She laughed. “Found me? I found you. And almost sent you into the great beyond.”

“Yeah, great plan. Too bad you fucked up, huh? Foiled by a half-demon witch. That’s gotta sting.” Come on, Trsiel! Where the hell are you?

The Nix’s face clouded and I readied another anti-demon spell and hoped I still had enough power to cast it.

“Do you think that portal is the worst I can do? You really are a fool, witch. And the only way to teach a fool is with a demonstration.”

She lifted her hands…and disappeared.

“Shit!” I said, rushing forward.

Kristof strode up beside me, frowning as he scanned the forest.

“You called?” said a melodic voice behind us.

I wheeled to see Trsiel, standing there as nonchalantly as if he’d been summoned to tea.

“You!” I said. “Where the hell were you? She was here—the Nix—I called you.”

His lips formed a soundless word that I’m sure was a very unangelic oath. I explained what had happened.

“So now she’s in this nymph’s body—”

“That’s not a nymph. It’s the Nix. That’s her form in this world.”

“What? You knew what she looked like? When the hell were you going to tell me?”

“You’ve seen the books, haven’t you? The pictures? There wasn’t one of her specifically, but they all resemble one another.”

“I’ve seen human renderings of mythological Nixen. And, yes, they looked like nymphs, but they were paintings, done by humans. What kind of idiot would assume that’s what the damned things really looked like?”

“Er, well, yes, I guess that makes sense.”

“You guess?” Kristof strode over to Trsiel. “What are you people playing at? Eve nearly got herself thrown into a hell portal because she doesn’t know how to stop this Nix. Or was she supposed to read that in some book, too?”

Trsiel’s eyes hooded and he looked over at me. “Who is this?”

“Kristof Nast. Kris, meet Trsiel.”

From Trsiel’s expression, he knew who Kris was, or maybe he just knew who the Nasts were. Either way, he was not impressed. He gave Kris a slow stare, turned on his heel, and marched out of glowering range.

“That’s your guardian angel?” Kris said, jerking his thumb at Trsiel.

I nodded.

“He’s doing a hell of a job so far. Time to apply for a replacement, if you ask me.”

“No,” Trsiel said. “I don’t believe she did. Eve?” He motioned me aside.

I shook my head. “If you have something to say, you can say it in front of Kris.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Eve?” Kris said.

I looked at him. He, too, waved me over for a personal conference. As I walked toward Kris, Trsiel’s jaw tightened.