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Best of luck You think I haven’t endeavored to? He glanced in Melanthe’s direction Hoould she feel about hih her face was blank, her eyes shimmered

"We can’t waste time on that, Ember" Portia seemedjealous? "We h, Emberine sprinted to Melanthe, faster than Thronos’s eyes could follow In a heartbeat’s ti behind Melanthe to position a blade at her slender throat, hovering above that collar

"No!" Thronos bellowed, his instinct screa red froh Melanthe’s flesh She sincing fro a cloud of pebbles toward the two fe a severed hand for the torque reood-as-dead sorcerer--followed, sees

Emberine told Melanthe, "You’re about to do precisely as we say, or you’ll die But before Portia releases your powers, we’re going to ensure that you can’t call out any persuasive coripped Melanthe’s cheeks "Now, stick out your tongue like a good little queen"

TEN

Lanthe’s thoughts were in turain after all these years was throwing her Not toEmber’s lust for Thronos The fire queen’s need to seduce hi ways, ways she’d have to think about later

For now, she was afor an a against her daain your freedos flaring inside his cage As if he cared about Lanthe He acted this way because of uncontrollable instincts--despite hating everything about her

Was Thronos thatfrom her; yet neither cared about her They only sahat she could give them, how they could use her

"Be quick about it," Felix said, earning a scathing look froenerates" Flashing white teeth, he quipped, "I know just how she’s going to want to break in her new one"

Lanthe shuddered He could make her believe she loved every minute of her violation

"Open wide!" Eh to cauterize"

Lanthe sed again All the Pravus allies closed in on the scene, the pro them like this, she could almost understand why one species would feel the need to police them

Unless soue Though it’d grow back, tongues were supersensitive; et free

She glanced over at Thronos He was thrashing against the iue and Erew crazed, ra his horns into the rock until blood dripped down his face

She tensed, readying for the pain

Felixwords, even as he avidly watched--

Slice

She screaony assailed her; black dots swarreeak, Ember held her up by the collar With her other hand, she raised Lanthe’s severed tongue for all to see Then she tossed it into the crowd

Stay conscious, stay conscious

Portia ran Fegley’s hand over Lanthe’s face before she used the thumb to re into the ground She spat upover her gauntleted hands

Colorful enough, you bitches?!

"The threshold, Lanthe," Portia said in a casual tone "Directly to the centauri capital, if you please"

Lanthe gave theht on this She beganher sorcery, and the pleasure of it counteracted her pain After her enforced hiatus, she was briaze onceblood Like him, these Sorceri continued to underestimate her

She had a secret ability, one she’d been sure not to reveal in their cell Because at heart, she was a sneaky, suspicious sorceress

Even her new friend Carrow hadn’t known Lanthe could como

Lanthe’s persuasive commands didn’t have to be uttered by her; they merely had to be heard by her victiht and heat blurring the air all around her They’d think it was for the portal

Wrong

She would utilize the command that came in so handy whenever Auntie Lanthe babysat Cadeon and Holly’s twins She s grew unsteady, lids heavy, expressions baffled --SLEEP And forget I was ever here-- Bodies collapsed one by one Portia and her platforround, motionless

Ember yelled, "Portia!"

--You are exhausted, must sleep NOW--

E form

All the Pravus were out

The sorcery expenditure and continued blood loss had debilitated Lanthe, but she was in no way safe Because for some inexplicable reason, she’d excluded Thronos froe, he was able to lift the top slab His scars and lith When he tossed the slab away like a piece of tile, she proain

If he captured her once ue Just because she hadn’t necessarily wanted hi didn’t mean she wanted to be his!

So dizzy Need a portal She could crawl through it--away from him, from this treacherous island She had a moment’s worry for Carrow and Ruby, but they had been in the care of that lethal vemon Surely, he’d protect them

Lanthe spat more blood Did she have the power to open a rift? She had just used her persuasion, and so

The last one she’d created had been to Oblivion, one of the demon hell planes But she’d only had to reopen a portal that was already in place

Easy as easy pie

Now, in her exhaustion and haste, she ht point a door back there Or what if she portaled herself to soas instead of oxygen, or a completely aquatic bubble reale a person forever

Thronos liray eyes intent, his expression deter, taking in their fallen comrades