In the flickering oil light, Dali took a dramatic step back, his sleeves dropping to his elbows when he held his hands up in placation. “Calm down, or I’ll sling all your asses out of here!” he bellowed, and the noise was cut by about half. “I agree that the question of her status should be settled.” He smiled cattily at Al. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

Newt toasted me to show her support as Dali smiled at me with false benevolence. My eyes closed as I finally understood what was going on. My standing was in question and needed to be settled before a gathering of my peers. If I wasn’t a demon, I was a familiar. And if I was a familiar, I was in deep shit.

And there I’d been, saying I wasn’t a demon.

Ku’Sox shoved his way through the camels and bales of cloth until he stood with the rough-hewn table between us. His steel gray hair was slicked back and he was wearing a masculine reflection of my attire. Beads clicking, he looked me up and down, his expression one of disgust, not a flicker of concern that I’d almost burned him alive in Margaritaville. My pulse raced as I recognized the barely leashed hatred from both Al and Newt as Ku’Sox started in on a harsh harangue aimed at me. He wouldn’t be tucking me under his arm and popping out—unless he thought he could get away with it—so I was safe. Sort of. Demons were wimps, more inclined to take their rivals down with red tape than a physical approach. They only beat up people they knew couldn’t fight back.

Trent wanted me to curse him. Why should I risk it? I thought as Ku’Sox started demeaning Al’s reputation, bringing up events that had happened thousands of years ago and still made Al red with anger. Why should I curse Ku’Sox to be stuck in the same reality I was in now? But then I hesitated, tuning out Ku’Sox as I thought a little more deeply. If I shifted the curse to him, as Trent thought I could, then I wouldn’t be stuck here at all. I’d still be shunned in reality, but there were ways around that. Right? Right?

Regaining my ability to be in reality, even in snatches, was a small thing, but after having imagined living in the ever-after without ever seeing the sun, Jenks, or Ivy again, I fastened on it like a lifeline. My foot twitched, and Newt slid her black-eyed gaze to me, nodding at the look of desperate thought I must now be wearing. Everyone else was focused on Ku’Sox, raving about purity and half-breeds polluting the genetic pool.

My eyes fell from Newt to the hard-packed earth, and I lightly tapped a line, glad my oiled hair wouldn’t float and give me away. The barest hint of ever-after seeped into me, not enough to be noticed by anyone, but I was sure Newt felt it. She was jiggling her bejeweled foot, black eyes edged in kohl sliding from me to Ku’Sox, the barest hint of a wicked smile replacing her anger.