“Fifi, you got a sec?”

  “Sure, what’s up? How are you feeling?” I asked via speakerphone as I got dressed for work.

  “Like a lame horse that hasn’t eaten in a week and got ridden around town all night before getting hit by a truck going 60 miles an hour,” she answered.

  “I’m not even sure what that means.”

  “It means I feel like shit.”

  “I’m sorry,” I started, before something occurred to me. “Why are you calling me? You should be in bed resting.”

  “Because my dumb ass went and used Zorba Oil last night and couldn’t stop channeling prophetic dreams all night.”

  “Okay…”

  “So, I was right about Euryvos dying by magic,” she said. “From what the Zorba dreams showed me, he killed himself by swallowing every last potion the witch—”

  “Rhea,” I corrected.

  “Rhea brewed.”

  “Ouch, what a way to go.”

  “Yeah, it wasn’t a good way to go—that’s for sure.”

  “Then what did you see?”

  I heard the shuffling of paper. “I wrote it all down as soon as I woke up so I wouldn’t forget anything,” she explained. “You know—you’re always supposed to immediately write down your dreams as soon as you have them? Your conscious mind will naturally want to do away with them as soon as it takes over, so always write them down first thing. Usually they won’t make any sense to you the day after but—.”

  “Bailey, your point is getting lost.”

  She laughed. “This is what happens after a night with Zorba, and I’m amped up on six cups of coffee.”

  I glanced at the clock on my wall. “Bailey, it’s seven am.”

  “Your point?”

  “No point, no point.”

  “Okay,” she said as the shuffling of papers stopped. “In my dreams, I got the definite feeling that Euryvos was scared of Rhea.”

  “Hmm.”

  “I think he knows she’s trying to get into the house, but he doesn’t want her to.” She paused. “At least, that was the feeling I got.”

  “Why wouldn’t he want her to get into the house?”

  “Got me. I didn’t get any answers on that front but, if I had to guess, he probably figures she wants revenge for him killing her?”

  “What’s one ghost going to do to another?”

  “More like what’s a powerful Eidolon going to do to a demon?”

  I shrugged. “Okay, that too.”

  “Beats me.”

  “So… do you think Euryvos sent you the dreams?” I asked.

  “No, Zorba channeled the dreams for me, just as she was meant to.” I really wasn’t sure who Zorba was or what Zorba Oil was, but I also didn’t care enough to inquire.

  “Usually if energy is really strong in a place,” Bailey continued, “it can sometimes imprint itself on me and I later dream about details I didn’t get during the investigation. It’s like I still have a connection to the place and I can still siphon information from it.” She took a breath. “Anyway, I felt that connection when I got home and figured I’d encourage it with the Zorba Oil.”

  “So why do you think Rhea hasn’t been able to get into the house?”

  “I believe it’s Euryvos’ and Tobias’ fear keeping her out.”

  “How does that work?”

  “It was another detail I got last night,” Bailey said as the shuffling of papers commenced and I wondered just how many dreams she’d written down. “Ah, here it is.” Then she paused as she apparently read whatever she’d written. “Hmm, yeah, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but the gist is that I felt, through Zorba, that their fear was blocking Rhea from entering the house. It felt to me almost like the situation with a vampire—that Rhea has to be invited in.”

  And now I understood why she’d come to me. Tobias wouldn’t let her in and neither would Euryvos when he was in control of Tobias’ body, so Rhea came to find someone who could get her in—a realtor.

  “How would she have known Tobias was even thinking of putting the house up for sale, though?” I asked aloud, even though I’d only meant to think the thought. But, apparently Bailey was on my same wavelength, because she answered.

  “For all we know, Rhea is the one that put that thought into Tobias’ head. She was a witch in life, so it stands to reason she would also be powerful in death, so… she could have embedded that little kernel into his subconscious.”

  “And she was just waiting for him to actually list the house so I could get her access?”

  “Right,” Bailey answered. “I mean… if I had to guess.”

  “I still don’t know why Angelo and I are the only ones that could see her.”

  “Isn’t that obvious?”

  I tried not to get offended because Bailey wasn’t the type to purposely try to belittle someone. She was just one of those people who didn’t possess a filter. “No?” I asked.

  “You and Angelo are the only ones who can see her because you’re both demons. And she was killed by one of your kind. She chose to show herself to you both because you’re familiar to her.”

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  “And on that subject…remember how I said I thought Rhea’s death was accidental?”

  “Yes.”

  She breathed in deeply. “I believe Euryvos was feeding from Rhea, and in my Zorba dreams, I had the definite feeling that he believed her to be strong enough to support the feedings because she was a witch.”

  “But, let me guess, she wasn’t strong enough?”

  “Right,” Bailey answered. “He didn’t realize that his needs were too strong for her and he ultimately drained her to death. Then, realizing what he’d done, he was overcome with grief.”

  “And that’s why the energy in the house is as overwhelming as it is,” I said.

  “Yeppers.”

  She was quiet for a second and I wasn’t sure if she was just catching her breath or preparing to tell me more. “Was that it?” I asked, glancing at the clock again and realizing I was going to be late to work if I didn’t get moving, especially because I planned on stopping for coffee along the way. I needed some caffeine and then some.

  “No, there was one more thing.” Bailey paused. “I think I know the reason why there were never any murders or deaths associated with the Mathison house.”

  “You do?” Now I was really curious.

  “Yes, well, Euryvos buried Rhea in the woods after he killed her and I imagine she’s still buried there, unbeknownst to anyone.”

  “That would explain why no one knew about Rhea’s death. But what about Euryvos?”

  “I kept seeing the image of a well in my dreams last night,” she answered. “Over and over again.”

  “A well?” I repeated.

  “Yes, but when I looked at the Google map of the Mathison house and grounds, I couldn’t find a well anywhere.”

  “Hmm, then what do you make of it? Maybe it was just a random detail in your dream that didn’t mean anything?”

  “No,” Bailey said almost immediately. “Nothing in a Zorba dream is ever by chance. I think the well might be underneath the house—maybe in the basement or something.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Because that’s where Euryvos’ body is,” Bailey answered. “I kept getting the distinct impression that Euryvos fell into the well.”

  “What?” I asked, surprised. “How does someone just fall into a well?”

  She cleared her throat. “I believe he took Rhea’s potions and I think he intended to walk outside—towards the woods and her grave, but that’s where the information gets a bit blurry in my mind. Anyway, I think he happened to be near the well when his heart seized up and down he went into the well.”

  “So, Euryvos’s body is at the bottom of a well inside the basement?”

  “I believe so.”

  “I’ll ask Tobias if there’s a well underneath the house,” I offered. “As soon as we hang up.”

  “I think it’s worth looking into.”

  I was quiet for a moment as something occurred to me. “Then… Rhea isn’t trying to get inside the house because she’s missing the house or something in it—she’s trying to get inside the house to get to Euryvos?”

  Bailey was quiet for a moment before she answered. “Yes, I’d say that sounds about right.”

  “So… the most important question still remains.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “How are we going to get Euryvos out of Tobias so the poor guy can live a normal life?”

  There was silence on the other end of the line. “I’m not sure.”

  “That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for.”

  “This isn’t just a simple case of possession,” Bailey explained. “Euryvos is an incredibly powerful demonic spirit, and he doesn’t want to go anywhere.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “That’s the kicker, because I’m not sure. I’m afraid that if we just attempt an exorcism, we might end up turning Tobias into a vegetable, because there’s no way he possesses the stamina or the spiritual strength to endure an exorcism. That or he could die.”

  “Give me percentages here.”

  She took another deep breath. “I’d say if we attempt an exorcism, there’s probably a ninety percent chance Tobias will either die or end up a vegetable.”

  “Yikes,” I said.

  There was no way I was willing to take those odds.

  ***

  At the end of the day, I walked through my front door and felt exhausted, like I wanted to pop open a bottle of wine, drink the entire thing, and then pass out for the next two weeks. Luckily, Angelo wouldn’t be home tonight. He’d found some woman to keep him busy, and I doubted I’d see him again all weekend.

  I tossed off my shoes and then walked into the living room, collapsing into the couch as I propped my feet on the table and turned on the television. Of course, I didn’t imagine I’d be able to pay attention to whatever was on—not when my mind was racing (and had been) with details about the Tobias situation.

  Just as I’d told Bailey, I’d texted Tobias to ask about the well and he’d responded almost immediately saying there was, in fact, a well and it was located in his basement. Then he’d called me and I told him everything Bailey had told me, minus the part about him becoming a vegetable or dead if we attempted the exorcism. Some things were better left unsaid.

  When I heard the doorbell, I debated just staying where I was and pretending I wasn’t home. But then I figured whoever had come to visit had already seen the 4Runner in the driveway, so I pulled myself up to my feet and padded across the floor to the front door.

  When I pulled it open, I felt three emotions in order: 1) pleasant surprise 2) guilt and 3) anxiety that I was about to get read the riot act.

  “Fifi,” Roy said.

  “Roy,” I answered, and tried to smile. I was fairly sure it came out a little lopsided.

  “So… you’ve definitely been avoiding me.”

  And, yes, that was true, but not for the reasons he was thinking—well, not entirely for the reasons he was thinking. I hadn’t reached out to him because I didn’t want him to find out about what was going on at the Mathison house. I knew for sure that if Roy found out about what I was contemplating, he’d never let me do it. And it would probably cost me my seat on the council. Not that I really cared about my seat on the council anyway, because the council was really more of a hindrance than a help.

  “I’ve just been—”

  “Busy,” he interrupted, scowling at me. “Yeah, I know.”

  I cleared my throat and as I looked up at him, my succubus suddenly rose to the surface. It was the first time I’d felt her in a while and she immediately brought to mind memories of the feel of Roy deep inside me. In response, I felt myself flushing.

  “Can I come in?” Roy asked. “We need to talk.”

  “Oh, sure,” I said and then chastised myself for not having already invited him. Where were my manners? Sheesh, I was as bad as Angelo.

  Roy walked in and appeared ridiculously large in my entryway. This was the first time he’d ever come to my house and to see him here now, it struck me as odd. But there was also a little part of me that liked it—that felt warm about the idea of Roy being inside my house and learning more about my world.

  “What’s going on, Fifi?” he asked as we walked into the living room and he took a seat on the recliner chair just beside the sofa. The chair was Angelo’s spot and seeing Roy in it now struck me as funny for some weird reason. Maybe because I could just imagine Angelo having a little hissy fit if he knew Roy was sitting in his chair. Yes, Angelo could be petty like that.

  “Um, nothing is going on,” I started, but Roy shook his head.

  “You said you would text me three days ago but I haven’t heard from you. If you regret what happened, that’s okay, but you owe it to me, as your friend, to talk about it.”

  “I… I don’t regret it,” I said as I walked up to him but made no motion to sit.

  “Then why are you avoiding me?”

  I took a deep breath and didn’t know what to say. “I just… I’m not sure where we go from here or what… we are from here.”

  “What do you want us to be?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not sure.”

  He nodded. “I’m not sure either.”

  Well, what good was this conversation doing then?

  “I just… I’m not good at relationships,” I said with a little, embarrassed laugh as I tried to fill the void of quiet that had descended between us both. “You, of all people, know that because you’ve seen me go through so many breakups,” I continued, referencing the fact that while I’d worked for Roy, he’d seen the ups and mainly downs of my dating life.

  “I’m well aware,” he answered.

  “Then you probably don’t want any part of that,” I said, my voice dropping as I felt strangely rejected, even though I’d basically just rejected myself for him.

  “Part of me wants to run,” he admitted as he shrugged, but then turned his fiery gaze on me again. “But the other part… doesn’t.”

  “Oh.”

  “Oh.”

  I cleared my throat. “Why?”

  He looked at me as if Athena had just popped out of my face.

  “What kind of question is that?” he asked.

  “I don’t know—just a question?”

  He laughed and then shook his head as he took a deep breath. “I don’t know that I want to get into a big, long conversation about the pros and cons of us together, Fifi,” he started as he studied me for a moment before continuing. “But what I will say is… I haven’t thought about Poppy in a few days.”

  “Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to really say to that. “That’s good, right?”

  He chuckled again. “That’s really good. And it’s kind of a sign, I would think.”

  “It is?”

  “Yeah. I mean… ever since Poppy and I broke up, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her and the relationship and yadda yadda. That is, up until you and I… did what we did and then I haven’t thought about Poppy again until this moment.”

  “What have you been thinking about?”

  Then he looked at me, and I looked at him, and neither one of us said anything. He stood up suddenly, as if the chair had bitten him, took a step closer to me and then stopped. I felt my heart rate start to increase, and the breath caught in my throat as his eyes glassed over with a desire so obvious, I couldn’t have missed it—even if I closed my eyes.

  A split second later, I took the steps that separated us and then I was in his arms and his lips were on mine and his tongue was in my mouth. My fingers splayed across his back while his graced my hair.

  Then he lifted me up, and I wrapped my legs around his middle as he leaned me against the nearest wall for support. Shifting me in the other direction, he nearly tripped over my briefcase where I’d dropped it in the middle of the room and we both laughed before that intense desire overcame us again.

  Then he was pulling his shirt over his head, and I was unbuttoning my blouse in record time. My bra was suddenly flying through the air, as his jeans crumpled on the ground. A second or so later, my panties were off and then he was inside me. Pushing into me as he held me against the wall and stared into my eyes.

  And he growled just as primitively as he had the first time he’d taken me, his eyes glowing with a fierce, predatory light.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I just want to state for the record that I think this is beyond a bad idea,” Bailey said as she helped anoint me with a few of Poppy’s potions—Phoenix Oil which was meant to safely allow the spirit to release from the body, Olympian Oracle Oil which was meant to send vibrations of energy through the planes in order to reach the other side, and Fiery Wall of Protection Oil which was designed to do exactly that—protect.

  “Possession isn’t exactly a walk in the park and Rhea might be big-time pissed off,” Poppy added. She and Wanda had met us at Tobias’ house to help with this ritual. Marty, Henner and RJ were also present, setting up their ghost equipment as I prepared myself to receive Rhea’s spirit.

  The plan was that I would take Rhea into myself and if anything happened that I wasn’t planning on aka if Rhea decided to go bat-shit crazy, then Wanda and Poppy would force her from my body through gypsy and Blood Witch magic and once freed from my body, the guys would suck her spirit into the Hennerific—which was a strange invention meant to trap ghosts.

  As to why we’d decided possession was the best way forward? Wanda believed we would have a better chance corralling Rhea’s spirit (if we needed to) if she were bound to a body than we would if she were ether. Wanda also believed the high levels of demonic energy within Tobias’s house could further fuel Rhea’s power. And if she ended up being a bad spirit, fueling her with demonic power wouldn’t be a good idea.

  So that was our answer to getting Rhea inside the house. As to our answer for getting Euryvos out of Tobias? We weren’t going to attempt it at all. Wanda and Poppy had agreed with Bailey that an exorcism wasn’t the best option, owing to the intense power of Euryvos and the less intense power of Tobias. So, once I’d realized we couldn’t consider an exorcism, I’d done what I always did when faced with a problem—I’d broken it down into its pieces and asked myself—what did each party want?