"Mmm." Cyrus squinted at the list. "Well, we're sunk. The calf's heart we can get from a butcher, but human toe-nails… I'd give mine up, only they're not human anymore."

"See?" I smiled triumphantly. "I bet these are all a distraction. Whoever attempts the spell will break their back finding all these morbid components, and leave out one or two small details. Only, the small details are the only truly important ones."

"I have to admit, I'm impressed." Nathan rubbed a hand over his jaw. "How did you know that?"

"Recipes. My mother used to complain that her mother in-law always left something important out, or labeled it optional. It was like cracking a code." I turned my attention to the actual instructions for the spell.

"Women are devious," Cyrus observed, as if realizing it for the first time.

I pointed to the page. "See here, she has you anoint the heliotrope stone with oil of heliotrope, but everything else gets thrown in a cauldron and burned."

Cyrus sniffed in distaste. "Imagine the stench."

"I'd rather not." Nathan shook up the small bottle of oil. "Let's hope this is the real stuff, not a synthetic. I'm paying enough for the real deal, but suppliers can be a bit shady."

"Oh, I've heard the herb trade is brutal," Cyrus quipped.

I elbowed him. "If you're not going to help, there's a sinkful of dishes upstairs."

"Are you ready to try this?" Nathan asked, lifting the rock so I could see it.

It was green, with subtle red flecks the color of dried blood.

"Also known as bloodstone," Nathan said, turning it so the red flecks sparked in the light. "An obvious choice for a vampire."

I held out my palm and he dropped the stone there. It seemed to bum my skin. "What do I have to do?"

"Anoint the stone with the oil, apparently," Cyrus observed with a bit of amusement. "And carry it with you to remain invisible."

An involuntary shiver went up my back. I'd volunteered to do it, but now I wasn't so sure I liked the idea of being invisible. So much of the human psyche is tied to the physical body… I wondered what effect it would have on a person to be unincorporated, for lack of a better term.

Nathan put a reassuring hand on my arm. "Likely, it won't make you physically invisible. Most of these spells just cause anyone who sees you to not notice you."

I closed my fingers over the stone. "Okay, here goes nothing."

Nathan unscrewed the cap of the oil bottle and held it tentatively toward me. "Now, this isn't the whole of the spell. What makes it work is your intent. Focus your mind, all of your energy, on becoming invisible."