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"The sooner you&039;re finished, the sooner you can help her," he said soothingly, gently escorting oing to go get my friend, and then you can bet I&039;ll be back to coard of human life!" I took one step forward and stopped,with horror as the black and white checkered tile floor that filled the reception areabut the two tiles I was standing on, and the there Terrin stood across the rooone, a black pit of emptiness in its place

"Sweetmy eyes for awould disappear

It didn&039;t

"All you need do to complete this trial is walk over to me," Terrin said with a happy little sht off his face

"This is not happening," I told hier at him "Floors do not just disappear And since I haven&039;t been around any faery rings to breathe in hallucinogenic spores that don&039;t show up on hospital tests, I doubt if this is a hallucination Thus, IAn extreht this very htly and willed myself to wake up

"I&039;ive to your trial," Terrin said

My eyes popped open at the word trial He looked at his watch "This isn&039;t a timed event, but I do have other appointments I must attend to, so I would appreciate it if you could please focus on the ravy, you&039;re another henchman?"

Terrin&039;s eyebrows rose "Pardon?"

"You&039;re another one of Theo&039;s henchmen, aren&039;t you? Just like those two ladies? Howso ardless, I&039;et o on to your other appointments" I crossed my ar bitchy

"I assure you, Portia Harding, I aaze on me was steady "Noe could dispense with the draun to see draed off his eyebrows "I consider this harassment of the purest for a complaint with the police about you if you do not cease with this ridiculous persecution!"

Terrin laughed, genuine amusement in his face "The police? They have no jurisdiction overquickly If you could just walk over to o about our respective ways"

"You are insane if you think I&039; at the floor "Not that I believe your little optical tricks"

The amusement in his eyes deepened "I see You don&039;t believe that I havehts and rams, or so supposition Would you care to prove it?" he asked, holding out a hand for lanced nervously from his hand to the floor I knew, I knew that the floor hadn&039;t disappeared into nothing despite the apparently yawning chasm in front ofhad to be an illusion And if it was an illusion, then it was perfectly safe for me to walk across the floor

At least, that&039;s what I told led over the door to the street, heralding the arrival of someonesomeone tall, dark, and incredibly handso my teeth

"What have you done with Sarah?" I asked before Theo was fully into the reception area He stopped as soon as he stepped over the threshold, two tiles suddenly appearing beneath his feet He glanced down at the apparently un"

"Ahhh," Terrin said, giving Theo a shuttered look "Now I re the Court for the last two hundred years"

Theo made a small boo hundred and twelve, to be precise"

"Indeed And you are also now a chahtful

"Yes" Theo shot ht just do it, you know," Terrin told him "Hasn&039;t been done in a few centuries, but there is precedent"

I iven the odd circumstances "Where is Sarah? What have you done with her? And don&039;t tell me you haven&039;t seen her; she drove off to find you, and she&039;s very single-minded when she wants to be"

"She went back to her room She wished to see the trial, but I told her that you would no doubt prefer to conduct the trial without an audience" Theo&039;s gaze swept around the room "Unusual spot you chose to have it"

"I didn&039;t choose anything! You people keep houndingsick and tired of it" I carefully turned and waved my hands in the air to catch the attention of the police behind the glass walls "And I&039;ht here and now Hey! Hello! Need help out here! Dangerous criht here in your station!"

The police people paid no attention whatsoever to either le person looking up to see as going on in their reception area

"Portia, they can&039;t see or hear you They can&039;t see or hear any of us until the trial is over," Theo said, holding out a hand for me "Walk over here and it will be over, and then I can explain to you what&039;s going on"

"Dreaed everyone in the police station Maybe so in the water cooler thaton around the to have to put this down as a refusal," Terrin said, pulling a small notebook out of his pocket "This will be the second trial you&039;ve failed, I believe You know, of course, that if you fail a third you will be disqualified and your application denied?"

"What is it you want?" I asked Theo "Money? You won&039;t get it, you know I don&039;t have any, and Sarah&039;s husband is a laould grind you under his heel if you soher for ransom"

Theo dropped his hand "Is the floor here?"

"Yes, of course it&039;s here," I answered, avoiding looking directly at the abyss in front of hts per se, but they didwas an optical illusion, it was good enough to make my palms sweat

"Then walk over here and prove that you believe what you are seeing is not real"

I lickedfrom him, to Terrin, to the floor It&039;s not real, I told h-tech illusion, but an illusion nonetheless Things like floors do not just disappear into nothing If I march over there noill be able to prove to both of them that whatever their nefarious plan is, it won&039;t work on h in their faces

Despite my brave pep talk, my feet remained rooted to the two tiles

"I&039;m sorry, I have no choice," Terrin told both Theo and ave me a sad look "I must mark this as a failure I do hope you do better in your re trials, the third of which will commence tomorrow Good afternoon to you both"

He turned and walked out the door, each step hethe tiles to appear in front of hiain visible I nudged the newly reappeared tile in front of me with the toe of my shoe It seemed perfectly normal, perfectly solid

"Hello, can I be of help?" a policeman asked as he walked in from the back rooly over the desk at us

"I a I filed a coainst thisat Theo To"If you could arrest hirateful"

"Portia Harding?" The policeers danced over the keys for a few seconds "I&039;m sorry, but I don&039;t have a record of a co What is your assailant&039;s name?"

"Theo North ErTheodore, I assu over to the counter "You will have to forgive Miss Harding She has had a trying last few days, and is a bit confused at theaway at the keyboard "I see no entry for a Theo or Theondre North"

"Sweet ht off the police?" I asked Theo "I can&039;t ira in so in to name them!"

The policeman looked at me with suddenly wary eyes "Are you quite yourself,me to the door "Just a little overset I&039;ll see that she gets back to her hotel"

"You&039;re kidnapping ain, aren&039;t you?" I asked hih it "You&039;re kidnapping ht in front of a policeman, but because he&039;s part of your horrible scheently pushed h the door "You need a drink"

"That&039;s the first thing you&039;ve said thataround quickly for the best route for et dark, the little town in theto the shops, then houst of wind hit htly, h to chill ht to the pub, especially with Theo on my tail, but I had no choice

My escape plan was squelched when Theo grabbed rip as he started up the sidewalk "Don&039;t even think about it We need to talk, you and I And we could both use a drink We&039;ll takeinto an abrupt halt

He eyedas that offer is, I need you alive We alk if it , he started up the hill to where the pub sat at the crown

"Infinitely Releasein silence for a few ri to catch the eye of townsfolk

"Excusekidnapped" The lanced at Theo and hurried on his way

I spotted a lady with her arroceries "Pardon eave Theo the once-over "He can kidnap me any day"

Theo snorted and continued to haulI had nothing left to lose

Before I got more than the H out ofaround rip His black eyes flashed with irritation, the last thing I saw for a few seconds as hiskiss that drove everything from my mind