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N&iu her head "There&039;s a blue tinge to her lips" She turned Sabine&039;s ared red injury, like a burn It ran all the way to her palm, where it made an X
N&iu her hand on her pants "She&039;s been conde about?"
"This is the morsus, the crudest poison-because it causes inconceivable pain upon the withdrawal Sabine would have had to take a regular dose of this poison to keep it at bay"
"Ah, gods, she&039;d been trying to get back to Oo Istopped her"
"Then he&039;s the one who has done this to her It makes sense that he&039;d use this to control her for all these years"
"What will happen to her?"
"Have you touched her skin? Did you feel that pain?" When he nodded, she said, "You&039;re experiencing pos­sibly a percent of what Sabine is There&039;s supposed to be
no greater agony It feels like being scalded and stabbed, as if your skin is being pincered froet a thousand tireat, it will prove a shock to her body, so intense that her heart will stop"
"It already has!" Inhaling deeply, he tried to calm his tone "What can I do?"
N&iu help her The only person who can save her is the one who poisoned her Rydstrom, you need to prepare your­self Sabine will have one heart attack after another
"No! No, so "Tera, Mariketa-" "Will only confirm what I&039;ve said" "What about Sabine&039;s sister-she&039;s saved her
before!"
"Ah, Melanthe, the potential Queen of Persuasion Healing another is one of the hardest processes to effect And her power is weak, onlyitself in unpredictable fits and spurts"
Rydstroainst Sabine&039;s, des­perate to take this pain froazed up at the Valkyrie, unashamed to beseech her "N&iu youabout Sabine," she said, "you will kill her now"
In between fevered waves of agony, she&039;d heard Ryd­stro thick, he&039;d pleaded, "Cwena,
fight this forme" He&039;d threatened, "What am I supposed to do without you? You can&039;t leave rave, Sabine"
And when another wave had crashed down and she&039;d thrown back her head and shrieked, he&039;d roared with his own pain and confusion, clutching her so tightly, until her screams died down
Sometimes, she heard other voices The brother was
often here Two females ca beside her on
the bed, stroking her hair But another as build-
ing buildingAnd each one orse than the
last
"Rydstrom"
"I&039;m here, Sabine" He kissed her palht here"
"Kill h her body "Please"
His dark eyes were frantic "Never!"
"You sayyou care about me," she whispered "But if you didyou would killcare about you! I&039;m in love with you, Sabine You told me I needed you," he said desperately "I do Freely, I adainst the pain of the contact "We&039;ll fight this together"
"Youlove me?" She&039;d known, had felt it every minute with hiods, cwena You havethat I possess is yours Just heal Just feel no pain"
"Then let o" Damp tendrils of red hair fra you "
He couldn&039;t hear these words, couldn&039;t iine the pain that would drive her to speak the, ain and again Nïx and Cadeon rushed inside just as her body fell limp
But her eyes were open
They were sightless, staring at nothing
N&iuone"
"No!" Rydstro her
"Rydstroone, brother She wants you to let her go"
"Never!" More shaking"You come back to n Sabine!"
Sabine&039;s lids twitched, her
She lives
"Nonoshe hadn&039;t died She gave Rydstrom a look of utter betrayal then fell unconscious in his arms
"You&039;ve only saved her until the next wave hits," N&iuo"
No, there is another way "There won&039;t be a next time" He narrowed his eyes at the Valkyrie "You knew this would happen You knew all those nights ago when you asked dom or my queen And you asked for a reason I can sacrifice all hope for one to save the other"
"You answered your kingdom so easily back then I was amused"
"Whoa, whoa," Cadeon said "What the hell are you two talking about?"
Rydstroht?"
"It&039;s being, uh, taken care of"
"If you&039;ve seen all this, then tell , then back "I don&039;t know about her But you ht want to have a talk with your successor here and let him knohat&039;s about to hap­pen"
Rydstro death-or worse
"Yeah, letto Omort for the antidote The sorcerer will likely kill me this time," he said matter-of-factly "Cadeon, you&039;re my heir Nïx said this was my last chance to claim my crown She didn&039;t say you had no chance"
"What-the-fuck?" Cadeon thundered "No way! No goddamn way!"
"This will happen, brother," Rydstro you"
"Okay, then, so wewith his teo there without a battle plan"
"You told ehahts to his probes I have to be utterly free of conspiracy, else I risk her"
Cadeon ran his hand over his face "If you do this, you&039;ll be co suicide"
"I understand If I can save her from this pain" Then mine was a life well lived
"Nïx! Tell Rydstrohed "If he wants to go all Asian the Lion on us, who are we to stop him ?"
"I won&039;t let you do this!"
"It&039;s done," Rydstroet to Tornin"
"The way to get to Tornin is already on her way to New Orleans And she&039;s pissed"
45
So how are things with Mike Rowe?" a woradually returned to Sabine, and she found herself betaves of pain-in that harrowing lull between re it
"Mike Rowe? Who exactly are you talking about, Holly?" another fe? Yes What is she doing in ?
"The actor?" this Holly said slowly "Froainst you?"
A pause, then Nïx said, "Ah! Yes, well, Mikey and I broke up after I finally got him to fool around with me"
"In the week since I saw you last?"
"Yes, last night if I recall correctly," N&iu But then I had to forget the phone number he pressed on me"
As if she couldn&039;t help himself, Holly asked, "Why&039;s that?"
"I reainst her hazy sight and spied N&iu area of the bedroom Sabine squinted at the Valkyrie&039;s T-shirt It read, born to blossom, bloom
TO PERISH-GS
The other felasses and a pri clothes?
"Besides," Nïx said, "I needed to break it off with Mikey, since I&039; town"
"What do youand refolding the same towel "I still don&039;t knoay around this world, and you&039;re taking off-yet again?"
"Cadeon can show you about"
"Where do you have to go that&039;s so important you can abandonto Buda­pest, to investigate this band of immortal warriors," she explained "They&039;re called the Lords of the Underworld If that doesn&039;t rowled and clawed at the air "Anyway, they&039;re supposed to be excessively hawt"
"And by investigate, you actuallysound "Holly, how else is one supposed to investigate a male? Really?"
Holly sputtered, but Nïx talked over her "Just between us-if they can handle what the Nixanator&039;s bringing, I aze skittered over to the bed, and her eyes widened "She&039;s awake"
N&iu "Re? And this is ave her a ave "She&039;s Cadeon&039;s wife"
N&iulass of water to her lips, but Sabine turned away to gasp out the words, "Where&039;s Rydstrom?"
"We finally peeled him away from you We&039;ll be your sitters this eve Rydstro for your sister, so they can poach her portal" She laughed abruptly "I&039;m sorry, this is not a funny situation, but &039;poach your sister&039;s portal&039; really sounded raunchy"
Holly rolled her eyes
"He&039;s bringing Lanthe back here," Nïx finally con­tinued "And then he intends to take you to O for the antidote"
Sabine&039;s heart stuttered-this tih with this!"
Nïx said, "He&039;s decided to sacrifice himself for you"
"Omort will kill him this timewill read his minddiscover any of his plans of attack-"
"There won&039;t be any," N&iu this as a one-way trip, sorceress"