“I’m not questioning your competence, Trsiel,” the Fate said. “However, consider the circumstances. Had the Nix entered Jaime by demonic possession, or through the spell she used with the Marquise, then I have no doubt you could capture her. But necromantic possession is different. The Nix has entered Jaime, not as a demon, but as a ghost. Once Jaime’s body dies, the Sword of Judgment should work, but while the Nix is trapped between worlds…it may not. No angel has ever been sent to retrieve a soul under those circumstances.”

“What if I was on the living side?” Trsiel said. “We could see whether the amulet works on me. I could leap into Lucas Cortez and—”

“You couldn’t pull it off,” I said. “Not in front of Paige and Savannah. You don’t know them well enough.” I looked at the Fate. “So we don’t know for certain that Trsiel can trap the Nix from this side. But we can still try, right? At worst, we’ll scare her out of Jaime—then Paige, Lucas, and Savannah will be safe, and I’ll just resume the hunt. We’d be no worse off than we were before she leapt into Jaime.”

The Fate hesitated, then gave a slow nod.

Next they transported Trsiel, Kristof, and me to Paige’s office, where she was hard at work answering e-mails. She looked like she’d be there for a while, so we teleported to the ghost-world version of her office to say our good-byes.

Trsiel promised to stay at my side after I crossed over, ready to help me end this. Then he handed me the amulet, and left Kristof and me alone.

When Trsiel was gone, Kris took the amulet from my hands and put it around my neck.

“Looks good,” he said with a wry smile. “Just don’t get used to it.”

I answered him with a kiss, my hands going to his hair, letting the silky fine strands slide through my fingers. His arms went around me, rib-crushing tight, and I pressed myself against him, getting as close as I could. After a minute, he pulled his head back.

“I trust that’s not a good-bye kiss,” he said.

“You know it isn’t. I’m coming back, and when I do, it’ll be for good. Both feet planted on this side finally.”

We kissed again. When we finished, he slid his hands to my cheeks, holding my face within kissing distance of his.

“Trsiel won’t be the only one at your side,” he said. “I won’t be able to do anything. But I’ll be there. I’ll always be there.”

“I know you will.” I squeezed his hand, then touched the amulet. “Let’s try this thing.”