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I couldn’t even close ht How dare you do this How dare you

I felt the power of the Wardens and the Djinn beyond the rooh the black shield he’d put up

Not quickly enough

"You know, you costall that hate, all that fear froet all the fanatics to wriggle out of the ork, whether I wanted them to or not" He leaned very close to me, lips lover-close, and whispered, "That’s why I need you, Joanne Be thou bound to my service"

That made no sense I was no Djinn The Rule of Three didn’t work on reement between the Warden and the Djinn had ended; it was just words It

It had to be a bluff

And I couldn’t help a surge of pure fear, because there was so ht in his face

"Be thou bound to my service" His eyes were blood-shot, not entirely hues in the ground

Stop, I wanted to say I couldn’t He wasn’t even lettingout for air I couldn’t even wield the power necessary to supply a trickle of oxygen Stop this

"Bethouboundtohalf closed in pleasure, and then smiled "Service Ahhhh"

I felt the white-hot force of the united Wardens and Djinn break apart into apieces The thread between , terribly changing, and I couldn’t see the edges of the wave that was rippling out from this moment I didn’t knohat he’d done, or how, but it was flooding the world, drowning everything

And when the flood receded, there was an ominous silence The aetheric felt clean and very e breath and sobbed it out, then breathed in again So in front of my eyes started to recedenot all, by any means I felt one half step fro Bad Bob

"There," he said "That’s better" He chucked me under the chin, as if I were his favorite niece who’d just performed a cute trick Or a puppy "Oh, you have questions, don’t you?"

I asp, "What - did - you - "

"You had a Deotten rid of the Mark, but it left you stained Vulnerable Mine"

The Wardens burned through the shield and launched their assault, with or without the Djinn, and the doors of the penthouse blew off the hinges Lewis strode in, surrounded by a barely visible niri with a cane; Kevin, scared but deter the original Fort Lauderdale event Dozens more, people I knew and liked, people I hadn’t even knoould put themselves at risk for roup

"Whoops, Daddy’s ho You will come see me, won’t you? I’ll expect you around sunset Love that bloody color on the water"

My ain I shakily reached for power and pulled it down, pulled it from all aroundstrikes, all bleeding toward ht, all right, I’ Don’t set your hair on fire"

He crooked his little finger and vanished with an audible pop of air I stared at the spot in the aetheric; the writhing black tentacles took longer to leave, finally slipping through a raound in the world

I didn’t drop, though I’m sure everybody expected me to Instead, I turned to David and asked in what seemed like a very normal tone of voice, "How badly are we screwed?"

He should have rushed to me, taken me in his arms It hat he always did - what I expected hi ht, burning-penny eyes

He said, "Ashan was right The voe exchanged has ain to the Rule of Three My people are at risk now From yours We did this, the two of us"

He soundeddistant Almost cold I couldn’t control a shiver Go to him, I told myself, but I couldn’t seem to move If I moved, I’d fall down

"He’s already turned Rahel to his cause," he continued "She belongs to him You can’t trust her anyot myself steadied, a little, and took a step toward hi plenty of space between us

"I can’t," he said "I’m sorry I have to see to the safety of my people now"

"David - "

For an instant, I saw the tor to say dead inher He’s taking great pleasure in it How many more of my people have to die, Jo? We’re notto us It should never have happened" He blinked, and the metallic shine came back in his eyes "I’m sorry"

The Djinn left Justleft All of the Djinn, gone without a sound, including David

He hadn’t even said good-bye

I collapsed to my knees Someone - I didn’t even see who - helped et out, but they wouldn’t Understandable, I supposed

I went into the bathroom, slammed and locked the door, and skinned down the fabric of the dress to get a look at ht shoulder blade

Bad Bob had branded me, the same way he’d branded his Sentinels It was a mark in the shape of a torch The old stains left froatewaylike a cut letting in bacteria And noas infected

The proof was right there on my skin

I stared into the mirror at the black rown inside ood that had felt

I flinched at a hesitant knock on the door

"You okay in there?" Lewis asked