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“What?” Damiel asked her.
“That’s just a very ironic statement, coming from you,” she told him.
He shrugged. But when his eyes panned to Stash, his face turned serious. “Well, isn’t this a gigantic mess?” Damiel rolled back his shoulders. “Ok, here’s the plan. So first we?—”
“Use these.” Cadence smiled at us from beside Stash.
She’d slapped a pair of magic-neutralizing handcuffs on his wrists. And unlike the magic lights on the beach, the handcuffs actually seemed to be working on him. Score one for immortal artifacts. They never let you down.
“Damn it, Cadence. I had a whole battle strategy planned out,” Damiel grumbled.
“And I’m sure it would have been a fantastic one.” She sauntered up to him, a smile on her lips. “But this way was faster.”
“That’s not the point.” Damiel sighed as he grabbed a secure hold of powered-down Stash. “Oh, very well. Let’s get going before we miss the whole damn battle.”
The battle had moved away from the beach, but it wasn’t hard to find. All we had to do was follow the path of destruction through the woods, all the way to the big house. In addition to Khalon, Thea, and Aerilyn, Nyx and Ronan had joined Faris and Grace to fight Regin’s order.
“What’s happening?” I asked them.
“Alessandro is dead,” Ronan told me. “The others have barricaded themselves inside the house.” He hurled a fireball at the mansion, but it sizzled out before it hit its mark. “They put up a protective barrier, though it’s only a matter of time before it falls.”
“I could take care of that for you,” Damiel told him.
Ronan waved his hand toward the house. “Be my guest.”
It took Damiel only a few minutes to bombard the barrier to oblivion. Then our forces entered the house.
“Regin and his progeny have fled,” Cadence said as we made our way up the stairs. “Here.” She waved her hands through the air, wiggling her fingers. “I can feel their magic. Their movements. They used immortal artifacts to teleport away.”
Faris moved into the lead. He slammed his hands against the double doors, bursting into the ballroom. Zarion was there. Someone must have untied him.
“Brother,” he said with an amiable smile, moving toward Faris with open arms.
“Stop.”
Zarion froze.
“Regin and his ill-begotten progeny have fled,” Faris told him. “They saw the tide of battle had turned, and they turned tail and ran, leaving you.” He bit out that last word. “And so you see, my foolish brother, they are loyal only to themselves. You were merely an ally of convenience.”
Zarion’s eyebrow twitched.
“So what do you have to say for yourself?” Faris demanded.
“I…” Zarion’s nervous gaze panned down the line of us. “I miscalculated.”
“Miscalculated.” Faris stretched out the word, savoring every syllable. “Oh, that was far worse than a mere miscalculation. It was treason.”
Zarion stepped forward. “Faris?—”
Faris looked at Grace. “He sent his living weapon after you.”
Stash struggled against his restraints. Cadence held him firmly in place.
“You should be the one to kill him.” Faris handed Grace a gun, one I suspected was loaded with Venom bullets.
“Wait!” Zarion said, backing up.
Faris shot him an icy look. “Stop. You’re only embarrassing yourself.”
