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“Not very badly.”

“It’s true,” says Barron. “You weren’t in the clinic long.”

She shoots him a look.

“Of course not. They used healing magic. It took no time at all.”

I lean down to Barron.

“Ask her why she killed Bruno, the one guy who could have told you how the faction was infiltrating your operation.”

“Eva?” he says.

“He attacked me!” she shouts. “There was blood everywhere. I don’t remember much after that.”

“But at least you have your arrangement with the angels, right, Barron? I’m sure she’s above making any side deals.”

He rubs his chest and gulps down a couple more pills. When his hands are steady, he pulls a small pistol from under his jacket and points it at Sandoval. His voice is rough when he speaks.

“Do you have some kind of deal with Stark? You let him take Howard.”

“Shut up, Barron,” says Sandoval.

We’re finally where I wanted.

“Howard is the key to the angels, isn’t he? All that spooky secret hoodoo he knows. I knew you weren’t keeping him around just for my benefit.”

“Do you see what you did?” Sandoval shouts at Barron. “You’ve told him everything.”

Barron looks at me, a puzzled expression on his face. When he looks back at Sandoval she has her own pistol out. Without missing a beat, she shoots him in the head. Barron slams into the back of his chair, knocking his pills off the table. They scatter in a hundred directions on the floor.

“I’ll make you another deal,” she says. “Bring back Howard and we’ll see about having him fix you.”

I cut a sigil in my right arm with the black blade.

Sandoval takes a step back, disgusted by my black blood soaking into her Persian rug.

“What the hell are you doing?” she says.

“I’m weak, Eva. But blood magic, it supercharges every spell and curse you can cast.”

She levels her pistol at me.

I have to time this just right.

“I just turned off the mansion’s hoodoo defenses. Those faction assholes waiting outside should be breaking in here any minute.”

Sandoval smiles.

“What are they going to do? Shoot me?”

“You shot Barron.”

“He’ll heal, and when he does, I’ll shoot him again. The idiot.”

“Maybe they can’t kill you, but they can put you in a cage at the bottom of a mine shaft for the next million years. How does immortality sound now?”

There’s a crash in another room. Footsteps. Shouted orders.