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"Because you have nothing better to do," I re you know about h for that" He saw ht, I’ll be your business partner" He squinted at me "What’s the third condition?"

"Tell me your name, Harry" As he started to reply, I raised a hand "Your true name, the one you were born to"

"You’ll not believevile under his breath "I haven’t used that for ages, Charo" I saw the panic in his eyes and added, "If you want me to trust you, Grandfather, then I deserve equal consideration Tell me your name"

And so he did

When the cab reached the docks I was alone again To avoid being trapped again in the nightstone, Harry had to put some distance between us before I touched the pendant

"He’ll never change, you know," he said before he left me "Dredmore will always be a cold, selfish, dark-hearted bastard"

"Yes" I felt an odd quietude settle over me "I expect he will"

I was not surprised to find Lucien Dred in the exact same spot as I’d left him in the future, at the very end of the pier It was like George suddenly appearing outside s to fill soaps no one could see

I stopped beside hiht with it a cutting edge, pro with the Tillers?"

"Hardly They know my reputation" He took the kerchief-wrapped stone out of his greatcoat and regarded it "I have soe of the warlord Zarath, and howthe Aramanthan wars His power to control had ales of all time"

"He was" I took the kerchief froht "Now he’s just another rock sitting on the bottom of the bay"

He blinked "That won’t kill hi can But no one else saw, so only you and I know he’s there" I glanced up at his stern face "I’ve no reason to dive in after a rock, and you can’t swiood as dead?"

A rusty sound canized it as a chuckle "Yes, I believe it is" He faced oing to enjoy this as ht, wrapping my arms round reatcoat and draped it over my shoulders "Why did I confide the most private details of my personal history to you?"

"I can’t say" I tried not to breathe in the delicious scent he’d left on the wool "You weren’t yourself at the tiainst the wind "Whatme?"

"I met him" I nodded toward the water "By comparison, you are a saint"

Dredmore tipped up my chin with his hand so I had to look into his eyes "Why did you save my life, Charmian?"

"You’re not dead," I countered "Do you want ain?"

"I want to know"--he bent his head and touched his lips toto push e and set it alight Why you looked so terrified when I ca, and then in the next s between us, Char, but the future that we’d shared no longer existed It didn’t matter e’d done; all that mattered e would do nowand then I knew exactly what to say

"I had a drea peaches at the market, and I stumbled over a curb and twisted my ankle You helped reat friends" I felt hio very still "That never happened, of course, but when I woke from the dream, all I could think was how much I wished it had That you and I had become friends instead of enemies" I smiled "It was all downhill fro time, and then he nodded slowly "We could try to be friends"