“So, when do we do this ritual?” Although I was truly supportive of whatever Bella had planned, a part of me prayed for more time. To do what, I wasn’t sure. But I wanted to stave off the inevitable.

She rose and retrieved a notebook from the coffee table, flipping pages as she paced before the couch. “I need to gather supplies and do more research, but the spell must be performed by midnight. It is the last night of the waning moon.”

She’d said the words as if I’d know what they meant. I stared back at her, clueless. “Which means?”

“The waning phase of the moon is the best time for banishing magic. Minor banishing can be performed at any time, but this…”

“Is not minor,” I finished for her. “And if we don’t do the ritual tonight?”

“It will be another month before we could successfully perform it.” She let the statement hang in the air for a moment before saying, “I will go and make preparations. Please be ready at midnight.”

Midnight. Before I could think about it too much, I nodded. “Sounds great.”

Damn the consequences, at midnight, Nathan would be reunited with his wife, and I would abandon myself to an uncertain future.

Chapter 24
First Impressions, Reconciled

Though I was exhausted mentally, I wasn’t physically ready for sleep. It was too early in the night. Bella went to the shop to further prepare for the ritual. Max mumbled something about needing time to himself, and left. I don’t know where he went, but I hoped it wasn’t far. Cyrus remained where he was on the floor. He refused all my attempts to comfort him.

“I just need some time to think, Carrie,” he said, brushing my hand away when I laid it on his arm. “It’s nothing personal.”

I told him I understood, and I did. Still, I didn’t want to be alone. If I was alone, I could think, and the only thoughts my mind was particularly interested in were frightening ones of what would happen at midnight.

I showered, letting the water wash away some of my tension, but more importantly the feeling of Cyrus’s hands on my body, the smell of him that still clung to me.

What a stupid thing to have done. What misfiring synapse in my brain had convinced me having sex with Cyrus, even just as a “one last time” thing, was a good idea? Had it ever been a good idea before?

I stepped from the shower and toweled off, strenuously avoiding my reflection in the mirror. Sex should just be off-limits for me. I never made good choices where it was concerned.