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"Finn--"

"Hey, friend The lady is my wife"

Finn spoke softly

The kid backed off "Hey, sorry, should have realized… I’ood as his words, he spun around and disappeared into the crowd "You knoas okay, I could have handled hi out over the crowd "Who can tell in this group?" The words should have been light, offhand There was an underlying grate and er than life, with that sae, take that prowess and tear thee s of her beer

He turned dangerous eyes on her She felt sole pleasure Yes, the beast was hers A beast indeed, but that was okay, as long as he was her beast

"Did you order me one?"

"One what?"

"A beer?"

"No, here, take this, I’ll get another"

"Thanks, there’s so off on one of the speakers Hey, Joseph and Morwenna are here They’ve ordered food again for after our next set"

"Great!"

He disappeared She ordered another beer She felt as if she were being watched

She was

The le her hair froht before was at the end of the bar He lifted a glass to her She smiled uneasily, lifted the bottle of beer she had just received, and slipped from her bar stool

People stopped her--none she’d ever recognize again--as she headed back to the stage She chatted, thanked theed their compliments, and hurried back to Finn

Later, they ate with Morwenna and Joseph Conversation was casual

The night caer Finn was in a hurry to get back to Huntington House They found a parking spot with near miraculous ease She lay dohile he hit the shower She’d meant to take one herself when he came out

She fell fast asleep alan with the darkness, and the strange blue light that began to penetrate through it There was fog and for a ht she’d had a blackout, and that she was still on the stage It was cold, icy cold, but she shouldn’t have felt the chill so deeply, not when she earing one of the black capes over the goith its draping sleeves But, she realized, she had shed the gown, and that hy she was so cold, the breeze and the blue fog were slipping between the fold, wrapping around her

She was ehte, and realizing that she had forgotten her clothing But it was all right

She wondered if they had agreed that night to perforuely see the audience They were hazy for, faceless, with only bits and pieces of their visages visible Now and then, she could see floating toothy, blood red s at her They all seemed to be red as well, rimmed with fire, and yet, of course, they couldn’t be Eyes were blue, or brown, green, even hazel

Sometimes they had exceptional color, and could even be described as azure, turquoise, or gold

But they never really burned, as if they were red…

What she could see was that they were all wearing cloaks or capes as well All were cowled, but the breeze would co, and she could see the flesh So, of course, it was all right, because they were all the sa because it wasn’t all right at all; she would never appear anywhere without being fully clothed They didn’t even dress suggestively

She thought she was supposed to be singing; she could vaguely hearFinn had written, nor any of the cover songs that they did He would be angry, looking at her the way that he had earlier, but she still stood there in silence, because no nize the ht, because it was as if she could vaguely hear words

Maybe it was the crowd, trying to get her started; they seee There was so and ominous in theof discoan to create within her Nothing sudden, just a feeling that see too close

They weren’t singing; they were chanting So, only it wasn’t really churchmenace that seemed to be at its base…

She started to back away She would knock into the equipe fright at this point He would have to understand

He hadn’t understood about the nightmare He had pretended to, but…

She turned, desperate to reach hiet behind hi too close, they were grasping at her, trying to touch her…

She screa away her cloak

"Perfect," someone said, not a compliment, but a cool, disaffected assessment

"A few bruises," came another intonation