“Why do I feel like you’re holding something back?”
“Because I am. If I tell you everything, despite your determination to face the monsters who have taken so much from you, you might say no.” She smiled then, a totally evil spreading of her lips that made her look more like a monster than an angel. “Don’t fear what you don’t understand. Ultimately, our connection will aid you in your cause. Remember why you summoned me. Step aside. Consider our bargain made. Seek out your sister and vampire while you still can.”
She waited until I took a step back before she started breaking through the mirror, leaving behind Hell to enter my world. White light, more blinding than the sun, flooded the bathroom. Then it was gone, replaced by the form of Marigold Vesta. She seemed out of place in the small room, too powerful to be contained inside.
“I will enter your body and grant you the use of my power until you retain possession of the amulet. However, I cannot stay overlong. If I do, we will begin to merge permanently. It’s dangerous business, joining spirits. Afterward, you’re on your own. Don’t make me regret this decision. Do what you must and focus your attention on returning me to my true form.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Then how about I sweeten the pot? Give you more of an incentive to survive and find me sooner rather than later?”
“It can’t hurt,” I said, even if the fallen angel’s small promises wouldn’t necessarily help.
“If you revive me, you’ll never have to fear anyone or anything again. I offer you my protection. No one will dare harm you, I give you my word.”
“Why would you do that?” It didn’t make any sense. I owed her, not the other way around. Sure, she wanted out of Hell. But no one extended a gift like she was offering without expecting something in return.
“Because you are a victim, someone who has endured more than anyone should. I was sent to your dimension to protect those who cannot protect themselves. During my captivity, many lives have been tainted. This is my atonement for my absence, for their suffering as a penalty for my stupidity. You will no longer fear looking over your shoulder, for you will have an angel resting upon it.” Her eyes gleamed, the violet becoming vivid and bright. “Those who have hurt you this eve are one of many. They should reside only in Hell, where they were meant to be.”
“You do realize that once we do this, vampires the world over will be searching for me. If I can pull it off, I’m going to become vampire and half-demon enemy number one.”
“Then find me, Rhiannon Murphy. Return me to my true form. Demons cower when an angel spreads its wings.”
This was it, no going back. “Let’s do this.”
When she lifted her hand toward my face, I didn’t move. Her fingertip touched my forehead and it felt as though she entered my body at the point of contact. Power—raw, blissful, encompassing—rushed through me. It was like the surge of lightning I felt when I called on the amulet, but different. This was something that wasn’t outside of me, but spread from within—deep from within.
Marigold slowly dissipated, becoming a part of me. Unlike the time before when I was possessed—during an attempt to talk to a ghost of all things—I wasn’t taken to another room or tricked into believing I was somewhere else. I retained control of my thoughts, but my body belonged to Marigold—her senses, instincts and, frighteningly enough, her thrill of impending bloodshed, pulsed through me.