Keira waved at the doorman of her apartment building, pulled up the hood of her raincoat, and walked out into the Seattle drizzle with Emma, Grace, Ryan, and Laney. He would tell Luukas she’d snuck out as soon as the sun went down, but she’d be back by then and could show him no harm was done. As far as he needed to know, she and the other girls just needed a little daylight and went to get a coffee.

Which was true, and which they were.

What he didn’t need to know, is they decided to meet at the coffee shop down the street instead of the one he’d had newly installed in the building specifically to get away from listening ears. It was the middle of the day, there were tons of people around, and it was perfectly safe, despite what her overprotective mate thought.

Normally, Keira wouldn’t do something like this. Luukas, although getting better, wasn’t completely healed from his years in Leeha’s company. And perhaps he never would be. He totally freaked out every time she so much as mentioned doing anything other than sitting around the apartment under his watchful eye.

But after everything they’d been through, she wasn’t about to lose him now.

She held the door open for the other girls and they filed in and ordered their drinks, then claimed the sitting area in the back corner of the shop. The brown, faux leather chairs there were thick and comfy, and it set back from the counter and the other customers.

Keira waited until they’d all gotten comfortable. “Okay, ladies. We can’t be gone too long, the guys are gonna freak later as it is.”

“Right, though?” Grace said. “Aiden almost didn’t want me to hang out with you guys this morning. He wanted to ‘snuggle’. It took some doing to convince him we could snuggle all he wanted once that damn demon was out of him. He tolerates our girl time, but he doesn’t really get it.”

“Well, Nik gets it, but mostly he just finds the stuff I can do amusing.” Emma rolled her eyes.

“If I can manage to get away from Dante, I don’t want to hear any complaining from any of you,” Laney teased.

“She has a point,” Ryan told them.

They all nodded in agreement and took sips of their coffees.

“Okay, then,” Keira told them. “Let’s get a plan together. The guys are all vampy and powerful and blah, blah, blah. But we all know it’s going to be up to us to send the demons back to hell where they belong.”

“So, um, how exactly are we going to do that?” Emma asked with a shudder.

Keira gave her sister a sympathetic smile. Out of all of them, she had the most scars from her run in with those things. Literally. “If you don’t want to do this, Em. You don’t have to.”

But Emma firmly shook her head. “No way. I’m in. I’m not hiding under the blankets while you guys go risk your lives. While Nikulas is out there facing these things.” She smiled at the other girls. “Besides, we’re stronger together, right? We’ve learned that in our little lessons. Imagine what we’ll be able to accomplish if we really cut loose.”

Laney squeezed Emma’s hand and turned to Keira. “So, how’re we gonna do this?”

“With Grace’s spell,” Keira told her.

“I thought no one could read that spell,” Laney said.

“Ryan can. Or, rather, her spirits can.”

All eyes turned to Ryan.

“Really?” Laney asked her. “They can translate it?”

“It appears that way,” she answered. “I get the sense it’s a very old language. Not all of them know what it says, but a few do. I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but eventually I figured out it’s not just a spell. It’s the spell. The one that will send them back to the altar.”

“The spell is strong,” Keira told them. “It will take all of us together to summon it. But with all our skills combined, I think we have a good chance at success.” She nodded at Emma. “When the possessed vampires converge at the altar with their original blood, we’ll be there, and we’ll be ready.”

“What if they rip us apart before we manage to bind them to the spell?” Ryan asked.

But Keira shook her head. “They won’t. We’ll be protected within the circle. Grace will bring the salt. Right?”

Grace whipped out her phone and started typing a note to herself. “Buy salt. Lots and lots of salt.”

“The guys will be there, just in case, and Emma can freeze them,” Keira continued. “Once they’re contained, Laney, we’ll need you to exorcise the demons out of the host bodies. Ryan will translate the spell for us, and we’ll bind our magic and execute the spell. Once the demons are gone, Grace and Luukas will save who they can.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Grace took a deep breath.

Keira wouldn’t lie to them. “It won’t be easy. Not at all. We’re taking our lives in our hands. One slip, and the circle could break or our magic could come unbound and it will all be over. Are you all ready for this?” She looked at the circle of faces surrounding her. Her family.

“Do we have a choice?” Emma asked.

“I don’t,” Grace told her. “I want that damn thing out of my mate.”

Emma leaned over and took her hand. “We all do, Gracie.”

The rest of the girls piled their hands on top of Emma’s.