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Molly looked up at me fro the power her death s in full lotus, back straight, ar All by herself, like a solo portion of a concert, she said, "In carceribus incarcero In carcere about fire and jails and--

Scarlet fire shot up froainst my skin before it settled into simply uncomfortable I started to sweat Usually wards weren’t hot, but this was a different kind of spell Stronger than any I had seen before and reaching up to the heavens and the storain

Yeah I noticed Froh, though she hacked at her own hu flashed and broke apart into splinters of power It quaked across the sky in fractals of energy, throwing the ces happened in a single instant The vaels atop the ht, feathered wings lifting Illusion--eerie, but illusion The air s to be used

The blood dia inthe shade of blood This was the moment I expected Molly to try for the dia herself on her hands, palms flat to the earth and arms locked She looked surprised, but I didn’t knohy

Power frohlike a thousand needles into ht hand and aran to quiver, the hand that had been burned and scarred by the wyrd of Joseph Santana The lightning faded as I switched hands and shook the dia me

Over her shoulder, Molly said to Sabina, "I’m ready"

Beyond the outer circle it started to rain, the drops splatting and dru down the outer here it closed overhead Not that it ies were constructed to allow air for the witches to breathe and light for they and would seeh The witches had created the concept of se before science had discovered it Outside the wards, Bruiser was getting soaked And so was the cat in her cage

Sabina nodded to ht palertips, and pulled out a s blade, one so pointed-sharp it would pierce flesh before I knew it had touched "I hate this part," I ain, careful to keep a firht happen if I dropped it and it hit a witch circle I stabbed the tip ofslaht as pain shot throughmy skin, up my neck and across my scalp, down my spine to my toes I flinched at the dual sensations Blood welled I wiped the knife off on ht hand, holding it out of the blood

My blood slid down the pad ofinto the creases of the inside of the knuckle, where it pooled, welled up, and slid down my proximal phalanx, toward my palh the creases ofpool When I had about a quarter-sized pool, I nudged the sliver of ancient wood into it

Nothing happened Five seconds went by Then ten Twenty At half ahappened" Since it was supposed to harm or kill vamps, were-creatures, and even my species, I had expected the sliver of the Blood Cross to react to my blood I looked up from the bloody pool to Molly, who shook her head in confusion I transferred estions?"

"None Sabina?"

"None," the priestess said "Clean the weapon and secure it safely"

Meaning keep it handy to use in case the SoD showed up, but not so close that I dropped it Making sure I didn’t get hit in the links I’d worn it that way once before and it worked fine

Wind swirled through the circles, sending the candle fla, like captured djinns The wind shtning

Froht pocket, I pulled the iron discs and carefully set the blood of hpure menthol, potent and prickly And just as quickly as it passed overblasted into the earth close to the Rousseau lare for a moment Glanced up to see the outline of Eli still in place, being pounded by the rain He lifted a hand to shoas fine Bruiser stood just beyond the outer circle, soaking wet, in his leathers He was holding KitKit in both hands, as close to Molly as he could get without breaking a circle

I took two slow breaths to settle myself and lifted the iron discs out ofleathers, I stuffed the discs into a pocket Keeping my head up and half an eye on Molly, so I could see every threat possible, I took the blood diaht hand and dropped it into ed Slowed Stretched The raindrops hitting the ward seemed tothe ti back across the Mississippi River, in the heart of New Orleans, a pull so strong I could have followed it like a dog with a scent Santana A ain and Sabina nodded

Yeah It had been suggested that I could sense Santana, that ere connected by way of the diamond in my hand and the crystal on his bracelet Well, it seeh whether I could call him to me was another ht be dead I blew out gathering tension and tried to relax

Together the witches called out in unison, "Voco, Yosace Bar-Ioudas! Joseph Santana, excieo!"

Directly overhead, lightning struck