Jenks shrugged and turned to Ivy. “How about you? Have you come across anything like this? Heard or seen anything in some confidential vampire book?”
Ivy shook her head. “You forget, most vampires keep the connection between blood and auras a secret. It's not the sort of thing we discuss. People - most people,” she amended after a glance at me, “wouldn’t be so eager to get bitten if they knew. Besides, usually it’s the other way around. We take auras, not...” She gestured towards me, not sure what to call it.
With a considering look, Ivy moved towards the bed. “Do we need to figure it out right now? As long as we know it’s helping, why not use it? If that’s all it takes, then I just need to watch over Rachel tonight. Only this time I’ll,” her hesitation was miniscule, “hold her hand or something.”
“Ivy, no. You haven’t slept yet,” I added quickly, in case she got the impression that it was the hand-holding I was protesting. Maybe other people wouldn’t catch it, but she seemed tired to me. “My aura will recover eventually. I just need a few days.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And what if another Grannie Annie comes around? You need to be able to use your magic again, Rachel. Without pain. The sooner the better.”
“And you need to be able to fight if anything like that shows up here,” I argued back. “Plus you have to finish your run. You need to sleep eventually.”
“Who said anything about not sleeping? I can sleep in a chair.”
“Oh sure, that’s really comfortable,” I scoffed.
“I’ve slept in worse -“
"Maybe it would help if the two of you slept together," Jenks said with a thoughtful expression.
We whirled around at him. "Jenks," Ivy growled warningly, while I flushed.
“Tink's panties, I didn't mean sex!” he huffed. “Think about it. If it works when you’re holding hands, what would happen if you spent the night together? Side by side, more contact...”
Our entire bodies touching. I swallowed. I’d never told anyone but I’d let myself imagine that once, what it would be like to slide into Ivy’s bed. It had seared itself into my mind as clear as day, the way she’d turn over with an easy smile, the soft sound she’d make as I drew closer.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Ivy murmured.
What?!
Jenks made a sound of impatience. “Why not? You said yourself that if it helps Rachel -“
“You’d rather sleep in a way that’s sure to put a crick in your neck then lie down comfortably next to me?” I cut in, wavering between hurt and indignation.
Ivy sighed. “Jenks, can you give us a minute?”
The pixie looked like he wanted to protest, but when he noticed how pissed off I was he left gladly enough.
“Why won’t you do it?” I asked as soon as Jenks was out of sight.
Ivy turned back to me, her expression carefully neutral. “You still have Rynn’s book?”
“The vampire dating guide?” I nodded.
“Then you know what’ll happen if we sleep together.”
Our scents would mix, and we’d be in bed, probably in nightclothes, and...oh crap. “I’ll wear the perfume.”
She rolled her eyes. “Rachel, you’re going to be right next to me the entire night. Even the whole bottle wouldn’t make a difference. It’s not meant to last that long, and besides, even if I couldn’t smell you I’d see you. Trust me, this is not a good idea.”
“We don’t have to do it in your room.” I felt myself turning red as I realized how that sounded. “I mean we don’t have to do anything other than sleep.”
“Of course, that’s easy for you to say.” There wasn’t even a flicker of emotion in her eyes, no bitterness, not the slightest accusation, nothing.
But it still hit me. I was being unfair. I knew how Ivy felt about me, and how hard she had to fight her instincts when she was around me. Why was I pushing? Because. I should give in because it was the sensible thing to do. Only... I raised my eyes until I was looking straight at Ivy. “It’s not as easy as you think.”
She stiffened. “Rachel,” she said warningly. The chocolate in her gaze darkened.
I was getting tired, and I knew that given time Ivy would wear me down with her inescapably logical arguments. But this wasn’t about logic and doing the smart thing. This was about doing what felt right. And it felt right to trust her.
So I lay back against my pillows and did something I never had before except with my parents and, to a more limited extent, my brother Robbie, and even then rarely as an adult. With a deep breath, I let the layers of my bravado fall away and showed her exactly how weak I felt. “Ivy, please.”
One glance was all it took - a glance before which I felt exposed and completely vulnerable - and the powerful vampire was defeated. She sighed. “You’re asking for trouble.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Ivy eyed me knowingly. “No, you’re not.” She picked up my empty cup. “I’m going to finish my run today, but I’ll leave Jenks here to watch over things. I’ll see you tonight.”
For some reason, her mention of tonight made my heart speed up. “Here?”
The vampire’s grin at my unease was just a shade sultry. “No, Rachel. You got to say yes. I get to say how.”
“How...?” I repeated faintly. Suddenly it seemed like I was reduced to one-syllable words.
She approached and leaned over me a little. Vampire incense enveloped me, soothing whatever trepidation I felt, though her words quickly did the opposite. “My room. My bed. All you have to do is show up, witch. If you haven’t come to your senses by then.”
“But -“
“I have a bigger bed.”
“Oh.” I lay back. “Um. Okay.”
Dark eyes bored into mine as Ivy straightened. “You have all day to change your mind, Rachel,” she pointed out.
“I’m not going to,” I answered swiftly.
“We’ll see,” she said, but she was smiling as she left the room.