The canyon's even, cold glow seemed to veil every face in a thin layer of silver. Except for Wilson, who was still studying the dent in the front of the vehicle, everyone turned toward Jason Blood.
"He meant that literally."
Jason's refined British accent remained gentle, yet it carried a thousand years of weariness, like an epitaph. "Master Merlin's seal stitched my soul and Etrigan's together... in the crudest possible fashion. We share sensations, pain, and even, to a degree, fate. The only key to breaking that seal is for me to willingly surrender this life forced upon me, sever my link with Etrigan, and relinquish my existence as Jason Blood. Then the seal will break, and he will be free..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over them.
"And I," he said with a soft smile, devoid of fear and filled only with the weariness of impending release, "will burn out in an instant, like a candle in the wind. That is the price of the second life Merlin granted me, and a line I have never been able to cross."
"Because he's a bloody pigheaded fool!"
Etrigan leaped down from the jagged rock, stirring a cloud of fine, gray-white sand as he landed. His burning golden eyes glared at Jason, brimming with loathing and impatience. "He'd rather cling to his ridiculous knightly code and keep us tormenting each other than simply let go and give us both some fucking peace!
"He saves lives to seem merciful and kind. What concern is that of mine? Pah! Pah! Pah!"
"Peace?"
Jason turned and stared sharply at the demon with whom he shared his existence. "Etrigan, what would your peace mean? That you could unleash centuries of accumulated rage, hatred, and all the dark desires I have fought desperately to suppress upon