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"Derek wants us all to abandon the town because of the ice caps," Rupert said, holding an ice pack to his temple "Privately, a few months back, he approached Lucas, Jason, andthe decision to et the seraphs to resettle us elsewhere, which would ees, though notall this?" I asked

"You were going through a divorce, not speaking to Lucas, and have never been interested in politics Remember?"

"Oh Well, I&039;m interested now"

"He didn&039;t say why, but purchase of the Trine was part of the deal, though no one said anything about hts When we turned his"

Audric s We were in Rupert&039;s apart on an ancient and worn leather sofa Audric had dead- across froas fire dancedwar with heavy tapestries

"Jason saw dollar signs out of the deal and was ready to sell He was pretty unhappy when Lucas and I turned him down" Rupert stretched his left arm as if it ached It was the side he&039;d been dropped on when I rammed his attacker

Audric&039;s voice was almost dreamy when he said, "Culpepper could be involved with the people who took Lucas, I suppose He has ties to town and kirk governh his father He has ives hiet involved with a Dark Power," Rupert said "And so is that worinned at o to your policeure it out"

"He&039;s not my policeman"

"Whatever Pass me the aspirin?"

"I think that would be a precipitous action," Audric said carefully, as he passed the bottle "Thebetween Culpepper and Hilton ht such a powerful and wealthy man could call seraphs"

"The woman, like all the women my brother attracts, is a harpy"

"Thank you so verytwo aspirin ater "Except for you I never did figure out what Lucas saw in you You have a brain; you have morals; you&039;re built like a ballet dancer rather than a cow" I looked down atafter Jubilee," Audric said "If Culpepper is involved, if he took Lucas, knows about the amethyst, and wants the land, he&039;ll attend And he&039;ll eventually contact the reo too See how the wind blows"

"Questions," I said to Rupert "Now that you knoe think, and what the AAS thinks, what if Jason is involved with a Darkness in the hills? What if he intends to kill off all his family for reasons we haven&039;t uncovered? What if there is a blood-demon?"

"Jason&039;s blood is so saturated with liquor that nothing could use it to track us"

Audric hing It wasn&039;t an answer Perhaps there wasn&039;t one

He rolled over in the dark, the stink of sulfur waking hi the delicate membranes of his sinuses He reached out and touched the walls of his prison Coarse rock, brittle and broken The faint stench of old urine and rot reached hirene on the frostbitten dead flesh of his exposed wrists, fingers,the spawn to hi and iain to protect hiht on a spell of coughing that racked his chest His life wasn&039;t worth devil spit if he was dependent on a Darkness for survival

The faint red glow in the opening to his prison was brighter now He could see the rocks that made up the boundaries of his small cell and the corroded iron bars that blocked off the only entrance Could see the pale white of his living skin against the black of dying flesh where he&039;d touched the iron bars Could see the stone jar that held the h the cavern like the breath of ing to life with his blood would soon wake, and the Stanhopes would die, every last one Followed quickly thereafter by the re inhabitants of Mineral City

"You&039;re awake!" The voice was delighted, the breaking tone of an adolescent human boy, the same voice that had identified itself as Malashe-el

Lucas kneas i about Powers&039; true names, but he couldn&039;t remember what His brain washis skin The boy sniffed at the fresh blood, then ducked his head, abashed "Sorry Mama tells me that&039;s really rude"

Lucas chuckled "You could say that Huht of as food"

"But you are food"

His amusement faded and he shuddered at the statement of fact, the only reality to the Darkness Such siht you a blanket And soarded the boy at the opening, his gangly body silhouetted by reddish light "Why?"

"Mama said I had to"

"Why?"

"She doesn&039;t want you to die just yet"

Lucas chuckled again, the sound rasping and bloated with despair "That would be my hope too, but it isn&039;t very likely Just who is your mother?"

"She said you knew her" The boy sat on the cavern floor, his movements demon-fast, his tone puzzled He handed Lucas a blanket and a loaf of bread The blanket was silk, soft and warth of it around hi in the heat, a near-hu the blanket with one hand, he took the bread It had a peculiar glazed texture, a scent like honey His fingers trembled as they broke off a piece and stuffed it in hisflooded his , as sweet as cake The bread softened and he sed easily He i out to his lile bite

"I don&039;t know any Darkness, boy Not one," he said after he sed

The boy flipped his black braid out of the way "Mama&039;s not a Dark One She said you know her as the Mistress And she&039;s not finished with you yet"

Despite hih his bones like a warm flush of life "The Mistress?" he breathed "Here? How?"

The boy shrugged "She&039;s always been here"

But that wasn&039;t possible The Mistress was a Being of Light Not a seraph precisely, but similar Unless He felt the flicker of hope quiver and die He had been deceived