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“No, Contessa,” the seraph immediately replied.

“Have you not already wasted innocent blood? Is that not how we discovered the mirror gate had stopped working to begin with?” she demanded.

“Yes, Contessa.”

“Then why are you suggesting we continue to waste finite resources?”

“We have tried everything else—”

Nuri’s laughter rang out through the chamber. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“We have. And they’re not finite. We can get useless mortals from anywhere.”

Callan could hear the seraph’s temper rising in his voice.

“Perhaps we try your blood,” Nuri said. “Maybe that will fix it since we appear to be fine experimenting with useless beings now.”

“Touch her, and I will personally pour your blood on the mirror glyphs,” came Mordecai’s dark warning. Callan could only assume the seraph had made a move towards Nuri.

There was a tense silence. Even the mortal children seemed to have picked up on it and quieted.

“Explain again what happened,” the commander finally said.

“The Prince got word that a few more seraphs were prepared to come though the mirror gate. It takes more mortal blood than magical blood, but after fifty, the mirror gate was still doing nothing.”

Fifty.

They had killed fifty people trying to do something with the godsdamn mirror gate?

“Why did you kill fifty? It has never taken more than ten at one time unless children were involved,” Mordecai asked.

And his tone was a warrior demanding information. No emotion behind his words. Just a commander assessing a situation.

Callan thought he might vomit.

“I told him this would happen,” Mordecai said. “The cost would grow greater and greater.”

“So we do simply need to spill more blood?” the seraph asked.

Mordecai shifted suddenly and then Nuri was in their view, the seraph clearly holding her back.

“We do not need the mortals more restless than they already are,” Mordecai said. “You ripping out his throat will upset them.”

“I thought Scarlett locked the realm with the keys,” Callan whispered to Azrael. “How is this possible?”

“Scarlett closed all of the Maraans’ current rips in the realm. She altered the keys so that they locked the spiritual planes being used, but there are always workarounds. Alaric apparently found one using the mirror gates,” Azrael answered grimly. “But whatever he was doing appears to have stopped working.”

The pointed look Azrael sent him had Callan saying, “You think this is Scarlett?”

“Someone fucking with Alaric’s plans? There is no doubt in my mind it is Scarlett,” he answered.

“Even if we manage to get all these people out, what do we do from there?” Callan asked. “Can you Travel with that many?”

“It will drain me to move that many so far.”

“But you can do it?”

“Yes, but I also need to be able to Travel to the Wind Court when the time comes.”