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I shift the knife behind my leg, secure it from view.
But he just laughs. “What—you think I can’t see it?” He studies me closely, sighing as he adds, “Maybe I’ve overestimated you. You’re a much slower learner than I thought you’d be.” His eyes slew over me, lingering in all the wrong places. “Do us both a favor and run along so we can both try to forget this ever happened. I’m a patient guy, Daire. And I’m truly trying to work with you here. But you need to work with me too. You need to accept the fact that there’s no point in going after me. You’re in way over your head. It’s my world, Seeker—you’re lucky I allow you to live in it.”
Despite what he says, I remain right where I am. Imagining the thrill of rushing toward him—the satisfaction of slamming this blade straight into his heart. Assuming he has one.
“In case you don’t get it, this is me being altruistic. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. And, other than these little transgressions you seem to insist on, I’m thrilled to see you turning out to be a much better business partner than I ever expected. In other words, I’m not ready to kill you just yet. Believe me, you’ll know when I am.”
“But perhaps I’m ready to kill you.” My voice rings surprisingly steady as I make a move toward him, noticing how he fails to so much as flinch.
“Well then, I’d say you’re about to find yourself faced with a major dilemma.” He grins, purposely swiping a hand over his chin in the way Dace often does. The sight so disarming, I have to force myself to take the next step. “What would you rather do, Daire? Kill me—or save the life of my twin?”
With only a handful of steps left between us, it’s a distance I can easily close in one single leap.
“Yours to decide.” His voice grows bored as he focuses on a space just past my shoulder, challenging me to follow.
At first I refuse, convinced it’s a trick.
But when I hear a low rasping moan—the sound of someone in pain—chased by a trickle of Dace’s usual swarm of warm loving energy, I raise the knife high over my head, determined to do it—slay Cade while I can.
Then I abandon the idea just as quickly.
Instinctively knowing that the reason Dace’s energy is so faint is because his life force is fading so swiftly that in the time it takes to kill Cade, I’ll run a serious risk of losing Dace too.
I race toward him. Dismayed to find him discarded, left for dead, just a few feet away. His torso shredded and blood-soaked, his hands covered in bite marks, his arm awkwardly jangled and skewed at his side.
I sink to my knees and pull him to me. My need to save him the only thing driving me. It’s all I can focus on. All I can see.
My love for him completely consumes me.
Unfortunately, it consumes Cade as well.
Allowing him to morph. Grow. His clothes shredding at the seams, as his body bulges and stretches—undergoing a transformation that’s as spectacular as it is gruesome. Transmuting into a scaly-skinned, snake-tongued beast three times his normal size.
And when he turns—when he raises his hands to his sides and focuses his attention toward the mine—a horrible rumble roars through the land. Prompting Raven to squawk and lift into flight as the earth begins to loosen and shift until it becomes a harsh roiling tremor that causes me to lose hold of Dace.
The ground splits between us—stranding us each on our own hellish islands. My panic scored by the boom of Cade’s malevolent laughter as he throws his head back, yawns his mouth wide, and allows those soul-stealing snakes to shoot free, turning toward me in full demon glory.
His mouth a jagged, obscene gash of snakes and gums, he says, “Thought I’d shake it up a bit. Loosen the tourmaline and make the stones easier to retrieve. We may lose a few miners in the process, but hey—that’s the price of business, right, partner?”
I look toward the mine, longing to help in some way. I can’t let him do this. Can’t let those poor people suffer any more than they already have. But the ground continues to split, further separating me from Dace.
“You’re no good to them dead. You’re no good to me either. Save yourself, Santos. While you still can. And while you’re at it, save my brother too. And the next time you come here to kill me, remember that it’s because of you that I’m stronger than you.” A crude smirk further distorts his demonic face. “Speaking of which, I should probably thank you for the latest infusion of power. Thanks to you, I’m stronger than ever. I can only imagine the kind of dirty deeds you two have been up to.”
The tremors intensify. The earth shaking so violently, the trees I once hid behind crash and fall all around me. And when one of them narrowly misses crushing Dace, I’m left with no choice but to risk the leap toward him.
My focus narrowed as I flail through the air. My legs kicking wildly as the toe of my boot finds purchase, but only briefly, before the soil crumbles and loosens beneath me. Sending me into a free fall—tumbling into a yawning dark chasm that offers nothing to grab hold of.
The pull of gravity dragging me down until the earth shifts again, moving toward me this time. Offering a hardened piece of packed earth I’m quick to grab hold of, followed by a succession of rocks. And the next thing I know, I’m seeking handholds and footholds, as I cautiously work my way up.
When I’m over the ledge, I rush to the place where Dace lies. Sparing a second to ensure he’s still breathing, I toss his good arm over my shoulder, heave him up alongside me, and drag him along as I seek a way out.
Chased by an ever-increasing crevice splintering behind us and the sound of Cade’s mocking laughter singing, “Run, Seeker, run!”
thirty-five
Dace
When I wake, I have no idea how lo
