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"What’s that?"

"What else? The secret to eternal life I have it; he doesn’t Hah!" He spat that last word off to the side, toward Colwyn "But the bastard has tried to tilt the scales in his own favor You see, he released me from" Myrddin’s eye twitched "From where I was But only for a limited time I have ten days of freedom before his spell wears off and I’m returned to that horrible place--unless I share my secret with him But I won’t share the secret until Pryce is restored, and Colon’t reive him what he wants And so we find ourselves at a staleure out how to betray the other Eh, Colwyn?"

Myrddin dropped the last coil on Pryce’s table He reached toward ht into my eye Then he repeated the process with my left eye He leaned forward and whispered, "Colwyn thinks he’s in charge, but he doesn’t co equipment hidden in the mirror above you You will scream nicely for it, won’t you? Your aunt ant to know exactly what happened to her favorite niece, after all"

No screaot If Myrddin sent Mab a video of htened and spoke in a slightly-too-loud voice "I do believe you’re ready Well, you le "But the sedative has worn off enough to proceed"

I didn’t believe Myrddin could stopIf its effects had die into sory, and deadly I closed rizzly for, claws raised--and I poured all of h an I pushed y into it

A hand settled on e I still held the grizzly’s ie in my mind, as vivid as if it stood before ed

"No," said Myrddin sigled, tugging on the energy, trying to pull it back from him, but I couldn’t do it He absorbed it all

When there wasn’t a spark left, the pressure of Myrddin’s hand leftin the Reaper"

I DON’T KNOW WHETHER I BLACKED OUT OR GOT SWALLOWED up by panic, but I don’t re I knew, a figure stood beside ure was robed, like the Old Ones, but the hand that held the weapon was huht, I thought, then laughed hysterically because I’d never get a chance to tell Daniel--or anyone--anything ever again

Stay calm, Vicky And don’t scream

The Reaper’s face was too deep inside the robe’s hood forsounded I opened my senses to the demon plane and was nearly deafened by the raucous sound of hundreds of crows In the dehostly black wings sprouted frohly possessed by the Morfran

Sharp pain yanked me back into the human world The Reaper had unfastened the ties at the front ofasped But I clenched htly before the pain tore a scream from my throat I would not screa symbols into my skin In the mirror, all I could see was his robed back I didn’t knohat the syh" Myrddin put a hand on the Reaper’s arh-pitched whine issued from the Reaper’s hood The sickle sliced toward my throat

Myrddin’s hand stopped its descent A few muttered words from the wizard, and the Reaper was lifted frorunt and cry sounded as he hit a wall

"Keep him back," Myrddin said "What? No, I don’t need the jar Didn’t you hearquickly and silently, he picked up a length of tubing and fitted it with a long, thin, wicked-looking needle Then he moved betweenThe mirror showed my chest as a mass of blood--so much blood I couldn’t make out whatever patterns the Reaper had sliced intotrailed behind, somehow connected to Pryce Myrddin used the needle to trace the symbols the Reaper had carved into my flesh I felt every inch He paused directly over le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>