“Which was actually bullshit,” Eddie said with a hard tone. “But then what happened.”

“I don’t…I can’t remember precisely. I think I just fell asleep or something, because I woke up like an hour later.”

Eddie shook his head grimly. “Yeah, that’s a possession ritual. The wax she gave you had parts of her in it, you added your half and that was how the door was opened.”

“You’re saying…that was Devina?”

“She comes in a lot of forms. Male, female. She can be an adult, a child.”

Adrian piped in. “We don’t think she jumps to animals or inanimate objects. But the bitch has tricks. Big-time. Is there any chance we can get access to that house? Or are we going to have to break in?”

“Actually, I own it still.”

The two guys took a deep breath. “Good,” Eddie said. “We’re going to need to go there to try to get her out of you. We’ve got a better chance of success if we return to where the ritual was performed.”

“We’re also going to need to get your ring back,” Adrian added.

“The diamond?” Vin asked. “Why?”

“That’s part of the binding. Jim said he thought it was set in platinum?”

“Of course it was.”

“Well, there you go. Noble metal, and a gift from you to her.”

“But I didn’t give it to her. She found it.”

“You bought it for her, though. Your thoughts and feelings when you purchased it are embedded in the metal. The intent is transformative.”

Vin eased off his hands and stood up properly. Both of his palms left prints on the slick, cool glass and he watched them fade. “You said she steals souls. Does that mean she’s going to want to kill me?”

Eddie’s voice was low. “But we can try to stop that.”

Vin turned around and looked at Marie-Terese. She was subdued as she leaned against the archway into the room, and he went to her, taking her into his arms. As they embraced, he was amazed and grateful once again that she accepted him…even after another layer of the onion had just been peeled back.

“What can we do to keep Marie-Terese safe?” he asked. “Is there anything she can do to protect herself? Because Devina just left here after having seen us together.”

As the guys considered his answer, her eyes flashed up and then slid over to Eddie. “I’m leaving town tonight—for reasons other than all this. Will that help? And are there any…ah, spells, or…?”

The hesitation spoke volumes about both her disbelief and her resignation that all this freaky shit had just put the “real” in her reality.