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No recognition showed on Ed’s face at the mention of that monster. “No.”

Relief shot through me. “Prepare the oil, Iris.” I slid off my shirt. “Mags, get the urns.”

Ren’s head swung around the room, watching us. Ed knew what we were doing. He was a witch, or had been once. “No. No, I told you what you wanted to know. I told you the truth. That’s all I know, I promise, it’s all I know.”

Mom moved in and took his face in her hands. “You deserve to burn in Hell for eternity, Ed. And we’re going to make sure you do.” Then she gagged him again and we got to work.

I’d done this a couple of times just recently, so it didn’t take long for us to gather what we needed, only this time we wouldn’t just be getting the spirit out of Ren and holding it, we’d be sending Ed, and the other two we had trapped, back to Hell.

Art and Bram were with Warrick, and I told them to stay with Else and Rose, but Else walked back into the room a few minutes later, calm and focused. She wanted to be here to see Ed go back to the torture and horror he deserved, and I didn’t blame her. I looked at Ren, and there was still no trace of him when I stared into his eyes. I felt that loss down to my soul.

“You don’t have to do this,” I said to Mags. “We’ve got it covered.”

She was behind one of the shelves, finishing with the oil. Mags was still young and hated any spells that required her to get naked; it was bad enough around us, let alone someone else. I got that. I’d been in the same boat as her. It was humiliating. Nothing made you notice your flaws, or changing body, more acutely than having to stand naked in front of someone, but eventually, it also made you accept those things and learn to either love them or not give one shit about them. It just took some time.

“No, I’m helping. I want to send that fucker back to Hell,” she said as she walked out.

Our Mags was utterly gorgeous. Shorter than Iris, Rose, and I, and curvier as well. Her thick, wavy, black hair was pulled forward, covering her full breasts, and my heart gripped at the sight of all the long cuts, the rows of stitches, against her pale skin. I held out my hand and she gave me a determined look as she took it, giving it a squeeze.

The five of us stood around Ren, Iris, and Mom, holding the other two urns containing the souls I’d already gathered. They placed them on the floor by Ren’s feet, and Else laid salt down in a circle around them, then nodded to Mom and Iris. They unscrewed the urns and the rat corpses exploded out, hissing and backing away from the salt, running around Ren’s feet.

We joined hands, and Else began the chant. “What was summoned will be returned. Hell, take back these souls so dark, remove it from the mortal realm, never to return.” We all followed one by one, oldest to youngest, a chorus of voices all repeating the spell over one another, an unbreakable chain, a wall of words and magic flowing through our voices.

We grew in speed and volume, and Ren threw his head back and roared, the rats running in circles, shrieking.

The floor within the circle began to swirl and glow.

Ren thrashed harder, blood coming from his eyes, his ears, his nose. I wanted to snatch him out, I wanted to stop his pain, but I couldn’t do that. Not yet.

The floor glowed brighter, brighter still, then there was an explosion of heat and an orange light, a boom so deep, it shook the ground beneath us.

The dead, rotting rats fell limp.

Ren slumped in his chair.

The awful noise stopped, the heat and light dimmed until it was gone, and the stone floor was back to the way it had been.

The door flew open and Bram ran in, chest heaving, eyes full of fear. “Mags…”

“I’m okay, B,” she said.

He froze, his eyes sliding over her, then widened. He quickly dipped his head and ducked back out, shutting the door behind him.

I rushed to Ren, dropping to my knees. “Renny?”

He didn’t move, his eyes squeezed shut.

I dipped my face lower. “Ren, please.”

His eyes opened, and I sucked in a pained breath. The agony, the desolation, the horrors there were more than one being could contain. I reached for him, and he jerked away, stumbling to his feet.

Lifting my hands, I took a step back. “It’s me, Renny. You’re safe now.”

He shook his head. “Stay away from me.”

My heart shattered. “It’s me, it’s Willow.”

“I know,” he rasped and looked at his hands. There was dried blood on them. He stumbled farther away from me. “The things I’ve done, Wills…the things he made me do…”