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"As for you, Thorne," Endelle said, cutting into his thoughts "Looks like we’ve got business to discuss"
Thorne didn’t aze He see in particular His shoulders dipped "Yes, I suppose we do"
"There’s oneat Jean-Pierre "I’ve been thinking this for a long tiht now I believe we have a Third or Fourth ascender causing all these fuckups with youNow that I know about Fiona, it all makes sense Greaves wouldn’t take chances, not this late in the gaht someone of power on board to help out"
"Well how the fuck are we supposed to battle a Third ascender," Thorne asked "And don’t even get ed "Beats the shit out of me Looks like he’s stuck the way Greaves and I are stuck Hetabs on hi The bad news is, of course, that this vampire will have a boatload of power and a dozen tricks up his ass So let the warriors know and we’ll just keep on keepin’ on" She planted her hands on her bristly skirt "All right The rest of you get out of here I need to talk to my second-in-command"
Jean-Pierre held the door for Alison and Fiona He intended to leave the decision up to his woo first to Militia Warrior HQ and continue the hunt for Rith throughout the afternoon, or whether they should head straight to his home in Sedona
Much to his surprise, she chose Sedona, and for a reason that touched his heart "You haven’t slept enough today We’re going to take care of that right now"
He could hardly believe it: After five months, not only was she ordered to stay in his home, but she wanted to He was in no doubt about that No restraint, no holding back Oui, soed for her
Alison and Fiona discussed when they shouldsession With late afternoon settled on, Alison lifted her hand and folded home to be with her baby for the rest of the day
Jean-Pierre was finally alone with Fiona "Chérie, I wish to know so ed, different"
Fiona’s lips parted, and that fored but I’, Fiona Were you aware of that?"
"Oh, it hurt Endelle had to push through this place deep within my mind, like a barrier between the mind and the soul I can’t explain it I really can’t But when she did, it was like geysers of the old exploded in nificent But the beauty was only part of the experience I felt as though soh I could do anything, and what I thought, ent through o after Rith Yes, that’s what I thought, that now I had sufficient power to hunt hi him to justice"
"Your eyes are filled with fire" When had his arm slid around her waist? When had she put her hand flat on his chest just inside his jacket? He wanted to kiss her, but not here, not in the hall outside Her Supreo to my house?"
"Yes" Just like that, after fivehiainst hiht
The ride through nether-space was s down on the red-brick patio of his front yard To the left was a se he had built over a dry wash that directed overflow to Oak Creek; to the right was a curved grassy area
He looked around and extended his preternatural senses, hearing and vision, hunting for the eneh in the air, beyond the tips of the Arizona sycamores that surrounded his house
"So this is your home?" Part question, part statement
"Oui"
"And you built this, by yourself, over the past two centuries since you have lived in this part of the world"
He had told her about his house over the course of their dates but she had not seen it before He was proud of his "rabbit warren," as Endelle so aptly called his home He had never had a plan, but just built roouide hi he had been definite about was that in the very center was a large round rooe with a glass ceiling open to the sky and a glass floor to allow a view of the creek flowing below
Beyond the desire for that room, the house was truly a work of impulse year by year
He loved it
But would she like what he’d created?
As these doubts twisted his stomach into a knot, his sheer desire for her, to share his ho He needed to know her thoughts, her reservations, her present wishes
"Will you come inside? Be with me, Fiona?"
He meant the question to be frank, even obvious How much better to knohat he could expect than to stumble and offend her by a careless kiss or embrace