Wraiths can’t latch on to a child because there’s no desire, no hormones or sexual tension for them to wrap around, you know that. If a wraith latches on to a pure adult soul, however, someone who has never been intimate, shall we say, it can take over and take permanent form, become embodied. Once it spends a full moon in residence, you can’t remove it, and the person must be killed. As is, it can only take control at night while the moon is out.”
Will exchanged a worried look with Aidan. “Okay, so we have seven days to get rid of it. How do we get rid of it?”
The second batter struck out and Ryan pumped his fist in the air. When the network went to commercial, Ryan headed for his kitchen and returned with a glass of merlot.
“Want some?” The other men shook their heads. Ryan returned to the couch. “Well, as you are well aware, standard methods don’t work when a wraith attaches to a pure soul. You need a lot of power to oust it. What’s more, you have to make sure the wraith can’t return to the host once it’s been booted.”
Will thought strangling Ryan looked like a pretty tempting option. “ How do we do that?”
Ryan sipped his merlot. “How do you make sure the wraith can’t return?”
“All of it. Return, get rid of it, everything.”
“The wraith can’t return if she’s not a virgin, so that part’s fairly straightforward, I should think.” He glanced at Will. “Or has it been so long you don’t remember how that works?”
Will lunged. Aidan stepped between them. “Will, settle down.” He turned to Ryan. “Don’t be a dick. We get it. Just tell us how to get the wraith out of her in the first place.”
Ryan set his wine glass on the coffee table. “You’ll actually take care of two birds, so to speak. The wraith can be driven out by an archdemon, certainly, but only a powerful one.”
“So you’re saying we need to get one of the guys to sleep with her?” Will was grateful Aidan said it, because he was too busy trying to not choke Ryan.
Ryan’s eyes flicked from the TV, where the Braves had struck out the third batter, back to Aidan. “Not just any of them, Aidan.” He looked at Will. “Only a very powerful archdemon can drive the wraith out. He has to be willing to give her his heart, bond with her permanently. Become her soul mate. As a result, obviously, he must be one who doesn’t already have a soul mate. If it’s not done by the full moon, she has to be killed by an archdemon before the wraith can fully take control of her. We can’t very well have a permanently embodied wraith running around loose on the planet now, can we?”
Nausea twisted Will’s gut, along with something else he didn’t want to name but which relentlessly bubbled to the surface—jealousy. He didn’t want Kal to die, couldn’t let her die. Yet the thought of someone else sleeping with her…
“Why does it have to be an archdemon who sleeps with her?” Will asked.
The baseball game kept pulling Ryan’s attention from them. It pissed Will off. At least it was almost over.
“Basic physiology. A powerful, unbonded archdemon, one strong enough to drive the wraith from her soul. You have some poor Joe Blow sleep with her, she’ll rip his balls off as soon as the wraith breaks through at night, you should know that. Her soul must be bonded to an archdemon. Once she becomes an archdemon’s soul mate, the wraith is driven out. Of course, by default it can’t return.”
“And she’s The Firm’s newest spousal dependent whether she likes it or not,” Aidan snarked. He dropped heavily into one of the matching chairs in front of the sofa.
“Yes. The catch is, of course, she has to do this of her own free will. You can’t simply drug and date rape her. She must willingly agree to it and be an active participant so she can bond and become a soul mate. That means it has to be someone she wants to sleep with, someone she’s attracted to. It has to be someone who’s
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