“Well, that was quick,” Maxie said crossly.

“I have a body.” I laughed, and it felt like a laugh. No, it wasn’t being alive; there was no joy or warmth in this body, and I knew it wasn’t my home. But at least I had substance again. If Lucas were here, I could hug him, even kiss him; we could talk like normal people. “This is incredible.”

“You won’t be able to have a body all the time. Even Christopher can’t do that.” Maxie seemed to enjoy diminishing my pleasure, although it was beyond her power to ruin it. “And it won’t really fix anything. But at least you can get some stuff done this way.”

I sighed. “This is definitely the best thing to happen to me since I died.”

Then I wondered who this Christopher person was, but I didn’t have time to ask her about him. A car’s tires crunched on the gravel driveway, and excitement made me leap toward the door—which I now had to open instead of floating through. I believed it would be Balthazar and Lucas returning home. Surely Balthazar had thought better of taking Lucas on a hunt tonight. Instead, I saw a sunshine yellow convertible pulling up; inside rode Vic and Ranulf.

“What are they doing back?” I muttered. Maxie peeked over my shoulder. “Oh, wait—Lucas said he wrote Vic and told him I was sick. He must have convinced his parents to let him leave Tuscany so he could come back to look in on me.”

“Then he’s running a bit late,” Maxie pointed out.

Ignoring her, I turned and ran toward the driveway. She shouted, “What are you doing?”

“Saying hello to my friends!”

“You can’t just go out there—Bianca, you’re dead!”

I wondered if that meant some invisible force field or something would stop me, but it didn’t. When I bounded out into the yard, Vic’s face lit up in a grin, and Ranulf gave me a quick wave.

“Hey there, Binks,” Vic called. “Looks like you’re on the mend!”

“Vic!” I hugged him tightly, and I’d never been so glad simply to be able to hug another person. He smelled like cologne, which I usually found stinky, but it was the first thing I’d really smelled since I died. Who knew men’s cologne could smell so fantastic? “Oh, I missed you.”

“Likewise,” he said. “Sorry I woke you up. Or are you still recuperating?”

Vic was talking about the pajamas I still wore. Apparently the coral bracelet couldn’t do anything about them. “It’s kind of a long story. Also a weird story.”

“Come on.” Vic straightened his trucker cap on his head, like he was getting ready for serious business. “How much weirder could our story get?”

“You’d be surprised,” I said weakly.

Ranulf straightened, and his gaze shifted from friendliness to wariness. “Vic,” he said, “something is very different about Bianca.”

“Huh?” Vic looked between me and Ranulf, not getting it.

“She feels a little clammy, but that’s about it.”

“Her very nature is changed.” Ranulf’s eyes narrowed. For the first time, he did not look like an innocent; I caught a glimpse of the fiercer man he must have been long ago. “I do not think she is still a vampire.”

“What?” Vic grinned. “All human now? Bianca, that’s awesome.”

“That’s not quite how it went,” I said. “Can you guys come inside? We really need to talk, and you have to find Lucas.”

Vic started to follow me inside; Ranulf, still suspicious, came along, too, but hung back several steps. “What’s wrong with Lucas?” Vic asked. “Where did he go?”

“He left with Balthazar.”

“Balthazar? Your ex?” Vic’s eyebrows rose so high they vanished beneath the brim of his hat. “Okay, this is getting good.”

“Let’s just get inside, okay?” As I gestured toward the door, the bracelet slipped from my fingers. The moment that happened, I disappeared—or almost disappeared, since a blue, smoky image remained where my arm had just been.

Vic jumped back so fast he nearly fell over. “What the what?”

“She is no longer a vampire,” Ranulf said, steadying himself like he expected a fight. “She is a wraith.”

“A wraith? You mean, a ghost? Bianca’s a ghost? That’s impossible.”

Concentrating hard, I managed to close my hand around the bracelet again and will my form back into being. Vic and Ranulf stared at me, slack jawed, the whole time. Neither of them spoke a word.

Once I had my shape back, I said, “It’s possible. I’m a wraith now. And, no, Ranulf, I’m not going to hurt you. The old war between ghosts and vampires—as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t have anything to do with me and the people I love.”

Ranulf didn’t look touched, but he didn’t turn away, either.

I asked, “Now are you going to let me explain?”

Vic swallowed hard and nodded. “I think you’d better.”

Half an hour later, as the sky outside darkened, Vic, Ranulf, and I sat around the little table while they took in what I’d just told them. Ranulf, who naturally understood more about the strange rules that governed the undead, seemed to be taking it in. Vic, on the other hand, looked completely flummoxed.

“Okay,” Vic said, “let me see if I have this straight. You died.”