Page 246 of Sins of the Heart

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If any of them moved even a matter of inches,

Roxy’s heart would be left in Gahiji’s hand and she’d

be dead. Gone. Sent to Osiris and the Field of Reeds.

Or maybe sent to Hades. To Ah Puch. To Yama or

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Gauna. There were so many damned gods and demigods ruling over territories he could never hope to

enter. How would he find her in the vast Underworld?

Or maybe Roxy Tam would go somewhere else, to

a heaven Dagan knew nothing about. He had no idea

which god or goddess would open their arms to her. He

didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to find out.

He wanted her right here, Topworld, alive and

bitching.

But, viscous and dark, her blood was welling from the

edges of the wound in synchrony with the beat of her

pulse. Gahiji’s hand was acting like a poorly fitted cork.

If he pulled it free, the wound would bleed like a fountain,

a geyser. She would bleed out in minutes, maybe

seconds, and there wasn’t a thing Dagan could do to stop

it.

He raised his eyes and found Roxy’s gaze focused

on him. She was aware, he could see that. She knew

exactly what had happened, exactly how dire her situation was. He didn’t know what could possibly fix this.

He killed things. He didn’t save them.

Gahiji turned his implacable gaze on Dagan. “Unhand

me. Let me finish it. You only prolong her pain.”

“Leave go her heart, Gahiji. It is not yours to take.”

It’s mine, you bastard. Her heart is mine, has been

since I let her keep it eleven years in the past.

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