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Her eyes flew open with the screa

No hand clutched at her throat It had fallen away, and the Grigori soldier was screa hi began to come alive So steps All the while, the soldier rolled on the ground, clutching his hands to his temples, his eyes frozen on some invisible terror, his pupils dilated so his eyes appeared pure black

In a blink, Mala rolled hi the screa the creature’s dark soul Then she turned to Ava with fear in her eyes

There was a muffled conversation at the door, then the voices died away and Ava heard the deadbolt turn She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, enjoying the bite of the winter air that still poured into the rooht sothe answer She si no attempt to rise She watched the tomen who stood at the door Mala was al a T-shirt and underwear to sleep Two ehs Renata looked exhausted Covered with a dusting of snow, her hair was al time, then Renata finally turned to Ava as Mala went to snap theclosed

"Ava, are you all right?" Renata knelt down and shook her shoulders "Why are you crying? Are you hurt?"

She hadn’t realized she was crying

"I’ori?"

"What?" Ava sniffed "Mala, how do you sleep with those on your legs?"

"Pay attention" Renata swatted her cheek, not hard enough to bruise but hard enough to notice "What did you do?"

"I don’t know" Ava curled up on her side, shaking with cold and not caring that she was lying on the floor She reached for a blanket that had half fallen off the bed She was freezing and she shook so hard she felt as if her skin ht fly off her body "Maybe h…he was scared of the black angel, too"

Renata looked at her like she was crazy Maybe she was Adrenaline coursed through her system She felt hopped up, despite the tears on her face "I didn’t even get a punch in Not even a kick Need to practice ," Renata said "Ava, sit up Take deep breaths"

She could breathe now She hadn’t been able to when the Grigori had his hand on her throat Hadn’t been able to say anything The black spots danced across her eyes again, so she sat up carefully

Renata stood and crossed the room to the

"Three sets of prints below the snow" She secured the blinds and turned "Just those three?"

Mala nodded and signed some more She also kept her distance fro on the lights And she doesn’t knohat you did to the Grigori, but whatever it was incapacitated both the one she was fighting and the one who had you"

"Oh…" She sniffed "Well, that’s good"

"And she always sleeps with her daggers Hersleeping with a deadly woning and Renata watched her with a frown

"No," she said "I have no idea"