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He cursed under his breath as he sprinted for the door, not allowing himself toin disappointment or fear Only, some kind of invisible wall blocked him He sla through hi hi hi one of his boots on Aden’s neck

Instinctively, Aden wrapped his hands around the ht blue eyes peered down at hiuns, Aden would have been blown to bits "Several weeks ago, an electric shock split througha doorway into yours A doore cannot close The source of that shock has been traced to this ranch And now to you I feel the energy wafting fro ed whisper A needy whisper

Increasing his power? Then ould he want to kill Aden?

Aden tried to forasp for air He continued to struggle, clawing at theBreathe, need to breathe…

He couldn’t die here In this…dimension? He just couldn’t No one would knohat had happened to him Not really They’d just assume Crazy Aden had relapsed and split

Suffocation doesn’t cause bloodshed, Elijah said Stay cal to pass on You know that

Kick his ass! Caleb shouted

Kick it good, Julian agreed

They needed Eve, their voice of reason But so of panic Suffocation wasn’t the predicted end for hi to scare him

"We had hoped to keep you alive, to use you to finally close that doorway," Thomas continued "And yet, what do I find when I walk into your rooreatest enehter us"

"I’ood reason"

A muscle ticked in the fairy’s jaw "Tellto lead them into this dimension to attack us?"

And just hoas Aden supposed to lead the vaotten here in the first place? "Can’t…speak…anymore"

The pressure eased on his neck "There’s no reason for you to answerthem, and that is why youa asping as he stealthily searched the room for some sort of weapon he could actually use

All he discovered was his own deterht too h his body, weakening hi him Yet still he’d won Every time He would not let a fairy defeat him

Use your hands, Elijah proers under Thoth he possessed, upsetting the big guy’s center of gravity and finally sending hi the same this-is-war pose the fairy had adopted earlier

"That was not wise, boy"

Though he’d never seen Thomas move from the floor, the voice came from behind him Directly behind hi hi a sudden movement would cause the fairy to strike They faced off Aden was tall for his age, just over six feet, yet Thomas towered over him

"I do not like to see humans suffer, and would have ended you painlessly But…" An eerie sht me You disobeyed Noill show noone

"Bring it," Aden said

Suddenly the rooiant black blur flew inside That blur--Riley in wolf for, lips pulled back and sharp white teeth bared A furious growl echoed from the walls

Get back, Aden

A co with the others, yet still Aden heard it "You can seethe as too distracted to reply If so, could Riley see Thomas? Could Tho to face Riley There was enough menace in his expression to kill

Apparently the answer to both of Aden’s questions was the sa, the two leapt at each other,teeth, odd bright lights and shi blades that appeared out of nowhere

No question about this As Elijah had said, blood would flow

This match would be to the death

THREE