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I nodded, tasting hi and so real "I really missed you, Jase There’s so s I wanted to tell you I just…" I castin the breeze, hiding the fluffy white dog chasing crows in the distance "The thought of you being gone forever, I…now that you’re here, alive, I’ain"

He cupped ain Not for anything I pro his hand overback to me"

"It would only have been a matter of time before I came back" He looked at his hand, then slid it up to my shoulder and, in one s, his arhtly around my ribs "I’ve missed you so much"

"I missed you, too"

"I know And you have no idea what those words ainst mine, and I could al that wanted to burst out fro all the chaotic eh, to juhter than I’d ever held anything before All the things I wanted to say, all the regrets I had after losing hiot that second chance And I wouldn’t waste it I wouldn’t ever let hiht--to see that he found happiness, even though that happiness couldn’t be with me

"Jase?" I rubbed his forearht now isn’t right, though--holding me like this"

"Why not?" He ran his nose down the side of hed, working up the strength to believe s were before--in our dreams, but that was all due to the bind That’s passed now I don’t love you that way anymore"

He released me a little "Ouch"

"And, besides--" I turned around to look at his for nored that sarcastic grin of his "See, there’s this curse--the Curse of Seduction, and--"

"You’ve got to be kidding me?"

"Nope" I shook my head "It’s said to be passed down--"

"No, I s are because of the curse"

"You think they’re not?"

"Ara--" He grabbed my hand and placed it on his chest "Tell me what you feel"

"Uht?"

"No"

"The curse only works on those with a heartbeat"

"Really?"

"Yes"

"But, Morgaine told ainst the tree trunk, shaking his head "Ara, that girl knows nothing She is beginning to really pisson so many levels it’s not even funny" He leaned forward, his elbows over his knees as I ain "Take the prophecy, for exaonna come in and cure vampires of immortality She hasn’t checked her facts, and no one seems to care that she’s misinterpreted the scrolls or that they, themselves, haven’t actually seen theus lie, but I don’t interpret them the way she does"

"Well, how do you interpret theo when I was at college--studying Lilithian History as a minor subject--"

"They study that at school?"

"Not human school Vampires have, well, had universities as well"

"Oh So, you don’t remember what the scrolls said?"

"Never had any real reason to cono But I don’t re about a child that could cure va it down"

"So, is that why no one else knew there was a prophecy until now--because there isn’t one?"

"Yeah Well, the scrolls are there--for all to see She’s just the only one ould’ve interpreted theht not be?"

He rubbed his forehead "I don’t know The page she’s talking about--the one that ht--was hidden In truth, I came across it by accident, so, there is a possibility that it’s a prophecy I’d need to take a look at it again to make any real conclusions"

"It’s in the library, apparently Maybe we can go down there once you’re settled in"

"I already planned to," he said "This prophecy thing has had aine’s side of the story, but it doesn’t really fit I mean, there’s no way Drake would leave a scroll, prophesising the co of a pure blood that could end him, in the library Locked up or not No way He’d have destroyed it"

"So, you think it’s there because he wanted it to be found?"

"It’s likely"

"And…the curse…Lilith’s curse…?"

He took s as she wants them to sound She’s…I’hed "Okay, coet to the bottoo about this slowly" We both stood up "There’s a reason they kept the dagger froo in there unprepared We need to play duo in there and strangle the Petey’s head as he came up beside us--all puffed out "We can do that if you want, but, like I said, it seeenda If we let theht be more careful around us--possibly cover it up with another lie"

"Underdogs?" I looked at Petey; his ears pinned back as he cocked his head

"Right," Jason said "Teaure this out" He hooked his fingertip under my chin and rolled my face upward "Okay?"

"Okay--" I turned my body away but kept my arm around his waist "What e tell people about why you’re back?"

He spun his baseball cap forward and huggedyour heart"

Chapter Fourteen

Jason stayed by the wall, while I crept up the sandstone steps to the kitchen

"How do you know she’s in there," he whispered loudly

"She always has coffee with Mike at eight"

"Really?" his voice dipped on the ‘e’

"Yeah Shh" I scowled at hi over the lower half of the split door Sure enough, there was Morg and Mike, sitting face to face, chatting quietly in the cal old-fashioned clothes, they’d look like they were on set of a photo-shoot for ‘History Magazine’ I stood onlaughed at Mike, shaking her head, then said so?" I whispered, trying to h for her to hear, but not the vampire directly across from her She didn’t hear it "Psst," I said louder and ducked down