“Oh, Nick,” I complained, “are you sure you’re translating that right? That’s dreadful.”

He sighed. “Try this then.” He thought for a moment. “You could also translate it as, ‘lee of mind, bearer of pain. Slave until the worlds are slain.’ ”

That I could live with, and I said it, feeling nothing. We both peered in at Bob, waiting for the amber liquid to go clear. My head pounded, but other than that, nothing happened. “I think I did it wrong,” I said, scuffing my slippers.

“Oh—shit,” Nick swore, and I looked up to find him staring over my shoulder at the doorway to the kitchen. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

The hair on the back of my neck pricked. My demon scar gave a pulse. Breath catching, I spun around, thinking Ivy must be home.

But it wasn’t Ivy. It was a demon.

Sixteen

“Nick!” I cried, stumbling back. The demon grinned. It looked like an aristocratic Brit, except that I recognized it as the one who put on Ivy’s face and tore out my throat that spring.

My back found the counter. I had to run. I had to get out of here! It would kill me! Flailing to put the counter between us, I hit the spell pot.

“Watch the brew!” Nick shouted, reaching out even as the bowl tipped.

I gasped, tearing my gaze from the demon long enough to see Bob’s bowl spill. Aura-laced water spilled over the counter in an amber wash. Bob slid out, flopping.

“Rachel!” Nick exclaimed. “Get the fish! He has your aura. He can break the circle!”

I’m in a circle, I thought, strangling my panic. The demon isn’t. It can’t hurt me.

“Rachel!”

Nick’s shout tore my eyes from the grinning demon. Nick was desperately trying to catch Bob, flopping on the counter, and keep the spilled water from reaching the edge. My face went cold. I was willing to bet just the aura-laced water would be enough to break the circle.

I lunged for the paper towels. As Nick fumbled for Bob, I made a mad dash around the counter, laying squares of white to sop up rivulets before they could make puddles on the floor that would run to the circle. My heart pounded and I frantically alternated my attention from the water to the demon standing with a bewildered, amused expression in the archway to the hall.

“Gotcha,” Nick whispered, his breath exploding from him in a ragged sound as he finally gained control of the fish.

“Not the saltwater!” I warned as Nick held him over my dissolution pot. “Here.” I shoved Bob’s original bowl at Nick. Ordinary water sloshed out, and I blotted it up as Nick dropped Bob in. The fish shuddered, sinking to the bottom with his gills pumping.