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With Alice and the Fiends hot on ed back up to the house and ran into the ballroo at it so fast, I couldn&039;t see a thing Just blurs of fists For a wonder, no one else was fighting;to Tina

"-not interfere! Whoever wins this will be our new lord and you cannot interfere! That was our lahento interfere," I said hotly I pointed to the blur that was Nostro and Sinclair "Sic hi, the Fiends rushed forward So did I-in tirab Sinclair and pull him out of the way As quick as I was, a Fiend still knocked us sprawling I rolled over on my back to watch

You know in cartoons when, to denote a vicious fight all you can see is s limbs and stars and stuff? That&039;s what it was like The Fiends were snarling, Nostro was screa wet noises, Nostro was gurgling, and then the wet noises continued But Nostro wasn&039;t , Noseo You shouldn&039;t have messed with me, and you sure as shit shouldn&039;t haveForty va at me, and the triumph on Tina&039;s face was almost too much to bear Her face was like a beacon, beautiful and terrible at once She didn&039;t look like a preppy cheerleader just then, but like a warrior clai victory I turned to Sinclair, sure one of his coolly sarcastic remarks would break the tension, and then I screamed and scrambled to my feet

Sinclair was horribly burned Most of his left side was a blackened one I could see the veins in the skin of his left arh his dead syste His cracked lips pulled back and his teeth looked even whiter and longer against his burned flesh "Victory"

I burst into tears Sure, victory, but at what cost? And what happened next? He was burned because of me, he&039;d lost his home-andor feeding to get better or staying the hell out of the fight, he&039;d co to my rescue!

"Sinclair-Eric-what-"

"He needs to feed," Tina said as Sinclair put a hand out and steadied hi her ar else"

"It&039;s a queen thing?"

She nodded, but she wasn&039;t looking atand sad as she stared at Eric "Water will help-it&039;s-it takes too long to explain, but water facilitates the healing process Then-"

"Right, right, you can explain later" I gingerly grabbed Eric&039;s right hand and pulled him toward the pool "Here, come here, Eric It&039;ll feel betterChrist, you o to so you&039;ll call h and a sob "This is no time for your nasty sarcasm"

"Actually, I can&039;t think of a better time for nasty sarcasm You must tell me how you turned the Fiends&039; loyalty fro has never been done before"

"You&039;re always so nosy"

"You&039;re always so intriguing"

I led hi so close to the edge e

"Why?" Sinclair asked, reasonably enough Then we plunged into the deep end

I had ti him like hell, but from the look of relief on his face, that wasn&039;t the case at all

He pulled h He was a blackened husk because of th froood Was drinking fro from someone as still alive? Tina seeh for me