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That was Caleb,his face with an oversized handkerchief he’d pulled out of all that leather His hair wasn’t standing on end because he didn’t have any, but his usually rich skin tone had an ashen cast, and his eyes were a little more open than technically necessary If it had been anyone else, I’d have said he was flirting with a panic attack, only war es didn’t

Of course, they didn’t usually stand in front of a full session of the deh council, either

Not that ere anymore I’d lost the connection, whatever it was, to Moood kind The weird-vibrationsthat-made-my-skin-feel-like-it-was-about-to-coiant drum and somebody had suddenly decided to beat the hell out of it And then there had been the noise, which probably hadn’t been h-pitched squeals and elephant-like tru torandoone better

On the other hand, the vibrate-y, noisy stuff had caused , not even a floor because I still couldn’t feel it properly, just nothing, was soain But the good neas, it had gotten us kicked out on our collective asses

The bad neas, Pritkin hadn’t co back into hell’s inner sanctue to run back in there And I guessI kneas halfway torumbled

"I just want to listen--"

"To what?" he de?"

"They won’t let you in anyway," Casanova reminded me "They said no humans in the deliberations"

"Pritkin’s in there--"

"He’s the accused That’s different"

"That’s what I’m afraid of!"

"Here" Casanova handed over his precious bottle of hell juice

I blinked at hiruffly

I took the bottle, a little gingerly And okay, if I’d needed confirotten it Casanova was being nice to s, or things pretending to be people ca no attention to the three bu around, but not like he was tensing to fight More like the bland fa to hi otiation tactic," Caleb suddenly blurted out

I glanced over at him He looked a little less freaked-out, but no happier I knew the feeling

Having time to think was a bitch

"What?"

"You know," he told ods"

I passed over the bottle "You think Mo, and od show up, and the punk-ass kids of another But she could have been exaggerating She was bargaining with theotiation, you always ask for et We want Pritkin, so your mother asks for--"

"An army?" Casanova said incredulously "A deht you were the one who thought that was a good idea You spent half the da about--"

"The fact that we could use so," Casanova said, snatching his bottle back "Not being infor to lay waste to the hells, and planning to use earth as a staging ground!"

He belted back a couple shots’ worth, all at one go

"Well, forgiveit’s not true," Caleb retorted "As soht it!"

Casanova leaned over ods are going to wipe out the war es and just leave everyone else--"

"The Corps is the obvious target, yes We’re the only ones with enough ic to oppose thes--did you see those things?--in there are shaking in their boots, what chance do you think you have?"

"Better than you think, or they’re expecting The Corps isn’t the ragtag little group they reoddess who started your order just said we’re screithout the deet past that damned spell, we’re dead, we’re all--"

"Stop it," I said, but no one was listening