I inhaled, and like a sudden flame from a match, it sparked a tingling assault. Heat poured through me, following the line from my neck to my chi. A small sound escaped me, and if I’d been able to think, I would have been embarrassed.

Ivy broke our eye contact through the mirror, holding her breath as she struggled to pull her hunger back. “It’s still there,” she said, her voice both rough and smooth. Wavering where I sat, her eyes met mine and darted away. “Sorry,” she added, fingers clenching the wheel.

Blood pounding, I retreated to the cot. To ask her to do that had been stupid. Slowly the tingling vanished. My scar wasn’t puckering my skin, but obviously the vampire virus was still fixed there. I was terribly glad I was a witch and couldn’t be Turned. Ever. I had a feeling that was one of the reasons Ivy put up with so much of my crap.

The van was uncomfortably silent, windy now that Ivy had rolled the window completely down. It was cold, but I wasn’t going to say anything. My perfume, which blocked my scent from mixing with Ivy’s, was in here somewhere. Maybe I ought to find it.

The tension slowly eased as we moved to the bridge. I looked at my hands in the dusk of the van, seeing them smooth and perfect, every flaw that marked my passage through time gone. It seemed like the curse had reset everything: no freckles, no childhood scars, no fillings…

Panic slid through me. Frightened, I lurched to the front, kneeling between them. “Nick,” I whispered. “What if I lost what Trent’s dad—”

Nick smiled, smelling like hotel soap as he took my hand. “You’re fine, Ray-ray. If the vamp virus is still fixed in your cells, then whatever Trent’s father changed will be there too.”

I felt unreal as I pulled my hand from his. “Are you sure?”

“Your freckles are gone but you still have your sensitivity to vampires. That would suggest the charm resets your form by your DNA. And if your DNA was changed, by a virus or…” His eyes flicked to Ivy staring out the window, her grip deceptively loose on the wheel. “…something else, the change is carried over.” Smiling, he leaned closer. I froze, then jerked back when I realized he was going to kiss me.

Face emptying of emotion, Nick settled in his seat. Flushing, I moved away. I didn’t want him to kiss me. What in hell is wrong with him?

“It wasn’t a charm, it was a demon curse,” Ivy said darkly, jerking the car into motion. Though the traffic was stop-and-go, the roughness had been on purpose. “She put a hell of a lot of black on her soul while saving your ass, crap for brains.”

Nick’s eyes widened and he turned in his seat. His expression grew haunted. “A demon curse? Ray-ray, please tell me you didn’t buy a demon curse to help me.”