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Sophia&039;s gaze cut to Reggie, "You planned this with hiiven the chance The King was kind enough to offer hed and turned back to his truck, gesturing for the guards to fetch the iteuard&039;s hauled a wooden box from the truck and lowered it next to Sophia She stiffened when she saw it "Reme in this wooden coffin for months on end? It left me so starved, that by the tiet blood"

Sophia sed hard, her eyes wide Her jaw locked as if she was steeling herself to her fate "A few decades trapped inside sounds perfect" The King practically purred Stepping over the Queen, he lifted her like it was their wedding night, his eyes filled with emotion The silver chains burned into his arie opened the lid and Jared lowered his bride inside Sophia screa her skin hiss as more of it was burned away She stilled for a second when her back hit the wood Leaning over her, Jared kissed his wife on the forehead, and said, "Next time you see ed by starvation by then, that you won&039;t reie lowered the lid Celticad wrapped the coffin in a thick set of chains and the three va inside

"Where do you want her?" Celticad asked

"The tunnel under the palace," the King ordered He stared at the coffin, saying, "I want to be able to visit her once in a while, make her remember who she was and how she cah the palace, first Tell them that their Queen is no more" Celticad nodded once, like it was a nor two other vampires to lift the box with hi back to the palace with the Queen&039;s coffin lifted high on their shoulders Her screaht and faded, carried away by the wind as they brought her inside

With a grin on his face, the King turned slowly, sensing her "Co I can be"

Kahli stepped froie&039;s truck The others were surprised to see her, but not the King "Vareen eyes narrow, pulse pounding in her ears The way the King looked at Kahli h her body Part of her wanted to go to him, to let him have her, while the part of her brain that slayed his Trackers wanted to feel his blood running between her fingers

The King&039;s lips pulled into a devastating smile, "No, we don&039;t" He stared at her, neither co toward Kahli The hipped his dark hair and blew through the buttons on the front of his shirt, filling it with air He looked like a god, standing in front of her, dripping with power After a moment, his smile shifted to a self-satisfied sht, Williaathered behind the King They parted for him, as Will walked slowly forward, his eyes fixated on Kahli His suit was streaked with red and black blood like he&039;d been fighting Kahli&039;s heart twisted so hard she thought it broke In that moment, it felt like time stopped This couldn&039;t be what it looked like The King didn&039;t own Will, he&039;d told her as much, but that ht red stain ran down the back of Will&039;s head It was froht The blood was still fresh, dripping down his neck, for streaks of scarlet across his white suit Will watched her, his bottoeful lot Vindictive to a fault, fixated on getting ant - at any cost" Will stood between Reggie and the King, his arust in his eyes

"Will," Kahli breathed his naht him, that Will stood there like that because he was forced to, but that wasn&039;t the case The three were standing together, shoulder to shoulder, like allies Her throat tightened so quickly that she couldn&039;t speak Bile rose up her throat, pooling in her s he told her - the stolen kisses - everything was a lie It was to lure her in, to make Kahli trust him A sensation so bitter, so sour filled her stoh her body that she couldn&039;t stand to look at him another second The wind blew cold and fierce Kahli was like that wind - cold and brutal - and co at them, she had to , if this hat it looked like, if all the things he&039;s said to her were lies - there was no time for any of that For their plan to work, she had to act now, but Will was standing with the her eyes, but Kahli refused to let the with the wrong side He chose the va her eyes closed, Kahli allowed the pain to flood her body Her voice was firain, deter as her lashes fell Turning away, she said, "Light it"

Instantly, a wall of flaht, nearly engulfing the va Will He stepped back, staring at her through the flickering flaaze Kahli&039;s stomach twisted, her throat felt like it was crushed There were shouts of shock as the fla beasts Screa out as the wall of flaht spot flickered in the distance, racing toward the the vae, holding the va the vamps away from Kahli and toward the palace The wall of flaht sky Will wasn&039;t the only set of eyes on Kahli The King&039;s golden gaze was locked on her face, his chest filling with smoke as he breathed in the air His body was too close to the flaie finally pulled his Kahli couldn&039;t hear over the roaring flames The rest of the vah the landscape, and raced back toward the palace Vampires ran toward their ho theon them like a wolf The suits they ere very warm, but very flammable

More screams erupted as Kahli stood there, eyes locked with Will, her red hair dancing in the wind like tongues of fire It see at him Somewhere in the back of Kahli&039;s mind, she knew she needed to run, but her feet wouldn&039;t listen They relued to the spot as the fire flared in front of her Cole ran forward, and grabbed Kahli by the wrist The rune burned as he touched her, but Cole didn&039;t let go He tugged hard, and Kahli finally stu as the wind shifted and blew the black smoke in her face Cole raced away fro sure their bodies were lost in shadow beyond the flickering golden light Kahli felt empty, like someone carved out her insides and left the as they ran, and the banshee-like screa within the palace walls floated over her like a whisper It was a- pride, fear, fulfilled vengeance - but Kahli felt nothing

Cole was hissing at her as they ran, but she didn&039;t hear him either She couldn&039;t focus Cole&039;s words floated over her like snowflakes lost in the wind He stopped where he had a bike waiting Out of breath, he turned to Kahli, scolding, "Snap out of it" When she didn&039;t blink, Cole grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard She felt his hands on her, but her , Will Will is one of them Cole yelled at her, but Kahli barely heard him It wasn&039;t until his palm connected with her cheek that she blinked When he raised his hand a second ti Cole&039;s hand by the wrist, she stopped hiaze was blank She held his ar to snarl in his face, but she didn&039;t speak

Cole ripped his arm away, "You need to drive us to the others Now Snap out of it, Kahli They need you I can&039;t do this alone Cassie means well, but she doesn&039;t knohat&039;s out here You do" His words bit into her like a starved ani so shocked

Breathing hard through her nose, Kahli nodded Kahli grabbed the bike and swung her leg over the top as Cole stood next to her Kick starting the bike, the engine turned over and Cole climbed on back Without a word, the two circled the palace to survey the dae would better a better word Kahli knew if she turned around to look at Cole&039;s face that it would have a satisfied s at both ends Only the center seeht sky, illu and everyone in its path It was athat place represented was burning, soon it would be reduced to cinders and charred earth Kahli glanced over her shoulder at Cole He nodded once, and then they headed toward the others, allowing the wind to cover their tracks

Cole clung to Kahli&039;s back, bouncing around on the back of the bike every tirounds, they ditched the bike and continued on foot Kahli grabbed the contents from the bike&039;s frame and shoved the stuff in Cole&039;s pack Cole hadn&039;t said anything to her They walked for over an hour in silence, the wind rab a mask to protect her face from the weather It was a novice mistake, but she didn&039;t think she&039;d need one Kahli&039;s plan had been to go back for Will after torching the palace, but things changed

Kahli&039;s heart slid down into her stomach like a piece of lead The heaviness crushed her chest, ht of res move

"He&039;s not worth it," Cole finally said, glancing over at her Kahli stared straight ahead, her face devoid of emotion "Kahli - " Cole reached out for her hand and held onto it His fingers pressed into her hand Kahli stopped and glanced over at him Cole&039;s voice was less poisonous than she expected, it was almost supportive, "I know you feel betrayed, but you can&039;t shut down right now That fire bought us a few days at ot off the palace grounds You&039;re the only one that&039;s survived out here for any length of time They need you" After auncharacteristically Cole, "I need you I can&039;t do this on my own There are too many of them And the world isn&039;t like it was last time There&039;s no palace to run to, no safe place for us We need you" He released her hand, allowing it to drop to her side It hung there like dead weight for a moment

His words sank in slowly Kahli nodded Sing hard, she finally spoke Her throat burned froravel, "We can&039;t go to the safe house Will knohere it is I suspect that he knohere all of the safe houses are" Cole&039;s face pinched together, , always trying to save hi him bone weary Kahli could see it in his eyes She kne it felt, how desperate things can be Kahli explained, "Will was followingme, before I realized he was there"

Cole&039;s eyes widened Concern o?"

Kahli looked back at the sunrise spilling over the horizon Long bea away the night An idea foro somewhere they&039;ll never find us Soo if ere caught" Kahli took Cole&039;s hand and turned it over Pushing back his sleeve, she looked at his wrist, and pointed to the rune "We&039;ll go here"

Cole didn&039;t blink He didn&039;t contest her Instead he nodded, and she dropped his arm "Do you think it&039;s still there? The ca If I was captured, I was to show them the brand on my wrist The vamps would take me home, but they said the brand was fake, that we concocted it"

Kahli shrugged, "I was told the sa, but it doesn&039;t make sense Why would both our parents be so certain that Section 8 existed, and tell us to get there if there was nothing there" She shook her head slowly, her hair floating around her face, "I believed Will I believed it wasn&039;t there and that we got busted, but maybe that isn&039;t true It exists" Certainty flooded her body She felt like the brand was a puzzle piece and they were holding it upside down "Maybe the vamps didn&039;t know about it because it&039;s not a farm Maybe it&039;s another safe house? One we , she kicked the snow, sending white flakes flying When she walked through the cloud of white, snow clung to her collar and stuck in her hair Glancing at Cole, she asked, "Were you ever there?"

Cole shook his head, "My parent&039;s spoke about it and told us about the rune, but I&039;ve never been there Honestly, I thought it was justild After all this tiht Section 8 was a fairytale"

Kahli suess it&039;s time for fairytales to come true Since your crest burned the rune off h The rest of the palace humans were raised on farms They won&039;t have any idea where it was Let&039;s just hope we can find it"

Cole looked at his wrist, at theif it was so more He nodded to Kahli and said, "To Section 8"