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together for him An explanation of why I a itself

“Excuse me,” Antonia interjects “Did I just hear you correctly? Airl is one of the power blooded females?”

“True indeed, fair Governess,” Theodore answers, with false sincerity and an even falser sreedy face,” he continues “I discovered her, therefore she belongs to me now”

“She belongs to nobody but herself,” Ethan spits, and his words surprise me He had never struck me as the type to value the free will of the women he wanted to bed He’d actually said soh the circuive hi is the fact that he doesn’t claim ownership of ht Ethan would be the first to want to feed froain access to a life in the sun Apparently I’d been wrong Apparently he is actually quite valiant, and views me as a person rather than a necessary food source

“Well, well, what is this now?” Theodore asks in vicious amusement “A blood drinker with a sense of justice and nobility?” and then he gives Delilah’s hair another yank for his own personal enjoyment What a bitch

Before I can hear Ethan’s response I crawl back under to see if Rita isany kind of headway

“Tegan, come quick,” she says when she sees me approach “We need you here to create the circle”

I know it’s not a time for playful comments, but I can’t seerin and then ue “MyRita”

She only bumps me with her shoulder and tells me to shut up, then says, “What your mum did shouldn’t be possible, but don’t worry, I intend to look into it as soon as all of this life and death stuff blows over, happy?” she finishes

“Yeah sure, let’s get this over and done with”

Rita instructs Gabriel to pour e bowl in the centre of the wooden board only when she tells him to He nods and places the vial in front of him, within arm’s reach Then she holds both of our hands, Gabriel takes my other hand in his

Rita begins speaking rapidly in a foreign language that I don’t recognise at first It takes me a minute before I realise it’s Latin I won’t even venture to repeat Rita’s invocation, it is far too couistic mind The only word I can make out is Theodore’s name sprinkled here and there I hadn’t expected Rita to be quite so educated The girl just keeps continuing to surpriselike the one she’d cast before, instead of swirling, the concoction in the bowl begins to pop and crackle, sparks fly out of it and I’ me in the face

I alht when a spark flies over hter onto my hand so that I don’t inadvertently break the circle and completely ruin the spell One more sentence leaves Rita’s lips, and this tih to repeat it correctly

She raises her head up to meet both mine and Gabriel’s eyes, and then says loudly “Aperiesque ostium inferni dimensionem and you shall open the door to the dimension of hell”

Then she signals for Gabriel to pour my blood into the bowl, he lifts up the vial and does so, thereby co the spell The three of us sit there and stare at each other for several ed It certainly doesn’t feel like the door to a hell dimension has been opened The three of us crawl out from under the platform, and I feel a certain sense of satisfaction that I have well and truly ruined Theodore’s evening gown It’s got grass and mud stains all over it