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"Not blood?"

Mal gave a short, sharp laugh "No"

"The swastika seems an odd choice"

"It&039;s an ancient sy expression, I shrugged "Internet Still, considering what you told s the way others do Whoever inal intent, which is where the poould co the symbol as it was meant to be used removes some of the stain of the past"

I doubted the stain on the swastika would ever go away, but one could always hope

"This was found in the forest where a man was attacked by a wolf," I said "Theand in dire need of rabies shots"

"I don&039;t see what one has to do with the other" Malachi tilted his head, s a rune"

I doubted it, too

"Well, it didn&039;t belong to the man as attacked, or so his faed ahead "Your ticket seller said I shouldn&039;t touch the rune, that I was ht that meant outcast"

Malachi&039;s smile faded; he suddenly appearedoutcast for unclean behavior and the state of being unclean itself"

"I&039;m unclean?" I whispered furiously

Malachi&039;s lips compressed "Of course not, but - "

"You&039;re not supposed to touch me"

His eyes heated "What I&039;s"

"What would happen to you if your people found out that you and I - " I broke off He knew very hat he and I had done

"I&039; to me"

I had my doubts about that

"Is that why you ca?"

His head went up "You know about that?"

"It&039;s a small town, of which I&039;m the leader What do you think?"

He let out his breath in a rush "I saw that photo, and I wanted to - " His fingers clenched

"Me, too" I put ht in our little war"

"War?" His face crinkled in confusion

"Balthazar wants et it if he discredits me"

"So he&039;ll continue to harass us?"

"Most likely If we continue to see each other"

I waited for hi the taboo that hung over us, how could it be anything else?

Malachi&039;s hand turned beneath ether, even as he tugged the so no one could see

"I want to be with you again," he said softly "Tonight But perhaps I should come in the back door and leave the same way"

"Not perhaps" I smiled "Definitely"

"Until later then" Malachi releasedof the show

"Do you have to perforarth didn&039;t look like a perforarth do?"

"Wrestles the grizzly"

"Isn&039;t that a little dangerous?"

"What would be interesting about the show if it wasn&039;t dangerous? You think it&039;s safe for Sabina to dance with snakes?"

"I guess not" I only hoped Hogarth didn&039;t end up Swiss cheese while perforht Mary was a cougar"

"She is"

"You let the cougar do her own show?"

"Ah, no I ht He&039;s Mary&039;s" He paused as if searching for the word "Trainer"

"The animals aren&039;t loose, are they, free to dart into the crowd and wreak havoc?"

"We take every precaution"

I didn&039;t like the sound of that "What kind of precautions?"

"We charo past it"

I stared at hi"

"Yes and no We do charuards with guns You don&039;t have to worry about your people or your guests We&039;ve never had an incident Never"

I relaxed so such a strange and potentially dangerous show If I didn&039;t kno e me - either in cahoots with Balthazar or maybe to take the mayorship for herself

But I did know Joyce She was family - or as close to family as I had these days, except for Grace

Besides, if Joyce hadn&039;t hired the Gypsies, I wouldn&039;t have htret that for an instant

"I have to go and" Malachi waved his hand in the direction of the perfor to ue swept my suddenly dry lower lip, and he turned sharply and walked away

Just his eyes on me had made me want him If he&039;d stayed here another second, I would have kissed him, which was probably why he&039;d taken off in such a hurry Would his people stone him if they found out about us?

This was the twenty-first century Malachi could sleep homever he wished, just as I could

Maybe we needed to keep it quiet, but that only added to the thrill Of course, I didn&039;t kno quiet we could keep it, considering the photo in the paper

The band went frolanced at the ring as Hogarth ran in leading an aht red one-piece Lycra wrestler&039;s suit Considering his size, his breadth, his huge gut, that was nothing I ever wanted to see again Lord only knehat aze searched for and found several rifle-bearingFrom their sober expressions and the professional uns, they appeared to knohat they were doing

I turned away, planning to wander over to the cotton candy wagon Not to eat any - the very thought made my teeth ache - just to take a whiff and enjoy the kaleidoscope of colors

All the usual pastels - pink and blue, as well as the less popular green and yelloere available, but in the intervening years since I&039;d been near a cotton candy reen, purple, as well as silver and black Ti as it was, I never made it to the cotton candy On the way, I had to pass the fortune-teller&039;s tent

Five dollars No waiting

What the hell? I thought, and slipped inside