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Jason shook his head "If we go, the wizards will knoe’ve escaped so to find the entrance to the onheart with us, they’ll track us down for sure I don’t think ant to be out on a rock in the middle of the lake when that happens We have to ood a place as any"

But they’ll level the town, Jack thought He felt his childhood spiraling away fro fro, I oing to be the sa to be a problem," Jason said "We’ll all be dead"

When Seph opened his mouth to speak, Jason raised his hand to stop him "I knoe have weapons I knoe have talent and sht’s on our side and all that But I’ve seen what’s out there Wall or no wall, they’re coht, we’d win As it is, we lose No matter how much flame you take"

Seph stiffened "I’m not…"

"Come on," Jason muttered "Do you think we’re stupid? As if you’re not juiced enough on your own"

"Seph" Ellen stood and got in Seph’s face, co up on the balls of her feet, her hands fisted at her sides "You promised"

"I promised not to use it unnecessarily And I don’t"

"It’d be nice if he’d share with some of the rest of us," Jason said

"Co rooo help round up the stragglers"

"So," Jason said, when Jack and Ellen had gone, "you haven’t heard from your parents?"

Seph looked at him warily, as if worried they were still on the topic of flame Then he shook his head "Wish I could’ve asked D’Orsay if he’d seen the away I don’t even know if they hyll"

"Well," Jason said, "if they’re in Raven’s Ghyll Castle, that would explain why they haven’t called"

"Yeah" Seph knuckled his forehead, as if it hurt He looked bad, Jason thought There were dark shadows under his eyes, the bones in his face stuck out even more than usual, and his hands tre, he shoved theht-lipped, as if daring hiht Nick and Linda and Hastings had du all around the possibility that Linda and Hastingstotally maudlin "So it’s as bad as all that?" Seph asked Jason looked up, startled, thinking Seph had somehow seen into hisabout the situation in the sanctuary

Jason recalled the ranks of pavilions that encircled the walls, the flicker of wizard lights through the trees "Yeah Worse" He paused, wondering how to fra There’s soonheart We should bring her back"

"No" Seph answered so quickly that Jason knew he’d been thinking the saonheart is the key, and we need to give her a shot at it It’s not just us It’s everybody else, too There’s going to be a slaughter It could be the end of the underguilds"

"She’s not one of us She has her fa to convince hiic, but she can be killed just the same I don’t want to be responsible for that"

"She’ll do it if you ask"

"You sound like my father" Seph raked his hair back impatiently "Of course she’d say yes if I went to her and told her we’d all be killed if she didn’t"

Jason shrugged "I don’t like it either, but…"

"Don’t you get it? I’ve done nothing but put her in danger fro for sure, it’d be one thing But it’s all hunches and speculation We have no proof Madison could help us at all If it’s as bad as you say and we bring her here, she’ll be killed with the rest of us At least, this way, somebody stays alive"

Looks like there’s no easy way out of this, Jason thought Maybe not even a hard way And if they lost, well…He shivered Wizards had a talent for torture and sootten his experiences at Leicester’s hands

Note to self: don’t be taken alive

He’d talk to Mercedes Maybe she wouldn’t give hi--some kind of poison pill that could put him out of reach if need be