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I remember thecorpses "Good point" I scoot beside her so I’ht side up "You said they used to roam the world So what happened to theh the pages, the edges of the paper grazing her hair "They forced them back into The Afterlife and forbid the Queen to let any," She holds her hand out to the side, snapping her fingers, considering soillum cristallum It was a crystal they stole froht it here to the Hu over Of course, with a little help froic"

"What about the Queen?" I ask "Has she ever stepped foot into the Human World?"

"Not that I know of," Aislin replies, dru her chin "But it doesn’tabout your drea" I skie, filled with sketches of e "Is this a book about Lost Souls?"

"It’s the history of The Afterlife" She turns to the next page "It talks about the rise and fall of The Lost Souls and what they did when they walked the world" Her finger browses the page "They took possession of human bodies, ones with broken souls"

"Alex’s soul isn’t broken, though," I say

"But it’s not normal either It’s connected to yours, which could make it vulnerable to Lost Soul possession"

"But wouldn’t it make mine vulnerable too?"

Her eyes rise to e? Like maybe your mind’s not your own?"

I think of the dream I had with Nicholas But Aislin doesn’t know about that "If you’re talking about the slap," I say, cuddling my hand "Then you should know he deserved it He called ed"

Her expression suspends in disbelief "He actually said that to you? What a jerk There’s definitely so on with hiets to her feet "Let ht tell us how to kick a Lost Soul out of a human body If we can do it, then we’ll know if he’s possessed"

I hope he is, otherwise those horrible words he spoke to me were his own "What do I do in the meantime?" I ask as we advance up the stairs

She unlocks the door "You keep your distance fro to end up hurt" She pauses in the hallway, reaches into her pocket, and extracts a tiny clearbad happens, take this and shove it in his ear"

I hold the er "What will happen to him?"

"Let’s hope you don’t have to find out," she says with a thoughtful smile "But I want you to be able to protect yourself from him If he is possessed, we don’t knohat he’s capable of"

I sigh and hide the ht and I don’t have to find out

While Aislin is digging through the book, I head to get the Crystal of Limitation fixed I want to take Laylen withto create rees and sneaks into the library to avoid hanging out in her room with the closet full of sprites

I slink into Alex’s room to acquire the crystal He’s not there and relief washes overfrom the bathroom counter With my hands on my hips, I step back into the roo for this?" Alex obstructs the doorway, each of his hands cupping a broken piece of the teal crystal

I eyeball the crystal, sensing an iht "Yeah, can I have them please?"

He sets theo ahead and take thee I h Just as I anticipate, he barricades my path

"You think I’d let you have it that easy?" He questions with a ridiculing curve of his eyebrow

"No, but I was hoping" My hand inches for the marble in my pocket "But if you want to do it the hard way, then it’s fine with rins wickedly "Let’s see what you’ve got"

"Seriously?" I frown "You want s "It doesn’t reallyto end We’ve both experienced your fighting skills Or lack of fighting skills I should say"

Raging with fury, I charge, regretting it, but not being able to stop myself He catches ainst him

"See, point proven," he whispers inmy skin "You can’t take me You’re helpless"

I kick hiers furasp it, he rams into ainst the stone floor, a glimmer of hope that he still exists somewhere inside

He lines his body overto end"

My fingers grasp the marble "I’m so sorry"

His face contorts "Sorry for what?"