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Lewis fell back against the wall and slid down Noas just David and the thing, wrapped together like predator and prey, pulsing and writhing and seeking supre and screa as if it could feel the presence of its kindred

I didn&039;t think Didn&039;t hesitate Didn&039;t allow ed ed hiether

And my Demon Mark came into contact with the one wrapped around David

Power calls to power-always has, alill

The two Demon Marks went to war

When you think of yourself as screa in your ears, but this was so worse It was as if ony to fuel it, and none of it would co

The Demon Marks inside me ate, and ate, and ate My weather powers, first When those were gone, the fighting Marks drained energy fro to the floor Then they devouredto gothe very lastwas , as the synapses of y and the Demon Marks howled

Two snakes, eating each other

Gone

It was vastly es-Star&039;s low of his skin onto a stop overhead

Smoke The taste of s in the ashes while Yellowstone burned around her

I didn&039;t want to die, but there was nothing left Nothing

And then it was allgone

The first thing I felt was heat Not burning, just heat, blood-warm, comfortable, as if I&039;d fallen asleep in a perfect bath

I was floating Unformed At peace

"Open your eyes," someone said I didn&039;t know I had eyes Didn&039;t kno to open them

But they opened without my help, and I saw

The world blazed in colors and auras, crystal and shadows God, it was beautiful This shattered ruin of a place, smoke and ashesit was beautiful in ways I&039;d never iined it could be There were bones in the ashes, and they were beautiful, too Graceful yellohite bones with their curves and elegant strength

So many people around me Some here in flesh, some here in the Second World that I&039;d once called the aetheric I knew all about that now All about everything The connection to sky, to sea, to earth, to stars It was all inside me, and I was made up of fire

"Come down," the voice told ain, I did, and slowly drifted through the Worlds until I was in the First World, the world I&039;d known before

David was holdingover a hot black bed of embers Coils of smoke drifted in the sky, and they were so beautiful, I wanted to follow theht instantly translated toward action

"Stay withht

This was real The fire trucks flashing their lights at the curb-they were real The firefighters ai hoses at the destruction that had once been Star&039;s house-that was real, too

There were bones in the base in the charred wood

"Can she hear me?" someone asked, and I looked in the basement but there was no one there "Jo, can you hear ht in front of ht inside, and I wanted to reach out and sink into the fevered warmth of him but I knew, somehow, that it would be bad And not just for hilow of his spirit and focused on the real, the skin, the face "Lewis?"

He nodded He was still ragged and badly dressed, but his eyes were clear His soul was clear If the Demon Mark had left hi was he, to survive that?

"You knohat you did?" he asked I didn&039;t, but I had no idea how to express it; evidently, he read it in my eyes "You took the Mark from David Two can&039;t exist in the same body They destroyed each other"

Ah That would explain why I felt so ehtless, so powerful I&039;d inherited so But I didn&039;t feelwell, evil Just vast

"Can she hear ainst ainst all the random currents that tried to pulloff the fire-all so beautiful Couldn&039;t begin to believe how beautiful it all was

"I think so," David said "Jo Concentrate Make yourself flesh"

I didn&039;t knohat that meant, either, until I did it, and then suddenly there was flesh around , and I went to my knees and took David doith me

Make myself flesh Wait, what had I just been before?

"What happened?" I whispered My lips felt dry, as if I&039;d never tasted water "Star"

"Star&039;s dead," Lewis said "She started the fire I couldn&039;t get her out-she wouldn&039;t leave without the book"

The book was gone That wasgood? Wasn&039;t it?

Lewis reached out and touched my face, then jerked back and shook his hand as if it was burned Sucked his fingers "She&039;s hot"

"She can&039;t control it yet," David said "She&039;ll learn"