For long moments, the Uzita was able to drink from me. I was powerless, with my consciousness fading fast. My fire lore heated up the surface of my skin in my defense. At 200 degrees and climbing, my skin was molten lava and I looked as if I had a glowing sun burn. The Uzita's fangs and mouth were scalded by my heat. He yelped and jumped off, releasing me.

"Fuck me, that smarts!"

"Guess we're even then."

Behind the demon, the teenage girl was wide-eyed and awake. The Uzita's shout, along with the increased weirdness of the situation, gave her a jolt of adrenaline. Our eyes locked.

"You should go," I told her.

Fearful, the girl looked to the demon first. He was bent over in pain, paying no attention to her.

"Run!" I told her with more urgency.

The girl took my advice and ran in drunken-like zigzags into the darkness.

The Uzita had recovered by then, though his lips and face were visibly welted. He narrowed his silver eyes before spitting out, "Just because you have the fire lore doesn't make me afraid of you. You won't kill me. I can see into your heart."

"If what I try doesn't work, I will have no choice but to kill you."

"What are you planning on trying?"

I moved fast. In one fluid motion, my sword was out and thrust through the shoulder of the demon.

I drove it in with such force that the demon flew backwards until he met with the same brick wall he had pinned the girl to. The Uzita was surprised at my strength, and scared of what it meant for him.

"You're desperate," it said. "There is nothing you can try to get rid of me, save notifying a member of the Catholic Church."

"I'll have to settle for burning you alive." I dug the sword in deeper, twisting it in the sinews.

While the demon's face hardened, it didn't wish to display any more weakness by crying out. "You already burned me."

"Not like this, I didn't."

Using the sword as a conduit, I let the heat flow out from my body into the demon's. It wasn't the kind of heat that burned, but it was all encompassing, filling the Uzita with a white light. I hadn't tried this with other Djinn or Lillin because they were different. The demon inside was a part of them, in their blood and bones. However, the Uzita was a virus, a cancer attached to its host. The spirit had an essence, maybe even a weight to it, and I was sure I could find it and burn it out of Rafe's body. As for the condition Rafe would be in afterward, well, I had no clue.

For a minute that felt like an eternity, nothing seemed to be happening. The Uzita hung on the sword. The light from my powers were pouring from its eyes, nose, ears, and skin. I was worried I was burning Rafe alive. Then, the brightness of the light intensified, and I felt an internal struggle.

The demon howled an awful roar that I was sure could be heard for miles. From Rafe's eyes, a white mist began to expel, evaporating as it hit the night air. It poured out in a stream, and then it was done. Rafe's body relaxed. Steam rose from him in waves.

"Rafe?"His body remained unresponsive. "Rafe?"

If the monster was faking it, I was going to be prepared. Then again, if the demon was putting me on, it had given me one hell of a light show.

Rafe was still not responding in any way. He hung on my sword in peaceful sleep, or death. Quickly, I pulled the sword from his shoulder. The harsh movement dropped his body to the pavement. He stayed unconscious, face down. I joined him on the ground. I nudged him lightly. Then I shook him with my super strength. Still, his condition did not change.

Unsure of how to revive him, I sat back on my heels and looked up at the sky. A small part of me was glad, and I tried to push it back, but it was there. If Rafe died, it would mean he would be waiting for me. We could be together, with Juliet, and Rosalind....

I mashed the twisted fantasy back down. Tristan had been partially right about me, I did have a bit of a death wish. Except that now I was forced into thinking that way more than ever.

Finding joy (however miniscule) in Rafe's death was wrong. Life was brutal, cruel, and incredibly hard, but it was worth it too. Worth all the bad days to get to the moments when things were so good and pure that time felt suspended. I knew that was all over for me, but I owed it to Rafe to give him a second chance at living again.

Constellations and Rosalind were going to be of no help in this instance. I quit peering up at the stars for answers to look down at Rafe instead. He was like my own Sleeping Beauty. Hmm, Sleeping Beauty.

Without much thought for his fragility, I flipped Rafe's body over. Even with my super-charged muscles, I could feel he had quite a bit of heft to him. The shine of his leather vest in the moonlight drew my eye to the rest of his clothing. Tight leather pants on top of a billowy silk shirt and matching leather vest.

"Wow, he dressed you up like a douchebag."

I spoke to the sleeping form as if he could answer. Distractions over with, I went on with my idea, which included leaning down and touching my lips softly to Rafe's.

Sleeping Beauty was woken with a kiss, but I suspected that old magic was not sufficient in this case. When our lips were together, I breathed heat into his mouth as I had done once to a Lillin. The scale of heat I used was toned down, because unlike the Lillin, I didn't want Rafe harmed. I could feel his body heating up beneath me. I heard him give a quiet moan, and then his arms were wrapped around me. We kissed deeply, but I drew away.

"If I'd have been woken up like that for school in the morning, I would've never missed a day."

I smirked. "That would've been quite odd coming from your mother."

"That's very true." We smiled at one another, husband and wife, and yet we weren't really the same people we had been back then.

I spoke to break the silence. "You're so...aware. You know what's happening, well, what's happened?"

"Yes." Rafe's fingers plucked at the leather vest, and he gave it a disgusted look, but then he continued. "I was a silent passenger, and the demon was the driver. I could look out the front window, but I couldn't get to the wheel."

"That must have been awful. You saw everything he did." My hand covered my mouth as I remembered my first encounter with the Uzita. "Oh, everything."

"There were so many innocents slain at the hand of the demon. He craved pure blood, virgin blood. I watched him kill dozens of children, women, and yet I could do nothing. But what stuck out the most in my mind was when he violated you, and made you give birth to that...thing. Watching that, and being unable to stop any of it, weighed heavy on me. But I'm glad you got your body back."

My mouth opened, and closed, and then opened again. "This isn't my body."

"What are you talking about?"

"Rafe, how did you know it was me? Right away, you knew."

"Well, of course. Why shouldn't I know my own wife when I see her?"

His use of "wife" cut me slightly, reminding me of my unfaithfulness.

Across from where we were, there was a building with large paneled windows. The surface on the windows were smooth, like a mirror. I stood up and helped Rafe to do the same.

"Come on, I'll show you." I led Rafe by the hand.

As we walked closer and closer to the windows, Rafe's eyes grew larger. When we could fully see our life-sized reflections, Rafe choked out, "Rosalind?"

I bit my lip and nodded. "It was the only way I could come back."

Rafe couldn't look away from the reflection.

"I see Rosalind's body, but it's glowing. Like something's in it that's not supposed to be." He looked from the reflection. "But when I look at you, I see you."

"That's amazing. Enhanced perception must be a unique perk of being an Ipotane." I was racing ahead, thinking of how else he could use his unknown power of sight. "Do you notice anything else, different, about me?"

Rafe was looking at the reflection but touching my face, comparing, "No, like what?"

"Like a possible pregnancy?"

All touching from Rafe stopped. "Pregnancy? Again?"

"Yes, but not from Samael."

Distant cars passed. I wished I was in one of them.

"From who then?"

"A Djinn." From Rafe's look, he knew the term and what a pregnancy could mean. Before any questions, I rushed on. "It was a mistake. He seduced me, or tricked me, or both. Rosalind warned me about distractions, but I didn't listen. This is what I get for not listening, for betraying you." I took a breath. "Before I killed him, the Djinn told me I carried a child, and through it, Samael and Lillith would be born again."

"Rosalind?" was Rafe's next question. "How did she warn you of this?"

"Her spirit appears to me sometimes, but it hasn't lately."

"I've missed quite a bit since I've been away, haven't I?" After his rhetorical comment, Rafe started to walk away. He didn't say goodbye, fuck-you-slut, or anything I expected. In fact, he didn't say anything at all.

"Where are you going?"

In answer, Rafe held up his hand, but didn't slow or turn back round.

"Aren't you going to yell at me? Tell me you hate me but you'll be able to forgive me one day?"

"I already forgive you."

"Then why are you leaving?"

"I have to meditate." Though Rafe had disappeared into an alcove around the corner, the wind carried his words.

"For...?"

"My sense of perception is at its greatest when I achieve Ipotane form. Now please stop talking so I can concentrate."

"Oh." My silence didn't last. "Can I watch?"

I was sure I heard him sigh.

"Only if you're quiet."

I forced myself to walk slowly to Rafe. It was all I could do to keep from skipping in my excitement. It was a childlike excitement. I had the chance at glimpsing an unknown and magical creature. My guilt had been replaced with a giddy queasiness.

When I turned the corner into the alcove, Rafe was sitting on the ground, legs crossed and his clothes in a neat pile next to him.

"Not that I'm complaining, but when you meditate, you have to be naked?"

Rafe blew out his breath. "You and being quiet do not go together."

"Sorry."

There was an awkward pause. "Since you asked, while these clothes make me look like a complete and utter douchebag," I nodded my agreement, "they're the only ones I have right now. I don't want the transformation to ruin them."

My eyes wide, I asked, "How big are you going to get?"

"Big."

Because he could sense another question was on the way, Rafe added, "Now, no more questions."

As quietly as I could, I sat down in front of him. His eyes were closed in quiet concentration. Minutes ticked by, but there was no noticeable change in his appearance. Yet, there was a humming noise underneath all the other background noises. I cocked my head to listen. Either a swarm of angry bees were drawing near or it was originating from Rafe. It wasn't a humming that came from his mouth; it was an energy emanating from his very skin. I thought that if I touched him, I would be able to feel my fingertips vibrating. Louder and louder the energy hummed, creating a dense atmosphere in the small space. Rafe's shape had not changed, and yet he appeared larger somehow.

A fine sheen had broken over Rafe's skin. Normally, such a thing would be hard to tell in the dark, but I had no trouble seeing. Not only because of my sharp eyesight, but because a light was coming from Rafe's body, leaking through his pores. The quality of the light was poor, but it rapidly became brighter. Rafe went from being a nightlight to a glaring set of trucker headlights.

There was an opaque brilliance to the light, but it was too much for even my preternatural eyes to handle. Despite all my curiosity, I was forced to look away. In a flash, the light disappeared.

I turned my head back around to see the creature the mystic light had wrought. As my eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, I saw the space Rafe had been in was empty. God, had he exploded?

"Rafe? Rafe, where...?" Upon turning to face the outside of the alcove, I was surprised to see my husband.

Although, it wasn't quite my husband.

"Whoa. You weren't kidding about the 'big' part."

"That's what all the girls say," Rafe said.

****