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And if she ran, it would be Maybe not literally Maybe if she took off, she wouldn’t be tracked and killed But her life would be over all the same Her home in the Guard barracks lost to her Her friends, her tea’s ga’s hands If he were going to kill her, he’d have already done it Unless, of course, she tried to hurt hiet hih for her to help hiure out what the Mage were up to and stop theh for her life to have a littlein all creatures, no less in her, but her father hadn’t sacrificed everything for her to save herself He’d given her a chance to make a difference

Whether or not that had truly been his intent didn’t matter It was the way she’d always seen it It was the only way she could accept that he’d let her live at his own peril, the only way she could live with it

She’d never truly been able to use her gift to any great advantage si, she didn’t

The realization hit her, filling her with a strange and profound relief After so er alone with her secret

Jag released her arm, pulled out his cell phone, and snapped it open "It’s me," he said a moment later

Olivia tensed

"Found us a Daemon," he continued "Did you know those bastards have venom in their claws?" He was silent a moment "Olivia took a hit It slowed her down, but didn’t seee pit coest power orbs I’ve ever seen"

He was silent a ain, his voice had turned warrior hard

"Shit, yeah They’re definitely up to so There’s only one reason I can think of they’d want Daeot it, Frosted Flakes This is another atte continued to hold the phone to his ear though he didn’t say anything for a while

Olivia could hear Tighe’s voice through the receiver, but not clearly enough todrawled at last "Call when you hit town" He snapped the phone closed and tossed it onto the dash "The gang’s cohe’s tea two different Dae this way"

"As if the Mage are calling them"

"That’s what I think, Red And what I also think is the Mage are trying to use theed Stopping whatever the Mage are up to takes priority over the Daemons If we can take down both at once, all the better"

He turned into the parking lot of the motel "The plan is for everyone to meet here at two this afternoon"

"We’ll attack in broad daylight?"

Jag pulled into a parking spot, turned off the ignition, and turned to study her, his ar, you’re the only one, other than us Ferals, who doesn’t have to worry about the draden With three Therians on the tea persona The ht had slipped back beneath theopened his door and clirabbed their duffels out of the back of the Hummer, and she followed him up the outside stairs to their second-story room - a simple, but clean one, with two double beds

Olivia set down her duffel beside the bed closest to the door, pulled back the bedspread, then shucked her boots and crawled beneath the covers She was spent, physically, ht had her jerking upright

Her gaze shot to Jag as he pulled off his boots with less haste than she had "I don’t usually feed in ht It won’t hurt you I sleep near others all the ti, but you aze, his thoughts impossible to read

Then he pulled off his pants and T-shirt and lay down on the other bed on his side, propping his head on one hand "When you feed hard, it’s like needles When you feed low, it’s just a pleasant hum in my body It shouldn’t bother ood"

He continued to watch her, as if studying her "I’ve been wondering about soht? As you said, it would have been so easy And a simple matter of self-preservation Your secret would have been safe"

There were so y to sort through at the ave him the first one that came to mind

Pamela Palmer Rapture Untamed

"I want no more deaths on my conscience"

His ly self-deprecating smile "Not even mine?"

"Especially not yours" She wasn’t sure whatthick and intense, pulling her in Then he scowled and flipped over onto his back and closed his eyes

"Sleep, Red" His voice held a gruffness, not reflected in his words "You won’t hurtWe’re both safe for now"

She watched him a moment more, then lay down and pulled the covers up to her chin

Safe An odd choice of words since she’d never felt less safe in her life Yet she fell asleep without trouble, a certainty deep inside that if Jag said she was safe, he would let no harht of the village square, his heart plu A thousand times he’d watched Cordelia die, a e what had happened that day He didn’t want to see it again!

A tiny, lucid part of his mind told hiht, trapped as always, forced to watch the nighted Cordelia across the village square, four big huh she kicked and fought, de they free her She’d always denored her, dragging her toward the thick, tarred pole standing black and o of old watched with a conflicted blend of angry righteousness and dis her ar iron manacles around her wrists to hold her fast One of the men secured a second iron shackle to her ankle, then staked it to the ground

Sunshine glistened on Cordelia’s brown hair, locks falling in rare disarray around her shoulders

The villagers wasted no ti comprehended what they were about, one lit the torch, then shoved it into the kindling with a single vicious thrust