His lips tightened. I’m going to check, he signed.

Jay came in with a worried look and he put his arm protectively around Patti. I motioned for them to stay where they were. If there were whisperers here, we were all busted. We had no good reason to be together.

Kaidan went out the front door and I inspected all of the rooms, looking out the windows. Nothing. Kai came back in and shook his head. I let out a relieved breath.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m paranoid.”

“You have every right to be,” Patti said. Still holding Jay’s arm, she led him into the family room.

Kai and I studied each other, both of us tense and edgy. Switzerland was six hours ahead of us. The Dukes could be headed back to their homelands now. The whisperers could have been spiriting around the world for hours already.

Kaidan signed, You’re sure you didn’t see anything?A dark spot, I signed. It was gone so fast, like a blur. They usually . . . I didn’t know the sign for linger, so I spelled it out. I could see the pulsing in his temples as he ground his teeth together.

He’d be leaving in just over an hour, and then I’d go back to campus. Classes would start in a couple days. We’d continue living our facades until it was time to act.

The four of us stayed together in the living room, surrounded by a worrisome tension. We turned on the television.

Patti gasped and sat up straight, pointing the remote at the television to turn up the volume. Big Rotty’s picture was on the screen. We all sat on the edge of our seats, staring at the news report. A D.C. officer came on.

“We’re not sure what the motives of the perpetrator might be, but this is not the work of an amateur. Body theft is a serious, rare crime. Psychologists on the force warn that the person or persons who generally commit this type of crime are not mentally stable. If you have any news about the theft of the body of James F. Cooper, known to the world as Big Rotty, please contact the authorities immediately. Do not approach the suspects on your own.”

“Oh my gosh,” I whispered.

Big Rotty’s mom was on-screen next. She had long, elaborate weaves of curls around her made-up face, and she didn’t look sad like I’d expected. She was glowing. “I got my own theory. I don’t think my boy’s dead. Mm-mm.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I think he planned all this. He pulled a Machiavelli, and now he at some island living the good life!” She laughed with pride, like her son had hoodwinked the world.

“Wow . . . ,” Jay said.

“I still can’t believe he chose that body,” I said. “He’s always so careful about every detail.”

“He’s got a lot on his mind,” Patti said.

“He’ll shed the body if it becomes an issue,” Kaidan assured us.

Patti put the television on a cooking show and I snuggled close to her like old times, letting her play with my hair. Just that contact meant so much. I watched Kaidan and Jay on the other side of the room. Jay with his guitar, and Kai patting a beat on his knee. They’d work one line at a time, mapping out the notes and rhythm. Within an hour they’d written a gorgeous ballad.

Jay stared over the notes sheet with amazement. Kaidan gave me a wink. He’d helped get Jay’s mind off Marna’s absence in the only way possible.

“I should probably shower and get ready,” Kaidan said with reluctance.

My stomach dropped at the thought of him leaving.

“I’ll come show you where everything is,” I said.

He followed me upstairs, and I pulled a towel and washcloth from the linen closet. He could have done it himself, but I wanted one last moment alone with him. I set the towel on the sink in the bathroom, and I heard the door shut.

Kaidan pressed up against me from behind, placing his hands over mine on the edge of the sink. I looked up and caught his eyes in the mirror, smoky and intense.

His voice came out a low rumble and he never looked away from my reflection. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I don’t want you to go either,” I whispered.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, still holding my eyes with his. I turned and kissed his warm lips, then pulled away despite his reluctance to let go. I couldn’t keep him any longer.

I left Kaidan to shower and went downstairs to join the others.

My foot had just hit the bottom step when I heard a strange gargled sound from Patti, like she was being strangled.

Jay yelled her name. I’d never heard him sound so terrified.

Panic flared in my chest and my body roared into action. I bent at the waist, hiking up my pant leg and ripping the hilt from its case. I ran into the family room, barely feeling the zing of the sword against the palm of my hand.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.

Jay was swarmed by demons. They overlapped one another, but I was able to discern three whispering at him, and a fourth hovering in front of the couch a few feet away. Patti was nowhere. Jay stepped backward, moaning, clutching his hair and shaking his head. His guardian angel tried to fight them off, but was pushed aside repeatedly by the demons.

A current of power ran up my arm and blood rushed through my ears so fast I could hardly hear. I moved forward, ready to attack, but stopped at the sight of something writhing on the floor in front of the couch.

Patti.

The whisperer I’d seen was hovering above her, and another spirit was halfway inside her body. Her guardian angel was going ballistic, unable to stop the dark spirits. A gagging noise came from Patti’s throat as she fought, trying to sit up, then convulsing.

As my arm swung toward the demons, a brilliant golden light poured from the end of the hilt, hot and sharp, piercing the top half of the spirit that was trying to possess Patti. With a piercing crack, the dark spirit imploded and disappeared. Patti’s head fell to the carpet and she coughed. Her guardian angel immediately covered her as the dark spirit above them seemed frozen in shock and fear, its face ugly and contorted.

I lunged forward just as it spun to flee, but all it took was a slice from the tip of the sword as I swung it through the air, and the spirit arched in pain before imploding and vanishing. Maybe the sword returned the spirit to hell, or maybe it vanquished it—I didn’t know or care.

A commotion sounded from upstairs, and I realized Kaidan had heard and would be down any second, but I didn’t want the whisperers to know he was here.

“Don’t come down!” I screamed.

In a swift move I crossed the room, stabbing the other spirit that had left Jay to join the attack on Patti. With a loud snap, it was gone.

Jay jumped back, appearing terrified when his eyes landed on the sword. The two other whisperers finally looked up, like two oblivious birds of prey torn unwillingly from their fresh meal.

They wore twin expressions of realization, then shrieked inhuman sounds, high and grating, a shrill whistle that only demons and their children could hear.

I yelled, “Move!” to Jay, who obeyed without question as my arm began an arc through the air. The light sliced into the first spirit and narrowly missed the second as it dove backward through the wall to the backyard.

I could hear Kaidan running down the stairs now.

“Crap!” I sprinted for the back door and threw it open, racing outside. I glimpsed the demon whisperer as it flew into the trees, out of sight. Away.

No!

In the absence of danger, the sword’s light faded into nothing, leaving my hand and arm cold and numb.

I was in trouble now. Big trouble. Because that spirit was on its way to rat me out to all the Dukes and whispering Legionnaires. They’d know about the Sword of Righteousness. I wanted to freak out, but there was no time for that. Running on legs that were still buzzing with adrenaline, I found Jay and Kaidan crouched next to Patti, who had propped herself against the couch. Her face was pale and damp with sweat.