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I lunged upward "Wrong, Selene," I said as I grabbed hold of her legs and pulled She went down I rolled on top "I’le out fro a spell under her breath My physical size was er than hers No wonder she always chose to vanish "No more spells" I whipped my fist back and smashed it into her face She screamed I had effectively stopped her spell midsentence

"You biiiiitch!" She squired fro rate Daoddesses

"No, Selene, you’re the bitch," I snarled "And this is for har my mate" I smashed my fist into the other side of her head, extremely satisfied when her eyes rolled back into their sockets and she did a little convulsion of her own "And this is for hurting my new friend" I slasheddeep furrows in her crea to die, Selene!"

"Jessica," Rourke itation "Please… get away from here"

At the sound of his voice I ju the wall, pivoting ain I slid down to hi rowled The pain he had to be enduring et that through your thick skull We leave this place together, or not at all" My wolf howled her agreelance down the length of his abused body as I pushed ain It was hard to process hoas even functioning in this state His lungs filled with air, quivering as they fought to keep working "Hold on," Ihooks where the chains should be attached There were none

The chains hung in the air attached to nothing

If we pour enough power into the spell, I think we can break it Then we jump before he falls and catch him It was risky because of the shape he was in, but I had nothing better

I shot power into the connection as Selene gasped in a big breath and round No more time

"Jessica, please… go," Rourke said on a s to stay awake He was fighting whatever Selene had done to hi He must have broken one of her spells when he’d heard my voice "I want you to… live Please… Jess…"

"Rourke, listen to me" I linedhere and we’re going toto break this chain and catch you at the bottoain We can use Eae of the alcove, his sister’s lifeless body in his ar, but covered in dried blood "Eamon," I shouted frantically "You have to help us! If you do, you will be free of any vow you owe h you deserve death for your betrayal" As Naoht to waive a debt But if he coed the tone ofout of tirateful you will round She sputtered and s Goddammit "I never should have come back here"

"Eamon" I pinpointed Selene’s spell on the chains and my wolf threw all the power she could into it "Once your Queen finds out you’re a traitor, that you’ve spent the last few centuries helping Selene, your life is forfeit Help me now and I will make sure you live I swear it onfroo far froain, away from you, away from your dirty mind tricks We will survive on our own just as we have done before"

"I highly doubt it" Strands of my power snaked their way into the chains The spell weakened by the second I was going to have to ju your sister swore an oath to me and--unlike you--she’s so before she leaves you and co to be furious with you Fix it by helping me now You have a chance to make yourself worthy"

"I don’t answer to you!" Eaed and raw He s were clearly not so with "I will never help you"

Selene rose to a sitting position, her face al," she purred, her head swiveling toward Eamon "You won’t help her, but you will helpyou for bringing your sister to iveopen where I’d slashed it with my claws "Co and I have forgotten Come, Eamon, reether"

Wedded?

Ea His expression betrayed how badly he wanted what she was saying to be true Pain and stark need etched across his features in a tide of longing I so didn’t want to feel any pity for hito eat you up and spit you out Are you really that stupid?" He didn’t so much as blink in my direction I pushed , flooding us withourat ht made his bone-white face flicker in the shadows oer I prayed she’d wake up soon I didn’t think she was dead Selene would want to play with her,sure she endured ave her true death He turned and gently set Naomi down behind him, tucked into the corner

Once he turned back, he stared at Selene, waiting for his orders He’d made up his mind Selene knew it too He was hers He’d always been hers in a twisted, torht, ht with o back to the beautiful place we had before, just you and I"

She was good