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Raffaele nods once

This is his ain He never er?" I say sharply "Speak plainly We are at war Surely you don’t expectme out of the kindness of your hearts"

In the silence, one of the kings turns to Raffaele and raises a bejeweled hand "Well, Messenger," he says, his voice echoing in the chamber "Sa behauins slowly, "we are releasing you because we need your help"

Of everything I thought he ht say, it was not this I can only stare at hih and the whispers joinabout Raffaele’s expression finallyesture "You must be desperate to think that I would ith you and the Daggers"

"You won’t have much choice Your sister’s life depends on it, as do ours" He nods at me "As does yours"

More lies "Is this why you told me about her? Why you wanted ainst me?" I shake my head at him "Cruel, even for you"

"I took her in," Raffaele replies "What did you do?"

As always, his words strike true This is what you wanted, Adelina, the whispers coax me You wanted to find Violetta, for your own reasons Now you have

Raffaele continues in the silence "Your sister once took some documents of mine from the royal Beldish ship Do you re to the parchments Violetta had shown me on the day she left , destroyed froht of his theory chills io’s constant thirst Ofsteadily out of my control "Yes," I say "And what do they have to do with me?"

Raffaele looks to each of the rulers in turn They nod once in silence, giving him some sort of unspoken permission As they do, Ta guard around the edges of the chamber I stiffen as they draw nearer Raffaele tilts his head atto the chamber’s entrance "Come with me," he says

Enzo shifts where he stands, as if he would accompany us too--but he stops as Raffaele shakes his head "His power affects yours far too much," Raffaele says to me "You need to stand alone for this"

Others follow in his wake I’m pulled to uided along We exit the chamber and enter a hallway, then leave the recesses of the palace and head down in the direction of the shoreline The pressure onin relief as walls and hills coht; the only light coh the clouds The stored over the oceans has dispersed by now, but the scent of rain still hangs heavy in the air, and the grasses are wet and glistening I craneSoio I wonder what he’s thinking I wonder where Magiano has been taken

We keep going until we finally hit the shoreline Here, Raffaele co at the soldiers They pullthat they intend to drown me in the ocean--that is what this whole ritual is about I struggle for a er forward Toon wet sand now, and I look on as the waves head toward us The water and sea foam rush up the beach--I suck in my breath as cold water runs overthe bottootten only a quick flash of the ocean’s strange darkness during the battle, and then I’d left it behind But noith the world around h that I can concentrate, I can feel the death in the water The ocean pulls away, then rushes forward again Again, it soaks the botto in the depths

Raffaele looks at ht "You, y"

I frown The feeling turns ness--but at the sae of the ocean, hoping for another dose of this dark energy "Yes," I say autoainst my will

Raffaele nods "Do you remember the day when I first tested your powers?" he asks "I recall your alignments well Ambition and passion, yesbut most of all, fear and fury You reels that guard the Underworld Your energy is tied to the Underworld more than anyone I know"

This power I feel in the water--this is energy frorave "The Elites exist only because of an imbalance between the mortal and immortal realms The blood fevers themselves were ripples in our world caused by an ancient tear between those realms Our existence defies the natural order, defies Death herself Queen Maeve bringing Enzo back has only accelerated the process There is ain our world"