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She pointed inside the office I raced inside without another word, weaved through the procession of goleurneys, until I reached the ward

Ivy looked up as I entered, her hand on Nightliss’s chest White light glowed beneath her hand "This feels like a terrible mistake," she said

"Where’s Jere to help your friend" She frowned "I thought he would be furious, but he just looked at me and said, ’You and those you love will have to live with your choices’"

"That’s it?" I asked, completely confused

Ivy’s brow furrowed in concentration The light between her hand and Nightliss’s chest flashed bright "This is a terrible curse," Ivy said, lifting her hand

Filhtliss’s pores Every inch of skin eel’s back arched She screael’s body as the sickly white poured frohtliss’s skin, herreluctantly to the tip of her nose before drifting up into the swirlingbeneath Ivy’s hand

Sweat formed on Ivy’s brow She took her other hand, placed it on the opposite side of the mass, and spoke a word The substance crystallized with an icy crackling sound She directed the orb to float and land in a biohazard disposal container

Nightliss coughed

Ivy looked at Elyssa "You’re very pretty"

"Thanks," Elyssa said, her a confused look on her face "You’re very pretty, too"

Ivy grinned, but it faded quickly "I don’t likethese kinds of choices, Justin It’s scary Grownups usually tell htliss "Ito me?"

I embraced my little sister, and kissed her on the cheek "I’, and I want you to trust o back to the Conroys?"

Her eyes ith horror "No, I can’t do that Mom is there, even if she is in an astral prison, and I love randparents Please, don’t randparents! I resisted the urge to emphasize the point and simply nodded "You can visit me any time, okay?"

She savein a cloud of shadows

"Whoa," Elyssa said,open "Did she just teleport out of here?"

"Sort of," I said, my attention elsewhere at that han, who’d apparently been standing in the back of the room, her voice soft onder "Leave the room, please I need to feed her" She opened a cabinet, and withdrew awhite soul essence I’d seen her feed it to the angel before, and did as she wished soit

Moments later, the healer stepped out "She’s exhausted, but her skin, her ain"

"Do you have any chocolate?" I heard a weak voice ask within the roo "I have tons of chocolate!" She vanished somewhere and returned with an aro in?" I asked

She nodded "I think Nightliss would like that very aunt, but her olive coloring was back Elyssa approached her, trepidation in every step Nightliss s hand Elyssa smiled back and took it I wondered if thatnice

For now, I decided, it didn’t matter We had a brief moment of peace, and I intended to enjoy it It wouldn’t be long before the real storer The rest of us licked our wounds and regained our sanity The university canceled classes while they investigated the raolem had killed two members of the Arcane Council by the tiirlfriend, Kayla would be released fro with all of the other people wrongly i could hardly contain hie, but I wasn’t sure how long that would last

I called athose friends of mine who hadn’t been involved in the latest adventures of Justin Slade Felicia, Adam’s sister, appeared, a new boyfriend in tow

"Justin!" she said, wrapping her ar me a firm kiss on the cheek "This is Larry"