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"I’ve lived longer than that and can say the sain the ets hi, Marcus scowled "Did he really kill Ewen?"

"Yes And you and the others would be wise not to questionwith it"

Marcus nodded and strolled to the door "You co it

"In a minute"

Chapter 12

Seth listened as Marcus’s boots traversed the hallway, cli rooathered there

Seth s she hadn’t heard Marcus punch him in the face The other immortals followed her lead, of course Even those not present who had never met Sarah face-to-face would surrender ret her decision to join their ranks

Once conversation resumed its normal flow upstairs, Seth heard the faint whisper of

Ami ducked inside, then closed the thick door behind her

Standing, Seth smiled and opened his arms "Hello, sweetheart"

Some of the anxiety left her face as she hurried forward

"What’s wrong?" he asked as he wrapped his arhtly

He gave her a playful shake "Talk toat me"

"Of course they were You helped Marcus destroy--"

"Don’t say it," she interrupted, backing aith a frown "If the words thirty-four come out of your mouth, I will not be held responsible forabout it?"

"That would be an understate no other Second has ever attempted, let alone survived Curiosity is only natural"

Bypassing the wingback chair he had previously occupied, he lowered hiainst the wall, legs stretched out in front of hi his arm, ankles crossed They had sat thusly countless times since he’d rescued her

"You haven’t told him," he murmured

"You haven’t either"

"You knoouldn’t betray your trust"

"I meant you haven’t told him about you About who you are What you are"

She was the first person in many millennia hom he had shared the information, and Seth could not, for the life of him, understand why he had done so "You know I can’t"

"Because if he and the others trusted the wrong person with the information you would be hunted even enetic differences caht?"

"Yes"

"What makes you think I would be less hunted than you if the truth about me were known?"

"Marcus wouldn’t betray your trust any more than I would"

"You think he would betray yours Isn’t that why you haven’t told him?"

He wondered how to explain the difference "Couples share secrets, Ami No doubt you and Marcus already have a few of your own" Like their first , which had not, as they had led hiht Seth had assigned Ami to be his Second "The closer and more intimate the relationship, the more secrets pass between you If I told Marcus the source of his unique DNA, don’t you think he ht wish to share that with you?"

"But if you forbid hi the information from you"

"But I already know"

"Yes And he is just one immortal If I tell him, I must tell the others To do otherould be unfair And not all immortals live solitary lives There are those who have lovers ho to share the truth If even one placed his or her trust in the wrong person, whispered the truth in the wrong ear"--and one always did--"disaster and utter destruction would follow"

As Marcus had complained, history always repeated itself And Seth could not bear to go through that again He had learned his lesson well

"You shouldn’t have told me, should you?" she asked

He smiled "No And I’m not sure why I did Perhaps, on some level, I knew that you were the one person I could tell because of your own circumstances"

"I won’t betray you, Seth"