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I didn&039;t answer I saw the blooray eyes, and then there was a wind-torn shout froered out

"He&039;s dead!" she screarip on ht as a vise "You killed him?" she asked, and didn&039;t wait for the answer "You killed hi around her, phasing in blacks and reds No, I couldn&039;t fight her Couldn&039;t fight anyone

I couldn&039;t control this thing inside ht

I reached out and physically shoved her, and ran like the Demon itself was after me

Miraculously, Delilah was still untouched, up on the road I ju tires and leaving a scream behind as Ulrike and Janice pelted out after end, and I was the one who&039;d called the storm The Wardens wouldn&039;t listen to what I had to say; if they could sense this thing inside et rid of it Bad Bob had passed it toI&039;d ever read about Deet it out of you once it was in, except by giving it to soiven it to me God, no

I can&039;t afford to put , he&039;d said

I could give it to a Djinn Only I didn&039;t have one, did I? Bad Bob&039;s Djinn was gone That ether in a brilliant flash in et one from Lewis

It was dead silent in the Land Rover when I finished David wasn&039;t looking atstraight ahead I couldn&039;t tell what he was thinking

"Now you know," I said "You knohat you&039;re risking just being around me Because I swear to God, David, I can&039;t have this thing get loose again the way it did on the beach I&039;ll kill ed at me, and I almost ran the truck off the road He held up his hands, more to stop himself than to reassure me "You can&039;t Listen toin you"

"Well, I can&039;t let it just destroy everything, either! I have to control it, or get rid of it Or die"

David sucked down a deep breath "If you die with the Mark, the Demon will tear itself from your body, and it alk the aetheric If that happens, the destruction you saw before will be nothing next to what it can accomplish in its aetheric form It will take more power than all of you have to stop it then"

"Well, I&039;odda ain "What?"

"Give it to ive it to ave me chills Worse than chills I had no idea what the Demon Mark would do to a Djinn, but I had no doubt that if the Mark fed off power, it would find an all-you-can-eat sas-board inside a Djinn

"It can&039;t overcome me," he said "It&039;ll be trapped inside of me, forever"

"It&039;ll destroy you!"

"No worse than it will you, in time," he said "I can be contained Once I&039;m sealed inside a bottle and put back in the vault, I&039;er to anyone You-"

"No!" I shouted, and sla wheel like I wanted to beat sense into him "No, dam "I&039; for I&039;m a Djinn, Joanne I&039; in et my breath around the lump of distress in my throat God, no Yes, it hat I wanted, and I couldn&039;t do it Couldn&039;t There had to be so else, some other way

"I&039;ll find Lewis," I whispered My head was pounding from the force of my misery I wanted to cry, or scream, or just whimper "He&039;ll knohat to do"

"Why?" David&039;s voice was so soft, so reasonable

I felt a surge of absolute panic, because I realizedrealized I didn&039;t know Why would he know any better than I did? Leas ht- more powerful than anybody That didn&039;tsomeone else A Djinn, maybe, but in every way that mattered, a real person

"I&039;m so tired-" It came out of me in a rush, uncontrolled "I can&039;t think about it Not now"

"You have to," David whispered "Let&039;s just get this over with"

The car lurched, sputtered, and coasted to a stop Dead

"No," I whispered "I won&039;t let youtake it" I&039;d fight him with my last breath, if I had to I wouldn&039;t be the cause of his destruction If there was any right thing left in hostly whisper of the fan spinning down, I felt David reach across and draw his hand gently across my forehead

"Then rest," he said

I woke up in the passenger seat, belted firmly in place, cramped in places I hadn&039;t known I had muscles The clock made no sense My mouth tasted like the bottom of a fish tank, and I needed to pee so badly, it hurt

"What" I ht you couldn&039;t drive"

"I lied," he said "Djinn do that"

Iabout his mother under ain

"Wait a minute," I said "I&039;ve been asleep for only thirty minutes?"

He didn&039;t answer

"Oh Twelve and a half hours"

"We&039;re an hour outside Tulsa," he said "We should be nearing Oklahoht on the horizon, like frozen gold s, but when I checked Oversight, I found everything even and steady No store

"Let&039;s stop," I said

David glanced aside at me "Where?"

"Anywhere with a bathroo"