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Cole turound as if he’d been hit by a Mack truck He quickly ju me warily His cheek was split, but because he was in spirit forh Back at the barn, I bet cri on with you?" he deh nawed at me, relentless Yes, I would feed fro, I stalked forward The red fla out my arm, but Cole ducked He could have launched a counterattack, could have kicked htened, his hands fisting

"Don’t do this," he said

Not ether

FEED!

"Go ahead, finish your story," I co His ankles knocked together, and he turound a second tiash in his skin A gash I had caused My feet were also covered in red flames "Help me be sure I hate you"

"Is that what it will take?" He stood, saying, "She went down on me And you knohat? I liked it"

With a screech, I lashed out at hiht on the fireworks exploding in the sky One after the other, the other slayers were shooting off their flares Everyone, it see snapped

My gaze whizzed to the left, and I saw red eyes peeking froe

Still don’t care

Colebattle When I scented hirowled at him

He looked atleft of hian to darken, until a black sheet envelopedto take over

I--she--continued forward in spite of the blindness, tripped

"Ali," Cole said, concerned

Time seemed to slon as I fell, landed Sound faded from my ears Except for one

Tick Tock

Chapter 14

The Slaughter of the White Queen

I blinked open my eyes and realized I couldn’t catch my breath Why couldn’t I catchMy clothes were torn, and I was splattered in black goo from the top of my head to the soles of my feet I had cuts on , as if I’d run the treadmill for hours, all uphill

The forest around me had been torched The trees were now naked, their leaves burned away, their branches covered with ash Zoround was just as bad, black and charred, no grass reround, alive Thank God! There were patches of black all over his skin He’d been bitten multiple tiator," he gasped out

I rushed to his side, and he flinched, as if he thought Ia punch at him Yes, I’d thrown a punch, and he’d ducked He’d toldVeronica, about the other stuff they’d done--even now I choked on a well of pain A need to feed from him had consu

"I’The antidote was strapped to his ankle I freed the syringe, and though I was treed to shove the needle into his neck

He’d done this to me countless times, but I’d never had to do it to hi At last, the black began to fade froround

All of the cuts and gashes remained At the barn, his body had to be covered in blood

"What happened?" I asked

"Do you not remember?"

I chewed on my bottoht Oh, good glory She’d taken over

Wincing, he sat up He didn’t aze as he said, "Your eyes went red, Ali, just like the zo you as if you were one of their own You burned the trees and--"

I gasped "I burned the trees?"

"You touched them with the red flames, and the leaves instantly withered"