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Tae," she explained

"Oh, right For a second there you startled er and horror in her stomach threatened to turn to ice No, Clay didn’t share well And no et, deep inside, a part of her kept waiting for hiain But none of that was important at this moment "Clay and Max think it’s about the brain"

Tamsyn picked up the photos of Mickey’s brutalized face and body "Hes - I can’t put ists looked at this?"

"They didn’t spend much time on it Just street trash, you know"

Tamsyn’s eyes were suddenly pure leopard, a reminder that under that waret my claws on anyone who describes these children as street trash"

"So would I" She flexed her fingers "I ht not have claws, but I can use a knife"

Tamsyn’s eyes flashed to human in a heartbeat "You sound very sure"

"One of ht ht le word held a wealth of affection

Talin had never really considered how much that act of Tanner’s had meant to her, but now she smiled "Do you have any?"

"No need I had the whole da over me" She put the photos down, then stood "I need to think" To Talin’s surprise, she went to the counter and began pulling out ingredients for so "I think better this way," she said, noticing Talin’s expression "The whole Earth Mother routine works fortone, it was clear Tammy was deeply content ho she was Talin ached for that kind of peace, that kind of self-acceptance "I like cooking, too," she found herself saying, when she didn’t usually share anything "I used to do it with my adoptive father"

"Do you want to help?" Ta buddy And if you do the cookies, I can finish up a batch ofextra"

Talin hesitated "I have to work on why these particular children eted"

"You can do that as well on your feet, stirring" - she brought a bar of dark chocolate to her nose, breathed in the scent - "or chopping chocolate"

"You fight dirty" Pushing back her chair, Talin walked over Yes, she could think about the kids even as she did this It was not thinking about the kids that was the proble at her, pleading with her

We’ll get the bastards, she pro Clay in her vow And we’ll coer

Chapter 18

Jonquil could hear the sounds of their shoes in the corridor His hearing had always been good Better than good It had saved his lifethe crap kicked out of hier approached and he had nowhere to run

You have every right to be proud Stand up straight

Talin’s voice was a whip in his head She’d said that to him the day he’d been nominated for some dumb city medal All he’d done was pull a scared little kid out of a building going up in flames The small burns he’d sustained hadn’t even hurt ive hi to sneak out of the whole deal - like his posse would care that he had a , bullied him into a stupid-ass suit, and brushed his hair

That hen she had told hi and be proud Dae and taken that worthless bit of tin from the frickin’ mayor Stupid Except that he’d never thrown theit in his stash of important stuff He hoped his stash was still where he’d left it when he got out of this hellhole And he would get out - he had to apologize to Talin

The footsteps were getting closer Closer They stopped in front of his door