“Sure,” I said, taking a slow breath to steady myself. Inside I was shaking. I wasn’t too keen on picking any plan that involved killing someone. But the Weres wouldn’t give up on Nick unless he was dead; and unless there was a body, they would know it was a scam.

And I wanted to go home. I wanted to go home to my church and my life. They would hound me to the ends of the earth if they knew the focus was found and in my possession.

I stood, feeling as if I was slipping into places that I had once vowed I would never go. If we were caught, we would be tried for murder.

But what choice did I have?

Twenty-one

The scent of cinnamon and cloves was thick in the motel room, making it smell like the solstice. Nick was making ginger drops, and the warmth of the tiny efficiency oven was pleasant at my back. It wasn’t unusual for him to bake, but I thought it more likely he was trying to bribe me into talking to him than a desire for homemade cookies. And since Jenks had the TV on a kids’ show for Jax, and Ivy wouldn’t let Nick plan his own demise, the human had little to do.

The Weres knew Jenks, so Ivy had gone shopping while I slept, laden down with a grocery list and my shoe size. All of us going out for food three times a day—or in Jenks’s case, six—didn’t seem prudent. We had found a suite five minutes from the bar, and after giving the low-ceilinged rooms done in brown and gold the once-over, I stated clearly that I had the van. Ivy took the bed in the tiny room off the main room, Nick got the bed in the main room, and Jenks wanted the sofa sleeper, happily opening it up and putting it away twice before Ivy and I finished unloading the van; she didn’t want Nick touching anything. The van was tight and cold, but it was quiet, and with the circle I’d put up while I slept, safer than the motel.

I had woken cranky and stiff that morning at an ungodly nine o’clock, unable to go back to sleep after my twelve-hour nap. And since Jenks and Jax were both up, and Nick, of course, was awake, I thought I’d take the opportunity to get a jump on the magic prep. Yeah. Right.

“Want to lick the spoon, Ray-ray?” Nick said, his gaunt face looking more relaxed than I’d seen it since…last fall.

I smiled, trying to keep it noncommittal. “No thanks.” I bent my attention back to the laptop screen. With Kisten’s help, Ceri had e-mailed me the earth charm I needed to make the disguise amulets, with her additions to turn it into an illegal doppelganger spell. It was still white, but I wasn’t familiar enough with the additional ingredients to sensitize it to mimic a particular person.