Her Soul to Take

Leon showers, and then Rae dresses his wounds. Rae asks him if all demons are so closed off to emotion, and he tells her, “Years of torture and solitude will have you learn that anger is the safest emotion” (209). Rae cleans his shoulder wound, which is infected. Rae asks him what Hell is like, and he explains that it is much larger than Earth. Rae asks him what he did in Hell, and he tells her that he liked to explore the furthest edges. Rae tells him that he should rest, and he tells her, “Indulge me, doll […] Convince me to stay. Tell me your deepest, darkest desire” (214).

When Leon asks Rae about her deepest desires, she does not tell him. She reassures herself that she is not ashamed but then qualifies this: “I tried not to be, which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world when kinky sadomasochistic interests still resided firmly in the realm of taboo” (215). Leon is pleased with her when she shares that she fantasizes about being consensually “ravaged.”

Leon and Rae kiss. He uses his mind to hold her in place, and Rae knows that “he’d stop at [her] word. [She] kn[ows] that. [She] trust[s] him in that” (220). Leon and Rae have sex while exploring a consensual nonconsensual scenario.

Leon brings Rae tea and a snack. After insisting that she eat, he falls asleep on the couch. While Leon sleeps, Rae takes photos of him. Then, Rae goes to the yard and takes photos of the heads that Leon speared around the yard. Rae considers whom she could go to for help because she does not want to have to sell her soul.

Rae goes to sleep and dreams that she was one of the miners—her own long-dead relative—in the mine when it collapsed. She jolts awake and thinks, “It was just a dream. It had only been a dream. Then why did it feel like a memory?” (232).

The next morning, Rae meets Inaya and Victoria for lunch. Leon is still asleep on the couch. Victoria is late, so Rae and Inaya discuss horror films they might watch. As Inaya looks at films on her phone, Rae relaxes and goes into a trance. The clouds she’d been looking at become tentacles. Then, it feels as if her head is being squeezed, and she feels like she’s drowning. Rae snaps out of it when Inaya grabs her arm.

Victoria appears suddenly, stating that she was late because of “family drama.” Rae attempts to cover for her episode, stating that she was just hungry. Victoria offers them chocolate cupcakes, which she will be making for a Halloween party to which she invites Rae. Rae thinks that it might be a good idea to find a protective charm while she’s in the Hadleigh home so that she can protect herself from the Eld. Victoria tells them that Everly left and is missing, but she does not seem worried.

When Rae returns home, Leon is still asleep. Rae looks online for ways to protect herself, and she finds out about something called a binding circle that will force Leon to remain where he is. She worries about the vengeance that Leon will enact on her if she fails but feels like she has to try if she wants to survive. Once she’s created a binding circle, she goes to Target and gets supplies to disguise the severed heads in her yard as Halloween décor.

Rae calls her father and asks if he remembers Kent Hadleigh. Rae’s father tells her that the Hadleighs have always been surrounded by superstitious gossip, but he does not seem scared of them. Their conversation is interrupted when Leon wakes up and yells for Rae.

Leon is furious that Rae has trapped him. Rae tells him that she had no choice because she needs his help. Leon reminds her that he offered his help in return for her soul. Rae tells him that she just needs his protection for a little while. Leon reminds her that she will never be safe because the Hadleighs—and the Deep One—want her as a sacrifice. Leon explains that there were three survivors of the 1899 mine disaster, each chosen by the Deep One. In return for being spared, those lives must be given back. Rae was meant to be a sacrifice to pay back that debt.

Leon tells her that his nickname is the “Killer” because he has killed every summoner who ever called him. Leon tells Rae that she must let him out of the circle, and she refuses. However, Leon uses his influence to get Cheesecake to rub himself on the chalk circle, erasing a bit and ending the magic. Leon then steps out of the binding circle.

Leon plunges the house into darkness, and Rae knows she made a mistake. She tries to escape, but she cannot see anything. She pleads with Leon to stop and sees his eyes amid the darkness. He tells her that he was in servitude for over 100 years, living without sleep or safety and fighting when commanded. Rae apologizes for trapping him.

Despite what she did, Leon tells her that he still wants her soul. However, Leon also tells her that she needs to be punished. He asks if she wants to use the safe word, and Rae declines. Leon then spanks her with his belt, and Rae finds the experience cathartic. Afterward, Leon kisses her, and she notices his gentleness: “I didn’t expect to feel tenderness from that wicked mouth” (260).

Leon and Rae walk in the woods, and she shares that her parents are moving to Spain. Rae explains that she thought Abelaum was magical when she was a child. She asks Leon how old he is, and he tells her that he’s around 400 years old but that demons do not track age like humans. He is immortal, but he could grow bored and fade away or be ripped apart to such an extent that he cannot heal. Leon says that freedom is more important than living forever.

Rae asks about the Deep One, and Leon says that if it receives the three sacrifices, it will be released and rule over the human world. He explains that the Hadleighs tried to send Leon after Rae but that he did not have to obey since Kent no longer had the grimoire. Leon also went after Juniper Kynes a few years before, but she managed to escape and is still alive somewhere. Kent therefore focused on Juniper’s brother, Marcus, who was sacrificed instead.

Rae asks Leon if he killed Marcus, and he tells her he did not but asks if that makes him less monstrous to her. Rae tells him that he would not have hunted her, and she asks him why she’s special to him. He tells her that she is a light amid the darkness he’s used to. Leon tells her that he wants all of her: for her to give him her soul. He does not want to “linger here and watch [Rae] die” (271). He shares that he once lost a lover whom he cared for. Then, Leon was summoned, and he could not even find the man’s grave afterward.

Leon tells Rae that he’s leaving. He will find the grimoire and then return to Hell. He tells her that he will watch for Eld that night but will go in the morning. Rae feels torn by her decision not to give her soul to Leon and spend eternity with him.

Days pass, and Halloween approaches. Jeremiah and Victoria are always around even though Rae attempts to keep her distance. Victoria invites her to events incessantly, no matter how much she says no. When Rae is eating lunch outside to avoid the Hadleighs, Jeremiah appears and sits with her anyway. When she tries to get away, Jeremiah grabs her arm. She threatens to scream if he doesn’t let her go. Jeremiah releases her and apologizes.

Back in the cabin, Rae tries to stay occupied. She continues to have nightmares of the mining collapse and feels like she’s being watched whenever she goes outside. The weekend before Halloween, Rae finds a strange charm tied to her porch. It must have been put up in the night, which unnerves Rae. She is so frightened that she puts Cheesecake in his harness and brings him to Inaya’s apartment with her. Rae tells Inaya that she thinks she’s being watched and that a trinket was left at her house. Inaya reassures her that it was probably a Halloween prank but invites Rae to stay for a few days while Inaya’s fiancé is out of town.

The next morning, Rae drives back to the cabin to get more supplies. She slams on her brakes when she sees figures in the road: Gollums. Gollums are monsters that are different from the Eld but just as terrifying. One approaches the car and tells her, “It waits for you, Raelynn. It waits in the deep dark place” (286). Rae hits the gas, and they get out of the way. She knows that she must figure out how to fight or else she will become a sacrifice.

Leon has continued to protect Rae despite saying he would not. The Eld are active, and hikers are going missing. There are also Gollums, monsters who are much more intelligent than the Eld. Leon left the trinket on Rae’s porch to protect her, but she threw it into the woods because she did not know what it was.

Everly is challenging to find, and Leon asks Zane for help hunting her. There is something hiding Everly’s scent, which makes her difficult to track. Zane tells Leon to leave Everly and return to Hell; Everly would never summon him, so he does not need to worry about her having the grimoire. Leon is incredulous, but Zane tells him that Everly already has an Archdemon. Zane knows this because the Archdemon almost killed Zane’s “girl.”

Zane admits that he’s made a deal with a woman who has “one damn big bone to pick” (292): Juniper Kynes, who holds a grudge against the Hadleighs and Leon. Zane tells Leon to leave Everly alone because even both of them combined could not defeat her Archdemon, Callum. Zane encountered him with Juniper when they were looking for another witch at the coven. Zane shares that Juniper is going after the Hadleighs next.