“Yeah, he was a ghost. Powerless. Found a way around that one, though, didn’t he? What the hell do you think he’s been doing down there all these years? Hail Marys? He’s been reliving his glory days, just itching for the chance to—”

“No, he has not.”

“Oh, and you know that because—”

“Because he cannot.” She paused, and her middle sister took over. “Andrei Dachev has no memories of the atrocities he committed, Eve. That is part of their punishment. We take away all memory of their lives before they died. They can’t relive their crimes, their fantasies, even their impulses. It’s all gone. Then they are cast into a plane where, when their urges and impulses resurface, they have no possible outlet.”

“Because they’re in a world of killers.”

She nodded. “A world without victims, without even those that they might see as a potential victim, no female killers, no weaker males—”

“All predators and no prey. Okay, so he can’t remember his crimes. But those impulses you mentioned? First time he sees a pretty girl, even if he can’t remember ever seeing one—”

“The memory loss sometimes has a second, reformatory effect. Erasing their memories may erase the source of some of their urges. If their lives were warped by extreme circumstances, such as early abuse, then—”

“When they can’t remember the abuse, they become a different person, someone who isn’t a killer?”

“Which, granted, happens very, very rarely,” the Fate said. “But it does happen. That’s what we believed had happened here. For ten years, Andrei Dachev gave no sign of having any of the urges that possessed him to commit these crimes.”

“He played model prisoner.”

“Played. Yes, most likely, though every test we gave him indicated that he had indeed reformed. Perhaps even he thought he had.”

“Until he went into the world again.”

She gave a slow, sad nod.

“His memory,” I said. “It wasn’t erased after his capture, right?”

“We can’t do that. We can only erase living memories. I suppose, though, that’s a blessing now.”

“Or else he wouldn’t know how he’d caught the Nix. So I need to persuade him to tell me, by descending into a hell filled with serial killers, for most of whom I’ll be the first woman—and potential victim—they’ve ever seen.” I sighed. “Well, at least they can feel pain. Please tell me I can use my spells and my Aspicio powers.”

When she didn’t answer, I groaned. “Let me guess. Because they’re all supernaturals, it’s a magic-free zone—wipes out any racial advantages.”

The little girl appeared. “Well, it’s supposed to be magic-free, but if a person went in there who possessed a type of magic none of the inhabitants should be able to possess…”

“Such as a female-only variety. Like witch magic.”