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She stood a few dozen feet away between scorched trunks, shaking, a dagger in her hand Was their backup plan to stab Death? I could al: if the World Card couldn’t control her powers, she should at least be able to plunge a knife
But this girl was terrified, watery eyes wide in her face The knife treh she didn’t seeround
Heaving breaths, Death rolled to his back to kick against the edges of the net He would be free by the time Tess reached him Just in time for him to stab her
“Strike, Tess!” Joules sounded even farther away
When she looked at“Not enough tirowing baggier on her body, right in front of me?
“I-I’m so sorry,” she cried, and fled in Joules’s direction
The Towerorders He yelled, “Gabe, take the Reaper out!”
Fro, Gabriel answered, “It’s done” A shrill whistle sounded as he began to dive
Death e
I narrowed my own “I told you to watch your six, Reaper”
Yet just before Gabriel attacked, I heard another explosion
Then: “NO SWIIIIIMMMM!”
Ogen was plu down one edge, scrabbling for a handhold At the last second, he snagged one of those suspension cables
How long could he hold on to slick enerate, wouldn’t survive that fall
When a flailing Ogen sped past the shore, helpless in the water, I raised ed trajectory
Too late The Tower fell
“Oh, God”
Just before Joules crashed onto the jagged rocks below, Gabriel scooped hi back up into the clouds
Froo down, Eht on cue, the first vehicle in the Teeth convoy appeared at the top of the rise, another ru in A cloudy-eyed un turret of a Hu to fire down on us
All to avenge a male who had enslaved theircalled that was really getting old Like it’d been funny the first two times
Those battle cries faded when Cyclops launched himself at the driver of one jeep As blood splattered the windshield, the vehicle never braked At the edge of the canyon, Cyclops leapt to safety, but the jeep rolled onward over the precipice, carrying its screa occupants to their deaths
The other tolves joined the fray, snatching out throats as bullets sprayed them—and the opposite shore Bae of Death’s net He groith fury when one bullet caught him Then another
So off for cover Though he was pouring blood froht side, he didn’t quicken his pace as bullets plugged the ground just inches from his feet
He reached another boulder not twenty feet fros stretched out in front of hiainst it, and he squeezed his eyes to the sky
The sight sentanother time when he’d lain like that, his face raised to the sun He’d been petting my hair as I rested my head on his lap
Noas shot Trapped When I felt a pang of what ave myself an inner shake This situation hat I’d drea for his head
My pity was unfounded With a bellow, Death shot up from his cover and launched one of his swords overhead The blade flew like a throwing dagger—tip over hilt across the width of the river—to skewer the Teeth’s leader through the throat
Yet there were scores uns Another e: “Kill her!”
With a black look, Death returned to his cover, gripping his re sword
He and I were both screwed If I ran, they’d gun et me first If I remained, the Teeth would capture an descending on the convoy The first speared the hood of the largest vehicle; lightning erupted, exploding the truck high up into the air It plu charred bodies with each rotation
Bodies falling Just like Joules’s Tower Card
More javelins rained down, obliterating the vehicles one by one Destroyed Wolves scavenged any screaen appeared on the opposite shore With a hair-raising yowl, he stomped off in Joules’s direction once more
Joules called out, “Farewell, Empress We canna kill the Reaper—it’s all on you!” As he, Gabriel, and Tess fled the scene, their calls grew fainter, replaced by Ogen’s yell of frustration
When Ogen eventually skulked back to Death, shoulders loith defeat, I couldn’t keepGot away from you, did they? Just as my allies had escaped Death’s reach Reminded of his lack of icons, my smile widened
“Ah, creature, it seems you’re now a beacon of hope” Death levered hirimace of pain “Well, you heard the Tower—it’s all on you Come end this”
“That’d be really fair, boss With both hands tied behind my back? Freeof which” He whistled for his horse, and the red-eyed , Death took out that strip of metal harvested from his black ary for the ga expression, he said, “It will be best if you don’t struggle”
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Death freaking neuteredaroundabout it
Thehad a na into my skin And when this cilice was made of the samelife, or whatever
As the Reaper had put it earlier today: “Aside fro, you’re just a norirl now The only way for you to remove it would be to excise your bicepenough to perforly carved every single barb, knohat it would do to en squeeze it tight