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She didn’t fight him when he put his arms around her, so he held her, rocked her, and let her cry herself out

He felt the sexual tension rising as soon as she stopped crying, but he held on If he was reading the intensity correctly, she was over the worst of it now

After several h to rest her head on his shoulder "Lucivar?"

"M "Then I’ll feed you"

"Fire?"

Jaenelle’s head snapped up She stared at the wolf standing at the edge of the clearing "Why does he want to build a fire?"

"Damned if I knohy he wants one But if we did build one, I could make some laced coffee"

Jaenelle pondered this for a while "Youthat for a "yes," Lucivar led Jaenelle to the other side of the clearing while Sh to use for fuel

Lucivar called in the food pack, flask, and sleeping bag he’d left by the creek Jaenelle wandered fro the sandwich he’d given her He kept an eye on her as he built the fire, called in the rest of their gear, and made camp She seeood since they were losing the light and the day’s warmth

By the time he had the whisky-laced coffee ready, Jaenelle was tucked in her sleeping bag, shivering, eagerly reaching for the cup he handed her He didn’t suggest that she put on another layer of clothes As long as she focused on the fire being the source of warmth, she’d be reluctant to wander away froh the food pack, looking for so else he could offer her to eat, when he heard a delicate snore

Afterand added a war spell to keep her coht He pulled the coffeepot away from the heat and added more wood to the fire Then he pulled off his boots and settled into his sleeping bag

He should put a protective shield around the camp He doubted a four-footed predator would as left in the food pack enough to challenge the combined scents of human and wolf, but they were on the northern border of Ebon Rih and unco Jaenelle needed right noas being jolted awake by a Jhinka hunting party’s surprise attack

Lucivar was sound asleep before he finished the thought

6 / Hell

Resigned to the intrusion, Saetan settled back in one of the chairs by the fire and poured two glasses of yarbarah He’d decided to spend some time in his private study beneath the Hall because he hadn’t wanted to deal with anyminds--not after the past twenty-four hours But Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince or not, High

Lord or not, a man didn’t refuse a Dea al Mon Queen when she asked for an audience--especially when she was also a demon-dead Harpy

"What can I do for you, Titian?" he asked politely, handing her a glass of the warlass and sipped delicately, her large blue eyes never looking away froold ones "You’ve made the citizens of Hell very nervous This is the first tih Lord, that you’ve purged the Dark Realm"

"I rule Hell I can do as I please here," Saetan saidunder the , fine, silver hair behind her pointed ear and chose to ignore the warning "Do as you please or do what you must? It didn’t escape the notice of the observant that the Dark Priestess’s folloere the only ones consue"

"Really?" He sounded politely interested In truth, he felt relieved the connection had been made Not only would the rest of the demon-dead relax once they realized his choice of who had been hurried to the final death was based on a specific allegiance, anyone Hekatah approached in the future would think long and hard about the cost of such allegiance "Since you’ve no personal concern, why are you here?"

"You ht you should know"

Saetan quickly masked his distaste and disive me the names" It wasn’t a question

Titian smiled "There’s no need The Harpies took care of them for you" She hesitated for ahis teeth, Saetan stared at the fire "I couldn’t find her Hekatah’s very good at playing least-in-sight"