And Sloan had stared back shocked for a moment and muttered a response except that wasn't what Sloan did now, what Sloan did now was throw herself across the table and wrap her hands around Clair's throat and throttle her pretty white neck, intending to squeeze until her fucking head popped off and rolled across the quad so all the happy people and their happy fucking lives could see the true horror of their world. Clair's eyes bulged and she fell back and Sloan fell atop her and slammed her head against the ground channeling all of her strength into her grip, kneading the soft flesh of the throat like putty.

A blade ripped into her back and through her chest and into Clair Ibsen's chest and out her back. Eden Prairie Preparatory School shattered into a thousand shards to reveal the world of the miasma and the compacted walls of the cavern. Clair Ibsen disappeared, replaced by Delaney Pollack. Delaney's face was an almost comical shade of violet, her mouth agape in a twisted half-grin.

Winnipeg retracted her blade from both of them and voided it of blood with one quick wipe. "Are you done being crazy yet?"

Sloan's eyes sagged as her blood dripped down and splattered Delaney's white dress. She relinquished her grasp and rolled over against the archon's root, struggling to breathe as her lungs heaved worthlessly in her chest cavity.

It took only a moment for Delaney to jump up and heal them both with an operatic wave of her arm. The purple drained from her face, replaced by her typical rosy luster. "Pretty weird, love! Hope that was a one time thing."

(Chapter 10)