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Chapters (42)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION PAGE
  4. CONTENTS
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  42. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“That’s when you said she was lying.” I put a hand on my stomach. If what she’d said was the truth, then that meant every soul the Mazikin had ever possessed was still trapped in their realm. Takeshi, Malachi’s mentor and friend, who’d been taken by the Mazikin years earlier. Aden. My mother. Thousands, maybe millions of others. It also meant that by killing the bodies they possessed, we gave the Mazikin more chances, since the evil spirits could come back and possess others.

Looking into Malachi’s eyes, I could see this idea was destroying him. All these years, he’d thought he was freeing people, and so he’d executed countless Mazikin with his blades and grenades and God knew what else. But if Rita had told the truth, all those souls were still trapped, and there was nothing, not now and not ever, that he could do to save them.

I couldn’t stand for him to suffer like that, so I moved on. “Did she say anything else?”

Malachi’s black stare went straight through me. “Yes,” he said in a hollow voice. “She told me why Sil wants you.”

“And?” I mouthed the word more than said it.

Malachi blinked and looked at the floor. “The Mazikin think you are—” He paused, mouth half-open, like he couldn’t quite force the next words out. The silence stretched between us until I wanted to scream. Finally, he said, “The Mazikin believe your body is the perfect vessel to house the spirit of their Queen.”

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-TWO

THE RAIN LET UP by the time I got home, where Diane was waiting for me. The smell of my favorite Chinese takeout nearly brought tears to my eyes, as did the anxious once-over she gave me as I walked in the door.

“How’d it go, baby?” she asked.

“Didn’t Jen call you?”

She shrugged as she set two plates on the table. “Yeah, she said Rita … she said it wasn’t a long visit.”

It had felt a lot longer than it actually was. I hung up my jacket and walked toward the table, looking over the ridiculous amount of takeout she’d ordered. “Either you’re worried about me or you think I haven’t eaten yet this week.”

She chuckled. “I’ll let you guess which one.” She pushed a plate toward me. “Did she say anything? What did she want?”

My gaze settled on Diane’s face, on the kind, concerned look in her eyes. Just the thought of the Mazikin threatening her made me want to go on a killing rampage. “She wants to be part of my life, but I’m not so into that.”