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"Nothing on earth is yours, dark one"

Rahab turned beet red, droplets of foa at the corners of his mouth "Your kind is not supposed to interfere in our work! We’ve been granted the right to test humanity and deal with our own ranks"

"It is not her tiarded me "She will serve as a test to many souls"

There was a dense pause And then Rahab sun at me "But it is hers" Before anyone could stop hiun at Gerlinda’s forehead and fired I screa crack and spray of blood She fell back, hitting the wall and sliding down, dead Her spirit wrenched itself froionnaire spirits ept her froun I held clattered to the floor and I crouched down I was so certain Rahab would go against the angel’s orders and try to kill me, too, that I felt for the hilt at my ankle My hand found the leather cover and fue in unison, filled with righteous anger None of the Dukes dared els surrounded el noticed what I was doing and swooped down, shielded from view by his brethren

"You are not to reveal the Sword of Righteousness this night, child," the angel whispered to ers froer burdened with the fearful instinct to protect ely at peace

Every one of the angels stared at Rahab, stricken and offended by the loss of life they’d just witnessed The leader in the center see more than to disobey orders so he could take care of Rahab then and there

"Solared at each other as the angelsinto it When the last angel entered the light, darkness descended on the rooain

A palpable tension filled the room in their absence

"Someday ill take back what is ours," Rahab whispered, seething He turned on my father "You will punish her within an inch of her death! Now get your filthy offspring out of our sight All of you! Go!"

There was panderabover chairs and one another to grab their things and get out of there My friends stared at h hell that night just as surely as I had Even Ginger looked worn But it was Kaidan’s glassy, blank stare that killed ht focused Seeing rabbedrabbed Marna’s hand and they ran, with Blake close behind My father pushedfor Kaidan I had to say good-bye My dad shook his head In the madness I made eye contact with Kopano, whose worried eyes tore at me

My father continued to shove me from behind, up the narrow stairs and down the darkened hall, shoulder-to-shoulder with other Neph I kept turning, trying to peer around li to push through the people I reacheders locked around azes held In those blue eyes was a shattered look that ruffly, pullingmy connection to Kai I screaht, whereht to the hotel,"cash on my lap "I’ll deal with you later"

He sla on at that club?" the cabbie asked as he laid on the gas pedal "There a fire in there or so?"

I couldn’t answer I spun around in the seat, staring at Kaidan on the edge of the sidewalk, hands on his head, air condensing like sback to school after that weekend was surreal I tried to focus on Jay and Roni, ere both hurting They weren’t talking at the ize The depth of their sadness only gave me more hope for their possible future It was clear howabout how the angel said I would be a test for els bluff? No matter what he said, there was no way I’d do the work ofbad news the day after the suht away, and the band would soon follow I’d been given instructions not to call He’d left without saying good-bye Knowing he lived so close had been one

Marna revealed another piece of inforht of the summit Kaidan had hidden a knife in the sole of his boot, which would explain the one he held when he’d stood, ready to fight for ht had been the room’s focus

It was better this way, I told myself Safer I repeated it to myself like a mantra