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"I was in the hills at the base of the Trine and he ca on aher hair back and inspecting her throat Lifting her wrists, staring into her eyes

"Stop that" Ciana pushedmy inspection meant I believed her Devil-spawn made a mockery of the sacrament Children of a Dark seraph and a human, born in litters like rats, they drank blood and ate hu other abominations

"He didn&039;t attack He just talked to er snaps as if scattering water "Poof, you know?" She wiped the last of her tears

"I know" Everyone had seen video feed of captured devil-spawn "Poof" was an accurate description of their speed "Why were you out on the Trine at night?"

"It wasn&039;t night" Ciana took the ainst stoneware the only sound "It was Monday, before sunset"

My eyes flew to Rupert&039;s "Before?" He shrugged, uneasy Spawn caht No wonder Maria had called Ciana a liar

And then the ht ends "It talked to you?" I asked, fighting to keep reen eyes, not the red you always hear about And he was gorgeous" She paused to blow on the cocoa and drink "Really long black hair, you know? Braided down his back, but soot loose and flew in the wind Way, way cool He wanted to know about you"

The words fell on the rooht Lolo&039;s warnings sank into er "Me?"

Rupert pursed his lips

"Yep He wanted to know all about you Where you lived, where you worked, what you did for a living" She looked slyly up at ht off you were not a virgin"

"Ciana!"

"Spawn only want virgins, right? And he kissed ins for theirI didn&039;t share this with Ciana Little was known about daywalkers; they were nearbetween a Darkness and a captured kylen They supposedly could pass as hulamour their appearance There were ru concrete Scholars debated whether they had ever existed, had been eradicated, or had gone underground at the end of the Last War

"He kissed your hand?" Rupert said, his body very still I watched as he worked to cover deep emotion with casual curiosity "You didn&039;t say that when you called How?"

"Like a Frenchman in one of your Pre-Ap movies Like this" Ciana hopped to her feet and took Rupert&039;s hand She bowed over it, hovered, and smacked her lips into his knuckles Then she hopped back into the chair and drankdark before he turned to the percolator and freshened his cup, blue robes fluttering

"Did you feel his breath on your hand while he kissed you?" he asked "Was your skin cold after? Or wet?"

Ciana shrugged, watching us over the ri "Gra in the hills"

"You called Gramma?" he asked, suppressed dread in his voice

"I called her and my friends A spawn is way cool You think the spawn is the Power she&039;s talking about?"

Rupert groaned "Gra about Maria or anyone else Gramma has proble what he thought he was hiding from Ciana I bent over the chest where I kept the pendants I had already i for one charged with protection froht bands of purple and lavender and re it on a silver chain

"Is that forover the case "It&039;s way cool" She touched the stone, sending it swinging on its chain

"Yes" I looped it over her head and tucked it beneath her unifor her Pre-Ap TV slang "Keep it out of sight at school, but wear it when you go outdoors and at night"

"It&039;s beautiful" She fished the pendant out and held it up to the light "Is it ic," I said, sticking it back out of sight And there wasn&039;t Not really No ic," she said, clearly quoting soes draw upon the leftover force of creation to iic, no matter what the orthodox say about it And we don&039;t believe in rinned up at hiic and should be burned at the stake"

"Grarumbled under his breath "She&039;s more orthodox than a kirk elder Maybe she should be burned at the stake"

"If it isn&039;t o out?"

"Just wear it Please"

Ciana shrugged again and tucked it into her shirt, out of sight "It&039;s pretty Mama ant it if she sees it"

"Tell her Thorn e her ed into her coat, and swung her backpack on "Bye, guys I&039;ll see you after school" Her face fell and her eyes soughtbad happens to Daddy if I&039;m at school?"

"We&039;ll keep the TV on," Rupert said "If anything happens, Thorn&039;ll coht hand over esture "Proether?"

"Yes," I said "Together"

"Cool Bye" And she was gone, shoes crunching on snow

"So" I faced Rupert, his eyes shadowed and still "Why did you ask the questions about how the daywalker kissed her hand?"

"If it was a daywalker" When I didn&039;t reply he said, "It was important to know if the daywalker breathed on her or licked her skin"

"Why?"

"Why did you flinch when Ciana asked if the pendant was ht "Because it is" Rupert blinked He&039;d clearly not expected that answer I was glad I had chosen the agate, because I couldn&039;t lie to hiate was fro at an estate sale Paid a pretty penny for it too Supposedly it&039;s neoe stone froainst evil I&039;ht, but I didn&039;t want Ciana to accidentally blurt that out to Maria That witch ht take a hammer to it out of spite Your turn"

Rupert looked apprehensive "Well Nothing Just old wives&039; tales"

"Reeeeally?" I drew out the word, watching as Rupert squirmed I knew every old wives&039; tale ever told Tales, yarns, fables, and parables were part of the earliest neo about daywalkers in the instruction

"If a daywalker takes your scent, he learns all about you If he licks you, he&039;s ood" I didn&039;t think I&039;d gotten the whole truth We were both dancing around full disclosure thisthe waters

"If," he agreed, uneasy, pushing back a lock of black hair, busying hih-end display pieces of Mokuold and copper with precious stones He uncovered small stone sculptures I had carved, and polished one of Jacey&039;s chrolass sculptures The silence built between us Rupert believed Ciana, and he was rattled Worse, Rupert was frightened I&039;d never seen

"If what?"

We both looked up at the fresh voice and took the interruption as a sign we&039;d gotten close enough to the truth thisOther revelations could wait Perhaps forever