Author's Note: Hello everyone, I know it's been a LONG time. I dabbled in Rizzoli and Isles fiction for that time, but now after the latest Harrison book I am re-energized to pick this back up. Thank you so much for the support; I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Chapter 10

Despite the fact that Ivy's drapery was designed to hinder sunlight from disturbing her sleep, the sun broke through enough to wake me. We hadn't bothered to ensure that the blinds were secured; our minds were obviously on more important things when we entered the room late last night. If I were honest, the warmth of the sun shining in my face was enjoyable. The sun always signaled a new beginning for me; it was a way I could tell I was still alive when I was in the hospital as a child dying of Rosewood Syndrome. If I could see the sun from the small window in my hospital room, I was granted another day to try to recover.

A new day, a new beginning….

I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face as I pressed my body into the woman lying in bed behind me, her hand draped across my naked hip to rest there possessively. At my movement, she tucked tighter to me, a contented sigh escaping her sleeping form. I knew inherently that Ivy would fulfill the duty of the 'big spoon' in our relationship. But the touch of her skin on my naked hip was enough for me to forget the balance of power we had to achieve, I was just happy to be held.

Turn it, I'm whipped and Jenks will tease me to my death for it.

The heat from the sun became almost unbearable; I began to think back to the days in the hospital and the fact that I wasn't supposed to survive. Rosewood Syndrome is exactly what made me what I was today, stuck somewhere between a witch and a demon… dangerous and feared by both.

My muscles ached; my body had healed from the attack, the parts of my body that ached were more intimate ones. They were the ones that had lain dormant for too long as I tried to figure out my relationship with Ivy. Nobody else seemed to do; the realization that I had never felt so at peace waking up in someone else's bed hit me and I smiled as I turned my head to see her lying beside me.

Everything still felt like a dream, like one of the dreams that I had in the comfort of my own bed that made me wetter than any other person's touch. I had somehow known it would be amazing with Ivy; if I wanted to be honest with myself I should just admit that was part of what scared me, along with the possibility of being bound to someone else. The way she touched my body, the way her mouth touched me in all the right places, was actually better than any dream I had ever had about her. I hated that I had waited so long, what the hell was I thinking?

Ivy shifted behind me, sleeping so soundly with a smile on her face that I hated to wake her up. I just never was one for staying in bed all day; it reminded me too much of my sick childhood and without Ivy conscious to occupy my time, I needed to busy myself. My hand drifted to Ivy's wrist, my fingertips stroking gently over the back of her hand before lifting it from my hip. A small disapproving moan escaped her lips and her arm tightened over me, her fingertips spreading across my skin. I closed my eyes at the sensation, knowing that if her hand drifted any lower I would be undone and unlikely to leave her bed anytime soon. But we couldn't spend the day in bed; there were things that needed to be done.

"Ivy," I whispered trying to not fully wake her but needing to move her strong hand to allow my escape to the kitchen. "I am going to move your hand so I can get up."

It amazed me that the only part of her body that was preventing me from moving was her hand, yet I was completely at her mercy with her superior vampire strength. I grunted as I slid her hand to the side and then grimaced in pain as I heard the rumblings in my head.

"Take her! It's the only way!"

"No!" Ivy shot up in bed when I screamed, her eyes full of panic and confusion. "The voices…."

Ivy placed her hand on my shoulder, quieting the roar to a low hum inside my head and body.

"I can't do this." I wiped off beads of sweat that had formed in seconds, concerned that my body was so tense for those few seconds that it caused me to perspire. What is it about her that caused my body to go into convulsions and my head to scream with unrecognizable voices?

"Can't do what?" Ivy's voice betrayed her; she instantly thought I meant us. Despite the pain I heard in her voice, she kept her hand touching me, concerned only with easing my discomfort. This was not a morning after apology sort of day. This was the beginning of something between us, nothing that I would regret. I knew I had to explain further, and quickly, before each wall that had come down the previous night was instantly resurrected and fortified.

"I can't have these voices screaming in my head. We have to find a way to manage them, to get rid of them. I can't have them screaming every single time we're near each other but not touching because it's going to happen a lot." I punctuated my point by running my palm down Ivy's cheek and brushing my lips against hers softly. "I think I should talk to Trent today about the bracelet and see if the voices are tied to it somehow." The look of pain had left Ivy's face, now replaced by a look of concern.

"I don't know, Rache, I got the impression he didn't know much about it either. You weren't awake when he put it on you; Bis said he was scared. I can understand why he did it, but without your consent….that's just as twisted as Piscary."

"It's Elven magic, he did it to save my life. He's the only one I know of that I can ask. Obviously I can't go to Al since he thinks I'm dead."

"And I'm not suggesting that you do," Ivy said quickly. "I just wouldn't give up on researching it rather than trust our dear friend Trent…." I smiled at the way sarcasm dripped from the words 'dear friend' through Ivy's clenched teeth.

"Researching it won't tell me why it's tied to you. It has something to do with you specifically, and no book is ever going to offer that explanation."

"But it could tell you why you hear voices, tying it to me would be a lot easier then. You'd know if the voices are about someone you're close to…"

Someone I love….

The words were left unsaid between us; she wasn't ready to hear them and I wasn't ready to say them. I could blame it on the timing and subject matter at hand but the truth is that I was scared to death of hearing the words uttered aloud and once again throwing the playing field into a new twist.

"I'm concerned with why they're tied to you," I admitted quietly. "It can decipher between you and everyone else. I've asked Bis a million times about what happened when he found me and dragged me to Trent. But none of it is tied to you."

I felt Ivy's strong hands on my shoulders, kneading the abused muscles in an effort to help me relax.

"The first time that I went into the Ever After I was lost, and I thought of you to navigate the lines and get back home. So there is an obvious tie between us…" I couldn't help but snicker like an adolescent when Ivy blushed at the statement. After all, we had made love most of the night and were lying in her bed, in her room, naked as the day we were born.

"I'd say so." Ivy's voice was an octave lower, her pupils beginning to overtake the warm brown color of her natural eyes.

"Don't you dare." I swatted her hand away as it had drifted from my shoulder to begin a journey toward my chest. "Despite wanting to do nothing but be with you, I can't ignore the voices. Something isn't right, Ivy, and I need to understand what's going on."

"I must be rubbing off on you if you're actually going to be proactive and research it."

I smiled; it was so rare for me to see this side of Ivy. She was open, happy, her smile made me ache for her all over again. I silently wondered if I would ever get used to seeing this side of her, if I would ever get used to wanting her and my body's reaction to that fact.

"I really took what you said to heart," I said, my tone indicating how serious I was about finding a solution to the voices. "Winging it got us here and almost allowed me to lose you, I don't want that."

Ivy remained silent, mostly because I think she was shocked by my admission. I leaned back in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before bounding out of bed.

"I'll make breakfast." I knew that the best time to reach Trent was early in the morning, it was time that he had learned to dedicate to my godchild Lucy and, despite not wanting to interrupt that, I needed to call him. I slowly opened Ivy's door, peering out to make sure I wasn't about to give a pixie an eyeful, before dashing across the hallway and into my own bedroom. My cell was charged, having been plugged in all night long, and I scrolled through my contacts finding Trent's personal number. I bit my lower lip as I contemplated what top to pair with my jeans, there was no sense in dressing up to impress Trent.

"Rachel," Trent's voice as he answered sounded guarded, but in all fairness we were exploring new territory by being nice to one another. It was pleasant to actually have a somewhat amicable relationship with him. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Can't someone just call bright and early to wish someone else a pleasant day?" I practically gagged on the sweetness of my own words and so did Trent by the scoff I heard on the other end. "Maybe I just want to know how my god-daughter is doing."

"Please tell me you don't actually buy the load of crap you're trying to sell me."

The pause was only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity while I mulled over how to phrase my question in such a way as to not offend him, yet get the answers I needed. I wasn't prepared to divulge my relationship with Ivy to him; it wasn't that I was hiding it, but rather I wanted to revel in it without opinions and illusions before I made an announcement.

"I'm serious; I was hoping to stop by and see her today."

"I told you that you were more than welcome anytime. I'm sure Ceri would love some company."

Trent was being coy; he knew that I wanted to talk to him but was going to make me ask for it. Why is it that even asking him a simple question was like shoving needles under my nails? Turn it, I thought we could work past this given he saved my life after I saved his and threw his demon back into the Ever After.

"I'd like to actually talk to you."

"Do we have some unfinished business I don't know about?" Trent's voice was confrontational and it made me want to scream.

"It's not business, it's personal," I mumbled as my eyes darted to Ivy's bedroom door. The truth was that despite hating to lean on Trent for answers and maybe help depending on what those answers were, Ivy was too important to me for me not to humble myself and get the answers we needed. "It's about the bracelet."

"I'll see you shortly then." Trent ended the conversation abruptly; I knew he was looking forward to my visit; he had told me several times that he wanted the bracelet off and for me to explore everything I could be. He had been fearful of me when I took on Ku Sox, but even though we now had reached a truce, I worried that he wanted to manipulate me more than help me.

I quickly threw on an older pair of jeans and a t-shirt; I didn't want to think of why they were lying on my floor next to my bed, let alone how long they had been there. That would indicate just how long it had been since I took the time to clean my room. It came in handy when I needed to grab something quick, but the knowledge of knowing your clothes were clean sometimes outweighed the convenience and I made a mental note to pick my room up when I returned from Trent's house.

I wasn't surprised to see Ivy in the kitchen, beginning to make breakfast, complete with her own special brand of cookies. We had actually never been in the cramped prep space together since moving into the church. When I was spelling, she would be at her computer or lounging in the living room. When she was drinking orange juice to control her instincts, I was smart enough to stand on the other side of the kitchen and allow her some space. But now that we had been together, it would be common practice to share space and steal loving glances and touches wasn't it?

God, I'm a child that doesn't know how to act the morning after she's been thoroughly fucked. Maybe I should have been in better relationships that I didn't have to run from?

I walked beside her as she reached for the carton of eggs in the refrigerator, but as I stepped closer to lay my hand on her back the voices brought me to my knees.

"Take her! If you don't take her she'll die!"

I barely registered my knees hitting the slate of the kitchen floor. My hands instantly pressed into my head; I had all but forgotten the voices the moment I walked into the kitchen to find her looking sated and sexy as hell. I needed to stop them and thankfully Ivy had the sense to put her hands on me to quiet them down.

"Oh god." I felt more nauseous than when I was dying of Rosewood Syndrome.

Ivy carefully helped me to my feet; her touch was so tender it brought tears to my eyes. She sat me on the bar stool and reached with her other hand to give me the carton of orange juice, mindful to keep touching me to keep the voices at bay.

"I'm going to see Trent today," I whispered as I felt the tension rise in the air. "He's expecting me and knows it's about the bracelet."

"I'll come with you." Ivy waived off my request for a glass since she would have to remove her hand resting on my shoulder, allowing the voices to return. She lifted the carton to my lips and smiled as I took a small sip.

"He's not going to talk to me when you're there."

"And asking that man for anything is a bad idea…" Ivy growled as her pupils began to dilate. "Take it from someone who's been manipulated and twisted all her life; that's what he wants to do with you!"

"He could have let my aura burn me from the inside out," I countered, disappointed that this was not my pristine vision of the 'morning after' with Ivy Tamwood. "If I thought there was another way I'd take it. I've been through every demon book I have and there's nothing to help me!"

Ivy quickly backed away, giving me plenty of room to not hear voices, but it left me lonely and cold. I wrapped my arms around myself carefully before forcing my gaze to meet her eyes. I knew this wasn't going to be easy; a witch and a vampire sharing a bed that didn't include one being bound to the other, but the enormity of it was never more evident than it was at this moment. My appetite was gone; I needed to leave to see Trent if I wanted to move forward with Ivy and, Turn it, I did.

I stood without words, what really could I say? We were tempted; we gave into it and enjoyed it more than life itself. But the morning after brought about the reality of our lives, we couldn't share any 'morning after' intimacy given that we couldn't even be in the same room without the voices making my head try to explode.

I made quick work at showering and making myself presentable. It was a strange combination of relief and sadness to walk out of my room and see that Ivy had disappeared from the kitchen. The sound of water gave away her location as she hurried to get ready. I had a heavy heart, I felt tired and desperate in my quest for answers. I quickly left her a note that I would be back as I slipped my cell phone into my back pocket. The ride to Trent's house was not long enough for me to pull it together; whether I liked it or not Trent was about to see me at my weakest and needing help, but it was for Ivy and I and I'd be damned if he wasn't going to help me.