Izzy’s brows rose at Riley’s answer, her expression silently asking, ‘Are you serious?’
	“‘Hope for the best,’” she injected as he scratched at his chin. “I think I’m starting to see a trend here in dealing with aberrations.”
	When he went on to what he needed her for, she hesitated a heartbeat, then nodded. Though not ecstatic at the idea of potentially going against something powerful enough to, at the least, gain the title of a god, or to test exactly how immortal her body was, she saw his point.
	When Riley went back to his preparations, she moved from Holden to place her cup, still with most of its wine, outside the circle of candles, careful to avoid disrupting the arrangement of charms. If she [i]did[/i] have to protect him, she wanted her hands free.
	She returned quickly to Holden’s side as Riley came to them with his salt. Wondering where he had stored everything, she watched him curiously as he lit the incense, smoke spiraling into the air and filling the room with its strong odor. It made her sneeze just before Holden coughed.
	She glanced to Holden, then did a double take. He did not look like he was doing too well. She wanted to ask if he was okay, but talking now did not feel appropriate. Instead, she shot him more frequent looks as Riley continued swinging his censer around the room, filling the space with a light haze. 
	When at last Riley spoke, Izzy blinked in surprise and quickly looked the room over, searching for the Heavy Crab. But she saw nothing. Felt nothing unusual. How he knew the Crab was there, was anyone’s guess.
	All the same, she lowered her head and looked sideways at Holden, worried about how he would react to the lack of an obvious presence, expecting him to go on a tangent about Riley being a quack.