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Once again she found herself locked in his stare and didn’t step ahen he reached up and touched her cheek Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if he had been so perfect before he had been turned and decided he eous in a way very feere blessed with Her gaze roaed planes of his cheek to the lush fullness of his lips His eyebrows drew together and his mouth pulled up on one side in a half sently and she shivered

"It’s your eyes that are so expressive It’s like reading a book"

She blushed again, and looked down He chuckled but let his hand drop and took a step back so she could ht with a knife," Ree said, trying to find a subject that wasn’t so unco, she moved her foot a little to see if the knife was noticeable It was actually pretty comfortable, and the handle was so slim that it didn’t pucker the deniht felt fa

"We ork on that later I just want you to get used to wearing it, and not being afraid of it" He stepped back and looked her up and down "Sophie did ith the clothes Very striking"

"These are hers? Maybe she has some other boots I can wear These are really expensive, and I’d hate to mess them up" Ree looked down at herself and tried to not think about his coods stock the closets hatever we need Consider it part of your paycheck"

It still see her hed "Don’t worry about it Ree They owe you much more than expensive clothes"

"I guess," she said, frowning

"C’mon let’s find the others and head to the dock"

Chapter 29

"I a," Bryce said He was huddled next to Ree on the boat as they crossed the sound

"I thought you were all excited about your first hunting trip" Ree sri or the fall"

"They were humans, Bryce They ht had been bothering her for hours They were going to kill people that had already been tortured and turned into soret what had happened, or even try to avoid killing

"They aren’t human any more, Ree Their soul is destroyed by the disease Roland told us that while ere training We can’t let their looks or words fool us," Bryce said quietly, his eyes worried

"But Roland –" Ree said She stopped when Bryce shook his head

He leaned closer and lowered his voice "He told us he’s the exception and wouldn’t be any different if Tria hadn’t used her gift on him" He looked around the boat quickly "We weren’t supposed to tell you because they figured you’d run around and try to fix all of the Dark Ones we run across"

"Why wouldn’t they tell me that? Of course I would try to fix therily, but Bryce shushed her when the others looked their way

"You can’t do that, Ree Not only do some of them choose their fate, they seek it out for years"

"But soht want to have some of their humanity back!" Ree said

"It killed Tria It took so er seeped out of Ree in an instant, and she sat back in shock They had told her she could do that to herself, but she really hadn’t considered it a reality

"They didn’t tell you because they knew you would try it if it was a possibility I think you would have ended up trying it on your own anyway, so you should knohat could happen" Bryce buave him a small s to say He was the one in the group that truly felt like a big brother and his advice was to be taken seriously

"Who didn’t want to tell me?" She was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but wanted to hear it anyway Bryce’s eyes darted to Paden, Roland, and Sophie She sighed and leaned back against the rail Of course Paden wouldn’t want her to know about that And they were right that it would be overly costly to even try, but they should have trusted her to ht decision The irony of the situation was too ht the monsters but be treated like a child

"Just pro crazy like that, you at least give us a warning"

"Deal" She buo by as they neared their dock The large Victorian looked as dilapidated as ever, and Ree wondered if the land was only used for the dock or if the house was actually inhabitable The boat ines The others hopped off the boat gracefully and irritation tightened Ree’s throat as she crawled over the railing onto the dock A warm hand steadied her shoulder before she could slip and fall back into the boat

Paden’s eyes were full of e smile "Are you ready for this?"

She was instantly disappointed he hadn’t said anything about the kiss and then chastised herself for not being focused on the iuess so," she shrugged "We don’t have o back to school and have to leave the island anyway Might as well get a good taste of e’re in for"

"It’s easier for us So for you to start the change, to hunt the Dark Ones We were bred to be so else But you’re still hu curve for us is phenoes"

"I’rier than she had been when he ignored her after the kiss

"You know that wasn’t what I meant," he said, exasperated

"No, I don’t knohat you meant It sure sounded like you think I’ away fro at them as she headed in their direction Roland’s face was i them worriedly

"Ree, you’re one of the smartest people I know I just e itwith the Dark Ones And you don’t have that advantage" He tugged her to a stop before running a hand through his hair