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"Chatting Leaving," the"Na hanging at your backI&039;ll be notified Think about what I said" He eased away, backed down the small hallway, and disappeared from view I heard hi at e drained out in a rush My legs and arms were heavy, tired, and I hadn&039;t even drawn blood I rested a hand on a display, head hanging down "What now?" I asked

"Noe lock up the shop and mount a watch in case one of the more fervent zealots decides to break s, toss firebo Zeddy over to spend the night here, and her next two largest will keep watch in the barn"

Hu themselves and their faed a smile at the picture they made, tall and muscular, swords at their hips Audric&039;s cloak was the basic black leather worn by the second-unforeseen when they went to war, though no one at my trial had commented on it Unless the reporter had noted the dobok and delved into his past, his secrets were still safe Rupert&039;s new blue velvet had a trendy swath of lace at the throat "You reat champards," I said "Very flashy But - "

"If you think you&039;re taking off to keep us safe, don&039;t bother," Rupert said, untying the cape and brandishing his neord in its scabbard "All for one and one for all, dearie"

I had been about to say just that Unexpected tears sprang into hter

"Go lie down," Audric said "You&039;re dead on your feet Oh - and the tense was incorrect" When I looked reat chaht it on my wrist As I turned back, I saw Eli Walker across the street He was leaning against the wall outside Shaainst the building, rifle cradled in his arht my eye Eli worked as a tracker, sometimes for the kirk, sometimes for the Administration of the ArchSeraph Neither likedfor today

Thadd walked by Eli, talking to Jacey, the cop aniry, Jacey calaze followed them, speculative I remee had been in the e, as an Adator, would have been forced to stand beside htened looks I was a legally licensed e, accused in a court of law Part of an assey&039;s job description was protecting es in the human population, and he hadn&039;t been there Because he had been kept away as part of the ploy by Culpepper&039;s brigade and the orthodox? Or because he was colluding with them?

Farther down the street, the reporter who had been at the trial was doing interviews, currently talking to a member of the orthodox, an elderly man with a full beard and a deer-hide hat that cained e hate The reporter had perfect tanned skin, chin-length blond hair that curled at the tips, and clothes that caner shops in Atlanta As if she felther, she looked up and met my eyes Immediately, she ditched theto listen to her pitch, I turned and climbed the steps, my booted feet heavy and cold Behind le and Rupert intercept her Roht the words, "the Trine," and "ice cap," and "Darkness" It wasn&039;t good, if the press had put that o back down

At the top of the stairs I stopped The EIH provocateur had entered the shop, and atching enetically closer to seraphs than to humans It was an obvious deduction, yet one I had never made So far as I knew, no one had , I went in

My loft was one huge open area, once the hayloft of the two-hundred-plus-year-old former livery that housed Thorn&039;s Gems The walls were three feet thick, four in some places, made of old brick, soreens and blues Coreen tapestries, to lassat the back of the loft where hay bales once were inserted Wood floors were covered with rugs except in the kitchen and bath areas, where I had laid teal tiles The furniture was dun and tan and soft, soothing colors, clustered around the freestanding natural gas fireplaces There were no closets, and the ar out The place looked like it ned by a slob

I tossed my cloak over the coatrack near the door and untiedthem piled near the door so the ice that had crusted on the soles could s Hanging up the le The shirt was harder to get off than it had been to put on, but I finally got it unlaced and hung on a hanger For some reason I didn&039;t want to look at too closely, I didn&039;t put theers over an arn in the hus, slippers, and a fuzzy turtlenecked sweater, and turned up the fire to warm the apartment, my necklace around my neck

In a sudden need to restore order to my life, I made the bed with ruby red silk sheets, fluffed the teal coed lavender, ruby, and turquoise pillows The e jewel tones When the bed wasup a sweat As I worked, lazily turning fans overhead pushed heated air back to the floor from the rafters

I checked my blades to see if they needed attention Constant as a prelude to rust, but I had been careful to keep them oiled and so far I&039;d been lucky In mountainous areas, sword blades needed oil once every three months, and I eeks away from that timeline, but two blades looked dull, so I wiped away the old oil with a soft rag and sprinkled the blades with talcum powder to remove the excess oil Lastly, I wiped each clean and applied a coating of light oil before laying the into the refrigerator at s when I heard footsteps and snized both the stride and the etables for me: potatoes, zucchini, and mushrooms sliced and marinated in herbed oil Fresh onion bread, still hot out of Shamus Waldroup&039;s oven A salad withwould be in a sealed container to complete the meal I couldn&039;t sotten the salad

They were my favorite foods, and had once been part of a well-planned seduction that ended with inity with eager abandon and getting engaged to the man of ht Ree door and went to greet hi his head around a bag of food I just looked at him, so he added, "I have wine and beer"

"I have food," I lied "And wine and beer," I said, leamed with"And a shoulder rub, if you want I remember how your shoulders ache when you drill stones all day" When I still said nothing, his broent up and his voice dropped into a low register that sounded like pure sex "And three kinds of hot peppers and cheesecake and red grapes and divinity candy imported from Louisiana"

My belly did a funny little dip and curl, leaving me breathless I couldn&039;t help it I said, "You are an evil, wicked man, here to teet the hot peppers, fresh fruit, and candy," he said So in his voice reo, es I crossed my arms over uous invitation at best, but he didn&039;t wait for better Lucas Stanhope walked back into rin and the scent of really great food

He went straight to the kitchen, where he began to unload the bags of edible treasures and set the table I hadn&039;t rearranged the dishes after he&039;d lasses, the salad bowls Taking the bottle of wine and a six-pack of Dancing Bear Brew, he walked through the aparted there, and out onto the back deck, where I watched hi snow off my beer cache He deposited the new six-pack and the wine in the snow, bringing four cold bottles back inside He twisted one open and held it out as he passed I had no intention of taking it but ers wrapped around the bottle As he passed by, I found I atching his butt Drat This was not good A woman in town claily beautiful blond with vivid eyes and a sculpted face Lucas was married Married Maybe

I needed to tell hi

I told ies and the way the little potatoes glistened in oil and the sight of the salad greens all crisp and curled that shut me up But it was the dried cranberries that did it That and the aln that this wasn&039;t a spontaneous gesture on Lucas&039; part

The other food could be obtained in Mineral City froular runs on the mule train But not almonds and dried cranberries; they had to be imported all the way from Atlanta At fabulous expense I was the only person I kneho craved slivered almonds and cranberries None of the locals even knehat they were

My mouth watered when Lucas set a small china plate mounded with pieces of fluffy white divinity candy studded with pecans in the center of the table He dribbled raspberry sauce over the cheesecake The china was the set we had used when married, the pattern an ancient Pre-Ap one, the plates and dishes froar Grove They had been one of ifts from my fiance

Lucas lit candles and set out cloth napkins I hadn&039;t used since he left He looked up at me His blue eyes were the exact shade of the Gulf of Mexico at sunset, the far-off water touching the darkening horizon He earing a black button-down corduroy shirt over a cotton T, black jeans, and pointed-toe boots iven him the boots

"Get out," I said Only it cao with the cheesecake He smiled that smile that had blown me ahen I first met him and pulled out my chair The chair I&039;d sat in erehis chair when he left I just walked over and sat And I bowedHe&039;d never prayed a blessing eremy napkin over my lap "Eat"

The bastard If he&039;d tried to kiss my mouth I&039;d have cold-cocked him Instead, I met his eyes And was lost I picked up my fork and took a bite of salad