Immediately, all three scrambled toward my mother and me like we were the last drop of water in the desert. First, Serena collided with my mother, wrapping her in such a ferocious hug that we had to drop our linked hands. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, since Gaby drew me into a similarly all-encompassing embrace. Eli just fell at my feet, touching the toe of my boot as if he felt that was all he really deserved.

“It’s you,” Gaby breathed, already sniffling back tears. “You found me.”

“Shhh, I’m here,” I said loudly. But as we held each other, I spun us around so that her back faced the demons. I ran one hand across her shoulders in a comforting motion. Then, very carefully, I used my other hand to pull some Transfer Powder from my pocket and fold a portion of it into Gaby’s palm.

“When I tell you to,” I whispered, “swallow this and then try to do whatever it is that I’m doing, okay?”

She nodded imperceptibly and then released me so that I could crouch down next to Eli. Before I touched him, I glanced back up at my mother. I could see that she was holding a similar conversation with Serena, slipping her the powder as subtly as possible.

Knowing that it was now or never, I gently placed my empty palm on Eli’s shoulder. He flinched under my touch, cowering so badly that he shook. The demons noticed his behavior and laughed, which only made him drop lower to the ground.

“Eli,” I murmured, still touching him, “Eli, look at me. Please.”

When he finally peered up, I was stunned to see that the rims of his eyes were so red, they looked raw. If those eyes were any indication, he’d been crying nonstop for months.

“I’m sorry,” he moaned, tearing up once again. “Amelia, I’m so sorry. For you—for everyone I trapped in here.”

Slipping my powder-free hand beneath his elbow, I hefted him upward so that we were both on our knees, facing each other. Now that his body blocked mine from the demons’ view, I cupped his hand and meted out about half the powder I still had in my palm. This meant that I had very little left for myself—just enough for one last gulp.

Eli frowned in obvious confusion, but he took the powder without comment.

“I forgive you,” I said loudly. “I hope you can swallow that forgiveness. Internalize it, you know?”

Understanding dawned on Eli’s face and he rose with me so that we both stood now. I opened my arms, signaling that we should all come together for a kind of group hug. After they’d done so, I hissed, “When I glow—you do it, too.”

Then I stepped forward from the pack and faced the demons.

“Thank you for letting them stand here,” I said, using a far more commanding voice than I had earlier. “Now, have you made a decision about me?”

Belial did not miss my new, insolent tone. He arched one eyebrow questioningly.

“I’ll have to confer with my fellow judges first.”

“No,” I said firmly. “I want to know now.”

In the jury box, the demons began to murmur angrily. Belial peered back at them before turning his black eyes upon me.

“What gives you the right to make a demand of us?” he asked.

“You bargained with me,” I insisted. “My mom’s soul, for my future.”

The demon let out a shrill, skin-crawling laugh, as did his companions. “I said we would consider your future. The option of destruction is still very much on the table.”

“That’s not fair!” I shrieked, forcing my voice into a higher octave than it had ever reached.

My glow erupted across my skin—dim at first, but gaining intensity as I grew genuinely angry. I’d expected the demons to double-cross me; in fact, their treachery was integral to my plan. But that didn’t mean I had to like it.

Seeing my glow, hearing my shriek, Belial actually winced but he soon recovered, giving me a glare that could have melted titanium.

“Silence,” he boomed, seeming to double in size. He suddenly towered over me, casting sinister shadows across the room. “Return to your companions while we confer.”

I started to shudder uncontrollably. Although I’d been trying to fool them earlier, I certainly didn’t need to feign terror now. I hurried to rejoin my mother and my friends, trying to not shiver as I stood closer to them.

“Now. Swallow now,” I hissed. Each of my fellow ghosts ducked down, hiding their heads as they ingested the Transfer Powder I’d given them; I did the same. When we’d finished, I motioned that we should spread out, take one another’s hands, and stand in a unified line: Serena, my mother, me, Gaby, and, lastly, Eli.

Standing there with my small crew, I began to pray to whoever might listen. Please, I whispered in my mind, please give them your holy fire. Just once. And just enough.

When Belial turned back around, wearing a beatific smile, I could see my companions stiffen in anticipation. “Wait,” I whispered when I sensed their restless tension. “Wait.”

Each of these ghosts had suffered, but none of them had ever faced anything like this. Still, they couldn’t act without ruining everything. Not yet.

As Belial continued to smile silently, I felt an electric frisson of worry. If the demonic tribunal really did decide to make me a soul reaper or—worse—a wraith, then all was lost; everything I’d had to do to Joshua, my mother, my living friends and my dead ones . . . all of it would be wasted.

But when the rest of the demons stood, too, rising like a real jury, triumph surged within me.

“Amelia Elizabeth Ashley,” Belial pronounced. “We have decided. We have hereby determined that you are too great a threat to be allowed to roam free as a reaper. Moreover, we do not relish the idea of you occupying your own corner of our world. So we will grant the request you did not actually make: we will end your soul, as you ended Kade LaLaurie’s. And, as you did ask, we will also end the souls of those who stand beside you now.”

“No,” I pleaded, faking my tone but not my tears. “You can’t do this to us—not after I killed my mother for you.”

“That was your mistake,” he taunted softly. “Not ours.”

“H-how?” I stuttered, willing my glow to burn just a watt or two brighter. “How will you end all of us?”

The demons appraised me for a moment, and then their leader grinned. Obviously, Belial had received a clear message from the demonic hive mind—a message that I hoped to God worked in my favor.

“Fire,” he breathed. “Your existence will burn out in the very fire of which you’re so fond.”

I tried not to smile. I also tried not to cry, especially when five purple-hued trees appeared, standing tall behind each of us ghosts. Still gripping tightly to Gaby’s and my mother’s hands, I spun around and saw that a small pile of kindling lay beneath each tree. Five wraiths waited next to the trees, each holding a weirdly blue-flamed torch.

I knew instantly what the trees and torches signified: the demons intended to burn us at the stake, like witches.

“N-no,” I stuttered again, partly in genuine horror. “Please, anything but this.”

“This grows tiresome,” a female demon called out from the jury box. “Let the entertainment begin.”

Belial wasted no time: he jerked his head at my wraith and it immediately obeyed, snaking an inky tendril around my shoulders and wrenching me backward, away from my mother and Gaby. Before I could fake another struggle or protest, the wraith pinned me to the tree, which then came to life as it wrapped two branches across my arms and abdomen. Within a matter of seconds, I could no longer move.

This new element of confinement frightened me, almost beyond thought. My entire plan hinged on my companions and me being able to hold hands so that our glows would connect. I had no idea how this might work, otherwise. I writhed and twisted inside my bonds, all the while watching the same imprisonment happen to my mother, Gaby, Serena, and Eli. Eventually, we were all pinned to our hellish stakes.