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Anger snapped alive at thewith someone I’d kill the son of a bitch that touched her, and yeah, that rong The whole "I can’t be with you, but you can’t be with anyone else" was another way I was leveling up in the whole stalker biz, but I couldn’t change how I felt

Exhaling, I straightened and was about to head back inside when a door farther down opened and Karina stepped out

"Good ether "You appear well rested"

"I a you expected that"

Her chin inclined as her dark eyes glilided forward, and I wondered if her feet even touched the ground "I sense that you have questions, and I find that knowledge is un its journey"

I arched an eyebrow at that, but she was right I had questions Lots of them, and while there was still a part ofinside , refused to allow me to walk away from this--from what I was

"I do have questions," I answered finally, folding my arms across my chest

Her smile was oddly relieved "Ask away"

"What are you, exactly?"

The smile slipped "What do you et that, but you’re no norer, almost like what I’d feel in an Apollyon," I explained, easily recalling what it had felt like to be around Alex before and after she’d awakened "But I was unaware that priestesses still served the gods and I have no idea why the aether is stronger in you than an ordinary pure"

"We have been around since the dawn of tiods Just because they have retreated to Olympus does not mean we stop our service We are just morequiet in our service now"

"You in mortals anymore?"

Her lip quirked up on one side "There is that, but those who serve the gods are chosen at birth The gods we serve mark us all with their icons, and since we are chosen, we are siodly, which is hoe have inning and will be that way to the end"

I didn’t miss the fact she hadn’t really denied the whole sacrificial virgin question I probably should check out the te that to the to-do list

"And you bear the icon of what god exactly?" I asked

She tilted her head to the side, and it was pretty impressive that the elaborately coiled hair didn’t topple her right over "You already know the answer to that"

Maybe I did, but I waited

Unclasping her hand, she reached up, curling her fingers along the folds of her dress She pulled it aside, and for a ht she would expose her breasts, and well, that was going to end this conversation real quick, but she didn’t, thank the worthless gods

She exposed only the upper swell of her right breast, and there it was, a rosy-colored birthmark in the shape of the invincibility rune, the same as above the temple

A muscle worked in my jaw

"It is the mark of the God of Life and Death The one who is absolute," she explained, s the sleeve of her dress "The Appointed God"