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"There&039;s town five miles east of here It will only be a small de tour"
Roland lowered his head, pressed his lips to hers "She&039;ll be all right, Rhiannon,"he whispered into her hair
"I proainst his neck
"Shehas to be"She drew a ragged breath and lifted her head to gaze into his eyes
"I&039;, she pulled herself froain, carefully slipped both forearms beneath the body and lifted her Then she turned and started for the car, her shoulders still quaking with involuntary sobs
Roland sed hard Had he so alienated her that she couldn&039;t even accept comfort from him?
He raced ahead of her, and opened the car&039;s rear door Rhiannon folded herself into the vehicle, the cat still in her are aniently eased Pandora&039;s hindquarters in as far as he could, and closed the door with care Tamara squeezed into the front, between the twothe cat&039;s big, still head She spoke as if no one else were in the car, addressing the animal as if it were human
"Don&039;t leave-me now, Pandora There is no one else, you know Only you If you go, I&039;ll be alone again"
Between each feords, a sob was torn fro her lashes"You love her very much, don&039;t you?"
Rhiannon shook her head briskly Her hair hung over her face, still bowed to the cat&039;s Tears glued strands of it to her cheeks
"Don&039;t be ridiculous"She sniffed and sobbed onceanything"She stroked Pandora&039;s head
"It&039;s just thatshe has loved me Just as I am, she has loved me No one else ever has"
"Oh, Rhiannon"
"I never had to prove reen eyes Never her curse"Roland winced at her words
"Unconditional acceptance, absolute devotion I&039;ve never known those things in all my years of existence except froood enough to deserve her attention"
Roland felt a stinging in the backs of his eyes, and he heard a suspicious sniff from Eric
"Rhiannon, no one could ever see you as unworthy"-- "No one but you, you mean? Ah, but you were not the first No, that honor was reserved for the man who sire me Don&039;t think your indifference is so iypt labeledbefore you did"
Eric pulled the car to a stop at an all-night service station, and as the attendant eed, he rolled down hisand asked in French if there was a veterinariar in town When the ansas affiro out and demanded a telephone and a directory
He woulc rouse the man from sleep, if necessary
As he waited for the veterinarian to answer his tele phone, he berated himself endlessly He&039;d known nothin of Rhiannon&039;s past That her father had rejected her Oh God, and with the same words he&039;d used in the cimetikre He could not have caused herto destroy hex Could he not inhale without hurting her?
How could h repair the pain he&039;d caused?
Rhiannon leaned over the table in the clinic that was no ht t4 keep her sedated until I return,"Rhiannon told hiers"
"Oui, I will take no chances,head, and adjusted the rectangular specs on his nose
"I have treated many species, but never ze pet panther"He paused, but Rhiannon offered no explanation After a o
"She was struck by ze auto, non?"
"I don&039;t know I found her in the woods like this"Rhiannon glanced up into the mortal&039;s pale blue eyes
"If you can save her, I will build you a new clinic An entire hospital, if you wish I will give you more money than you can enuine He took her hand and patted it
"I adore animals, mademoiselle You share zat with me, non ? I will save her eef I can, whether you promise me the moon or bushel of apples as payment"
He released her hand to stroke Pandora&039;s silken fur
"I believe you will"She sniffed, and swiped at her eyes She hadn&039;t cried so uards had car-fled her from her father&039;s palace, to be placed in the temple of Isis She&039;d been a five-year-old child then She was ageless now It was ridiculous, how fond she&039;d grown of the cat
"I don&039;t knohen I can come for her A few days, perhaps"
"I will care for her Do not fear"
"Thank you"It didn&039;t seeh She&039;d h this, she would shower hi a babe Rhiannon fought her tears and fbrced herself to go Jaet that
In the car, she sat in stony silence for a time, until Tamara took her hand and held it firht"
Rhiannon nodded
"Lucien will not"
"You think he did that to her?"
Rhiannon nodded again
"Pandora ith Jamey Now Jamey is with Lucien, and Pandora is on a cold table Yes, I believe he is responsible And I believe he ish for death long before it&039;s granted hihts over thefor you, you know
Her eyes fleith surprise when she heard, echoing through her
"It will be dawn soon We need to seek shelter"Tahed in frustration and Roland well understood her feelings
"We&039;ll do Jaood if we all sizzle in the sun, Ta, but turned onto s spot for all of them Finally, an abandoned barn came into view Roland pointed to it
"We can drive around to the back, to hide the car froht inside What do you think?"
"That would be the best idea The ground in front looks sh Why don&039;t you open the door, and see if there&039;s rooave way and slid on its rusted tracks until there was rooh The barn was e hay and a few ancient-looking tools scattered about Roland moved a broken pitchfork and an oldthe car in
As soon as the engine died, Roland closed the barn door, plunging theh,"Tamara observed
"Can&039;t be certain about cracks and crevices, Tamara We&039;d best burrow into that haystack before we sleep, just to be safe"
She nodded,closer to Eric, who slipped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her closer She let her head lean onto his shoulder and closed her eyes
"What do you suppose this Lucien person wants with Jamey? He&039;s not DPI"
Eric shook his head
"He wants immortality, Taine he will use Jarimaced, and turned fully into Eric&039;s arms Roland felt his stomach clench and unclench in involuntary spasms His arms ached to wrap around Rhiannon in the saood thing No ed to erase the hurt he&039;d caused her It was better this way
"He knoe&039;re co,"Rhiannon said
"He has incredible psychic capacity for a hu for US"
"At least we know Ja to comfort Tamara in soreat dealI need to tell you About Ja
"What is it, Roland?"
Roland averted his gaze She would likely hate him for this
"I&039;ve initiated a search for his natural father"
Her eyes widened
"You--but why? I don&039;t understand Jamey doesn&039;t need him He has us"
Roland shook his head slowly
"I am as fond of him as you are, Tamara You know that But we must think of what is best for Jao off and live with a stranger?
You think that&039;s best for him?"
Eric touched her face, turned it toward his
"Tamara, hear him out
If you were in Jamey&039;s place, wouldn&039;t you at least like to know your father, to find out so about him? "
She frowned harder, and shook her head
"He abandoned his son"-- "He never knew of the boy&039;s existence,"Roland said slowly
"You said it yourself He deserves to be inforiven the options, and tofor him, Roland, then Eric and I will take hi as he is with us, DPI will hound him They watch us too closely, we&039;re too easily spotted In a normal, mortal family, Jamey would blend in as just another human boy He&039;d be safe"
"I can&039;t believe you&039;re all saying these things,"Ta- her head
"Especially you, Eric How could you turn on me this way?"
Eric looked stricken
"No, Taed free of his grip and raced out of the barn, through a sht
Eric put his head in his hands Roland felt as if he&039;d been saying the wrong thing at the wrong time forever"I&039;ly she would react"
Eric shook his head
"Not your fault, old friend She&039;ll see that it&039;s the right thing, given tiht beyond the door
"I&039;d better go after her"
He did, and Roland turned toward Rhiannon
"You think I&039;hed, and walked away fro herself down on the hay
"Since when does the staid and honorable Roland de Courtemanche seek the opinion of the reckless and self-destructive Rhiannon of Egypt?"
"I would like for us to remain friends, Rhiannon"He crossed the barn, and sat down beside her in the sour-s hay
"And while I do think you reckless and self-destructive, I still value your opinion"
"Do you?"Her finely etched brows rose above her slanted, dark eyes
"You know I do"
She sniffed, tilting her chin upward
"Then you&039;ll be interested to hear that I think you are the biggest fool ever born"
He frowned, studying her perfect face, seeing the hint of sadness still lingering in her eyes
"Why?"
She stared at hiht the wicks of the candles in his mind
"You&039;ll never have with another, what you could have had with me"
His throat went dry
"I know that"
"Then you&039;re ten tiht you were"She turned away from him
He touched her shoulder
"I didn&039;t know about your father&039;s rejection, Rhiannon I chose my words poorly when I referred to you as ry with me"She didn&039;t turn to face him"Rhiannon, I didn&039;t mean it the way it seemed to you It&039;s that I want"-- She jerked away fro
"I do not care what you want, nor am I interested in your interpretation of your oords"
"Rhiannon, if you would let er ain, and her eyes cooled until they held a chill that reached out to hi, Roland Just as soon as the boy is safe, and Pandora is well enough to travel I aain"She shtly, but it was a sht to be extremely relieved Your curse will soon be removed"