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Lanthe would be a Sorceri superstar, no longer preyed upon by the likes of Portia and Ember!
Wait a minute Surely Thronos had to worry about the havoc she could wreak up there? "I don’t get it, Thronos How do you think you’re going to keep me captive? You don’t have a collar, and eance" She trailed off, coods Y-you planned to take my power"
For the briefest instant, had he winced?
She fought for breath, feeling like he’d punched her in the chest His face blurred as her eyes watered "You’d steal my soul? Turn me into a mindless breeder for you?"
"I would not do that to you!"
"And you wonder why I don’t want to have children with you! Would you take their souls, too?" She made a fist above her heart "Press a fire scythe to their chests?" As she began backing away from him, sorcery whorled around her
"No!" He looked like the idea appalled hi that to you, but iainst it"
Her voice shook with fury when she said, "I’m done with this With you Done"
When he strode toward her, she commanded him, "Freeze in place" She was astonished at how easily she wielded her persuasion, her sorcery flowing unhampered Maybe her nervousness had affected it
After all, every ti Vrekeners down upon herself and Sabine No chance of that now
Though Thronos fought the command, he was forced to obey it "Gods damn it, Melanthe, don’t use your sorcery on me! You can’t comprehend what it’s like for me to lose control of my body and mind" When she merely raised her brows, he said, "Don’t do this now We’ve been e between us"
"Because I didn’t knohat you were plotting! I colade for twenty-four hours That ought to give you some time for contemplation"
Incredulous, he bit out, "You don’t believe I’ve done enough of that? And where will you go? To steal a key by yourself?"
"Precisely" If she reached both demon lairs before dawn, the armies would still be locked in conflict Not only could she follow the sounds of their skirmishes, she would encounter few demons within their respective dens
Of course, with her sense of direction, she should be lost directly
Even if she sohold, it was fronted by a maze of ruins Yet she expected to find her way into and out of them? She couldn’t find her way out of a human mini-mart
As if he read her o? If you follow that path back toward Inferno, you’ll have to cross the pest zone"
Or she could follow the path away from Inferno for a time, then cut north (or south, or whatever) to reach the plateau Inferno would be on one side, Deep Place on the other
She’d thread the needle, get the lay of the land, and decide her strategy "I have a plan"
He shook his head hard "You’re going to get yourself killed"
"I’ll be fine I’ve ed all these years without you" Of course, she’d always had Sabine to protect her
"You’ve ed, but you’ve never been in hell"
"Debatable" Perhaps Lanthe could finally protect herself, take off the training wheels to become a badass like her sister
Lanthe reo, when she’d asked Sabine, "Why are you so much bolder and braver than I am?"
Sabine had told her, "Illusion is reality, Lanthe If you look or act all-powerful for long enough, guess what you’ll beco I’m sorry to have to tell you this--actually, I’m not sorry at all--but your brother is the one who stabbed me with a pitchfork and brained Sabine He and his men are the ones who hunted us"
"Aristo? What are you talking about? You’ve never encountered my brother"
"I peeked into your head and saw your recollection of our firstafter your fall I saw your brother’s face, but it certainly wasn’t the first tiaped at her words, she said, "Now, hand over that medallion" She couldn’t believe she’d been so wrapped up in hiotten about it
He reluctantly re it over as ordered "How did you know?"
"Did you think I wouldn’t sense this gold?" She ran the pads of her fingers over the gleaold In her hands
It was the size of a pocket watch, with the finest engravings across the surface, depictingfla it re, Set worlds afla Thronos, "I kept waiting for you to ift of this Now I realize you probably ainst ive it to you"
"What do you think ht I have expressed ratitude? Maybe you’ve learned a Sorceri lesson: never put off till tomorrohat you can revel in today"
"If you leave me here like this, I won’t be able to protect lade for twenty-four hours unless there is a threat to your life"
"Daine what this is like for ain? It ainst her co When I juh thatand I couldn’t fly" His voice grew hoarse "To see the ground rushing closer, and I couldn’t s Look into ht now--see thatback over her shoulder--when she should be running away She’d done that tith hiht probe into hiscloser She heard his instinct screa emotions when his body refused to obey--when he realized he was about to die
A stranglehold of shock Raw terror
In such a young boy
"Do you knohy I never yelled on the way down?" he asked quietly "Because fear had robbed hts as swiftly as she’d entered them Tears pricked her eyes, but she willed herself not to cry
"Now you understand what it feels like, to act in opposition to instinct--to the very will to survive! But I’d relive that night again if it would make you stay here with me"
She reminded herself that he still planned to kidnap her He’d considered stealing her soul! He was going to serve her up on a platter to his brother She replayed how he’d tossed her into that tree and lifted her by her jaw And his comments