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But as the last of the shield slipped away, he opened the link Can we talk? he sent

There was a long, long pause Finally, Coht theh security but because the silence told him she’d ended the discussion, he concentrated on his warrior phone sitting on his nightstand in Sedona He folded it into his hand and called Carla

"Central How may I help?"

"I need a lift, for two, to the palace She’s expecting us" Well, she was expecting hiot it … and … welcome home, boss"

"Thanks, Carla"

He thumbed the phone and sent it back to Sedona He kept his aruerite and held on Shit, he was nervous There was so ht through any of it--why he was so fucking mad and, more to the point, what he needed froan

What is left when the smoke clears?

Truth

Awful, horrible, painful truth

Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth

Chapter 16

James of Sixth Earth worked to hold his present form It had been Luchianne’s idea for hi on the persona of a short, gray-haired librarian with light blue eyes But this shape required effort, since he was in many ways the opposite of this lish country gentleman

But that was because of the sweaters he wore, and ht that Alison would need a mild presence in order to accept his help and instruction Perhaps she’d been right He’d appeared to Fiona as well, when she’d been near death during the darkest part of a blood slave’s death-and-resurrection process He had been feeding pigeons when he spoke to her He’d done so with Jean-Pierre as his breh Yes, he’d done soood

But as he waited for the exact moment to return to Second Earth, on strict instructions fro This particular encounter between Endelle and her second-in-coh Seers of Sixth Earth

If this ended badly, all could be lost

So he had a job to do, and as he felt Thorne and Marguerite begin their folding process, he thought the thought and passed through the ether mist of four dihtly to a space five feet behind Endelle

"Hello, Endelle Mind your temper"

Endelle turned around "Shorty, what the fuck are you doing here?"

"Came to observe"

"I have a bone to pick with you, asshole What the fuck is Greaves doing with a goddamn army of two million and how the fuck could you have let Leto build it?"

"Yes, it’s a bit of a pickle"

She snorted "A pickle? What the hell does thatwith your fucking Sixth Earth friendship circle, accountable for having set Leto up like this He’s al blood for a century, has just about killed him I hope you’re satisfied"

"We had to have the information Leto provided, all of it, in order to plot our course Luchianne has a plan, but it’s going to take so She said to tell you that Braulio would come by later for a little chat Maybe he’ll have an answer for you" He breathed heavily through his nose, thenfor you anyway, if not an answer"

She was about to grab him by his skinny aroing on, but another voice, full of rocks, invaded the space "Endelle?" She whirled back around and there stood Thorne with Marguerite, his arm around the other shorty in the room

She stepped back until she stood beside James "Thorne, I don’t think you’ve met our oh-so-useless Sixth Ascender Guardian James of Sixth Earth, Gatekeeper of Third, uerite"

"How do you do?" Jalance, brows raised, and ouldn’t they be? She hadn’t known Ja, either

She turned back to hiht now?"