Page 46 (1/2)

The serps were in the process of slithering away as quickly as possible

Nox hadn’t returned

Malcolloved in spikedholes all over his body The nus beat his brother to the prize and used a whip to decapitate the creature before he could flash away

The two nodded at each other in a job well done

Ja er from an air pocket and flashed behind his sister--his sister!--and grabbed her just as she had grabbed hie it deep He wouldn’t waste tie, Sirena performed her final flash before he could strike The only other re Nefas disappeared a second later

The sound of police sirens caught Koldo’s attention

The crowd looked around, their s tapered off as the onlookers realized the authorities wouldn’t have come for a performance

Acting quickly, Koldo and the other Sent Ones picked up the pieces of the deceased and tossed them into air pockets, then stepped into the spiritual realm As policemen rushed into the area, the crowd bolted with confusion, and the Sent Ones faced each other

"How did you knohere I was and what I needed?" Koldo asked

"Axel told us," Malcolether

And what else had Axelmore

"Thank you," he said He wouldn’t tell theh on his own, because he still couldn’t bring himself to lie And they would have tasted it, anyway

To Jamila, he stiffly said, "Why weren’t you at Estellä?"

Her chin lifted "That little witch Sirena flashed e in a cave and locked me inside I can’t flash and couldn’t leave I had to suh he knew he couldn’t fault her for how things had gone down They’d both been taken by surprise But he wasn’t exactly rational at the moment

"Well, too bad," she snapped "Nicola Lane is your responsibility, not ain set foot in Estellä Industries" He would make sure of it And if she protested, she protested He would deal with the fallout, as he should have done before this happened "I’ll take things from here"

Koldo flashed to the house in Panama--or rather, tried to He reain tried to flash But once again he re? He’d been bitten by the serps He’d been stabbed, shot and scratched by the Nefas But he’d endured all of that before--and worse--with no such consequences Only difference wasSirena, he realized with sickening dread She had leaked so into his veins

If he’d forever lost his ability to flash--

He couldn’t finish that thought without howling No Her poison would fade He would recover

He had to recover

But he’d wanted to be punished, and this certainly fit

At least now he knew Nox’s game plan He knew Sirena’s purpose He knew the Nefas and dehty were back in the picture, more determined than ever to reclaim Nicola

"Flywith e for his transportation

"Wow Aren’t you a big bag of polite," Malcolm muttered, but still the warrior strode over to him and wrapped him in his arms "You’ll owe me for this"

"I know" That was the way of the world He only wondered if Nicola found his laced with gold flared, and a twinge of envy lit a fire in Koldo’s chest Then they were airborne, the hipping against his skin, and he found hi on his own That he was healthy and whole

That he had an untainted future

KOLDO ARRIVED AT the ranch cradled in the arreen fauxhaeird silvery eyes and tattoos of bones on his neck Just, he was beautiful, but he was also seriously scary

Desperate to figure out a way to return to the park and help Koldo, Nicola had been pacing in front of the couch, where Axel and Laila sat If anyone could ith ten-against-one odds, it was Koldo

Koldo, who had promised to marry Sirena His horrible troll of a sister

Koldo, who never lied

"He lost consciousness halfway here," the newco

Nicola cut him off "Put hiuy the way, surprised her heart wasn’t pounding ht-headed