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"And fucking you both"

I blinked "The person who took the key was a man--"

"So? As I have said before, it is pleasure thataround with two dark sorcerers?" I asked incredulously

"Perhaps," he replied "Perhaps not I aive you such information, my dear, when I still need cards to play if I aoing to survive; otherwise you wouldn’t have been such a busy little beaver trying to irubby little paws on"

"That was lanced at his watch, and I suddenly remembered Ilianna

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Had she been rescued, or had the whole thing gone ass up?

"A precaution?" I bit back, relief fillingout his phone We obviously still had some time left before he needed to make his next call "Another lie Aedh breed only when their death is imminent"

"As your father only bred?" He shook his head "Like him, I have a few years left before I am forced to leave this world per heavier inmore strident inrather than her

"Is the person who stole all the weapons out of that display case," I growled, "the same person who stole the first key?"

He considered me for a moment, expression a mix of amusement and condescension "It was"

"And is that person a dark sorcerer who is also a shape-shifter?"

God, it felt like ere playing twenty questions But this wasn’t a gaet as much information out of hioing to be any talking once I was free Not by me, anyway

Amaya, on the other hand, was a whole different story

"I believe that er "You will never guess their identity, Risa, but you areas you like However, it will not get us that key back"

"Is it even possible to get the key back, given what happened to the first one?"

"The difference that time and this," he said, "is that it wasn’t only the key stolen, but rather a whole bunch of weapons in which the key is just one Our thief has not the capability to find it hih me We may have momentarily lost the key, but it still ithin the realms of possibility that it could be retrieved That was so, at least

"Our help, or yours? You can sense the key when you’re close, can’t you?"

"Yes, but I need you to pin down its location Which is why I suggest an agreereeet froain "Now, let’s not forget Ilianna here I would hate to have to kill her after all the effort I’ve put into snatching and seeding her"

Areement?" I spat "And why the hell would you even expect me to believe you’d actually uphold your end of it?"

"I don’t expect trust," he said "But I do expect that you’ll remember I hold your friend’s life in my hands and that you’ll control not only your own need to kill e for what?" I spat

"In exchange for the key, of course What else matters?"

Indeed, what else did? For hi else And if Lucian thought I could control the actions of any of them, then he was seriously insane

"I can speak only for myself and Azriel, but we both know there are other players in the mix ant the key just as er--and the need to kill, to rent and tear--surged, and I could alue And I knew that this time, it wasn’t Amaya’s need, but my own I wanted his blood onaanted to watch the realization of defeat dawn in his eyes

"With the keys in my possession, neither your father nor the Raziq will be a probleainst me until they are sure of the keys’ location"

I pushed to ive away ot the all clear from both Amaya and Uncle Quinn God, please, let him contact ood thing"

"I have lived many lives in this world in that state, and I have always surpassed ain "And now, I believe, a phone call is required"

Ah, she screa tones said, We have her She’s safe and well