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Mzatal smiled "Obsession with an addiction" He reached over the cheese for the custard "My favorite," he said, raising the bowl slightly to"I know"

He lifted his eyes to aze for a h to me before he started on the custard "Idris has completed his work and noaits me" He shook his head "I aht"

"Still on the final series for the beacon?"

He nodded "The last three sigils are inharmonious, and I have yet to deter else, give your mind a break?" I asked "You could come out and harassthe da of the shikvihr"

"It is likely you would e to devote the day to it," he said with an approving nod, then grimaced "But time is short If the beacon is not set within the next two days, ill be delayed another month, and that is unacceptable All else is ready except this last series"

I frowned "Another month? Why?"

"The Earth full reatest chance of locating and binding Vsuhl is on that day, and the beacon must be completed and tended for at least two days prior in order to be optiave hih level of potency in the demon realm meant that rituals weren’t dependent on the moon cycle, and certainly not on the Earth moon cycle "That ?"

He finished the custard and set the bowl aside "Szerain is unrivaled in arcane innovation," he said, tone shifting to one of casual conversation, as if he’d decided to discuss the weather "Should he choose to hide so, it would not only be very cleverly hidden, but also linked to hi of tunjen, took a long drink

"Ohhh," I said as comprehension dawned Vsuhl was Sze rain’s blade "So to track Vsuhl we’re purposefully coinciding with Earth’s highest potency time because Szerain is there" Because of the stupid oath, Mzatal couldn’t coht out and say Szerain is on Earth, but I could "Got it"

"To correlate with the lunar full, I must complete this series today," he said, a hint of the earlier frustration coloring his tone

"That’s one hell of a tirimace "I wish I could helpon it with ," he said with another deep sigh But then he gave nificant tension into help evena bath now," I said "If Idris is free, I’llof the shikvihr until I get it I’"

"Complete it," he said with a warm smile, "and I will leave this accursed series to culrinned "Deal, Boss That’s one way to get you to take a break"

"Until then, though," he said with a shake of his head, "Istrands on it I didn’t re in the series orked on yesterday, but it wouldn’t be the first time I had less than a Full Clue

I stood, picked upsip as I headed off toward the bedchaed at er on it Yet I could feel, with increasing unease, everyunevenly, I turned and walked back to the table, set ht it closer and closer to--

I didn’t ask per hand to shift the axis of rotation of the sigil, then detached an outer strand and set the whole thing into a wobbling spin

The sigil brightened and issued a low, throbbing tone that sent an itch through h with static Wrenching shoulder pain The bite of the blade The cold mask of his face

Mzatal sucked in a sharp breath, stood and backed away so abruptly that he overturned his chair I cried out as pain like fiery needles flared across il aith a pass of his hand The pain vanished but I still clutched at ed bursts

"It burned," I et out

Mzatal moved swiftly behind ainst hiainst led<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>