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“You’d better make it a couple of tubs, then.” He ushered me out, then set all the various locks and alarms. “Oh, and she said to tell you that the Brindle witches haven’t noticed any unusual activity along the ley lines, which means the magic is being contained.”
“Did she say if they were going to follow up the possibility of containment?”
“No.” He opened the car door and ushered me in. “But you’d think they would. I mean, they wouldn’t want anyone controlling that sort of magic, would they?”
“I wouldn’t think so.” But then, when it came to the Brindle witches, who really knew what they would or wouldn’t want? Certainly some of their actions so far had surprised the hell out of me.
Stane greeted us with a cheerful hello and several boxes of pizza. He kissed my cheeks, then waved his free hand toward his bedroom. “It’s all yours. I’ve even changed the sheets.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I mean, you don’t use the thing, do you?”
He grinned. “I do tend to sleep on one of the couches, granted, but that doesn’t mean the sheets were clean. I don’t dust and it was thick on the bed.”
I laughed, then rose on my toes and kissed his cheeks. “Thank you. And enjoy your pizza and online destruction.”
“What, you’re not going to join us?”
I shook my head. “Right now, all I really want is to sleep.”
“We’ll try to keep the noise down.” Tao squeezed my arm gently, his touch light but comforting. “Yell if you need anything.”
“I will. And thanks.”
I turned and walked into Stane’s bedroom. It was very much like the rest of his apartment—filled with all the latest gadgets, and there was little in the way of dust, despite his claim to the contrary. Which wasn’t really surprising—dust could ruin the innards of expensive gadgets, after all, and there were lots of them up here.
I closed the door, shed my clothes, then tucked Amaya under the pillow and climbed into bed. It was big and warm and comfortable, and I was asleep in no time.
The sensation of movement woke me. For a couple of minutes I did nothing more than lie there, dizzy, confused, and feeling oddly transparent. Like my body had somehow disappeared and I was nothing more than particles drifting in the air. When I tried to wake, tried to move, I couldn’t do either. But as panic surged, the movement stopped, and suddenly I was full-bodied and fully aware.
I wasn’t in Stane’s bed.
Not unless it had suddenly turned to cold stone.
No, no, no! It can’t be happening again. They can’t have taken me again.
I opened my eyes. Realized my fears were all too real.
They had taken me.
The last time I’d been in this place the heavy blanket of darkness had been lifted only by Amaya’s lilac flames. This time there were torches on the wall. Why they were there I had no idea, but they sputtered and spat and threw an angry light, as if they had no desire to be in this place.
It was a desire I fully understood.
Because this was the place where the Raziq had torn my molecules apart to place the tracker in my heart.
My heart began to race so fast I could have sworn it was trying to tear out of my chest. But fear wouldn’t help me get through this. Truthfully, nothing would. They’d do what they wanted to regardless of what I said or did.
But I could at least face it with dignity and strength. If nothing else, it would make me feel better afterward.
I forced myself upright. I couldn’t stand—the ceiling in the cavern was far too low to allow that. The air was as stale as ever, and the torches only made it harder to breathe.
The Raziq were little more than a faint shimmer in the shadows, but the electricity of them crawled across my skin. This time, it was different, though—stronger. There was someone else here, someone I hadn’t met before. Someone more powerful than the other five combined.
And I was without Amaya.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Once again I shoved aside the panic that threatened to overwhelm me and hugged my knees close to my chest.
