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Hekatah allowed herself a brief s on her saddest expression She sank to her knees beside Greer’s chair "Poor darling," she cooed, stroking his cheek with her fingertips, "I’ve let that bastard’s schemes distract me from more important concerns"

"What concerns, Priestess?" Greer asked cautiously

"Why, you, darling, and those ferocious wounds his beast inflicted on you" She wiped at her eyes as if they could still hold tears "You know there’s no way to heal these wounds now, don’t you, darling?"

Greer looked away

Hekatah leaned forward and kissed his cheek "But don’t worry I have a plan that will pay Saetan back for everything"

"You wanted to see ainst the blackwood desk in his private study in the Dark Realm and smiled at the Dea al Mon Harpy "Titian, my dear," he crooned in a voice like soft thunder, "I have an assign"

Chapter Six

1 / Kaeleer

Saetan, along with the rest of the faered at the dinner table, reluctant to have the ood had coht wound of those suppresseda little of her emotional pain He knew that soul wound wasn’t healed, but for the first time since she’d returned from the abyss, she waswoman she’d become

"I think Beale would like to clear the table," Jaenelle said quietly, glancing at the butler standing at the dining roo roo his chair back

When Jaenelle walked toward the door, followed by Mephis, Andulvar, and Prothvar, he lingered a ood to--

A ht his attention I for the intruder, he took a step back when strangely scented, feral e hier Frustration Fear And then

The howl stopped conversationsknives drawn Saetan barely noticed them, too intent on Jaenelle’s reaction

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, tipped her head back, and howled It wasn’t an exact imitation of the wolf’s howl It was eerier so

And he realized, with a shivering sense of wonder, that she and the wolf had sung this song before, that they kne to blend those two voices to create so Jaenelle finished the song and s through the glass The wolf landed in the dining roo cry, Jaenelle rushed past Andulvar and Prothvar, dropped to her knees, and threw her arht the psychic scent he was searching for The as one of the legendary kindred A Prince, but not, thank the Darkness, a Warlord Prince He also caught a gliold chain and the Purple Dusk Jewel hidden in the wolfs fur

Still snarling, the wolf pressed against Jaenelle, urging her toward the hile it kept its body between her and the Eyriens

Pushed off-balance, Jaenelle’s arhtened around the wolf’s neck "S rude," she said in that quiet, firht ed his snarl to a deep growl

"What bad male?" Jaenelle scanned each concerned male face and shook her head "Well, it wasn’t one of the stopped There was intelligence and new interest in the wolfs eyes as he studied each reeting

Another brief pause Jaenelle blushed "No, none of theh for a ave theh Lord He’s h Lord’s pup And this is my uncle, Prince Andulvar, and my cousin, Lord Prothvar And that’s Lord Beale Everyone, this is Prince Sreeted his kindred Brother, Saetan wondered which had startled the otherswith a wolf, or the faiven them

There was an aard pause after the introductions Andulvar and Prothvar glanced at hi their movements slow and deliberate Mephis re in the dooras silently awaiting instructions Smoke looked uneasy, and there was a bruised, uncertain look in Jaenelle’s eyes

He had to do so quickly But what did one say to a wolf? More important, what could he do to h and welcouest?

"May I offer you some refreshments, Prince Smoke?" Said out loud, the name combined with a Blood title sounded silly to hi Then again, maybe human names sounded just as silly to a wolf Saetan raised an eyebrow at Beale and wondered how his stoic Warlord butler was going to react to a four-footed guest