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I briefly closed h er filled every recess of ht, let alone calot hold of meMy skin crawled

It took aOr at least part of it was I glanced down The wingless, serpentlike dragon tattoo onaround like a wild thing trapped Anger glealowed a rich, vibrant lilac in the half-light of the room

Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary tattoo It was a Dušan, a creature of ned to protect ift fros he’d actually done for un

Unfortunately, the Dušan was of little use here on Earth It shouldn’t even have been able to e from my skin, as it had in the past

“What’s wrong now?”

I glanced at Ilianna—ht Her warm tones were rich with concern, and not without reason After all, she’d only just ed to save the life of her ain, threatening not only Mirri’s life but Ilianna’s, her mom’s, and those of everyone else who currently stood within the walls of this place Because not even the ic of the Brindle, as powerful as it ould stop the Raziq It had been designed to protect the witches from the evil of this world It was never ray fields

“The Raziq hunt us” Azriel’s reply was flat Matter-of-fact Yet his anger reverberated through every inch ofI could feel froer; it was anticipation, and that was possibly scarier He drew his sword and aze If the ominous black-blue fire that flickered down the sides of Valdis—which was the name of the demon locked within the metal of his sword, and who io by, she was as ready to fight as her master As ready as Amaya would have been had she been here “We need to leave Now”

Ilianna frowned “Then go home—”

“We can’t,” I cut in “Hoone”

It had been blown to smithereens when I’d thrust Amaya’s black steel into my father’s flesh and had allowed her to consu the bastard had done

“Yes,” Ilianna replied “But the wards your father gave us should still be active I placed a spell on the them”

“Even from what basically resembled a bomb blast?”

She hesitated “That I can’t guarantee”

“A half guarantee is better than nothing” Azriel’s gaze ht The Raziq still need you, no ht currently be”

Yes, but they didn’t need him And they would destroy him if they could Still, what other choice did we have? No ray fields, others would pay the price I hesitated “Will the Brindle’s ic react if we transport out from within its walls?”