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Sybil laughed. “I’ll show you how to do it, but the spell is irreversible. Once the connection is made, it’s there forever. The only way to remove it is to either disassemble the purse or destroy the connected cabinet.”
“I guess that means I’ll need a place of my own first.” I wondered how long that would be. I was lucky Eamon and the Redrock brothers had let me stay here; very lucky. “I still want to learn it.”
Sybil finished muddling all the fruits with the liquor and poured the ice cubes and wine in.
“I’m a lightweight,” I warned as she poured me a glass. “I was never allowed to drink. Except for the occasional champagne at New Year’s at those boring parties Moth—er, I mean Amrita, used to take me to.” It was freaking hard to stop calling her Mother.
“You poor thing. That just means we’ll have to help you catch up.” Sybil smiled warmly. When I still hesitated, she added, “This is very light; you’ll be fine.”
I took a sip, and it barely tasted alcoholic at all, just delicious and refreshing.
Nugget, who’d been sitting on her perch on the table preening, came over to sniff at my glass. Not knowing if it was safe for her, I moved it away. Sybil was not so strict with Salt and Pepper, who came out of their carrier for a small sip.
Nugget didn’t know how to react to the rats, so she had avoided them so far. I worried about having them together, but Salt and Pepper were very well-behaved. Or perhaps they were too sleepy, because the two crawled back into their adorable mouse-shaped carrier and curled up together for another snooze.
Sybil hadn’t just come over to escape her noisy naga next door and share a drink though; she’d come for business. “I’m glad you got the right plants,” she said, leaning back on the cushion. “I did a bit more research on the container, and I don’t think it needs to be a special one. Saoirse caught her meddlesome soul in a container meant for potions, but there are records of wizards using just about anything to trap spirits and demons. I even read about a demon trapped in a jar of olives.”
I wrinkled my nose, thinking of Eamon being trapped by that wizard. What a horrible thing to do to anybody. But I reminded myself that Amrita was trying to steal my body and had done so to many before me. She didn’t deserve mercy.
“So we can use anything on hand?” I eyed the empty wine bottle, and Sybil followed my gaze.
“Sure. But something less breakable would be better.”
“True.” I went about thinking of a better coffin for Mother Dearest.
“Now that we have the herbs, the container isn’t the problem. It’s the weapon. Her notes mentioned a special weapon needed to ‘free’ the spirit from the host body.” She put air quotes around the word free.
“And what do you mean by free?” I asked, taking the bait.
“It’s impossible to remove the spirit from the host once the fusion is complete. You have to kill the host. But if you use any old weapon, the spirit will just float away, untouchable, and you need to get the spirit into the container first before you can recite the spell to keep it there.”
“So this special weapon will make her touchable?” I wondered how it would feel to touch a soul.
“Kinda. It will make her perceivable to human eyes. But she will be tactile only to other insubstantial entities.”
“So, like Eamon? When he’s phased out?” I asked. “I’ve seen him phase right through walls.”
“Yes. A demon is perfect.” Sybil took a sip of her sangria and grinned. “You chose the perfect partner for your mission.”
“I guess I did.” I thought of the other ways we’d been partnering up.
I’d thought Eamon would lose interest in me after our blanket fort fornication in Iris’s guest house. After all, he’d gotten what he wanted. Instead, he’d moved me into his bedroom when we got back to the penthouse. That was Monday. It was now Thursday. We’d been going at it like rabbits between my research and practice.
My face must have given up my thoughts, because Shelby and Sybil both raised eyebrows and exchanged knowing looks. Damn my fair skin and inclination to turn red at the slightest thought of anything suggestive!
“I noticed you moved your stuff out of the guest room.” Shelby wasn’t going to let this go.
“It’s just temporary,” I said. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince her, or if I was trying to remind myself not to get too attached.
“Is it, though?” She turned serious. “These Redrock boys don’t bring women home. Like, ever.”
“But he’s not a Redrock; he’s a demon. It’s not like he’ll want anything more. He even reminded me of what he was before we…” I trailed off, my face heating up again. Damn it! Why was I such a prude?
“Tansy got laid,” Sybil sing-songed. Then more seriously, “Most demons are only interested in fun and games, but there are plenty who commit. There have been some very powerful witch-demon pairings in history. They say the witch who first made The Wall had a demon lover, and it was their half-demon kid they were trying to protect when they made it. Humans and monsters haven’t always gotten along.”
It had taken me a while after the fall of The Wall to get used to the fact thatmonsterwas a term that encompassed everything that wasn’t human. It had once been a derogatory term, but they’d since reclaimed the word and used it proudly.
I considered asking Sybil about the intense magic I felt when having sex with Eamon, but decided against it. Instead, I said, “But it’s rare.”
