"It was old," says Dean. "When it was in me, it was like thinking through soup, but that thing remembered the pharaohs. It was one of the most powerful I've ever come across, and smart."

And here Dean sighs, because even with all that, it should never have gotten into him. "And I didn't exactly have my defenses up like I should have. I took down my wards, tried to be a civilian for a while. And I must have scratched by anti-possession tattoo without noticing, because it got in me, and branded me up so it couldn't get yanked out again. I don't know when it happened. To tell the truth, I don't remember a whole hell of a lot at all about the last few months."