Page 23 (1/2)

Hekatah sighed again It would take a fair amount of persuasion to convince Greer to slip into the Hall to see the High Lord’s new pet

It was a good thing the girl whining in the next room was such a choice little tidbit

9 / Terreille

Surreal strolled down the quiet, backwater street where no one asked questions Men and woht breeze that made the sticky afternoon bearable They didn’t speak to her, and she, having spent two years of her childhood on a street like this, gave the by as if they weren’t there

As she reached the building where she had a top-floor flat, Surreal noticed the eyes that met hers for a brief moht hand to her left while she watched one man cross the street and approach her cautiously

Not the stiletto for this one, she decided A slashing knife, if necessary Fro from a deep wound on his left side He’d try to protect it But

The th away "Lady"

"Warlord"

She saw a tremor of fear in his eyes before he masked it That she could identify his caste so easily, despite his efforts to hide it, told hih to win any dispute with him

"That basket looks heavy," he said, still cautious

"A couple of novels and tonight’s dinner"

"I could carry it up for youin a fewfor her If she survived theup the basket If she didn’t, he would divide the spoils a a little help if he should need it in the future

Surreal set the basket on the sidewalk and stepped back "Ten ’s front steps Then she paused long enough to put two Gray protective shields around herself and a Green shield over the for her would respond to the lesser Green shield first She also called in her largest hunting knife If the attack was physical, the knife’s blade would give her a little extra reach

With her hand on the doorknob, sheunusual

A fast twist of the knob and she was inside, turning toward the back of the door She kicked the door shut, keeping her back against a wall pocked with rusty letter boxes Her large, gold-green eyes adjusted quickly to the gloomy entryway and equally dier

Up the stairs quickly, keeping her ht slip from an enemy’s mind

Up to the third floor, the fourth Finally to the fifth

Pressed in the opposite corner from her own door, Surreal probed once more--and finally felt it

A dark psychic scent Muted, altered somehow, but familiar

Relieved--and a little annoyed--that there wouldn’t be a fight, Surreal vanished the knife, unlocked her door, and went inside

She hadn’t seen him since he’d left Deje’s Red Moon house o It didn’t look like they’d been easy years His black hair was long and raggedly cut His clothes were dirty and torn When he didn’t respond to her briskly closing the door and just continued to stare at the sketch she’d recently purchased, she began to feel uneasy

That lack of response rong Very wrong Reaching back, Surreal opened the door just enough not to have to fuolden eyes held no recognition, but they held so else that was familiar, if only she could remember where she’d seen that look before

"Dae to remember Then his expression cleared "It’s little Surreal" His voice--that beautiful, deep, seductive voice--was hoarse, rusty

Little Surreal?

"You’re not here alone, are you?" Dae across the room, she said sharply, "Of course I’m here alone Who else would be here?"

"Where’s yourto be here alone"

Titian had been dead for centuries Heknew that It was centuries ago that he and Tersa

Tersa’s eyes Eyes that strained to h the ht, what had happened to hi toward the door "I can’t stay here Not without your mother I won’tI can’t"

"Daemon, wait" Surreal leaped between hio away for a few days withwith Tersa I’dI’d feel safer if you stayed"