"I do not have a soul."

I nuzzled the area where his jaw met his ear. "I could never love a man who had no soul. Yours is almost within reach, but it's at risk of being torn away if we step out of line. So rather than have you tempt fate, why don't we do this the easy way?"

"Nothing is ever easy where you are concerned," he mumbled against my hair, but I could feel his resistance fading with each nibble on his ear. "How do you think you can pay Seal?"

"That book Gigli offered me, the Charmer book. When I was flipping through it I saw something about how to charm a curse that changes someone temporarily into a toad. It looked like it had drawings and complete details about how to unmake the curse, so all I have to do is reverse everything to cast the curse. Considering that what Seal wants is the Iron Fist guy out of his hair but not killed—something I wholeheartedly agree with—what better way to do it than to curse him into toadhood?"

Adrian's kiss was sweet, so sweet it brought tears to my eyes. "There is a big difference between charming and casting a curse, Hasi, and you yourself have said you are not a Charmer. While you may ward with impunity, charming exacts too heavy a price. Can you imagine what a curse would cost you? I will not have you risking yourself on my behalf."

"I'm totally with you on the not wanting to blow out any more of my brain circuits, but I don't think this is going to be a problem. After all, I've got you. I'm immortal now, aren't I?"

Adrian gave me a long look. "No, you are not."

"I'm not? Why aren't I? Haven't we done that Joining thing?"

His eyes, always a barometer to his feelings, darkened to midnight. "There is still the seventh step, the final step."

"Which is?"

"A blood exchange."

"Oh." I looked at his neck, at the spot where his pulse beat slow and true. "I get to do the vamp thing to you, huh? OK. I can do that. It… uh… doesn't have to be a lot of blood, does it? I'm not sure if I'd like that."

"No, it does not have to be a lot of blood. One drop will do, but that point is moot. We will not conduct the final step of Joining."

I goggled at him. "We won't? Why won't we?"

He tried to turn his head, but I grabbed his ears and made it stay put. Pain flickered in his eyes, swelling within him, mingling with regret and guilt that he had drawn me so far along the path of Joining.

"You don't think you're going to survive Saer," I said, reading the echo of his thoughts even though he struggled to keep them from me. "You think he's going to destroy you, and you don't want to leave me unprotected, a Beloved without her Dark One. Why, Adrian? Why would you think your brother would try to destroy you?"

He pulled my hands off his ears, gently pushing me back onto the seat. "You do realize what casting a curse involves, don't you?"

"Other than invoking ill will on someone, no, and don't change the subject. Why do you think Saer is going to mash you into vampire pulp? And why don't you think you can beat the pants off him if he tries?"

"To conjure a curse, you must first call a demon. It is through the demon that the curse is cast."

"Why do you think Saer is… a demon?" I stared at Adrian in growing horror. "You mean a demon demon? The kind demon lords have, those sorts of demons? The icky, nasty, mean things that rain terror and horror upon mankind? The habitants of hell?"

"Yes," he said, opening the door as the taxi stopped in front of the pink part of Gigli's house.

I scurried out after him, waiting until he paid the driver to ask, "I don't suppose there are any good demons, are there?"

"A good demon?"

"Yeah, you know, kind of how you're like a good vampire. I was hoping maybe there is a lesser sort of demon that isn't too bad that I could work with."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "No. There are no good demons."

"Oh." I thought that over as we made our way upstairs, Adrian nodding to Jada as she tossed a drunken patron down the stairs. I looked after the man in surprise. He had to be at least a foot and a half taller and fifty pounds heavier than Jada, and yet she tossed him down the stairs like it was nothing.

"Strength spell. Not even the biggest of the lot can fight it," she told me, her blind eyes on me for a moment before turning to Adrian. "Gigli is expecting you. Don't forget to ward yourselves this time."

Adrian swore under his breath as Jada cackled her dry, ancient crone cackle, dusting off her gnarled hands with satisfaction before reclaiming a comfortable-looking rocking chair next to the door. "You must draw the ward, Hasi," he said.

"Why? If you know how to do it, it makes more sense for you to do it than me. I'm not sure how much warding charge I have in my mental batteries."

"I cannot ward." Adrian pulled me toward the door at the end of the short hallway, behind which I could hear the dull throb of music. I shivered, remembering how that music had seemed to burn into my blood, pushing my need for Adrian to the forefront of my mind.

"Really? Dark Ones can't draw wards?"

"Others can, I cannot. I am cursed, bound to a demon lord, which leaves me without the resources to ward. The glamour ward is drawn thusly…"

It took me five minutes of practicing before I could draw the ward to his satisfaction.

"I hope that does it," I said as I finished drawing the ward over him. It glowed weakly for a moment, then evaporated into the air, leaving behind a faint pattern I could see only when I wasn't looking directly at it.

Adrian took my wrist as I reached for the door. "No. You must be certain that you drew the ward correctly. The power of a ward comes from your belief in the ability to draw it. If you do not believe, the ward will offer no protection."

"It won't? No one ever told me that before." I bit my lower lip. "Maybe we should ask Jada or someone to ward us? I'm not sure that my ward will hold up—"

"I believe it will," he answered, rubbing this thumb over my abused lip. "I have confidence in your abilities, Hasi. You have great power that you have not yet touched."

I opened my mouth to protest, but the look of pride in his sapphire eyes brought a warmth to my heart that I hadn't known was missing. I touched his cheek and knew he was telling the truth—he really did have faith in me. He believed I could do anything I tried. That knowledge glowed inside me, reinforcing the wards I had drawn on us both. They flared gold for a moment, then shimmered into the air.

"Right," I said, my hand on the doorknob, feeling reckless and invincible, as if we were starring in a high-budget action flick. "Come on, Vampbo, let's get this over with, so we can go find your brother and get that ring back."

"Vampbo?" Adrian sighed as I threw open the door and marched into the room, my head held high, pushing my way through the small, crowded dance floor. "Never has anyone treated me like you do. I am feared and shunned by all. I am never mocked or teased. I am the Betrayer—"

"And I"—I elbowed my way through the crowd, tossing a smile over my shoulder at Adrian—"am your Beloved, which makes me the Charminator! Out of my way, dancing humanoid! The Betrayer and I have important business to attend to."

I heard Adrian sigh again, but paid his faux regret no attention. I knew from touching him just how much he cherished the fact that I wasn't afraid of him, that I would fight for him, that I had chosen him over freedom.

Now we just had to see about salvaging that soul of his...