Joe took a quick peek under the ice. "It doesn't look too bad, Odessa." He flashed her his best bedside grin. "Probably just leave you with a teeny new beauty mark."

"Huh," she said, but this time she lacked conviction.

"We'll be right back." Kelly scooped up the stack of books. "Nicki and I are going next door to check on Leonard."

Crap.

"And don't worry about the dishes, Odessa. We'll get them. It's the least we can do after you fixed us that great breakfast."

Double crap.

I followed Kelly out of the kitchen and through the dining room to the front porch.

"Tell me about Bijou," she said as soon as we were outside.

I would've, but one glance toward the open door of the Blue Dahlia took my thoughts elsewhere.

The lights were on. Leonard was obviously there.

But why was the door open? And why was he so late for breakfast?

Kelly and I saw the same thing. We glanced at each other, and I knew we were thinking the same thoughts.

"Leonard?" Kelly went in first, calling out cheerfully. "Are you in here?"

No answer.

"Leonard?" I came all the way inside the store, heading toward the counter. The register was unlocked, the drawer open and empty, but there was nobody around.

Not a good sign.

"Don't touch anything," I blurted. The business training I'd gotten before ever opening Handbags and Gladrags kicked in. Robbery 101-Fingerprints: Keep the Scene Clean.

"Nicki, look." Kelly was staring at the door to the basement. "It's open."

Crap, crap, crappity-crap-crap.

Kelly put the stack of books on the counter and started toward the basement stairs.

I called Leonard's name as loudly as I could. "Leonard?" There was no need to go down those stairs if he answered, now was there? "Leonard, are you down there?"

Unfortunately, he didn't answer.

"We should call the police," I said, none too eager to be the first person on a crime scene. Leonard was an old man, alone in the shop. What if the robber had taken him down there to mug him in peace?

"He could be hurt." Kelly started down the stairs. "We have to at least check."

"Stop, Kelly." I tried to grab her, but it was too late. "You're being incredibly stupid!"

What if the robber was still down there?

"Leonard?" Kelly called out loudly. "Leonard? Are you here? It's Kelly."

"And Nicki," I shouted, letting the robber know there was two of us. "And the police are on their way!" A lie like that couldn't possibly hurt-even though I'd left my cell phone in my purse.

Kelly was already halfway down the steps. She stopped short, her hand on the railing. "What... what are you doing down here?"

Thank goodness. Leonard was down there after all.

Kelly took the last few steps down into the basement, but by now I was right behind her.

"I've been waiting for you," a man said just as I reached the bottom step.

I looked over at him, and my blood turned to ice.

The guy sitting at the velvet-covered table wasn't Leonard-it was Sammy.

"I need your help, Kelly," he said, effectively ignoring me. He leaned back in his chair, fingers idly stroking the edge of the Ouija board on the table in front of him. "And in return, I'll give you what you most desire." His smile was meant for Kelly alone, eyes intent upon his prey. "A visit with your mother, the lovely Peaches Boudreaux."

"Get the hell out of here," I said, stepping closer to Kelly. "Leave us alone."

"Nicki!" Kelly gave me a glare that would've shriveled fruit. "Stop it."

"Don't listen to him, Kelly. He's not some poor lost soul in need of help! He's the Devil."

"You don't know that!" I couldn't believe she was arguing with me over this. The lure of Peaches must've been awfully strong.

"I do know that." I turned my attention back to Sammy, who was watching with a smile. "I don't know what game you're playing, but you need to pack up your toys and go home. You're not welcome here anymore."

Sammy put a hand to his heart in mock horror. "You're casting me out?" He gave a theatrical sigh. "Story of my life."

"Nicki..." Kelly's voice held the first hint of doubt. Progress was wasted, though, when she froze-all movement stopped-as though a mannequin from Handbags and Gladrags had remembered its place.

"You're out of your league, dear heart." Sammy smiled at me coldly. "I can make Kelly believe whatever I want her to believe, for a little while. By the time she figures me out, it will be too late." Pale blue eyes gleamed at me in the dimness of the basement. "She'll be mine. My willing slave, just like her mother." He moued me a kiss.

"I'll burn this place to the ground before I let you have my sister," I said recklessly.

I was desperate. Kelly couldn't stay there.

"You'd do that for me?" Sammy was toying with me, like a cat with a mouse. "How sweet. I'm sure I'll feel right at home."

He snapped his fingers.

"Nicki!" Kelly snatched me by the arm, turning me to face her. "What's the harm in listening to what Sammy has to say? What if he really can help us talk to Peaches?"

Tears of frustration threatened, but I blinked them back.

"I don't need to talk to Peaches! You don't need to talk to Peaches. Peaches is dead. If anything's holding her here, it's you! Your guilt! You have to let her go."

She stared at me, opening her mouth to say something. But she didn't say it. In her eyes, I read the first signs of hesitation, and pushed even harder.

"Sammy's a liar, Kelly. That's how he got to Peaches-he made her think he was her only friend, and then he took advantage of her."

"In more ways than one," Sammy said smoothly. "They don't call me the Father of Lies for nothing."

Time stood still.

Kelly showed no reaction to what Sammy had just said. It wasn't just my shock... Sammy was up to his tricks with time and dimension again.

The Father of Lies.

I turned my head, very slowly, and looked at him where he sat-oh so nonchalantly-at the velvet-covered table.

"What..." I licked suddenly dry lips. "... what are you saying?"

"Oh, Nicki," Sammy said, leaning back in his chair. He was all in black today, in a lightweight silk jacket over a black cotton tee. He could've stepped from the pages of a fashion magazine, been a model for Armani. "You're so good at secrets. Surely you can figure this one out? Don't you see the family resemblance?"

It was so monstrous, so unbelievable, that my mind just wouldn't go there. "You're lying."

Sammy shrugged. "That's the problem with lies. Nobody wants to believe you when you speak the truth."

"Tell her, then," I shouted. "Speak the truth! Tell Kelly who you really are!"

"I'd rather wait until she's in my bed," the Devil said wickedly. "It gives a delicious little twist to the words 'Daddy's little girl.'"

My heart sank to the level of my shoes. I wanted to rip his blond head off, despite the way my hands were shaking; I wanted to run, to snatch Kelly and drag her away from this evil man, this evil place-but there was nothing I could do.

"It's not too late to save her, you know." Sammy plucked my thoughts from the air.

He touched the Ouija board in front of him with the tip of a finger. "You could come to work for me, help me recruit a few more souls."

I'd been doing my best to ignore the board-it had come to symbolize all that was ugly, all that was evil. I hated it.

He picked up the planchette. "You're the one I want," Sammy said, giving me his best rock-star grin. "Last chance."

Last chance.

Last chance to go back to Little Five Points, to Evan, as a person in charge of my own life. Last chance to run Handbags and Gladrags as an honest business person who knew how to succeed, on her own, without selling out. Last chance to have Joe, all to myself, for ever and ever, because he loved me for being myself.

Last chance to save my sister's soul. Even if she didn't wanna be saved.

"Haven't you given up yet, you old goat?" Bijou's voice came as a complete shock, yet there she was, stepping from a dark corner. Her black dress and feathered hat blended perfectly with the shadows, her face a pale, round moon in the dimness.

Sammy sighed, looking annoyed. "Really, Bijou, this is getting tiresome. Aren't you supposed to be dead?" He wiggled his fingers at her in a fine display of rock-star arrogance. "Run along."

"We had a deal, Samael." The way Bijou said Sammy's name gave me goose bumps. "You've tempted them and you failed. Peaches is dead, her contract is up. The girls are free now."

"But I'm not finished yet," Sammy said mildly.

"Nicki knows that the only way to win against evil is to never play the game." Bijou was talking to Sammy, but looking at me. Her eyes were dark pits of sadness, full of hard-won wisdom. "Do the right thing, Nicki-every time-and things will work out."

Easy enough for the old woman to say, but I was only twenty-nine and had no freaking idea what the right thing was.

Sammy's lip curled into an ugly smile. "Nicki may be a lost cause, but she's not the only player in this game." He released a heavy sigh, as though pained. "I can see a demonstration of my power is in order."

A cold breeze ruffled my hair, bringing a foul stench with it. My stomach churned.

"Hello, little goth girl." Psycho Barbie's voice made me jump. The basement was getting awfully crowded. Barbie was standing beside the table, smirking at me.

"Don't be so full of yourself," Sammy snapped at her. "I'm very disappointed in you."

Barbie's model-straight posture wilted before my eyes. She looked fearful, uncertain. "I did what you asked me to, Master. I tricked everyone-no one knew it was me."

Sammy's gaze flicked scornfully over the blond woman at the table. "Stupid bitch." He gave a careless nod in Kelly's direction. "The sister figured it out, and so did the boyfriend. You're useless."

It was sickening to see a beautiful woman grovel. "Please, Master, I'm sorry. I'll do better next time." The fear on her face was plain to see.

"There will be no next time," Sammy spat.

My veins filled with ice.

"Your contract is up, and our bargain is over. I should've taken you a month ago instead of giving you an extension. You're dead, Saundra, and it's time to pay up."

Saundra. Her name was Saundra.

"That which you fear the most shall become your world, from now until the end of time. Here." He thrust something at her, from which she recoiled. "Take it. Take it and embrace your fate."

It was the mirror-Kelly's scrying mirror-glittering as it caught the light. Like a robot, Saundra took it from Sammy's hand, terror distorting her features.

"After all," Sammy murmured, a smile turning up the corners of his lips, "beauty is only skin deep, and your skin has been dead for weeks."

Saundra looked into the mirror and screamed, a high-pitched, horrible scream that made me want to cover my ears.

Then, even more horribly, I began to see why she was screaming.

The skin of her face and hands turned a mottled shade of greenish-black. Her eyes began to bulge from their sockets. Fluid began to weep from the corners and drip from her nose. A putrid smell arose in the room, making me want to gag.

I wanted so badly to run away, but I couldn't leave Kelly standing there like a statue. She had no clue what was going on around her, and I envied her for it.

"Do something!" I said to Bijou, who stood calmly by, watching. "Make it stop!"

Sammy laughed, a nasty laugh. He ignored both Bijou and me, enjoying the fright show too much to be distracted.

"There's nothing we can do, dear," Bijou said sadly. "This poor soul made a bad bargain, and the cost of it has nothing to do with us."

Saundra's screams had faded to whimpers, but still she stared into the mirror. Her face was lopsided now, one side drooping more than the other as the putrefying flesh separated itself from the bones. The hand she rose to hold it in place was swollen, the fingernails an ugly bluish-gray, the white tips of her French manicure emphasizing the decay.

"Behold your ultimate fate, Nicki Styx." Sammy raised a hand toward the sobbing, gibbering corpse. "Food for the worms, that's all you mortals be." His speech became more antiquated when he was being diabolical. "Unless you'd like to partner with me. I can offer you much, much more."