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Nothing ca she wanted, at least Rhiannon sat up abruptlyl and pinched the candles out with her fingers She hed
This had been her rooirl who&039;d thrown herself fro, lovely creature had flooded into Rhiannon&039;s psyche,it i troubled in Rebecca&039;s spirit, solanced up at Roland, saw the question in his eyes"I&039;m sorry"
"He&039;s in a car"
Tamara&039;s small voice startled them all She still lay on her back, but her eyes were open She re would shake the ies from her mind
"He&039;s in a s in his lap, with some clothes inside, and a little money And his cleats His cleats are in there, too"With that sentence, her voice warbled and her eyes filled
Eric started forward, but Rhiannon held up a hand"Ta the car?"
She frowned
"I don&039;t know hi Like a wrestler His hair is cut close to his head so it sticks up in bristles It&039;s dark
His nose is like a bulldog&039;s"She frowned harder
"There is a tattoo on his right forearm, a cobra"&039; "Lucien,"Roland whispered
"Can you tell which direction they drive, Tamara?"She shook her head
"There are mountains, with snow at the peaks"Tamara sat up slowly, and Eric bent to help her to her feet She aze
"It&039;s the same man who attacked Rhiannon, isn&039;t it? He has Jamey now"
Eric nodded
Never before had Rhiannon seen such an expression on the fledgling&039;s face
Always, she&039;d seeloith the fierceness of an approaching storht hat looked like rage
"If he hurts Jamey, I will kill hi no doubt she meant what she said Stiffly, she moved past Eric and out the door Eric hurried behind her
"Well I&039;ve never seen her like that"
"I have,"Roland said softly
"But only when the boy was threatened"
She turned in the doorhere she&039;d been standing to watch theo She was alone with Roland, she realized all at once She sed the lump that leapt into her throat
"This was her roolanced around him, and nodded
"How did you know?"
"I feel her here She did not detest you so thoroughly as you think, you know"
He shook his head
"That, I cannot believe"
She shrugged
"It&039;s not ht like to know"She turned to go, but he caught her shoulder from behind
"My words, in the cimetibre were not meant to cause you pain, Rhiannon If they did, then I&039;m sorry"
She stiffened
"It takes more than words to cause me any pain Don&039;t worry yourself on that account"
He pulled her around to face hiret in his eyes
"Rhiannon, I hurt you I know I did, and believe me, I wish I could take back the words that caused that hurt"
"Why take back the truth?"She removed his hand from her shoulder with a brush of her own
"We have the boy to find, Roland This conversation only delays his rescue"
Roland sat in the front of the rental car, map unfolded on his lap
Of them all, he was thetraveledpast True, the towns and cities and roads differed But the lay of the land was the sah for Lucien to have reached within such a brief span of time, were in the direction they now traveled
Eric drove as Roland navigated Rhiannon remained in the back seat beside Tamara The small vehicle seemed to reverberate with the tension it held
It was Eric who finally broke the silence
"I believe I owe you an apology, Rhiannon""Whatever for?"
"I didn&039;t take your meditation seriously I should have"&039; She waved a disive up your skepticism so easily We haven&039;t found Jamey yet"
"But we&039;re on his trail Taly for it to be a mistake I don&039;t doubt that"
Roland shook his head
"Admit it, Eric She had you hooked from the moment those candles burst to life on their own"
Eric slanced over his shoulder at Rhiannon Roland wished he could do the sa at her had trauht,"Eric said
"That was a convincing display"
By the tone of Rhiannon&039;s voice, Roland knew the exact expression on her face That al you didn&039;t Many, s you didn&039;t
"A simple parlor trick for an immortal, Eric I could teach you to do it
To be honest, I usually light the candles in a ry and wanted to be sure you were suitably chastened"
Roland glanced sideways at his friend in time to see the surprise on his face
"Well, it worked"Eric frowned and adjusted his mirror for a better view of her face
"You say you could teach me to do it?"
She must have nodded, but Roland wasn&039;t certain You have all becoth that cos with it a&039;psychic strengthening, as well It groith age, as the physical powers do
Lighting the candles is si your ht, it hits, and they ignite
"As both the strengths reach full potential, we can learn to combine the psychic with the physical to achieve the two feats even I&039;ve not yet mastered But I&039;ve heard of some who have"
Roland tilted his head
"Rhiannon, there are sos better left alone"
"Of course there are,"she told hi theot you there Tellof?"
"One is flight And I&039; that one I can remain aloft for just under athe mind utterly focused"
Roland did turn now
"For God&039;s sake, Rhiannon! I had no idea you were experiet yourself killed"
Her eyes narrowed
"If I do, that will be no one&039;s probleaze back to Eric"Actually, practicing is horrible I can only go up once a night Then I fall and am usually too broken and bruised to dosleep,"
Eric frowned, and Roland felt the glance he shot his way
"That is pushing your luck, Rhiannon Suppose one night you&039;re too badly injured to ed
"Then I supposed I would roast, wouldn&039;t I?"
She was trying to hurt hiht Her words were filled with bitterness and pain; pain caused by his own careless words She was only speaking this way to strike back What in God&039;s name had he said to hurt hell this much?
"And the other feat?"Eric prompted
"Ah, this will amaze you There are some, I ae shape? In ay?"
"Any way they wish, I iine The tales I&039;ve heart name only one immortal capable of such feats, and thl forms he&039;s said to have taken include the raven, the wol and the infaratitude, even Ta throughout the entire ride but stare out theinto the passing night
"You&039;ve got to be kidding,"she said, eyes wide
"A vampire bat?"
"Well, I like to think he has a sense of huiven the ability to be anything one wished, ould one choose to be a nasty little bat? "
"Who is this talented immortal?"Eric asked, and Roland could tell by the tone of his voice that he was fascinated by the possibilities
"He is called Damien He is said to be the oldest and ht him out I have no desire to meet the man"
"Why not? I&039;d be thrilled to talk to him,"Eric said Rhiannon lowered her voice deliberately, Roland was sure
"You know the trick I did, igniting the candles with my mind?"Eric nodded
"Well, it is said Damien can perform the same feat on people, mortal and i torches"
Ta to scare us"She looked at Roland
"None of this is true, is it, Roland?"
He sighed
"As far as I know, it&039;s all true Though I&039;ve never witnessed any of it firsthand"
Eric shot Roland an accusing stare
"Why have you never told s best left alone You think I want you out leaping fro yourself into a baboon and then getting stuck that way? Seeking out this man who can burn you to a cinder?"
"Honestly, Roland, you are such a"-- Rhiannon stopped in the id Her hand flew to her lips
"Stop the car! Stop, Eric, at once!"
Eric slaravel as he tried to pull to the side Rhiannon was out the door before the vehicle had coazelle, she leaped the ditch and bounded into the forest
Roland raced after her, having no idea what to expect He knew Eric and Ta was focused on Rhiannon
He&039;d felt the slap of her sudden shock as if it had been his own But she&039;d been so closed off to him since they&039;d spoken in the ci
Then he saw her A quivering, sobbing heap on the ground, her ar The cat&039;s eyes were closed, and there was a sickening twist to one foreleg Blood caked to a cut near her silken ear
Roland knelt and pulled Rhiannon away Eric and Taan to examine the cat, Roland held Rhiannon in his ar with each spasant princess In his arms, he held a devastated child, and it tore his heart out to see her so tortured
"She&039;s alive,"Eric said softly
"But I&039;m not sure we can save her
She needs a veterinarian"
"Then we&039;ll find her one,"Roland declared, his ar body Her tears soaked his cloak at the shoulder