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Krelis looked around, then focused on the tavern, as if he could see, or at least sense, Jared standing inside He suards headed for the tavern

The Coach door burst open

Lia dodged the Hayllians’ grabbing hands and raced up the street

"Lia, no!" Jared shouted Desperate to protect her, he used Craft to blast the tavern door open

That startled the Hayllians enough to buy her a couple of seconds

"Lia!" Jared shouted

"Go after her!" Krelis roared

Before any of them could move, a bolt of Sapphire power hit Lia in the belly Her body burst, spraying blood and guts over the street Her mouth opened in a silent screaot the Hayllians Forgot the web Forgot his pro on her back in the middle of the street

"Lia" Jared dropped to his knees One of his hands hovered over her ruined body The other gently stroked her hair

Hearing footsteps, Jared raised his head and bared his teeth

Krelis stood a few yards away

Jared saw no regret in those hard gold eyes Disappointret

"Jared," Lia said weakly

Disave her all his attention "Hush, Lia," he said softly "Don’t try to talk"

"Jared," she gasped "The web Nothing else ’s keyed to you"

"Hush, Lia"

Her hand flailed Her fingers found his hair Curled Tightened Yanked hard

Jared grunted in surprise

"Hold the web," Lia said in a voice that had an eerie quality to it

Jared lowered his forehead until it touched hers It didn’t matter now It was too late now He wouldn’t tell her that But nohen they only had a fewelse

"I love you, Lia," he whispered "I’ll always love you"

"Re by her tone of voice, Jared raised his head

And watched gray eyes change to frosty green, watched the illusion of Lia’s face disappear

He felt soht," he whispered

The link between Garth and Brock had worked so well because Garth’s Birthright Jeas the same as Brock’s Jewel of rank

Like Lia’s and Thera’s

Nowhe understood the tartness in Lia’s psychic scent when he’d kissed her, why she and Thera had stayed so close to each other, why Lia had tried to avoid physical contact as ether to hide the fact that Lia

The roaring grew louder

Power gathered, gathered, gatheredbeneath the Red

Everything keyed to him Keyed to his blood

He looked at Krelis and knew the Master of the Guard heard the roaring, too Felt the power gathering

He looked at Thera

She bared her teeth in a sht!" Jared whiainst her neck, and closed his eyes

The inner part of the as still a strong red color, but the outer threads had faded, the power had retreated

Howthe Red back into the web He’d forgotten Lia’s warning about ignoring what he thought was happening and letting hiet drawn into the trap she and Thera had laid for the Hayllians, letting hiet distracted from his task

Steady Steady If he flooded the ith power, he ht shatter the minds it was meant to protect But if he wasn’t in tiest

The roaring got louder

Almost had them all Almost

Louder

Steady Steady There! He had Randolf BlaedTalon !

Unleashed in one wild, raw, uncontrolled blast, Lia’s Gray strength hit his inner barriers hard enough to make him scream before it flowed around hile" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>