“I suspect the plan is to kill us ahead of time,” Lucas said. “Probably individually. That may have been part of her ruse with the bike. Find a way to kill me, hide the motorcycle, and claim I went off on an errand.”

“Then kill me—Paige—and, after the ritual, find us dead. Leaving Savannah to think that in her eagerness to contact me, she killed you two. God, when I get hold of that demi-demon bitch—”

“Careful. We have to take this slowly. Play at her pace.” He glanced at me. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“Not if it means I finally will get hold of her.”

As safe as we assumed Savannah was with the Nix, neither of us wanted to test that theory more than necessary, so we skipped the take-out run, and instead decided to tell Savannah and Jaime that the wait had been too long and we were opting for pizza—delivered—instead.

Lucas would do the explaining, leaving me to retreat to Paige’s office once again. Then, when he had the chance, he’d get Savannah away from Jamie, and with any luck, Jaime would take advantage of the opportunity to strike at me.

Up in Paige’s room, I did a quick drawer search. Took me a few minutes, but I found what I wanted: a length of strong ribbon. I used it to tie back Paige’s long, thick curls, adjusting the knot so it would pull free with only a tug. Lucas and I had decided on suffocation as the safest way to “almost” kill Jaime’s body. While I had every intention of putting my bare hands around her throat and looking into that demi-demon’s eyes as I throttled the life from her, I needed a backup tool. The ribbon would do.

Twenty minutes later, a loud thump sounded outside, followed by a shout from Savannah. I bolted from my chair and flew to the window. Another thump, coming from behind the house. Savannah groaned and yelled something. I opened the window farther, pried off the screen, and leaned out. Savannah and Lucas were at the far end of the driveway, playing basketball.

As I watched them, I thought of Kristof. I’d dreamed of boy-talk with Savannah. Is this what he dreamed of? Is this what I’d taken away from him? The thought pinged another, and I remembered what he’d said before I’d transmigrated into Paige’s body. That he’d stay close. My head shot up so fast I hit the windowsill and yelped. I imagined him laughing, and a shiver ran through me. I turned slowly.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” I said.