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"She was bound by rope, nothing ed to cut her loose," Anya said drily "Iine ain possession of the ring Kane wanted to care He didn’t care His gaze remained locked with Tink’s She approached hi at each other She threw herself in his arms, and he spun her around

"Told you I’d be here by ," he whispered

"Thank you"

"Welcoet her out of here Couldn’t tolerate another ed walls "We need to--"

"Disaster," a female screeched in the distance "Disaster is here!"

"Where? Where is he? I must have him!"

Every muscle Kane possessed knotted The minions had sensed him The minionsthe minions who hadhadNO! Sickness returned to his sto viciously The fe They wanted to touch him and taste him and steal his seed

They’ll have you, Disaster said with a laugh Over and over again

Going to vo Sauer from the waist of his pants "I can only flash myself Lucien, you take care of the others"

Lucien nodded and flashed a protesting Anya to safety He reappeared a few seconds later, grabbed a now tre Kane and Tink, and flashed the forward, grinning with delight And when he next blinked, he was standing inside the walls of the fortress he’d never thought to revisit, once again barely able to breathe

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The Realm of Blood and Shadows

JOSEPHINA TOOK IN as ed her down a hall and up a flight of stairs "I almost can’t believe I’ every Fae woht her attention Each contained a Lord of the Underworld in the buff, hisfeminine A ribbon A teddy bear A scrap of lace Then there were the portraits of the delicate blonde, the epitome of what Fae own In another, a negligee In yet another, black leather

"She’s pretty," Josephina said, trying not to co to one of your friends?"

"No"

The sharpness of his tone startled her She studied the stiffness of his back, the jerkiness of his stride "Kane? Is everything all right?"

He ignored her He even ignored the people they passed

"Kane, is that really you?" said a nized the infah to touch

A baby girl was cradled in his arms Oh, sweet mercy, he had a child? Why had the scribes not delivered such a juicy tidbit?

Silent, Kane dragged her past the pair

"So wonderful to meet you," she called "I’m Josephina, and I absolutely love--"

Kane jerked her around the corner

"What are you doing here? I thought you were on your honey out of a bedrooain," Josephina called

A petite redheaded lovely moved to his side, and she elbowed him in the storimace

"Honeyot married and you didn’t think to tell me?"

"Hey, Paris and Torin wouldn’t happen to be here, would they?" Josephina asked Strider "I ht die of a heart attack, but it would be worth it--"

Kane pulled her in front of hih out of you"

He stopped her in front of a door A bedrooot her inside He released her and shut them both in Awed, she drank in every nook and cranny The chamber was spacious, with distressed walls of stone and a cracked marble floor The furniture was antique, worn but chic There were no pictures, though, no personal touches of any kind

"I need to--" Kane scrubbed a hand down his face "Ineed to go," he said, his gaze anywhere but on her