My knees felt funny and my head was humming, but I nodded. Cormel dropped to his knees before Felix as the vampire sat up, hands shaking and tears of regret and guilt spilling down his cheeks. This was not going to end well. Ivy would handle this better.

“Rachel is okay,” Bis said, but he was still black in fear as he jumped to my shoulder, his tail wrapping tightly around me. I couldn’t feel the lines at all, and for the first time, I was glad of it. I shouldn’t have wrested the Goddess’s power from her, even if I gave it right back. She was going to start looking for me again, changed aura or not.

“Okay, Rache is all right, but what about him?” Jenks said, and we turned to Felix. My stomach hurt as Felix sobbed, sitting up and trying to wipe his eyes with his bound hands. His bare feet on the carpet looked odd with his business slacks and pressed shirt. It had worked. The real question was, would he survive its success?

“You can let him go,” I said, my voice sounding ragged to my ears. I was suddenly fatigued, and I waved off Trent’s help as I sat down. Buddy was gone. Smart dog. Are my hands sparkling, or is it my imagination? “He’s got his soul,” I added, though it was obvious. For better or worse, he had his soul, and it seemed to be working. Ivy ...

“She is not okay!” Jenks snarled, and Trent leaned closer to the hovering pixy.

“Yes she is,” he insisted. “Look at her.”

“I am, cookie farts. She’s not okay!”

Bis leaned to put his face next to mine. “You’re okay, Rachel. I can tell.”

But I wasn’t sure how he knew. I started shaking, the entirety of the evening coming down hard. The Goddess had recognized me and my mystics had found me. She’d be on the lookout now. I’d be lucky if I could even use the lines.

“Where is Ivy?” I said, and Cormel looked up from where he still knelt with Felix. I didn’t like the hunger in his eyes. It wasn’t for blood, it was for his soul, and I held my breath, ready to move though every part of me was pained and sluggish.

Trent moved to get between us. “It’s done,” he said firmly, Jenks hovering beside him to create a united front. “She paid her and Ivy’s debt. Give us a token that you free them.”

Cormel turned to Felix, and my lips parted when Felix finally looked up. His eyes held sorrow, but there was hope, too. “I am me,” he said, voice broken. “I am whole.” Eyes shining with tears, he clung to Cormel. “I don’t hunger! Rynn, it’s gone! The ache is gone.” His head dropped. “Let them go. If she can do this, any witch can.”