Page 221 of Sins of the Heart
Her hands closed around the cool metal cylinder,
and she yanked it from the wall. Securing her grip, she
spun and sprinted back the way she’d come.
Clumps of dry grass were burning, lighting the night
with a red glow, the flames highlighting the burgundy
skin of the fire genies, dancing across their features.
Two were on Dagan. One was on the ground. Blood
smeared all three of them. Whose blood? It was impossible to know.
The air smelled like a cookout, fire and charred
meat.
Only three of Xaphan’s concubines…where were
the others?
From this angle, the corner of the church obscured
her view of the porch, but she could hear the sounds of
a scuffle. The shadows she’d seen earlier…Dagan’s
reinforcements? Maybe. She didn’t dare assume anything. There could be a third player in the melee.
Naamah leaped away from Dagan and turned her attention to Roxy. Dagan was a shade faster. He caught
her by the hair and jerked her up short, his attention
divided between the genie struggling in his hold and
Roxy.
“I told you to run,” he snarled.
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She didn’t bother to waste her breath with an
answer.
The concubines caught hold of him wherever they
could—skin, hair, clothing—and lit him up like a
bonfire. Roxy leapt forward, but Dagan was faster. He
took all three with him as he dropped and rolled, moving with preternatural speed.
One tore free and leaped to her feet. Her eyes
