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There&039;s uproar when Bec suggests Beranabus ht still be alive in soently suggests that she&039;s in denial, that she needs to accept the ancient ician&039;s death But Bec stubbornly pushes her case, and as she elaborates, our skepticism fades

We know souls can be separated frodoo, when I entered the Board In the past, a soul couldn&039;t survive a body&039;s death, but things have changed Death is clai if a captured soul remains conscious or not But if they do if Beranabus has made a study of Death from the inside and uncovered its secrets maybe he can tell us how to kill it

It&039;s probably a wild shot in the dark Grubbs certainly thinks so and says that it&039;s a waste of ti

But before we can set off in pursuit of a deadto take care of The ne is almost open In another few hours, dozens of de across

While Grubbs fetches his olves and Meera rustles up battle-hardened soldiers, I slot patches of light together Dervish and Kirilli are resting-Dervish looks shattered, Kirilli scared Bec&039;s watching aze ," she says "Your trip to the stars and beyond sounds incredible"

"Yes," I grunt

"I ondering" She coughs "I&039;d like to touch you"

"What?" I squeak, startled, thinking she wants to kiss me

"I can absorb your memories if we touch," she says

"Oh" I chuckle at row serious "Why do you want to take my memories?"

"Not take," she says "Share I want to see everything you saw The lights, the worlds, the Crux If you grant me access, I can see all that you did"

"What does it matter if I show you or not?" I snap

She looks surprised by my harsh tone "Well, of course I&039; a bit "But apart froht spot so that slipped your mind"

"I doubt it," I sniff

"But it can&039;t do any harlare at her Letting her hand drop slowly, her expression darkens "You&039;re hiding so from us Just like Grubbs"

"You saw that too?" I hiss

"Everyone sees it So happened between him and Juni that he doesn&039;t want us to know"

"What do you think it ht be?" I ask

"I&039;ve no idea But I think I knohat you&039;re holding back You look hostile I&039;ve done nothing to make you dislike me, so you must be afraid"

"I&039;m not afraid of you," I sneer

"Maybe not But you&039;re nervous et uncomfortably

"The Old Creatures said the pieces of the Kah-Gash have been influenced by the hosts they&039;ve inhabited," Bec says thoughtfully "If my piece of the Kah-Gash was in Lord Loss for thousands of years" Her expression clears "You don&039;t trust ht betray you, or that ht trick us"

"Can you say for sure that it won&039;t?" I ask quietly

Bec starts to respond hotly, then pauses "Actually no," she aduarantees? Can Grubbs? You don&039;t knohere your pieces were before, or why they ended up in you Maybe we&039;ll all be played for fools"

"Maybe" I nod slowly

Bec syou too And Grubbs I don&039;t think any of us can be trusted"

"You&039;re right," I say glumly, then return her smile "And we&039;re the ones who are supposed to save the world? I don&039;t like our chances!"

"Me neither," she laughs, and we grin at each other, united by our uncertainties, paranoia, and fear

We could stop the e before he opens the , but then ouldn&039;t have a chance to test ourselves I don&039;t like the course we&039;re taking-people will probably die-but there&039;s no other way If ant to learn about the Kah-Gash before we go looking for the Shadoe have to fight We could cross to the de the Kah-Gash in an area of total ic If the weapon&039;s on the side of the Demonata, that would hand it the perfect opportunity to break free of any confines we rowls I&039;ht Meera, Kirilli, the olves, and soldiers are behind us Dervish is a bit farther back, observing I sense thefor inside a nearby building

"We&039;re not going for a full union," Grubbs says "Just a partial link"

"Are you sure we can do that?" I ask

"Yes," Grubbs says "I&039;er I can control it Followwith yours, and everything will be coolio"

I share a troubled glance with Bec-she doesn&039;t like this either-but before I can say anything theopens and de There are dozens of scaly, bloody,down the steps, sht new I faced worse with Beranabus I&039;m more concerned about the olf betweendown on us

Grubbs stares at the Derow an inch, his lips stretching with they spirals up ainst it but then the voice of the Kah-Gash ht No harm will come of this

I don&039;t entirely trust that inner voice, but even if I wanted to reject the union, I couldn&039;t The ic within me warms to Grubbs&039;s and I feel poell up froasp My skin crackles and o weak, then steady

We&039;re drawing power from all around, fro&039;s linked There are connecting lines everywhere, between humans, objects, the Demonata, the stars The Kah-Gash was here before any of us, holding the sixty-four zones of the original universe together And it still binds us in place-it just doesn&039;t define the universes as tightly as it used to

But it could With the power coursing through ers, and open a tunnel between universes Make myself ruler of all worlds, people, and demons Limits exist only in the mind As the Kah-Gash, I&039;d set those limits, not be bound by them I could-

"Let&039;s just kill these deout of the spell I was under, aave in to teht not be the jokers in the pack Maybe I&039;m the weak link, the one the Kah-Gash can exploit

But there&039;s no time for self-doubt The de and the soldiers are readying their rifles Another second or two and all will be chaos

Grubbs roars and I feel thefroh which the power is channeled No way of fighting it now The energy that we&039;ve sucked in explodes through Grubbs, mixed in with his roar