Rituals Rachel would never be able to complete, considering her current mental state.

No, he decided firmly, putting aside his momentary timidity. Even if

Wainwright knows what is going on, there is no way she could have planned and executed a proper ritual in the last few days. She needs access to books, grimoires, spells. Time to prepare. She knows her way around a courtroom. But here she is hopelessly out of her depth.

What a pity. He grinned, exposing a set of viciously serrated teeth. He looked over his image one final time in the mirror, adjusting his tie so it fell properly down the front of his silk shirt. His hair was combed, his skin dabbed with just a hint of tasteful cologne. In the inside pocket of his suit was a ticket to the College of DuPage's showing of Othello. He Looked the very model of a successful attorney.

Only his eyes, grayish-green and utterly lacking in humanity, gave a hint as to the identity of the ravening monster within.

“It's show time," he whispered.

“Rachel?"

"Yes, Yasna?"

“How did you know that Josh was the right man for you?"

Startled by the question, she Looked up from her laptop to the younger woman, who was framed in the doorway of her home office.

“What ?"

Yasna's hands were twisting together nervously. As Rachel watched, she shoved them deep into the pockets of her jeans, as if she were trying to hide them from view.

“How long did it take for you to know that Josh was going to be your husband? That you would marry him and have children and everything?"

“Oh, that. About half an hour.”

“So it was love at first sight?"

"No." She smiled. "It was love at first conversation. Come on, sit down. I'm not going to have this talk with you looming over me like a cop in an interrogation." Her smile took the sting out of her words, and Yasna sat down in the chair opposite her desk.

“Falling in love with Josh..." she faded off wistfully. "It was my freshman year of college. Second semester, during basketball season.”

When Yasna looked at her blankly she elaborated. "That was when the

University of Illinois was actually good at sports. Or, at least, didn't suck.

“My parents were both huge basketball fans, and I grew up watching the

"Flying Illini‘ back in the late eighties. Those were some great teams.

So when I started school, I got season tickets for the basketball team.

That night Illinois beat the ever-loving piss out of Iowa, which is always a good thing. God, we loved to beat Iowa,” she said with cheerful malice. "And afterward I went to a party with some friends of mine at an apartment over on Chalmers Street, rather than going back to the dorm.

“That's where we met. The stereo was blasting some of that terrible early 90's dance music. Ace of Base or someone like that." She made a face as Yasna laughed. "And he said hello, and I said hello, and he asked me what my major was, and I asked him what his major was, just like a hundred different conversations I'd had with a hundred different boys since I'd started school.

“But there was something different about him. He was an artist, which I was shallow enough to be impressed with at the time. The U of I was chock-full of engineers and computer science students. Still is, I guess. An artist was a bit of a novelty. And he actually Listened when