The air next to me shimmered for a blink, and Tabitha appeared. Like the Rhineses, Tabitha smelled cold, and faintly like menthol. Her eyes, eerily white, took me in, as if unbelieving that she was here.
“Hey, Dane,” she said, her tone kinder than it ever had been in life. “Who would have guessed this would happen, eh?”
I couldn’t help myself, I snorted out a laugh. “That I’d invite you into my head to protect me from the Queen of Hell? I can’t believe you didn’t realize that was my master plan all along.”
Tabitha’s lips curled up in the first real smile she’d ever given me. “Well, then you’re a hell of a lot smarter than I gave you credit for. Sorry about how I treated you, by the way. It was shallow and unearned.” She shook her head. “I’m glad you and Di became friends.”
“I’m sorry you had to die. And I’m also glad Diana and I have become friends. If you’d like, you two can talk later—through me, of course.”
When Tabitha’s eyes lit up, I knew that was a date I’d have to set up.
“For now, though,” I held out the bowl of blood, “what do you say we work together to finish off the royals?”
Tabitha’s smile grew so big that all of her teeth showed. “I’m so down with that.” She took the bowl from my hands and drank deep. Once done, she set the bowl on the floor, and we waited for Amethyst.
“Tabitha Goode, do you promise to bind yourself to Odette Dane’s mind? To protect her from possession by the Queen of Hell, Ishtar, with all your might?”
“I will,” Tabitha said.
“And Odette Dane, do you promise to house Tabitha within you, and make her comfortable until such a time that she must leave?”
“Yes,” I said.
Amethyst inclined her head. “Join hands.”
Tabitha’s ghostly hand clasped mine, and a strange sensation rolled through me, as if I were being lifted from the earth ever so slightly—it was accompanied by cold, almost freezing temperatures.
“It will go away once she’s finished,” Tabitha whispered.
“Thanks,” I whispered back, grateful the sensation would be fleeting.
Amethyst extended her hands to us, and a ball of purple light bloomed there. It struck me in that instant that her magic was the same color as Mélanie’s power.
Huh, maybe purple magic is a spirit worker thing?
I didn’t have time to ruminate on it long, because Amethyst began to chant.
“May two join as one until the living’s work is done. May two join as one until the living’s work is done. May two join as one until the living’s work is done.”
Amethyst stretched the purple ball of light toward me, and I prepared myself for the binding.
“Capistrum.”
Tabitha disappeared with a wink, and a strange weight appeared in my head. Unlike when Louise moved in, Tabitha didn’t shuffle around much—or pry. She simply checked out a couple of spots and stilled.
I blinked. That was easy—much easier than in the past.
“Are you okay?” Amethyst rushed forward.
“Yeah.” My eyebrows pulled together. “Fine. I barely notice her there. Which is weird. The other ghost was nosy.”
We’re from the same time period, and I don’t care about any of your boring secrets. Only revenge on those damned demons.
I caught a strange flash of Tabitha rubbing her hands together like an evil villain from a movie, and laughed out loud.
Amethyst startled. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she pressed, not convinced.
“Yeah, fine. You did great,” I promised. “What do you say you do Eva? Then we can make a plan to return to our realm.”
