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She was scared, definitely scared Terrified But it didn’t really see to fall down, and there would be nothing he could do

She started to slip He dragged her up, shaking her again "How much coffee did you drink?"

Her heart sank Whatever he had drugged her with had been in her coffee And it had been so good She’d had several cups

She se blade out, next to her face He forced her down to the floor, the point of his knife near her eye "Kelsey, I’ll cut you to ribbons before I do worse things to you and then kill you," he said "Or, I’ll tell you what Your friend Jonas is lying on the ground outside I haven’t killed hiue in front of you How’s that?"

"You want the reliquary?" she asked him "Take it"

He slapped her Hard For a moment, her teeth rattled and the room spun

"Where is it?" His voice was shrill

"Tell ive you the reliquary," she said

He started to laugh "Your whole family loves coffee, Kelsey That, combined with her painkillers and a phone call Idown the stairs because she believed aroom That’s how she fell That was my first I didn’t know that it had worked Stupid, huh? But I slaughtered a bunch of beautiful Key West roosters for that one And it worked So, you kno your ive ive up the reliquary--I would have killed you, and your father next, if you hadn’t left so quickly"

He pressed the blade of the knife close to her right eye

"The crown," she said "Take it You won’t get far with it Liam will come after you"

"Liam is passed out cold somewhere Maybe he had a traffic accident Maybe he’s dead The world will know that the house is cursed What do you ed

She didn’t see him reach for it He’d had to drop her to do so She heard his exclamation of pleasure

And she knew then that he would kill her

Liah the trapdoor as carefully and silently as he could It took so covered the trapdoor

He made it into Cutter Merlin’s study and carefully stood, drawing his gun

The door was ajar He could hear Vargas talking to Kelsey She was still talking

He started out "Vargas!"

Vargas spun and dropped, dragging Kelsey up in front of hie bowie knife, and that the blade was now against Kelsey’s throat

"You’ve got the reliquary Leave her," Liaas shook his head "I need her She has to come with me"

"Coas assured hihtly around Kelsey, Vargas started to back up Lialazed She was trying todoll

"Shoot hioing all the way through the house Liam knew that his men were out back, but they’d also been told to stand down until given an order They wouldn’t risk Kelsey’s life

Where the hell did he think he was going?

Vargas"I have a boat back there, Beckett, under the dock When I’o You rush me now, and I’ll slit her throat," he said "I’ve been the sht you killing a goat," Liaave hiain, backing sloay The knife was chafing at Kelsey’s throat Liam saw a thin trickle of blood

He lifted his hands "I just want Kelsey"

"Drop the gun, then"

Liaain "I just want Kelsey"

Vargas kept going backward

Step by step

They came to the back door He keyed in the alarm and opened the door; the reliquary tucked under his one arrip around Kelsey treacherous as he held her and the knife, and worked the alarm and the door

A trapdoor How often had the man been in there with him? He’d done work for the Merlin house He’d found the door And that had begun it all

"Stay back!"

"I’ my distance," Lia when the otten the boat to the docks