I put the small bottle of golden liquid back down on the shelf. I was out shopping in a small charm shop that had just opened up in Southern Cincinnati. I didn't usually shop on this side of town but I had recently doubled my efforts in improving my earth magic due to my latest piece of wrist jewelry.

I fingered the silver bracelet around my wrist and felt a twinge of wild elf magic pulse through my body. The little bracelet cut off my ability to twist demon curses but it bought me my freedom. Given the amount of trouble I had been in the last few years, I wasn't complaining. I had been free of assassins, a witch's shunning, and demons for a week now. Thanks to a nice big paycheck, I could afford a small vacation. All I had to do was lay low for six months.

I moved to another shelf and picked up a bag of lavender. I thought about the garden in my church that had plenty of floral herbs and put the bag back down. There wasn't really anything unique in the store and I felt my disappointment rise but pushed it back down. This is pathetic, I thought. One week of no one trying to kill me and I'm already looking for a new adrenaline rush.

I sighed and took a final look around the shop before leaving. I walked down the street with my head down, looking in my purse for my car keys. I caught a glimpse of shoes and looked up just in time to stop from smacking into someone walking fast.

I started to mumble an apology then I felt my blood pressure drop. I was staring face-to-face with Nick, my thief of an ex-boyfriend.

"Nick," I exclaimed, too surprised to think of anything else. The wiry young man who had once made my heart pound looked up. I could see from the expression on his face that he was just as caught off guard as me.

We stood on the sidewalk, staring at each other for a heartbeat. I saw understanding cross Nick's face before he spun around a bolted down the street.

"Hey," I cried out. Then, instincts took over and I took off after him. The little creep had sold me out to the coven and we had a score to settle.

Nick ran down the street and I pushed myself to keep up with him. I thought back to the times we had gone jogging in the zoo and remembered what a good runner he was. He was fast, but so was I.

He turned around a street corner and I lost sight of him. When I reached the corner, I saw that he had ducked into an alley way. The alley was empty but a door was slightly ajar. It looked like it led to a warehouse.

I opened the door and stepped inside, waiting for my eyes to adjust. The warehouse had high ceilings and seemed dark despite the small beams of light drifting in through broken windows.

I heard a small click and spun around but it was too late. I felt a small prick on my arm and looked down. A dart? The bastard had just drugged me.

"Shit, Nick. Did you really have to use a tranquilizer?" I asked.

I fought to keep my eyes open and looked around the room. Movement brought my attention to a shadow in the corner. Nick stepped out holding a tranquilizer gun pointed at me. It looked like the same one the coven members had used on me last year. Crap on toast. I hope I didn't start shouting "I'm the king of the world!" again.

I sagged to one knee and felt the drug start to work its way through me body. The problems of the world seemed to lessen and I fought off the urge to giggle. I put my hands on the floor and stared. This looked like a nice place to rest for a minute.

"Rachel, what are you doing here?" asked Nick.

"What do you mean," I asked. My words sounded slurry in my own head. "I just saw you and wanted to ask you why you sold me out to the coven."

Nick winced and lowered his gun a little. "So you weren't looking for me," he asked.

"Nope," I said. "Juuuust doing a little shopping." My voice rose at the end like a drunken flirt.

Nick glared at me but he seemed to relax a little. I was still on my hands and knees but my body felt too heavy. Slowly I started to tilt and slid the rest of the way to the ground.

Me hitting the floor gave Nick the confidence he needed to approach me. He knelt down beside me and lifted up my wrist, inspecting the elvish charm that prevented me from using magic. He dropped the wrist and placed a hand under my chin and brought me to face him.

"Rachel," he said, and then frowned as he looked down at me. "You didn't leave me any choice. You stole the focus and then kicked me to the curb for some vamp. I've been living in hell since we broke up and you have just been boinking anything that once had a pulse."

Normally I would have let Nick have it but whatever was in that dart was curbing my anger. All I could muster was "Nick, you sound kind of whiny," before I flopped over on my back.

Anger flashed over Nick's face and he pinned my wrists to the ground. His face was inches from mine.

"I loved you," he shouted. "I loved you and you destroyed me. I can't stop thinking about you. I want you out of my life but I can't get you out of me head."

I tried to shrink away from the loud noises. Nick grabbed my chin again and forced a hard kiss on my lips.

"Stop it," I huffed when the kiss broke. Damn, this wasn't going well. I didn't have anything to defend myself with.

Nick stood up and started to move away. I looked where he was heading and my heart pounded. It was a summoning circle.

"Nick," I breathed. "What are you doing?" It was hard to focus but it was obvious that he was about to do something very stupid.

"I'm getting rid of my demon mark," he said. "The demons want you back in the ever after. You must put out some pretty good demon sex," he sneered.

"I don't have sex with demons," I moaned and closed my eyes. They opened a minute later when I heard a loud crack. I must have dozed off, Nick had already summoned his demon.