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This could be the difference between living and the apocalypse.
Whatever the con was, I didn’t think it’d matter. “I’m listening.”
“If you take my blood, you cannot let yourself get sucked into Hell again. Because you were alive here on this plane, Astaroth couldn’t take you fully there last time. Your living body anchored you. With my blood, you can exist on either plane. If he took you again, your body wouldn’t be on this plane anymore. You’d be alive when he took you and you’d be alive for a while in Hell, but there wouldn’t be any way for Claudia or anyone else to do some miracle magic and get you back. You’d go to Hell fully. You’d die there. Your soul would be his. Do you understand?”
What the shit? “That’s one massive drawback.” Especially knowing what I was up against.
“I know. You have about another ninety seconds before we need to run. Maybe two minutes if we’re lucky. I have a friend on the other side trying to trip him up, but it’s not going to last long. I can feel Astaroth getting closer. What is a vision worth to you?”
Right now, it was worth a lot. “I’m not going to get sucked into Hell again. I’ll die before I let him take me there.”
“Are you sure? Because—”
“A vision is worth the risk.” We were running out of time. I was forgetting something important. “Will my blood turn you?”
“No.” Her voice grew tight. “I am what I am. No amount of werewolf blood or bites is going to change that.” Back at her apartment, Samatha had seemed pretty okay with who she was. With how she said that now, I wasn’t so sure that was true.
This is scaring me, chérie. I don’t know if this is smart.
I took a steadying breath and looked at Dastien. I have to do this. We need info. We just can’t let him take me again.
Merde.
“Let’s do this,” I said to Samantha.
“Not much time left,” she murmured as she swiped the blade against her hand, then handed it to me. “Grab my hand as soon as you cut yours. You’ll have maybe five seconds to force a vision and then we have to run or we’re all going to die.”
Before I could think too much about it, I sliced my palm open and gripped Samantha’s hand.
Everything stilled as her blood seeped into mine, and then the vision slammed into me.
Twelve
The first time I died in my vision was just outside of the tarot shop, in the parking lot. Astaroth, still in the shape of a child, lifted me up by my neck. There was a crunch. My vision had a flash of black.
I was sucked back to the moment when Samantha and I touched hands.
And then I was speeding forward again. This time we got away fast enough. We floored it to the airport. Got on the first plane. We landed down in Texas. Argued in a room with the Seven about how broken it was.
Astaroth showed up.
Snap.
I was slammed back into the circle in that shitty room in south central LA. Samantha’s hand hit mine. This time I tried going back to the compound when I got back to Texas. To see if Luciana had left anything behind. I was dead minutes after stepping on to the ruins of her house.
Snap.
Samantha’s hand touched mine and I was rushing forward again.
I went back to the circle with Samantha no less than twenty times before it stopped. I was laying on the ground, panting. Unable to process half of what I’d seen or any of the emotions that went with what I’d seen.
Dastien was leaning over me. The only way I knew it was real again was the fact that life wasn’t whizzing by. Instead, it was painfully normal.
“Holy shit.”
“What’d you see?” Samantha asked.
“How long was I out of it?”
