Kat led the way to her bedroom, crossed the room, and knelt on the floor next to her mate. The book would stay hidden in her dresser until after Trina had removed the felo-de-se curse.

Trina sidled into the room, angling her gaze at the floor. “Why’s he on the floor?”

“It’s where he fell.” She and Lilith may have promised to give Julius a chance, but they were hesitant allies at best. “He’s asleep and his eyes are covered. You have nothing to worry about.”

The tension in Trina’s shoulders eased. “Sorry, but he’s mesmerized me before and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.”

“Not him.” Her tone was firm. “The Watcher.”

“Oh?” Trina waved to his face. “Like you’re not worried? You have him blindfolded.”

“It’s a bandage, not a blindfold.”

One dark brow rose.

Shoot. “I guess I didn’t quite tell you everything.” She sighed. “Before I got here that first day . . . the curse made him cut his eyes out.”

Trina recoiled. “What?” She shook her head. “Memory curses don’t—”

“The memory curse is wearing off on its own. I’m more worried about the felo-de-se curse.”

“Goddess bless you both.” Trina dragged her fingers through her hair. “Is it time-based? Trigger-word-based?”

“It takes effect at sunrise every day. The rest of the time, he’s fine.” Sort of. Except for the cutting.

“Why didn’t you come sooner? You’ve been doing all this on your own?” She crossed the room. “Dealing with two curses plus whatever trauma he has?”

Sympathy from Lilith had threatened her composure earlier, but getting it from Trina, who was always tough as nails, made her crumble.

“Oh, damn it, don’t cry.” Trina plopped down next to her on the floor and patted her shoulder. “I suck at the whole comforting thing. Are you sure he’s worth it?”

Kat sniffed and used her sleeves to wipe her eyes. “I weighed the pros and cons again today and the bottom line is whether or not he still had the capacity to make a positive difference in the world.”

“And you think he can?” Trina shot Julius a side-long glance.

“I know he can. He’s made a difference for me.” She wiped her eyes again and dragged in a deep breath. “Okay. I’m all right.”

“Does he still have eyes?”

Oh, he had eyes all right. “Um . . . well, yes.” Trina reached over and Kat smacked her hand away. “You don’t want to—”

Trina frowned. She magicked the bandage off his head. “It’s not that bad. The way you reacted I half expected him to be deformed.” She reached for him again.

“Don’t touch—”

“Back off.” Trina pointed at her and waited.

Lilith wouldn’t have been this pushy. Kat sat back on her heels, and worried her lip between her teeth. What if all those little eyes clustered in his left socket meant something bad?

Trina huffed. “Fine. It’s probably best if I don’t touch him anyway. Lift his eyelids.”

Kat pulled back the left lid.

“His eyes were completely gone?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve done a good job healing him.”

Kat released the lid and pulled back the other. She didn’t want to look, so she kept her gaze trained on Trina.

“What the hell is that?”

The question didn’t carry any of the notes of shock or horror she’d expected. Kat’s gaze dropped. The right eye had changed. Now it had all the characteristics of a rounded, multi-faceted diamond; clear, with lots of chiseled edges that caught and fractured light. Even though she couldn’t see them, she knew what was under there—those little eyes were looking out from behind their new shield.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Which was true. His eye hadn’t looked like this before.

“Can he see at all?”

Kat nodded. Even with his eyes covered. “Seems to, yeah.”

“You do realize your plan isn’t going to work, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when I saw your reaction to the male they brought in today, I knew it wasn’t him.” She waved toward Julius. “And I figured you intended to switch them at some point. I thought maybe you gave the other one scars to make them look different..” She shook her head. “But they look exactly the same . . .”

Kat stared. “And . . .?”

“And no one is stupid enough to believe they’ve been apart for three hundred years and have the same damn scars.”

Why hadn’t she thought of that? Kat covered her eyes with her hands. “At first I was practicing my new talent and then I planned to turn Julian over to you and keep Julius . . . and then he was there, being put in jail and I figured it was done. But I’m losing my Magic. There’s no way I can keep a glamour on my mate to hide his scars all the time.”

Trina rolled her eyes. “You almost had a plan somewhere in all that convoluted mess.”

“I’m stressed. I didn’t think it through.” And now he would pay the price.

“The Watchers would’ve clocked on anyway.”

“You sound like your mate.”

Trina grinned.

“I blocked the house from the Watchers when I put up the shield.” Kat got up and paced. “I mean, they know he’s here but they haven’t seen him since I arrived so they don’t know if he’s scarred or blind or dead.” The Watchers didn’t know. No one but she and Trina knew. She pointed. “You can fix this.”

“What?”

“Give him a glamour. We have two days before you turn Julian over to the humans, right? Julian can die, Julius can live.”

“And what? I keep a glamour on him forever?”

That wasn’t realistic. “For a while.” She nodded. Rubbed her hands together. This could work. He would never have to go before the coven. Never need go to trial. “I’ll switch them so Julius is in prison and Julian is with me. Then I can call in that I’ve found Julius. They’ll come, see him looking as they’ve always known him to look—without the facial scars—and they’ll lock Julian up and release Julius.”

“Do you hear yourself? I think his madness is catching.”

“Please? I don’t know what else to do.”

“Fine.” She mumbled a few words under her breath and waved her hand toward Julius. The scars faded. “But nothing else, do you hear me? I’ll give you this: I’ll get rid of the curse, and no more until I’m certain he’s innocent.”

She launched herself at Trina and wrapped her in a quick hug. “Thank you!”

“All right. Yeah. Fine. The only reason this might work is because they made the other one—”

“Julian.”

“Whatever. They made him wear a hood. When they take Julius into custody, they’ll make him wear a hood too. You’ll have to report him.” She pointed to Julius. “And then switch them once they bring you to Machon. You’d better conserve your Magic.”

She nodded. “I will. I won’t use any more until it’s time to switch them.”

“As soon as I hear they’ve brought Julius in, I’ll remove his glamour and put it on Julian.” She waved her hand toward Julius.

This would work. They had a plan.

“Quit smiling. He’ll still have to prove himself to the coven, if he doesn’t . . . .” She let the threat hang in the air.

“He will.” Kat nodded. “I know he will. You’ll see.”

Trina sighed. “If he does, then we’ll all help you with him. We’ll make sure he isn’t left alone.”

Relief poured through her. Everything would be fine now. She’d done the right thing asking for help.

“Enough. We need to get to work. I need a summoning jar, holy water, and salt. I want you to keep him asleep no matter what happens.”

Kat ran downstairs and gathered the items she requested. When she came back, Trina had moved Julius to the bed.

She put the salt in the bottom of the summoning jar and set the lid next to it on the nightstand. Then she twisted the lid off the bottle of holy water. “How are you going to get the curse into the summoning jar? Are you going to use your telepathy?”

“No.” She folded her arms over her chest and stared down at Julius. “I’m not keen to be in his mind.” She glanced at Kat. “I’m not being mean, but I don’t think I want to know the gnarly details of what the Watcher did to him or with him these last three hundred years, you know? I’ll exorcize the curse. Then bind it in the jar.”

“Do you need anything else?”

“No.” Trina sat on the edge of the bed. “Don’t let him wake up. Curses are foul things; the last thing we need is for him to wake up and freak out because he doesn’t know what the hell is going on.”

Kat nodded. “Be quick. I’ve used a lot of Magic today and I don’t know how much longer I can hold him. He wants to wake up.”

Trina leaned over him, chanting Psalm 91.

Julius’ muscles twitched. His frame shook. His head lashed to the side, pressing into the pillow.

She sprinkled some of the holy water over his body as she continued the spell.

He arched back, his body bowing off the bed and then he flopped back down and went still.

Too still.

Trina stopped the spell.

“What’s wrong?” Nothing had come out of him.

Trina waved her back. She leaned over Julius, one hand on the headboard.

His hand lashed out, clamping around Trina’s shirt front. He stood, pushing her back to allow him space to stand. “Where’s Kat? What did you do—?”

“I’m here.” She pressed herself between them and he let go of Trina to pull her into his arms. “She’s helping you. She got rid of the felo-de-se curse.”

“Jesus.” He shifted Kat to his side and extended his hand to Trina. “Sorry about that. Thanks for your help.”

Trina stared at his hand for a moment before shaking his hand. “It’s no problem.” Her gaze narrowed. “How do you feel?”

He shrugged. “Same.”

“That seemed way too easy.” She glanced at her watch. “If I can, I’ll come back before the sun rises again, just to make sure.” She shook her head. “That didn’t seem right.”

No, it didn’t.

Laughter bubbled up from right behind Trina, high-pitched, the definition of madness itself. A figure rose from its hunched position, rising above her as she turned and backed toward her and Julius.

It looked like Julius. Sort of. An emaciated, diseased version of him. The Curse stared at them through sunken red-rimmed eyes, his rotten mouth wide open to expel its humor. Its skin was awful . . . ruffles of white dead skin rose in bunched lines above angry red tissue, like white-tipped waves cresting over an infected red sea. “Julie-us.” It giggled again, holding its hands together under its chin in a delighted gesture.

Julius’ grip tightened on Kat as he drew her behind him. “What is that?” He pulled Trina back toward him, away from the Curse.

“Don’t let it touch you.” Trina held out her hand behind her, staying him from drawing her behind him, too. “Kat and I will handle this.”

Julius tensed. “The hell you will.”

The Curse tilted its head to the side, shifting its weight.

Trina stepped to the side to block it.

“If it touches you, it’ll merge with you again.” Kat twisted her hand from Julius’ grip. “Then we’ll have to start over.”

The Curse jerked the other way, taking a step closer.

The three of them mirrored it, Kat and Trina staying between Julius and the Curse.

“If I had my blade, that thing wouldn’t get close enough to touch me.”

“Julie-us.”

Kat slipped the bottle of holy water to Trina. “I have the jar.”

“Yeah, though I walk through the valley of death . . . .”

As Trina recited Psalm 91 its humor vanished, leaving nothing but soulless eyes and sunken features. “Cut-cut-cut.”

Kat shuddered. Was that what he’d been hearing all this time?

They all backed up a step, though Trina continued to recite the exorcist’s prayer.

It lifted its hands, revealing razor-sharp claws.

They shifted their route in unspoken agreement, backing toward the bathroom.

“Julie-us, cut your eyes out.” It clicked its claws together. Giggled. Lunged.

The three of them tumbled into the bathroom.

Trina used her Magic to slam the door shut. “Shit!”

“Julie-us.” The Curse scratched its nails down the wood.

“What the hell?” Julius got up and pulled Kat to her feet. “Fat lot of good hiding in here does us.”

Trina stood. “We’re better off waiting a few minutes. Now that it’s outside of you, there’s no energy for it to feed on.”

A giggle came from the other side of the door.

“The fuck was that?” He shuddered. “Do either of you have a knife?”

Kat looked at Trina who shook her head. She put her hand on his chest. “If we wait a little while . . . .”

A long sharp nail slid under the door. “Cut. Cut. Cut.”

“Bullshit. What if it gets out of the house? What if it can go through your shield? Or if it possesses one of the animals?”

“Animals?” Trina’s brows rose.

Kat covered her face. This wasn’t good. “A hawk, some field mice, and a hen.”

Julius cocked his head. “It’s quiet.”

“Shit. It heard us.” Trina pressed her ear to the door.

“I still have the jar.” Kat rose on her toes and kissed his chin. “Stay here.”

He scowled. “Maybe I can mesmerize it.”

Trina’s shoulders tensed. “I don’t like the idea of you at my back.”

“Then I’ll go first.”

“No, you’ll stay behind me so I don’t end up casting against you.” Trina put her hand on the knob.

“Fine. I can see over the top of your head, just don’t look back.”

Kat shot him a glare. The implied threat that he would mesmerize Trina if she did was the last thing they needed right now.

They all held their breath as Trina eased the door open.

The whole house was silent.

Trina stuck her head out and looked around. “It’s not here,” she whispered.

Kat moved forward as soon as Trina did, with Julius right behind her. The Curse could be anywhere. Her gaze shifted to the bed. She knelt and looked under it.

Nothing.

Julius had crept over to the closet, pausing to get the Guardian knife out of the drawer. Once armed, he slid the door open. Shook his head.

All their gazes turned to the door leading to the hallway. Kat crept up to Trina’s side. “There’s a door to the right that goes upstairs and one to the left near the stairs where the animals are.”

“We go out at the same time. You turn right, I’ll turn left. You close the door that leads upstairs.”

Kat nodded as Julius came up behind them. “Didn’t hear that.”

“Good.” Trina nodded once. “Stay behind us or better yet, stay here.”

Kat frowned. Trina wasn’t exactly doing her part to get along with Julius, either.

Together, they stepped into the hall. Kat kept her gaze on her side, scanning the dark corners at the end of the hall near the open door. The Curse could be upstairs. Or it could be behind the door.

She sneaked forward, sticking to the far wall, her gaze darting from the door to the opening. Bit by bit, the stairs came into view. The lights were on upstairs, but she didn’t see any shadows moving on the staircase. For a few seconds she paused, watching, listening. When there was no sound, she reached out and gave the door a push, enough that it swung partially closed.

Nothing hid behind the door. She closed it the rest of the way. If the Curse was upstairs, they’d hear the door open when it came out.

She turned and almost jumped out of her skin. Julius was right behind her. “Gaia.”

He put his hand on the small of her back and ushered her back down the hall toward where Trina waited outside her patients’ room. It was too quiet in there. None of the animals were making any noise. The running wheel in the mouse’s cage was still. The hawk didn’t squawk or ruffle her feathers. They were all still and alert in their cages. They sensed the danger.

Trina sidled around the right.

Kat entered the room, going straight ahead, but keeping her gaze on the door. It wasn’t pushed all the way against the wall. She reached out and with a finger on the knob, pulled it out so she could see behind it.

A giggle came from behind her. Above her.

“Look out!” Julius grabbed her arm and pulled her back out of the room.

She turned. The Curse scrabbled across the ceiling, jumping down to fill the doorway.

Shoot. Her fingers slipped on the lid of the jar as she tried to open it.

Julius fell back, sprawling on the floor.

Trina released a spray of holy water and pustules bubbled up on the Curses diseased flesh.

The metal lid scraped against the glass jar as Kat twisted it off.

The Curse lunged for Julius as Kat pulled the lid from the jar.

With a screech, it froze mid-air, hovering over Julius, arms extended, claws millimeters from his face. The salt drew on the holy water, shrinking the Curse and pulling it into the jar. As soon as it was fully inside, Kat rammed the cap on and twisted it shut.

Julius stared at her, swallowing hard. “Jesus Christ on Sunday.”

She gave him a tentative smile. “It’s gone.”

He let out a breath. “Yeah.” Laid back and laughed. “Sure as shit, I’m glad that’s over.”

Trina joined them in the hallway. “That thing was mean as fuck.” She slouched against the wall. “I’ll take it back with me. You don’t want to risk having that jar break anywhere near Crowley.”

“It’s all yours.” Kat gave it to her. “Are you going to stay a bit?”

“Long enough to get the book.”

The Devil’s Bible. Trina had done her part, now she had to give the book to her. “It’s in the bedroom.”

Jules got to his feet and they all went back into the bedroom.

She pulled the book out of the dresser. “It doesn’t open for everyone. Mother could never get it to—” She swallowed, freezing with her hand on the book. Trina and Lilith would see the Dybbuk curse eventually. They’d realize she must have opened the book for Mother. Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier?

Julius’ hands settled on her shoulders. He leaned down and his lips brushed her ear. “Tell her, butterfly. You gotta get it out in the open.”

Kat nodded and turned to face Trina. “Mother wasn’t always easy to live with.” She clutched the book to her chest.

“We know.” Trina tipped her head toward the book. “When we realized you had the Devil’s Bible, when you said the spells inside were awful, we figured Rowena must’ve gotten her spells from inside.”

They knew. They already knew what she’d done and they’d still helped her. “You must hate me. Both of you.”

She shook her head. “Lilith and I know all about doing what we had to do to survive. You had it as bad as us, just in a different way.”

Her lips quirked. “I’m starting to think you aren’t as tough as you make everyone think.” She handed Trina the book.

For a moment, they all stared as Trina ran her hand over the cover. Then over the latches. Nothing happened.

Kat shrugged. “Like I said, it doesn’t always open for everyone.”

Julius scoffed. “It likes me.”

Trina’s head jerked up. “You’ve opened the book?”

“Nah. As soon as I pick it up, it kinda falls open.”

“Show me.” Trina held the book out.

Sure enough, as soon as he had it in his hands, the latches released.

Trina sidled closer. “There are blank pages inside. That’s what I need to see.”

He flipped to the first blank page and ran his hand down the parchment. Words rose to the surface of the page.

---

The Original created the Tanin’iver by giving a lost soul a body meant for another. He’ll be forever cursed until he makes a great sacrifice.

The Tanin’iver was first called Abaddon, the Destroyer. He was the first soul and will be the last. The Original renamed him the Tanin’iver in an effort to trick the goddess, but she was not fooled.

---

He snapped the book shut and handed it to Trina. “It’s bullshit. Nothing but a fairytale.”

Except it wasn’t. Kat shook her head. “He’s the Knight. The one that can help you and Lilith destroy the wayward Watcher. The poem says: When the Original is no longer cursed she’ll come to thee as three. All as humans first, then as daemons are set free: The beacon burning bright, the shadow hidden from sight, the blighted, damned knight.”

Julius pressed his lips together. “I’m blighted? Nice.”

“There has to be a way out of the curse. You and Lilith—”

Trina rolled her eyes. “Lilith’n me’ve been reincarnating for centuries. We’ve had no choice but to live out the goddess’ curse. And the Watchers are imprisoned in their towers—they’re living out the goddess’ curse, too. None of us have “gotten out” of her curses and neither will he.”

Julius scoffed. "I don't need to get out of anything. You don't believe this shit, do you?"

When they both turned to stare at him, he conceded a little. “Curses, yeah. I get that. I’ve seen those. But a goddess?”

Kat ignored him. "Trina, all curses can be reversed. You know that."

Her jaw clenched. "There's a precedence here, Kat. We didn't get our powers back until we learned our lessons. The Watchers, they're still living out their punishment, still learning their lessons. He's the only one who hasn't satisfied the goddess." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I want this to work for you, Kat, but he needs to prove he's sane and trustworthy.”

Julius looked back and forth between them. “To who?”

Kat swallowed. “The Original.” She wet her lips. “You have to prove yourself to Trina and Lilith before they’ll help us.”

“A small sanity test.” Trina’s smile was razor-sharp.

The sidelong glance Julius shot Kat was wary. “How the hell am I supposed to do that? You should’ve just let that fucking curse do me in.”

She reached out and squeezed his arm. “You’ll do fine.”

“Even if he succeeds in that, there's this." She smacked her hand onto the book. "And if he escapes the curse, the humans want him. This might be a lost cause."

“Humans?”

Kat shook her head. He didn’t need to know about that. Not yet.

“This is hopeless.” Julius dragged his hand down his face. “And here I thought the Guardians were my biggest problem.”

Trina’s gaze shot between him and Kat. “That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about.”

“Oh?” He folded his arms over his chest. “Why’s that?”

“There’re only two left.”

“Two? That can’t be right. The Guardians are the best

trained—”

“Yeah, and it only took one asshole to get them all ashed.” Trina took a step toward Julius.

“Enough.” Kat slipped between the two. “Stop. We’re all on the same side.”

Trina took a step back. “I should get back. I’m gonna hold onto this.” She took the book. “I want to see if Lilith can open it. I’ll see you later, Kat.”

Kat let out a pent-up breath as Trina spell-traveled from the room. More likely than not, Trina just wanted to keep the book well away from Julius.

“What did I do?” He sat at the edge of the bed. “I thought maybe I killed some humans and the Guardians were after me . . . but she made it sound like I destroyed them.” He looked up. “How is that even possible? Why the hell do the humans want me? They don’t even know about daemon kind.”

She nodded. “They do now.”

“Tell me what I did.” He stood.

“If we force your memories, they might not come and you need them, Jules. Now that the felo-de-se curse is gone, you have time. Let the memories come on their own. You have important information in that head of yours.” After all that time, he must know the name of the Watcher who had possessed him. “Information that could protect us all. We can’t risk rushing your memories and you losing that information.”

Part of her didn’t want him to remember. Part of her was terrified he’d remember being an active participant. Another part of her hoped he’d remember something to exonerate himself.

She slid her hand into his. “Let’s grab something to eat.”