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"Use your Gift," Theo said, grunting as the de? You&039;ve got to be kidding"

"Just use it!"

The de at the sa Theo to the floor where the two of them wrestled inside the circle

I parkedbut make him more slippery to hold Ow That had to hurt Um Noelle, can you help us?"

Her voice caret "I am the proctor I cannot assist you in any way or the trial would be void"

"Portia, use your da on the de hat looked like incredible strength The de blood

I raisedin the room I could use as a weapon "I don&039;t kno!" I finally admitted, unsure of what I could do to help Theo Even if this was all a figination, I didn&039;t want to see Theo hurt "How do I use weather to defeat someone?"

"Gather it up and direct it at the dearbled as the des thrashing wildly Theo was holding him down as best he could, but it was evident that, sooner or later, Theo&039;s strength was going to give out and the demon would have the upper hand

"That&039;s impossible! No one can do that!"

"Oh dear I&039; out of hand I am authorized to stop the trial if it&039;s clear that the test subject is not in control," Noelle said, taking a step out of the shadows She had a notebook in her hand and wasnotes

"You must do this!" Theo snarled, his face bloody "Now! One more failure and it&039;s all over!"

I took a deep breath, y to what I hoped was a still sane part ofup weather

"I&039;ll see you in Abaddon," Theo swore to the demon as theaway in shreds to reveal long, bloody streaks "Do so, woman!"

"Weather, weather, weather," I said hurriedly tomy hands as the teen continued to slash at Theo, his demonic mouth open in a wordless snarl, his eyes filled with hatred "What is weather? It&039;s rain and wind and snow It&039;s particles of water suspended in the air It&039;s atoluons, positive and negative charges, electrical charges" The word electrical glowed in hts "It&039;s lightning Lightning is electrically charged, superheated air that is released in tre out y is the ability to do work"

My fingertips tingled

"Portia!"

"Work is force tiy"

Around athered, as if I was su to have to call this," Noelle said in a syet out of control I&039;!"

I keptus the electrical charges that existed in all atoy"

"Gargh!"

I opened , vicious swipes at his arlowed blue with static, the hairs onon end

"I&039;m sorry, I must stop - " Noelle started forward toward the circle

"Now!" Theo dey can be converted into the physical for the power that surrounded ht burst into the deainst the wall, a deafening clap of thunder bursting forth in the crypt I shouted an oath and coveredmyself onto the floor next to Theo The floor cracked, the walls screamed with the echo of the thunderclap, while dust and s I crawled over to Theo, trying to shield his head fro objects He was crumpled in a heap, filthy with dirt and blood, but alive

"Oh, that&039;s not good," Noelle said froone to look at the de hiently wipe blood and debris fro a lot I should call a paramedic"

"ErmPortiaI&039;m afraid there&039;s a situation here," Noelle said fronored her as I peeled back the shredded reet you to a hospital"

Theo grabbed my aroing to go for assistance, but driven to getting hiht, Portia The wounds are not fatal"

"Your chest is torn to shreds," I started to say, but at that htly, and his head was resting on my chest He eyed the breast that was a scant millimeter from his mouth

"I heal quickly" It was just three words, butof his breath on the thin silk that was the only thing separatinginto my breast," I said, oddly loathe to move

"Yes, yes I am," he said, his eyes fixed with fascination asoutward fro doard to pool in my stomachand locations further south "I&039;d like to do other things to it, but now is not the time or place"

The air in the roo to be a ti at the

"I fervently hope so," he said before looking down at his own chest

It took es of just what I&039;d like Theo to do tobeforeme down to earth

"That&039;sthat&039;s i hich had been a deep gash just a fewheat that indicated a lot of energy was being used to heal his wounds "This isit&039;sit&039;s just not possible!"

"Welcome to Wonderland, Alice," he said with a ss, and left

Life as I knew it ceased to exist Life as I never believed possible began

"This is real, isn&039;t it?" I asked, gently touching another now-healed welt As I watched, severalto thick, raised patches that melted away into smooth flesh after a few minutes "All of this is real I&039;m not insane"

Theo sat up as the last wound disappeared His eyes expressed led pity and an unexpected sadness "No, you&039;re not insane"

"Then you&039;re"

"A nephilim Immortal"

I sed hard "And I&039;m"

"A virtue Soon to be immortal, as well, once you are accepted into the Court of Divine Blood" He got to his feet, and pulledonto my hands

It was too much, too much to take in at once I shook , but at the fact thatto process all this new information so quickly

I just couldn&039;t believe it was realand yet, finally, I admitted to myself that the evidence piled up indisputably pointed to one conclusion: everything I had believed i I knew could simply not be, now suddenly was It was as if a whole new part of life opened up before o forth and explore all theas hell

"And that teenager, that kid as here tearing you apart"

Theo gaveup in a manner that, despite my bemuseer, but a demon, which you handily defeated"

"I hate to interrupt, but I feel it necessary to correct that state at the wall, and came over to us "Portia didn&039;t defeat the de softly over the tops of my hands He frowned at Noelle "What do you mean she didn&039;t defeat it? I saw her do it"

"No," Noelle said with a sigh "What you saw her do was completely annihilate its physical form I didn&039;t send the demon back to Abaddon I didn&039;t have to - she so completely destroyed its human form that it was sent back by necessity"

Theo&039;s eyes widened as both he and Noelle looked atTheo," I told the to just stand there and let hiyou for defeating the demon," Noelle said with a watery smile "It&039;s the fact that you destroyed its mortal form that has us in a situation"

"What sort of a situation?" I asked, pullingin physical contact with hi but hi nored ed to Bael"

"Salus invenitur," Theo swore, rubbing his forehead

"Do I want to knoho Bael is?" I asked, rubbing the goose bu in the crypt in nothing but my teddy and shoes

"Bael is the premiere prince of Abaddon," Noelle answered, her eyes on Theo

"Abaddon being hell?"

"Yes," Theo answered, his face grave My stomach wadded itself up into a dense ball, and seemed to drop to ions He will sue we did to his demon&039;s form Come, you are cold I will take you back to the pub"

He held out a hand forme to follow hiain "Why can&039;t you just zap ave iven to the trial proctors It surumbled as I took Theo&039;s hand and allowed hiers strong and reassuring "Now I&039; who knohere in land by I don&039;t understand why killing a deood thing that I blasted it to kingdoenuine regret in her voice "I o back to the Court and submit the results of the trial That, at least, you passed" She stopped at the doorway to what appeared to be the nave of a church, her gazefrom me to Theo "Good luck I wish I could help you, but it would be a violation of Guild law"

"I understand" Theo releasedher for her help

She gave o well I think you&039;ll be a very nice addition to the Court"

She hurried off before I could respond Theo escorted me out of the (thankfully unoccupied) church and into his car before I got too chilled I wrapped myself up in the car blanket he kept in his trunk, and shivered the entire fifteen- the whole way there what had happened to the nice, orderly, sensible life I had made for myself