“Not in Hell,” he said, standing up. “They kind of like cutting down forests.”

I followed him to the door. “Well, hang in there, and I’ll see you tonight.”

“What are you going to do with your newfound freedom?” he asked, hand on the doorknob.

I frowned. “What do you mean? This whole thing isn’t quite the same for you and me as it is for the vampires.”

The look Hugh gave me then was genuinely amused and almost pitying. “Georgina. Your shape-shifting and other abilities are fueled by human life. If you can’t do those things, then you don’t need the energy—just like Cody and Hugh don’t need blood. Can’t you feel it? The whole system’s probably shut off.”

I froze and almost stopped breathing for a moment—which might not have been so wise in my current state. “What?”

He laughed again. “How could you have not considered that?”

“Well . . . because I was more focused on the entire fabric of Seattle’s demonic hierarchy being unraveled. That and the possibility that we could all die.” Inside, my mind was replaying his words over and over, like a record that kept skipping: You don’t need the energy, you don’t need the energy . . . I shook my head. “I can’t believe that. It isn’t possible.” I’d wanted it for too long, the ability to be with someone without the dire side effects. It was one of those things you always longed for but knew, deep down inside, could never happen. Like winning the lottery. Or, um, living forever.

“Neither is a vampire going into the sun,” said Hugh. “Yet here we are.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Think about it. This is a once in a lifetime—er, eternity—chance.”

He started to leave, and then something I’d nearly forgotten about popped back into the forefront of my mind. “Hugh? Did you get my message earlier? About the Canadian Satanists?” After everything else, a few signs on the Space Needle suddenly seemed absurdly unimportant.

“Yeah,” he said, with a grimace. “They had a huge spectacle there, freaked people out. They made the news and got arrested. Not sure what’ll happen now. The international thing makes it all interesting.”

“Were you able to tell Jerome?”

“No, couldn’t get a hold of him—not surprising if that was near the time of the summoning. I ended up getting a hold of Mei, and I think she did something to minimize how much the media found out. She was hoping that nobody in Management would notice.”

“Yeah, well, they’re all noticing us now.”

Hugh’s face was hard as he nodded his agreement. “That’s an understatement. Have fun, sweetie.”

He departed, leaving me standing there and staring at the door.