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Escape now, cough to death later.

The deity got back on his feet, the magic now two clouds of brown smothering his hands.

“Show me!” he cried. “Show me! Show me! Show me!”

The house shook, the door swinging open with a bang. A violent gust of wind tore through the room, knocking over more candles. Unfortunately, it didn’t blow any out, fanning their flames instead.

I really needed to get out of here. But this spell seemed to be working, handcuffing me to this damn room.

Another powerful force dragged me forward as if yanking on a chain around my body. I stumbled, almost going down again, but came to a stop before Aidan.

“This is one part,” he said.

A pool of brown liquid formed beside me, the smoke thickening. It wouldn’t be long until all visibility was lost, along with my capacity to draw breath. And that didn’t even cover the fact that we were both on the verge of becoming crispy. The fire had formed a ring around us, closing us in, blocking the door.

Shit.

A figure rose out of the pool, quickly becoming a man. A dead man, the rotting stink of his flesh cutting through the smoke.

“Another,” Aidan said.

The corpse fell into the mage pyre, my stomach performing several backflips. Who in the hell was that?

Three more pools appeared, each one delivering living folk within a few seconds.

The mer woman from Highwall Bridge.

Silvanus.

Elio.

Chapter Six

Paris

The smoke came down like a theater curtain, smothering everything, creating a chorus of coughing fits in the room.

Aidan howled with triumphant laughter before choking himself.

Despite the heat and the smoke, ice filled my veins. The shock of what I’d just seen slowed my heartbeat. I didn’t know what to think, what to do. Denial kicked in, making me question everything.

There is no way I just saw Elio standing right there. The mermaid wasn’t too much of a shock, but him?

What. The. Hell.

My survival instinct screamed, frantic sirens in my head. I had to get out of here. We all had to get out of here.

Well, not Aidan.

Something pounded beside me. A real floor-shaking thumping, as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to the carpet.

“Hold on, Paris,” I heard Silvanus say.

A sumptuous quiver ran through me at the sound of his voice, fear quickly kicking it away.

He’s here.

He’s safe.