I struggled to turn my head from Nick’s chest so I could hear better. I tried to think, but I was so confused. Ivy had moved in the same day I did, hadn’t she? Her computer hadn’t been hooked up to the net yet, and she had all those boxes in her room. How come her magazines had the church’s address on them? My thoughts went to the perfect witch-garden out back and the spell books in the attic complete with alibi. God save me, I was a fool.

“No,” Ivy said softly. “This isn’t what it looks like. Please don’t tell her. I can explain.”

Nick lurched into motion, jostling me as he went up the stone stairs. My memory was returning. Nick had made a deal with the demon. Nick had let it out. It had made me go to sleep. It had made me go through the ley lines. Damn. The slam of the sanctuary door jolted me, and I moaned at the pulse of pain.

“She’s coming around,” Ivy said tersely, her voice echoing. “Put her in the living room.”

Not the couch, I thought as the peaceful feeling of the sanctuary infused me. I didn’t want to get my blood all over Ivy’s couch, but then I decided it had probably seen blood before.

My stomach dropped as Nick crouched. I felt the gentle give of the cushions beneath my head. My breath hissed as Nick pulled his arms out from under me. There was the click of the table lamp, and I puckered my face at the sudden warmth and glare through my closed eyelids.

“Rachel?”

It was close, and someone gently touched my face.

“Rachel.” The room got quiet. It was the hush that really woke me up. I opened my eyes, squinting to see Nick kneeling beside me. Blood still seeped from under his hairline, and a dried rivulet of it flaked from his jawline and neck. His hair was mussed and disheveled, and his brown eyes were pinched. He was a mess. Ivy was behind him, close in worry.

“It’s you,” I whispered, feeling light-headed and unreal. Nick leaned back with a relieved puff. “Can I have some water?” I rasped. “I don’t feel so good.”

Ivy leaned forward to eclipse the light. Her eyes rove over me with a professional detachment that cracked when she lifted the edge of Nick’s makeshift bandage on my neck. Her eyes went puzzled. “It’s almost stopped bleeding.”

“Love, trust, and pixy dust,” I slurred, and Ivy nodded.

Nick got to his feet. “I’ll call an ambulance.”

“No!” I exclaimed. I tried to sit up, forced back by fatigue and Nick’s hands. “I’ll get tagged there. The I.S. knows I’m alive.” I fell back panting. The bruise on my face where the demon hit me pulsed in time with my heart. A twin throb came from my arm. I was dizzy. My shoulder hurt when I inhaled, and the room darkened when I exhaled.

“Jenks dusted her,” Ivy said, as if that explained everything. “As long as she doesn’t start bleeding again, she probably won’t get any worse. I’ll get a blanket.” She rose with that eerie, fast grace of hers. She was going vampy, and I was in no condition to do anything about it.