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Her head turned and her eyes ave hi of the parlor in White’s palace where Lilif spent the most time She heard the flickers of flaht, her hair whipping around her until the hiss disappeared and her body stilled

Her eyes flew open in tiainst the back wall, ainto pieces around her She fell to the floor and raised a hand to slow the descent of glass raining upon her As the shards descended, they melted into liquid, harmless

Asmodeus was a blur of wind across the roo Ari of the ti, crunching noise was abruptly interrupted by Lilif’s shriek of pain as she gripped Asuished betrayal

"Brother?" she murmured

Asazed down at her "Lilif," he whispered hoarsely

"Don’t," she begged

Seeing his hesitancy, Ari rushed forward "Kill her Asmodeus, kill her!"

"Do not listen to her If I die, you will not survive I am yours and you are mine"

"She tried to kill you!" Ari yelled the vital reminder "Kill her!"

She watched the war in his eyes and felt the world tilt beneath her feet as his shoulder slu his head What he didn’t see was Lilif’s expression change, the brittle hardness settle on her features as she drew back her own fist

Knowing exactly what Lilif intended, Ari didn’t have a second to think Using her incredible Jinn speed, Ari crossed the room in her own multicolored blur and stood on Lilif’s arm before she could punch into Asmodeus’s chest

It broke under her foot and Lilif screa back, her head sed to find her feet, blinking away tears of pain so she could assess what the hell had just happened To her surprise she found As between her and Lilif

"What are you doing?" she groaned, about to push herself off the hen flames erupted behind him and Lilif disappeared into the Peripatos

Despair washed over Ari and she let out a low lanced back at the e back to Ari

"You let her go," she growled, forgetting who she was talking to "You had her and you let her go!"

That’s when the lieutenant attacked her

His hands were bruising around her upper arry in her face The rooainst the opposite wall Just as Ari was about to fight back, his grip loosened and he pressed her there, but the violence was leaking out of hilowered down into her face "She is edly

"And you are asking?" His voice cracked with emotion Despite her fear and distrust of him, Ari felt his sincerity and pain and couldn’t help but offer comfort

She wrapped her s softly so as not to incite his rage again "I do I do knohat I a I wish that I weren’t, but there is no other way and I aether, Asmodeus If I could, I would do it alone I would save you from this" His jaw flexed and his eyes searched hers for sincerity "I can try to save you from the worst of it I can be the one to draw the sword upon her I’ll spare you that"

After aher face, Asmodeus’s features hardened and he leaned in so close their lips were al with fear at his proximity "It is your fault I have to do this in the first place If not for your favor, Lilif would still be hidden" He brushed hisher nails into his wrist in an effort to warn hiainst the wall He s kisses along her jaw that made her shudder

He stopped at her ear and whispered, "If you’re still alive when this is over, I’ to make you feel the sa back and allowing her roohout her body, her chin jutting up defiantly in an effort to assure hihten her But he was As he’d won

"Let’s get back to Azazil," he murmured lazily

Deter, Ari shook her head "I have a better plan"

"So, this is weird, right?"

Charlie turned around fro the dishes, lost in thought Hisanother nap There wasn’t a whole lot else to do Fallon’s parents see roo some Scottish soap opera

Charlie didn’t do soap operas, even if the accents were hilarious Jai and Trey were in the study having as obviously a private conversation, so Charlie offered to do the dishes, escaping into the kitchen for peace and quiet

Ari had been gone for four days

Jai had explained that time moved more quickly on Mount Qaf, so four days to the her so well, Charlie found hi the scariest, craziest news of his life, she’d been kind, and she clearly cared for him and Mikey It should be weird how much she cared, since he didn’t remember her, but somehoasn’t

Okay, so it was definitely weird for hisout over the fact that no one atering her plants, or doing her job, and that the neighbors would be so worried Charlie didn’t care about plants, or his job, or his neighbors He cared about keeping his family alive In fact, he and Mikey had adjusted fairly well to the new situation However, that didn’t mean he didn’t want it to be over

His peace had been interrupted by Fallon and her question "Very," he answered honestly, watching her cross the room and take a seat at the table

He understood immediately why alternate Charlie had hooked up with Fallon Roe Despite her seous eyes She was graceful, but also kind of funny However, the last few days had been uncomfortable for them both and they hadn’t spent any ti if you’re drea"

Charlie smirked and dropped the dish towel as he settled into the seat across fro myself it’s not possible forthe same whacked-out dream"