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"It’ll make you relax"

"It stinks," I said, but the deep breath I took made my heart slow, and a warmy curled toes "Will it ht aboveondots of a cinnaht now," I noted, watching hiht is good" He sht is better than sore"

I nodded and closedirl" He pushedto touch you I just need to put this across the top of your chest"

"What is it?" I looked at the black slio extract; you breathe the vapour--it helps oxygen flow through your blood"

"Why do I need en?"

"So you don’t pass out" He opened h to reveal my red bra, and smoothed a firm, cold hand over my sternum and collarbones--nowhere near my breasts Thank God "There See?" He closeda loose, spinning sensation in ertips overthem close

"I can’t take much more," I said sleepily

"Of what, my dear?"

"Of life," I whispered as o on er without him"

He shiftedover the side ofas he exhaled "Please don’t say that, Amara It hurts me deeply to think you would rather live for someone else, or be dead--"

"It’s not that si away

"It is, irl It is" He strokedtheone, Arthur gone, my shirt buttoned back into place and the blankets pulled all the way up to hts, could I find the , Thanks, Arthur

"Ara" Mike stoppedof the manor," I said playfully

"Just wanted to let you know that weto tomorrow--so you can be there"

"Oh, joy--er, I mean, thanks" I flashed a fake smile

"No worries," he said, then ran off in the direction he’d come from And that was that Quick flashes ofoff that pitiful gut wrench of loneliness, I pushed the heavy library door open; itmoved, and when I stepped into the nook of the little third floor balcony and turned around, I sahy It was no door at all, but a passage concealed in a bookcase As it closed, the exit disappeared, and I stood staring at it for a second, wondering how I’d get back out again

"Open sesame" I waved my hands around; the door stayed hidden "Abracadabra?" My lips twisted,on the shelf, but it didn’t open "Looks like a one-way access"

I turned onof the balcony, spotting another door down on the second floor underneath me, and smiled with relief Hopefully that one opened without any mumbo-jumbo

The whole room had a lonely kind of feel to it, as if the books on the shelves, covering the entire room, had not been opened and read in centuries I felt lonely here, and I think even the books felt lonely I took a quiet nificence of floor to roof books, divided by snaking platfor up Infattened out a little,and a small table to rest a coffee cup on Perfect This was my new favourite room

All the books on the shelves in this dark little nook looked like old non-fiction reads, half of theaine said this wasspace, I’d have them all replaced with paranormal ro up then down, and all around; sos I inherited froaine promised they’d all fade, but each ti back out atto realise it wasn’t planning on going anywhere

I fingered the spines along the shelves, reading the titles aloud to round dropping for a windy staircase It was sturdy, ht easily as I headed down; I half expected it to rattle and tremble

Downstairs, the roo the south side of the uard in front of a huge fireplace, flanked by another arer-eyed boys looking up at him while he read stories, maybe even with Arietta beside hie oak tables, chairs and la myself with every surface in the room But it would take a lifetime to be that familiar with all these books There was no way I’d ever find the tiazed over the locked cabinets and thick spines of century-old hardbacks, I realised there’d be no way to find a book about a topic I wasn’t sure anyone had even written about

I scratched e, where the Mark remained, then headed out the second floor door There was only one person I could think of who’d knohere to find a book about s

"Arthur?" I wandered into his roo?"

"I’m okay," I said, and nodded at the bowl on the table in front of hi the contents carefully "It’s to relieve extreht terrors? What, like, bad dreams?"

"Yes"

"Oh" I pulled out a chair and sat down opposite hiht terrors?"

"A friend"

"Anyone I know?"

He looked up fro I can help you with, Amara?"

"U?"

"Of course"

"Morgaine said all s would fade after I finished my coronation, but one didn’t"

"Oh" Arthur placed the stone utensil he waswith into the bowl "Where is it? May I see?"

I stood up, gathered the base of my top and lifted it up over htly so Arthur could see the two lines of scripture just belowits way towardon the tattoo "And this is a re Mark--it’s not new, is it? You found this i over to kneel in front of ht" I giggled a bit when he smoothed his hands up my ribs to push le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>