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“You love Cian, don’t you?”

“Completely.”

“He’s very handsome,” Bianca said. There was a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“He’s amazing,” Amaliya admitted, trying to be truthful, but careful. “When we get out of here, you’ll get to know him and see for yourself.”

Bianca’s eyes lit up. “You still want to escape?”

“Of course.” Amaliya gave her an incredulous look.

“I was wondering because…” Bianca faltered. “The way you were with him.”

Amaliya snorted. “Sex is just sex.” Thousands of years of practice made The Summoner one intense lay, but her feelings for him were decidedly not romantic.

Bianca’s eyes widened. “But it was so…so…”

“You had sex with him. Do you love him?” Amaliya pointed to the still form of The Summoner.

Shaking her head adamantly, Bianca said, “No, but it feels like something important.”

“Only if you have feelings for the other person and you want it to be important.”

“So with Cian it’s different?”

“With Cian everything is perfect,” Amaliya said, the pang in her heart almost too poignant to endure for a moment.

The thought of Cian brought some clarity to her mind and she clung to it. Slipping away from Bianca, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The air was a fine cold mist on her skin and when she stood, it weighed upon her like a blanket of snow. Amaliya didn’t know how to kill The Summoner, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try. Taking a step toward his kneeling figure, she felt the rushing frigid waves of Lucifer’s sword buffeting her. Maybe if she scattered the rings it would make The Summoner dissipate.

“Don’t,” Bianca called out to her. “Don’t step closer. You’ll get caught in its power and then you’ll be lost until he snaps out of the trance. He’ll be angry. He’ll see it as betrayal.”

Amaliya wanted to ignore Bianca, but already she felt as though her feet were turning into lead. A steady weight was pressing on her mind, forcing her to lose focus. Bianca’s hand gripped hers and dragged her back onto the bed. Immediately, she was released from the power of the rings.

“I fuckin’ hate those things,” she grunted, annoyed.

“When the thirteenth gets here, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like.” Bianca shivered beneath the covers. “When he tears apart the veil and the abyss swallows the world he won’t need to possess me or anyone else.”

“He won’t get the thirteenth. It’s hidden,” Amaliya assured Bianca.

“No, it’s already on its way.”

“What do you mean?” Amaliya twisted about to face the other woman.

“They already cast the spell this morning to compel it to return. With the arrival of the twelfth ring, they were able to finally call it here. It’ll possess the closest person to it and have them come here.”

Dread filling her, Amaliya stared at Bianca. “Are you sure?”

Bianca nodded.

“But we have until December 21st, right? The end of the Mayan calendar?”

Bianca sadly shook her head. “No, no. Once the sword is whole, he can slice the veil apart. To allow the abyss to consume the world, he’ll have to perform a ritual. For the ritual to work, he’ll need to feed off the fear of thousands. The hysteria over 2012 is helping him.”

“So it has nothing to do with the end of the Mayan calendar?” Amaliya stared at Bianca in disbelief.

“Other than he’s going to use the fear over the possible end of the world to actually end the world? No. Not really.” Bianca’s hand gingerly touched Amaliya’s. “He loves his games though. He’s going to make the end of our world and the beginning of his spectacular.” Leaning toward Amaliya, she cast a wary look at The Summoner. Satisfied that he was still in a trance, she whispered, “He doesn’t know that I saw some of what he was doing while he possessed me. I know the location of where he is going to rip the veil.”

Amaliya angled face closer to Bianca. “Tell me.”