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JOSEPHINA CAME AWAKE gradually, slowly beco her War into view She was in the hotel room she shared with Kane, she realized, and in bed Kane was behind her, his arhtly around her as if he feared she would run away After love sex, they erly she sat up, and, body aching frouy she was sleeping with Horror filled her "Kane You’re bleeding" His poor shoulderthere was an open wound, exposingto the sheet

"What’s wrong?" he asked sleepily, groggily

"You’re bleeding I shot you, and we both thought I "

Like her, he blinked open his eyes A slow grin lifted the corners of his ht with me"

"Listen to me You’re injured I shot you"

"No, you did ave it another try He succeeded Thankfully, the thing went all the way through Now, did you hear the part about spending the entire night with , and you failed to waketo disturb you"

How could he act so casual while bleeding to death? She hopped froather a cup of water and clean rags By the time she returned, he had rolled onto his back and lay propped against the pillows, the very picture of male satisfaction She cleaned him up as best she could and applied pressure to stop the bleeding

"You should have toldto change"

"Yeah, well I’h

"Don’t be I deserved it"

"No, you didn’t" She cut up the clean end of the sheet and wrapped the e "What you did with that woman, Kane"

"I know, Tinky Dink," he said sadly "I know"

Tinky Dink A new nickname Her heart constricted painfully "You did it for et that, but it still hurts"

"It will never happen again, I vow it, no matter what Disaster does or says You’re the only one I want, the only one I’ll have" A heavy pause "Will you stay with h her veins Kane had been hers He’d chosen her above all others Finally, she’d er had she been a nothing A servant and blood slave had become the envy of every Fae female and probably even some of theto do it again, like thousands of hout the years

Maybe, last night, she could have walked away from him But what the demon had meant as har Kane in a s him

I’ain, they could revisit this topic Until then

"I’ll stay"

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

KANE ORDERED ROOM service After he and Tink had eaten their weight in ha her how to fight the biggest and the baddest of threats with her fists, blades and bullets His shoulder gave hih She was an excellent student, a natural--unsurprising, considering she fought her way out of hell with no training whatsoever She listened intently, put her whole heart into practicing, and what she lacked in strength she lad He wanted her prepared for life without hi would it take to starve Disaster to death?

You’ll change your

Disaster couldn’t i because he’d never experienced it; even now, his appetite was sated Seeing the sharp edge of hurt still hanging in Tink’s eyesyeah, Disaster had feasted But that wouldn’t last Kane wasn’t going to let it

Whatever the deer he encountered, he was done acting the fool and catering to the very nature he despised Tink was getting his best, and nothing less

When he felt like he’d pushed her hard enough for one day, he gave her a gentle nudge forward "Take a shower We need to leave I don’t want to stay in the sa, damp with perspiration, she disappeared inside the bathroom

He wanted to join her, but didn’t dare Not until she invited hied a short while later, a torapped around her luscious little body Hair as black as night dripped at the ends "Your turn"

He halfway expected her to be gone by the time he finished, which is why he rushed, and yet he found her standing in front of the bed, looking shockingly sweet in a black leather corset top with purple ties at the bottoet the clothes?" He cursed hi, as pros and a spike of green hair down the , winked at me and stepped back out of view"

Malcolm, the Sent One, he realized with a bead of annoyance He’d stepped from the spirit realm into the natural, clearly "You should have called for ed Dial back the anger She was in a fragile state where he was concerned, and he had to tread carefully

Her eyes narrowed "There wasn’t tiently he said, "Next time, if someone appears, no matter who or what they are, no matter how fast they appear and disappear, or if you think they’re my best friend, call for me Okay? Please Just in case I need to intervene"

She nodded stiffly

"Thank you" He dug through the bag and found a plain T-shirt and pants, dropped his towel and dressed