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I swallowed, and bitterness coated my tongue. "I only survived because Eidolon was syphoning my power."
We were too involved in our conversation to pay much attention to the teddy bear demons around us or the window Arkan halted in front of. But when Ark murmured, "That is unexpected," we both looked up and saw what caught his interest instantly.
A laugh tore up my throat, acidic and sharp. The arched window was flanked by two huge statues carved from the same black stone Thena Castle had been hewn from; each depicted the same woman.
She was tall with subtle curves and wavy hair flowing down her shoulders. Her hands were propped on her hips in a serious power pose, not to mention half a dozen knives hung from a belt around her waist, and fire flickered at the tips of her fingers. Her face was scarily familiar, right down to the small scar on her chin, the straight slope of her nose, her eyes glaring in vicious defiance, and her lips pressed into a smirk.
That was me, rendered in stone. Holy shit, that wasme.
Except … both statues had a thin ring around one nostril.
"Oh my god," I breathed. "Should I get a nose ring?"
Arkan groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You see two statues perfectly identical to yourself andthat'syour first thought?"
I crossed my arms and shrugged. "She's got a nose ring. It looks cool."
"The queen was a seer," Taj muttered, his eyes narrowed on the statues as if they'd come to life and then he'd have three of me to deal with. "Shesawyou, Lina."
I gave myself a stern talking-to:some freaky seer shit is going on; one of your mates is locked in a safe house; the other is … let’s go withmissing;and you're about to enter an underground city protected by a lost race of demons, Aveline! Stop fuckingswooningover that name.
I put my game-face on and cast a squinted glance around the big room. "If you're here, Queenie, thanks for the statues. And if you can leave this castle, I'd appreciate any help finding my—abuser." Nearly said father. Fuck! "Feel free to kill him if you feel a ghostly rage coming on; just completely go to town."
Arkan gave me a strange look. "Are you asking a ghost to commit murder?"
I shrugged. "Anything's worth a shot at this point."
"The window must open somehow," Taj muttered, pushing past me to press on the wooden frame.
One of the Thenawists flung their arm into the air and jumped up and down in a clearpick me! pick me!
I nodded at the lil guy and he gave me a beaming grin, speaking a rush of flowing syllables. I glanced at Arkan for translation.
"Only the blood of the devil can open the seal," Arkan murmured.
Taj growled, clawed fingers curling into fists. "Don't tell me we have to go back to the fucking castle to get my dad's blood. I'm not walking up that cliff and nearly dying on the staircase of nightmares again."
Hey, I had a similar name for the stairs. We were so in sync. Sadly—for Taj—I was smarter.
I grabbed a small knife I'd slipped into a secret pocket in my leather trousers, and before Taj the big, grey demon could react, I swiped it lightly across his forearm, smearing the blade in his blood.
"What thefuck,Avie?" he roared, but I was already striding to the window and leaving a messy trail of blood on the pane.
It swung open instantly. I was immensely proud of myself. Sick with worry for my absent mates, and on the verge of the breakdown to end all breakdowns, but still proud.
"Blood of the devil," Arkan murmured, amusement tumbling through my soul. "Clever."
Taj made a throaty sound. "You could've been less dramatic, Aveline."
I rolled my eyes and turned back to him, using the bloody knife to cut a strip off the bottom of my cotton shirt, and wrapping it around Taj's wound—the cut was barely big enough to be painful, but the giant man-baby would no doubt make a big deal of it.
"There," I murmured, tying the ends. "Good as new.
"We have a very different definition ofgood,"he drawled.
I kissed his stubborn mouth and said, "I'll make it up to you later. But now, we have a window to almost die jumping through!"
Being clever gave me a little burst of optimism. If we were gonna die, at least we’d die doing a badass stunt.
