“I think it’s the best idea I’ve had in months.”
“You sure about that?”
I wasn’t sure about anything—except that we had to get that book.
“This skinwalker,” Jimmy said. “How did he know Sawyer?”
“Sani trained him.”
“How is it that I’ve never heard of the guy then? Where has he been? Why isn’t he helping us?”
“He’s a little . . . trapped on the mountain.” Or he had been. I didn’t think it was advisable to admit that I’d set him free.
Jimmy lifted a brow. “Sawyer cursed him.”
“I’m sure he deserved it.”
“Unfortunately, most people tend to get pissy when they’re cursed, regardless of what they did to deserve it. You think Sani gave you good intel?”
I hadn’t thought. I’d just believed. And since I’d had the dream, vision, whatever about Jimmy hanging from that wall— I turned away so he wouldn’t see my face, clasped my fingers together so he wouldn’t see my hands shake. I could stop all that, but I had to have Sawyer’s help, and no one, not even Sanducci, was going to prevent me from getting it.
“This Nephilim is keeping the Book of Samyaza safe for the Antichrist,” I said. “If we walk away, if we let the Prince of 666 possess it, he’ll be—”
“Invincible. I know.” Jimmy bit his lip, thinking.
I kept my mouth shut. Sanducci would come around to my point of view. Because as many arguments as there were against taking the book, the only truth that mattered was this: We could not allow the Nephilim to keep it.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll help you, but only if we do the plenus luna malum spell first.”
My eyes widened. Plenus luna malum translated to “full moon evil”—a sex spell that confined evil beneath the moon. In other words, every month when the full moon rose Jimmy and I would be unable to control our vampire tendencies because we would have pushed all that violence into the single night when the moon grew round.
I fingered my collar. Once the spell was performed I could take the thing off because every other night of the month I’d be normal. Almost.
At first glance, the spell seemed like an excellent idea. However, upon further examination, the difficulties were apparent. If our vampires were only accessible one night a month, then any big bad getting its jollies from stomping on Tokyo would just keep stomping until the full moon rose and Jimmy and I were strong enough to kill it.
Also, when the vampire was confined to a single night it became stronger and more vicious, and when it was released the only way to control it was with powerful magic. The kind of magic only a few beings possessed—like Sawyer and me. If I was batshit at the time and Sawyer was dead, we were going to have problems.
Another very good reason for raising him.
“Why should we perform the spell before we steal the book?” I asked. “We might need the extra push of a badass vampire to get it.”
“We can handle things.”
“Still, it might be better to wait until we have the book before we confine our demons.” Just in case.
“We should not get anywhere near the Book of Samyaza with demons inside us. Who knows what a manuscript dictated by Satan might do to them.”
I didn’t like the images that tumbled through my brain at his words. We didn’t know. We might touch the cover and suddenly be compelled to remove our controls and join the other side. If the Nephilim owned Jimmy and me, plus that book, the world was more screwed than usual.
“You’ve been begging to reconfine your vampire since I let it out, but Ruthie said no,” I pointed out. “What changed her mind?”
Jimmy didn’t answer.
“You never asked her.” He shrugged. “She isn’t going to like it.”
“I thought you were in charge now.”
“I thought I was, too,” I muttered. But every day I discovered how delusional that thought was.
“If you want that book,” Jimmy said, “then we do the spell.”
“You’d really let the Nephilim keep it if I don’t agree?”
He looked me straight in the eye. “I really would.”
He seemed serious, but there was only one way to find out for sure. Quick as a March wind, I brushed my hand along his, and got a flash of him and Summer rolling across the sheets naked. I snatched my fingers back.
“You did that on purpose,” I accused.
“Stay out of my head. I’ve got a helluva lot of stuff in there you don’t want to see.”
Of that I had no doubt.
“Fine,” I snapped. “I agree. But there’s just one problem. I don’t know the plenus luna malum spell.”
Jimmy’s lips curved. “I do.”
“How did you—?” I began, and then I knew. “Summer.” She’d do anything he asked.
But Jimmy was shaking his head. “She didn’t tell me, I—” He shrugged and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. “—figured I might need it later and wrote it down.”