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"Last night We think between two and four a on top of El-car tracks in the mud We know exactly when the El-car went down the road, and the body was discovered at six am, already cold"

"Cop El-car?" Audric asked Thadd nodded, and Audric said, "I&039; that the public knows this already, or you wouldn&039;t be telling us so much"

Thadd inclined his head, composed Except that his shirt had no buttons, he looked like his ordinary self I was hoping the shirt would gap a bit, but his posture was pretty good "The body was discovered by an SNN reporter Her screaot it all correct except a few details Even SNN got it right"

"Iain in his voice

"One of the details they didn&039;t get was the rock dust they found at the scene"

"Amethyst dust," I said, instantly "Ground-up amethyst"

"And how do you know that?"

I sht "I smell it on you" I pointed at a pocket "You put some of it there" He looked at the pocket and scowled ata secret as we do, you&039;d take me in because of that" I peeledslowly and deliberately "But I&039;e, kylen You&039;d have to catch me first" In an instant I spun and darted across the room It took him about three seconds to spot me coiled beside the tub "Catch e-heat flare anew

Audric sighed "Go home, Thadd She&039;ll try to scry for the stone"

Clearly not happy, Thadd left the loft But I could still smell him

Audric stalked to aand threw it open "I have to go see Rupert You, littleto have to watch your mouth"

I stood up fros"

The heat hangover lastedme with a headache that pounded with each heartbeat and refused to respond to over-the-counter raements for a funeral The service would take place once the police released the body, though that could take weeks Rupert decided not to feign public , and refused to speak of the death

Near dusk, when the sun rested on the ridge of the h to scry for the aar cookies, while Audric and I set up the conjure This ti a larger quantity of the aht up a double-fist-sized hunk of the lavender crystal, one that appeared to have lain in contact with the ground for long years on one side, but was freshly broken off the izing to hold so much amethyst To make the circle, I used clean salt, untainted by the s I added the silver bowl and water, candles, my knife in case I needed blood, a small steelI ht need, I centered myself and closed the circle

With the hunk of ae the a I was able to resist the pull of the deeps, settling ht, I was an inferno of purple light It was becoht so too He said, "You okay? This is odd"

I soaked up the ahed a long breath that I could folloith the enhanced ht A purple mist of breath "Easy as pie," I said Audric raised his brohich ht And I wantedto put on a serious expression, I said, "I&039;m fine," and waved him away from the circle I took slow breaths, and when I was calm and wouldn&039;t chortle in the middle of the incantation, I took up the hunk of crystal, setting it into the water in the silver bowl Fine bubbles of air were trapped along its sides, like perfectly round baubles of light

We didn&039;t think I needed an incantation for this but hoped I could siies to that of the stone and then use round, broken gray boulders and snow, a big purple rock protruding When I was perfectly centered, I dropped a small shard of a clear, concentric rings out froh the water fast and landed with a tap on the larger stone beneath Without pause, I dropped in a second crystal, and a third When nothing happened, I took up the knife and pierced er Three drops of blood fell into the water It swirled and spread, a soft cloud of ruby over the lavender stone The water darkened as I watched, the vision as lightless as the inside of aDark, but with a strange glow, like the color of e"

I al I searched the dark vision Dripped in threereached out, h the vision and slashed rabbed e-fast But dee"

I struggled in the grip, fought for a breath, pulling against it I forced round Sulfur burned htened My breath stopped, and I couldn&039;t turn my head A fire burned in a brazier Water trickled Blood splashed softly A flat-topped stone was in the center of a charled across the altar stone

To his side, sitting on the ground, was a e was filthy and e in lank strands over her face Herfast into a stoneware bowl Lucas&039; blood dripped nearby, a steady tink She was shouting the prophecy Lolo had spoken as I was born Thefor me "A Rose by any Other Nahts were instantly in e Helphand and wiped it across Lucas&039; side, leaving a long s thechain

The scene darkened I still had not taken a breath I pulled against the hold of the Darkness, fought, threw backThe Power My heart stuttered, round By a Power I heard it laugh Beneath the grating tone came the beat of a drum, the tone of a flute, and Lolo&039;s voice, too soft to hear

The Dark e&039;s eyes widened in shock and hope "Lolo?" she asked

With , I could almost see the mathematical properties of Lolo&039;s incantation, like linked droplets, alternating large and sain, as she had been the last time I had used the amethyst to conjure That was important sos burned If I passed out, I&039;d belong to the thing that had trapped s, I preparedit support h the hand that held me and I could have sworn I startled it Prepared for the jolt of vertigo and nausea, I took advantage of the Power&039;s surprise and stole a breath of air, converting it into a quick scan

I could see Lolo&039;s conjure for round circles of power, like tiny, interconnected dia into the strands of the Darkness&039; conjure as she wrapped her incantation around it But as each strand of the dark conjure was cut, another grew to take its place, a spider lace of glowing red and black strands Desperately,to a pinpoint of perspective, I drew on the amethyst

The Dark conjure centered on a perfectly round hole, ringed with threads of power I directed the ae of Lolo&039;s linked droplets with h, I reshaped the links into a weapon, a talon, a thorn And ripped back out through the hole, taking the strands of the trap withthat held h the earth Lavender light, forked lightning bolts of power, flared close around ht sparkles of purpose and lu in a sad, lonely voice like bells: "Little e" Not the voice of the Darkness Not the voice of the trappedon my side in the loft on the cold floor I pulled in a breath, a golden, glorious breath, that sent pain ricocheting through my air-starved torso The inside oflavender, a ht it tingled against , a rising fog in a semispherical shape over me The charmed circle aries

I raisedsurprise in Lolo&039;s url? What you done with dat purple power? What happen you? Where froness

With a finger, I broke the circle All the power looped back into the silver bowl and the aht that vanished with a wet splash I rolled over ontoup at the circling ceiling fan

Audric stood at the edge of the circle, his tords drawn, eyes ith bloodlust

"There&039;s nothing here to kill, big h lips that felt nu had you" He stepped across the broken circle of salt and stood overdown into e-blood, a stranger&039;s And sulfur and acid Darkness!" he said, his tone joyful "Where is it?"

"It was a trap Lolo helped me escape We left it behind, but it has Lucas" The sense of inebriation faded with my admission

Audric&039;s face fell, disappointed that he had no deht "And the amethyst?"

I held upto find ht sparkles of purpose answering e&039;"

"And?" Audric kissed the blade of the longsword before sheathing it

"The same words you used earlier" I rested both hands on the tabletop, feeling steadier "You called e And you aren&039;t the only one," I said, re shifted in Audric&039;s eyes He turned toward the door and I snatched at his arh he had the bone structure and muscle mass of his human parent and could have wrenched free easily "You kne to call Lolo," I said "Or she called you You knew exactly who and what I was before I screwed up in the alley, didn&039;t you?"

Audric inclined his head slowly, thehe did "You are ready to hear this, I think Your Lolo sent me to you Some half-breeds do not wish to be bound to a seraph for war, but rather to live free, choosing their own battles This is my desire, to be free, always" His lips nearly smiled before sorrow took it away "There have always been rues I searched for such a one and Lolo sent ht beside Next tiether, ill battle the Dark"

Uh-huh Sure ould, I thought drunkenly Like I was going to let ain But I didn&039;t say that After a slight hesitation while the rooht I see it in your eyes Why don&039;t you want to bind with a seraph or a battle e?"

The last of the battle lust drained from his eyes, and Audric pulled his arm away "When you&039;re ready to tell e"

The thing in the deeps had keptbelow-ground as it did above, in one of the weird little quirks of Einstein&039;s theory of relative tirip of the Power and found myself on the floor of my loft, muscles stiff and cold where they had lain in contact with the floor for hours Ciana was already asleep in the guest bed in Rupert&039;s apartment, and Audric, deprived of the chance to kick ass and bleed demons, went away disappointed I just crawled into bed and fell into a deep, serene sleep

Even asleep, I are of the aht It offered itself toin return except to be used, consu with the energies it shared