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The sound of steel on steel filled the air, like a blade being unsheathed No The betrayer has repented and is forgiven And while the other has yet to choose her final path, it is she who calledand risked a peek The dragon shi e, and soly beautiful He reached forward and grabbed the spear that I rapped around I relaxed fractionally just in time as he pulled it free with no visible effort Blood and flesh sprayed across ed body

A flurry of sound and h a wall of flaalia pouring through the doorway into the room

I couldn’t hear the priest speak, but I saw his lipsthe ritual banishment He looked so terrified--they all did--and I realized with a shock that they thought I was alone and unprotected

As I should have been

My faith, while real, is shaky at best And the de tainted It wasn’t just that I was part vampire; I’d been marked by a demon once before

The voice in my mind was patient, kind, and loud No one is perfect But you do have faith You hold truth dear You hold loyalty sacred And soh

The demon snarled and paced around the parts of the circle he could reach, eyes blazing with hate every tiht I began to think I ht survive

As I watched, the priest dipped the sprinkler into the bucket of holy water and flung a spray of liquid into the air above the circle The drops passed through the barrier as if it weren’t there The deed frantically, trying to avoid being hit Drops splattered to the ground When the water hit the being of white fire, the fla it whole and perfect Nearly too perfect to look at

Again and again the priest repeated his actions, until the floor of the casting circle was covered in water and there was nowhere left for the minion of hell to hide

As the priest raised the sprinkler one last tiel called out Jan’s corpse levitated up from the floor and flew into his clawed hand

He turned tosmile I will see you in your dreams, dear one We are linked, you and I For all eternity

Then he was gone

34

"I would like a private ith the princess" Igor stood just inside the door to my private hospital room It was 4:00 AM but he looked as fresh as if it was the beginning of his day He’d showered and changed clothes in the hours since I’d last seen hi at hi with the fallout of everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours His black suit was ih to shave with The white dress shirt he wore alhts

Bruno, on the other hand, was a wreck Slumped in the chair at my bedside, he wore the sa; his hair was rumpled and he had more than a shadow of a beard Still, he was alert and wary as he sat up straighter in his seat The look he gave me said as clearly as words that he didn’t think I was up to this

He h cookie, but everybody has a li perilously close to h I wondered if I’d ever relax enough to sleep soundly again No, it was the s I’d seen in Mexico had cracked the protective ical shield that had bluntedwhat had happened to Okalani had shattered that barrier entirely

I rearette burn, every cut, the threats and the terror But most of all, I remembered ruesohouls her talent had raised Each memory was as vivid, as raw, as the day it had happened

I looked at Igor, as standing silent and patient, then took a deep breath and shoved the memories into a box in my mind I slammed down the lid and hoped it would hold "I’ll be fine," I said to Bruno "Let us talk"

Bruno didn’t argue, he just stood He bent down to giveclose, he whispered, "Whatever he wants, say no You’ve done enough--h"