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Saetan squeezed her shoulder Then he shook her "Jaenelle? Jaenelle, no! Don’t leave me Please don’t leave"

With effort, Jaenelle opened her eyes "Leave? Oh, Saetan, I’et control of himself He had to stay cal as you want"

"You’ll stay, too?"

"I’ll never leave you, witch-child I swear it"

Jaenelle sighed "You should get some sleep," shefor a long time He wanted to open his mind and reach for her, but he didn’t need to He could feel the difference in the body he still held

So he reached out to Andulvar instead "She’s co silence "Truly?"

"Truly" And he would need his strength for the days ahead "Tell the others And tell Draca I’ll take the cup of fresh blood now"

5 / Kaeleer

Guided by instinct and a nagging uneasiness, Saetan entered Jaenelle’s bedrooe, freestandingat the naked body reflected there

Saetan closed the door and limped toward her While she’d been away froh of a link so that she could eat and could be led on gentle walks that had kept her h of a link for her body to slowly answer the rhythm of its own seasons

Blood females tended to reach puberty later than landens, and witches’ bodies required even es that separated a girl from a woman Inhibited by her absence, Jaenelle’s body hadn’t started changing until after her fourteenth birthday But while her body was still in the early stages of transforer looked like a twelve-year-old’s

Saetan stopped a few feet behind her Her sapphire eyes met his in the mirror, and he had to work to keep his expression neutral

Those eyes Clear and feral and dangerous before she slipped on the mask of hu she used to do as a child to keep the fact that she was Witch a secret This was a deliberate effort simply to behuman And that scared him

"I should have told you," he said quietly "I should have prepared you But you’ve slept through most of the past four days, and I " His voice trailed off

"How long?" she asked in a voice full of caverns and ht

He had to clear his throat before he could answer "Two years Actually, a little more than that You’ll be fifteen in a feeeks"

She said nothing, and he didn’t kno to fill the silence

Then she turned around to face him "Do you want to have sex with this body?"

Blood So e rose Her mask fell away And no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find Jaenelle in those sapphire eyes

He had to give her an answer He had to give her theright answer

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly "I’uardian now Your adopted father, if you will And fathers do not have sex with their daughters"

"Don’t they?" she asked in a ht whisper

The floor disappeared under his feet The room spun He would have fallen if Jaenelle hadn’t thrown her arms around his waist

"Don’t use Craft," he ritted teeth

Too late Jaenelle was already floating him to the couch As he sank into it, she sat beside hith hair away from her neck "You need fresh blood"

"No, I don’t I’ a cup of fresh human blood twice a day for the past four days--almost as much as he usually consumed in a year

"You need fresh blood" There was a definite edge in her voice

What he needed was to find the bastard who had raped her and tear him apart inch by inch "I don’t need your blood, witch-child"

Her eyes flashed with anger She bared her teeth "There’s nothing wrong with h Lord," she hissed "It isn’t tainted"

"Of course it isn’t tainted," he snapped back

"Then on’t you accept the gift? You never refused before"

There were clouds and shado in her sapphire eyes It seemed that, for her, the price of hu her hand, he kissed her knuckles and wondered if he could delicately suggest that she put on a robe without her taking offenseOne thing at a time, SaDiablo "There are three reasons I don’t want your blood right now First, until you’re stronger, you need every drop of it for yourself Second, your body is changing froes, too So let’s test it before I find le

"And third, Draca has also decided that I need fresh blood"

Jaenelle’s eyes widened "Oh, dear Poor Papa" She bit her lip "Is it all right if I call you that?" she asked in a small voice

He put his arms around her and held her close "I would be honored to be called ’Papa’ " He brushed his lips against her forehead "The room is a little chilly, witch-child Do you think you could put on a robe? And slippers?"

"You sound like a parent already," Jaenelle gru tihter I intend to revel in it to the fullest"

"Oh, lucky hed "No Luckyme"

6 / Kaeleer