Ivy jerked into motion, startling all of us. Tense and fast, she pulled the trash out from under the sink and started rummaging.

“Uh, Ivy?” I said, embarrassed.

“Remember that hunk of hair you pulled out of Al?” she said, and I jumped up to elbow her out of the way.

“Rachel. Rachel, wait.” Ceri pulled me to a stop. “That won’t work. Al’s hair isn’t an accurate sample of his DNA. He’s modified it from his original pattern.”

Ivy shoved the can back under the sink, slamming the door with a loud bang. Her motions were tight with frustration as she put the taps on full and washed her hands. I fell back against the table, depressed. It would have been so easy. “I should have just killed him,” I whispered, then jumped when Ceri touched my shoulder.

“You can’t,” she said, her voice diving to my core with a terrible certainty. “Newt is the only person who has ever managed to kill a demon, and it made her insane.”

Sounds about right, I thought, pulling myself upright. Okay. Next option…

Ceri’s grip on my shoulder tightened. “You can still do the curse,” she said, bringing my head swinging around. “All you need is the sample, and I know where they keep them.”

“What?” Ivy blurted.

Looking from me to Ivy, Ceri nodded. “There’s a sample of Al’s DNA in the archives. There’s one for every demon and familiar. The only problem will be how to get it.”

Trent’s shoes ground into the salt on my floor, his face empty of emotion as he stood in my kitchen, ignored and about as wanted as a fifth wheel.

“Everyone is registered when they become a familiar,” Ceri continued, oblivious to his sudden stillness. “They started the practice when Newt went insane and started killing demons. It was the only way to be sure who she really killed.”

I looked at Ivy in the pixy-filled silence, hope flooding me. “Where?” I said. Sunset was going to get here really fast. “Where do they keep them?”

“On a patch of holy ground in the ever-after, to prevent them from being tampered with,” she said. “I can draw you a map….”

They have holy ground in the ever-after? Pulse quickening, I looked to where I’d once kept my spell books, glad they were in the belfry where Trent couldn’t see them. My gaze rose to my calling circle on the table. I had to talk to Minias.