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By ten the nextup her proposal for an author event She&039;d worked off considerable sexual frustration the night before by diving straight into the project and sticking with it until after old over the rough draft for success in business ventures With rosemary under her pillow to aid in a restful sleep, she&039;d tuned out the nagging need She had always been good at channeling her energies, at focusing them on the task that needed attention After her initial otten her through college, into business Into life

It had, for years, kept herforith matters both practical and pleasurable when she was fully aware that the web of protection around her ho Yet despite that will she&039;d drea with hi until she was tangled in the sheets She drea from its perch on her cliffs And once she&039;d heard it screae And in sleep, she called Sam&039;s name like a chant Still, she had slept, and she woke to a brilliant sunrise that promised a perfect day She tended her flowers first while the sky shiolds of dawn She paid her respects to the eleift of her power She brewed a cup ofon her cliffs with the sea raging against the rocks below

She felt closest to her ancestor there, and could always sense the iron core of strength as well as the bitter, rending loneliness

So, she&039;d stood here looking out to sea and hoping to see the sleek head of a silkie bobbing in the waves Once, she&039;d believed in happily-ever-after and had woven the tale in her head of how the one as called Fire&039;s lover had come back for her and how their spirits had found each other Loved each other Ever and always

She no longer believed that, and was sorry for it But she&039;d learned, and learned well, that there were some losses that sliced you to bits, shattered the spirit into dust And still you went on, you remade yourself, mended your spirit You lived If not happily ever after, then contentedly enough It had been on those cliffs that she had sworn an oath to protect what had been entrusted to her She had been eight, full of pride in what she was And every year since, on the nights of the summer and winter solstices, she stood on those cliffs and renewed that vow

But this ave thanks for the beauty of the day, then went in to dress for work

She didn&039;t shudder when she drove the curves of the cliff road But she watched At her desk, she read over her proposal, searching for ht have overlooked Her brow furrowed at the knock on her door Though she ignored it, deliberately, Ripley strode in

"I&039;m busy Come back later"

"So&039;s up" Never one to stand on ceremony, or to be put off by a less than elcome, Ripley cah to have her looking up She saw Nell in the doorway

"Nell Isn&039;t it your day off?"

"Do you think I&039;d&039;ve dragged her in here on her day off," Ripley said before Nell could answer, "if it wasn&039;t iret, Mia set her work aside "Cori to do oo stuff Not directly, anyway I heard Mac talking on the phone thison the phone"

"Ripley, I really can&039;thours"

"He was talking to Sam Well, that woke you up," she co that they&039;d have a conversation" Mia picked up her proposal, frowned at the bullet points, then gave up and set it down again "All right What were they talking about?"

"I don&039;t know exactly, but so Mac was really interested He even walked outside with the phone, casual-like But I knoas because he didn&039;t want me to hear him"

"How do you knoas Sam?"

"Because I heard hi&039; "

"Well, whycan&039;t you just get to the point?"

"I&039; not to

Kiss, kiss, pat, pat Shove, shove But I go, because I&039;e myself once I&039;m on patrol But first I check in at the station house, and Zack&039;s on the phone And he stops talking in the middle of a sentence when I walk in, then says hello tomy name really definitely"

Her scowl deepened at theto either Mac or Sarunt work to do, crap jobs that&039;ll keep me tied to the station house for two or three hours Says he&039;s got to do stuff I wait until I&039;e and what do you think I see?"

"I hope," Mia said, "you&039;re about to tell me and put an end to this play-by-play"

"The patrol car and Mac&039;s Rover," Ripley announced "I grabbed Nell, and now I&039; you, they&039;re not playing poker or watching dirty ether without us," Mia agreed "Too manly for the little wo to be very sorry"

"Let&039;s just go find out, shall we?" Mia yanked her car keys out of her desk "I&039;ll tell Lulu I&039;ve got to go out, and I&039;ll be right behind you"

M ac hunkered down on the ground, ran his portable scanner "Positive energy all the way," he hly cleansed Next time call me first I could really use a sample"

"It was a little late for science experiments," Sam told him

"Never too late for science Can you sketch the ure It was the sae Mia described The black wolf, ram"

"It was smart to brand him when they had him down on the beach last winter" Mac sat back on his haunches "Makes ID simple - and it&039;s diminished his power"

Sam rolled his shoulders "Sure as hell wasn&039;t any pussycat last night"

"He sucked the extra punch out of so, probably you Bet you were pissed, huh?"

"The fucker tried to drive Mia off a cliff What do you think?"

"I think the eht is a primary element of the equation If you&039;d - "

"I think," Zack interrupted, "Saet that shoulder looked at Then we should stop jerking off with theories and go after this bastard If it can hurt Sa it run loose onto be able to track it down and shoot it like a rabid dog," Mac told hio after anyone who&039;s not connected" Saround He&039;d spent h "Fact is, I don&039;t think it can"

"No, exactly" Mac straightened "This entity needs to feed off the power and the einal circle"

"A lot of islanders have ties to the original circle, however diluted," Zack pointed out

"Yes, but it doesn&039;t want theht," Sam told Zack "It has only one focus, one purpose now, and it can&039;t waste tiic is limited, but it&039;s canny It fed on Ripley&039;s emotions before This tiain"

"Oh, yeah, you&039;ve always been a real even-teo for you"

"It worked," Sa is, I didn&039;t hurt it that bad It should&039;ve cootten it into the circle I could&039;ve held it there"

"It&039;s not for you," Mac said si back while it waits for a chance to go for Mia&039;s throat That&039;s what it wants, that&039;s what I felt frohto happen She canto oddamn heart out"

"See," Zack said after a beat "Real even-tempered"

"Kiss ass"

"Okay, okay" Mac stepped between them, patted the tensed shoulders of each man for peace "Let&039;s just keep our heads"

"Isn&039;t this sweet?" Mia&039;s voice dripped honey "The boys are out playing in the woods"

"Shit," Zack ry eyes "Busted"

Ripley hooked her thuers on her pockets, and strode forward And got up in Mac&039;s face "Lucy, you got so theet to you," Ripley pro order here"

Mia stepped forward, and felt the ripples of power "What happened here?"

"You ht as well spill it," Zack advised Sam "Take my word for it I&039;ve dealt with these three o inside and - "

Mia simply slapped a hand on Sam&039;s chest before he could move past her "What happened here?" she repeated

"I took a walk in the woods"

Her gaze shifted, rested briefly on the ground "You used the circle"

"It was there"

Part of her resented that he&039;d been able to use as hers, what belonged to the three It tightened the connection, uable "All right," she said calh "What happened?"

"I ran into your demon wolf from hell"

"You - " She held up a hand, more to stop herself than to keep Sa fear She willed it aside - not away, that was beyond her - and le fear

"You called hiht, alone, and called hier"

He hadn&039;t known she still had that er his own "I like to think it was more Gary Cooper-esque"

"This is a joke to you, a joke ?" Fury all but sed her whole "You would dare call up what&039;s mine? You can stand between me and what&039;smy hands?"

"Whatever it takes"

"You&039;re not my shield, not my savior What&039;s inside me isn&039;t less than what&039;s in you" She shoved him back a step "I won&039;t tolerate your interference You&039;rebecause it makes you feel like a hero, and - "

"Take it easy, Mia" Even as Zack spoke, the keen edge of her gaze cut to hi a woman ready to bite out a man&039;s heart, Zack merely held up both hands, stepped aside Sam, he decided, was on his own

"Do you think I need your help?" She rounded on Sa at me"

"Do you think because I lack a penis I&039; for what&039;s mine? So you pull your idiotic, manly display, then call your idiot men friends so you can discuss how to protect the helpless women?"

"I&039;ve never seen her like his," Nell whispered and watched, fascinated, as Mia shoved Sam back another step

"Doesn&039;t happen often" Ripley spoke out of the corner of her lanced up as clouds, black as a fresh bruise, boiled into the sky overhead "Man, she is supre at ers around the fist she was currently slapping against his chest "If you&039;re finished with your snitCareful," he warned as thunder bellowed

"You arrogant, stupid, insultingI&039;ll show you a snit" She used her free hand, intending to shove hiain And saw the wince of pain as she bumped his shoulder "What have you done?"

"We&039;ve just covered that"

"Take off your shirt"

He worked up a leer "Well, baby, if you want to finish things that way, I&039;ve got no probleot an audience"

She solved thehis shirt open

"Hey" He&039;d forgotten how fast she could move A ry With a little sound of distress, Nell started forward before Ripley stopped her

"She&039;ll handle it"

"You moved out of the circle" Fear shuddered back to twist painfully with temper "You deliberately opened yourself to attack"

"It was a test" With sorely bruised dignity, Sam yanked as left of his shirt back in place "It worked"