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Chapter 45

Dale was faster. He scrambled out of the chair and punched Archimedes in the face as hard as he could. The older man crashed to the floor. Score one for Marine Corps hand to hand training. “Riadh! Babe!” He gripped Riadh’s shoulders. The djinn was beginning to feel less substantial, softening along the edges of his body. “I don’t want you to die. Please, Riadh, I want you alive. I love you!”

Riadh touched his fingers to Dale’s lips. It felt like little more than the brush of a feather. “I’m sorry but I could not bear to be a slave to one like him.” He cast a look at Archimedes struggling to get up.

“Please…Please…Please…I can’t lose you,” Dale begged. A dark, desperate thought skittered through his head and he embraced it without a moment’s delay. Dale grabbed Archimedes wrist with one hand and cupped his opposite hand against Riadh’s cheek. “Live.”