"I can't believe I never noticed it," said Jordanis, staring at Aidan's collar with a kind of startled disbelief. "It doesn't announce itself like some objects of power do, but... I really can't believe I never noticed it!"

Aidan shrugged. "We only ever saw each other in passing." He was sitting in a chair in Jordanis's cluttered workroom. He had been there once before, long ago, when he first arrived on Aretha. The portal that had brought him here sat at one end of the room. But he hadn't been back until now. Flame Song sat next to him and held his hand.

"So it's an object of power?" asked Flame Song.

Jordanis nodded soberly. "Yes. And not a particularly nice one. You're lucky you've never tried to take it off."

"Actually, I did take it off, though just the once."

Jordanis went wide-eyed again. "Then you ought to be dead!"

"That's what the demon said."

"Demon? No. Tell me from the very beginning. Tell me how you got it, and tell me everything that's happened since then."

Aidan nodded and shared the story. He told how he'd been trying to break into a mage's house. How he'd seen the mage casting some great spell on the torc and how he'd taken the opportunity to steal it and put it on when the mage left. How as soon as he'd left the mage's house he'd been attacked by demons, who tried to get it away from him. He told about his imprisonment and torture, Flame's rescue, and then about Littlespark's kidnapping. When he was finished Jordanis shook his head in amazement.

"I don't know if I should be amazed at how lucky you've been, or amazed at how unlucky. If anything had gone even slightly different you could have died so many times..."

"Gee, that's comforting," said Aidan.

Jordanis laughed. "Sorry! I should tell you a little bit about it. You've heard the sayings about making deals with devils? Generally the idea is that any such a deal comes at a very great price. The torc is, in essence, a deal with the dark powers. I've never seen one in person before, they are not at all common. And they needn't specifically be a torc, a bracelet or an armband or even a ring, anything that encircles part of the wearer can be used. But as I said, I've never seen one, only read of them. As you know, it gives you complete immunity to the magic and powers of demons. If you were a mage, you could also use it in any number of interesting but highly illegal and unethical ways. But you are not, so for you that is the extent of its powers. The price though... The torc's magic ties it to your own life force. That you were able to remove it is only because you are a vampire, and the heart-stilling has no effect on you. If you attempted to actually hand it over to someone though..." He shook his head. "I'm not actually sure if you'd find yourself completely unable to let go of it, or if you'd just drop dead as soon as you did, but there's no way you could untangle it from your life force. And even as a vampire you are alive. Your life force is different from a human's, but it's still there. Ripping it loose will kill you, even if you don't have a heart to stop."

"And you can't untangle it, help me take it off?"

JJ shook his head. "No. I am a very good mage, but nobody is that good. By putting on the torc you metaphysically agreed to the terms of its spell. That kind of bargain can't be undone, not by me, not by anybody. The fact that you didn't know what you were doing at the time makes no difference to the dark powers."

Aidan put his head in his hands. "So I'm stuck with it?"

"I'm afraid so."

"What am I going to do then? My family... Asmodeus is almost certainly still out there, and he said he'd never let me have peace. I can't live in constant fear that I'm going to turn around and find he's kidnapped or killed my family."

"There is something. Recall how the demons only turned up once you were outside the mage's house. They didn't go inside and get it themselves, they had to wait for you to bring it out. There is a spell of interdiction against demons. It can be cast on a place or on a person. I can cast it on you and on your family, and on your home as well. You'll need to renew it every couple of decades, but it will keep the demons from coming within half a mile or so of you. That should be enough."

"Thank you!" Aidan felt as if a weight had been lifted off of him. Flame Song squeezed his hand.

"I can portal you all back there today, if you like, and cast the spell then."

"Well, no reason to delay then," said Flame with a smile. "I'll go fetch Littlespark and we can be going."

By the time the sun had set that evening it was done. Jordanis had protected their home and themselves, and returned the way he had come. They breathed a sigh of relief and got on with their lives.

The ground immediately to the east of their home was now covered in an immense network of trenches, the remnants of the collapsed tunnels, but that seemed to be the only lingering effect of their ordeal. Littlespark was healthy and happy and there was no sign of Asmodeus or any other demon.

That first night home, Aidan woke while it was still dark and tiptoed into the bedroom to look at Littlespark. He knew that she should be safe but he was unable to keep from checking anyhow. When he came back to bed he put his arm over Flame Song and held her close. He felt sometimes as though his life was too good, that he didn't deserve it and that Flame and Littlespark and everything else would be snatched away from him. Now that it had come so close to really happening, the feeling was even stronger. But Flame was there, real and solid and warm next to him, and eventually the feeling faded and he was able to relax and drift off to sleep.