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Elisa could iine it, because she saw it reflected in his eyes, the impact it made on him "After the shoent to his tent to see hiarette with me, told me his people were confined to a reservation He’d been told if he joined the show, the s to help thery winters Even if the oas a damned liar, the chief sao options He could stay in the cesspool and prison the reservation was, impotent to protect his people, stripped of all his power, or he could do the shohere at least he could send so back hoood on his pronity to hiht at that point, more adrift, and that’s what motivatedme up, he said this: ‘They may have taken your people away froer and pain You are no longer one of them, and that was your choice, not the whiteawk at him, parents ould pay him a nickel if he shook his tomahawk for their wide-eyed children"

Elisa wanted to put her arms back around him, but it was obvious he was contained in a man’s pain, and a wo, because she could offer him that

"When I was six, I was branded with the name Malachi My identity was beaten and starved away, and I became what they wanted et it back, and by the time I learned better, it was too late"

A muscle jumped in his jaw "The worst day hen I realized I could no longer remember the name my mother called es of a drea one day I’ll see ive it back to me, but I never dream of her, either She carriedworse thanBut I can’t reaze went to the , his face hard, eyes even harder "Because I gave up who I was, gave it away, I know I don’t deserve to reer they had in a tiny cage People were throwing bits of food and trash at hirowl Hiht hih it was decades before the island came to be So here I am"

"I’m sorry I know you’ll say you don’t deserve to hear that," she added quickly, "but that’s not the way I meant it I mean that it’s a terrible world sometiood things now And that’s all any of us can do to ave her a faint ss about you, Irish flower, your ability to sied "I’ve been told I’m simple, plenty of ti, and his own lightened in response More shyly, she reached out and touched his knee

"Thank you for tellinga third-marked servant allows a vampire a way to unburden his soul, because he can trust his servanther aze touched hers, the becoht it was romanticized nonsense But I’ve never told anyone that story, atsilusgi I think I’ve been needing to tell it As well as to apologize, deeply, for the things I said right after Leonidas’s attack"

Her eyes widened in surprise, but when her lips parted to speak, he shook his head "The probles than I wanted to admit Just like that chief, you ain taken the wrong path I don’t feel that way any out theas they pulled into the driveway of a sprawling, stucco ay runt, a co else, she didn’t know, but then he turned his head, aze squarely

"I can’t reave e it, we’ll give William, Matthew, Nerida and Miah the same chance"

32

RETURNING to the present and that ay view, she recalled she’d been h to let it pass that he hadn’t mentioned Jeremiah They’d stayed away from that subject for the several days before they left, even as she’d visited the boy at the enclosure as h he’d come to the fence for her, listened to her talk, he’d had little to say Each time she went back to her Jeep, he moved back to his cell, disappeared into his shelter and belowground as if he’d simply come up for her co would break loose, though She would have faith, and pray If God had anyof it

She saw lots of palm trees scattered over the short lawn behind the property and fra fronds yptian pharaohs were fanned on silk couches She could well iine those pharaohs as va touch with their strange and exotic appearance

The things Mal had had her do to prepare for this certainly qualified as strange and exotic, far beyond her normal experience However, with those new experiences had come a new level of intis he’d told her about hiined it would be between her and Willis once they gave the each other like no one else ever would

For her part, when she saw hi so hard One night right after dinner, a group of the staff, including Chuathered in the front roo with her, but when she got to Mal’s shirt, one he’d ripped in one of his tussles with leopard cubs, her hands had lingered on it, s her with an entirely unexpected expression For a blink, she thought he was as absorbed in what she was doing as she’d been in his shirt, the rest of those in the roo Under his stare, she’d flushed, and quickly bent to her task

She wasn’t entirely stupid She kne silly lust could hts of love and emotion that didn’t exist But just like that conversation in the car, those quiet moments in his bed, curled in his ar to his voice ruh his chest as he answered the questions she had, then asked his own, their conversationsthes she was hard put to explain

The staff did act differently toward her now They’d been affectionate and kind froiving her a hand into the Jeep, or nudging her out of the way in the kitchen, were a little s had that flavor It had taken her a few days to put her finger on it, but she’d realized it was the way men treated a woman who’d clearly been claimed by another

On top of all that, there was that third mark, the way it made her feel, so completely connected to him He hadn’t said he wanted her to stay on the island forever, but he hadn’t said he wanted her to go back to the station when all this was over, either He was leaving it up to her She could stay, and every day that passed where she served as his third-mark servant was one day further from the life she’d once expected to have She wasn’t sure how to feel about that Sad or siht about what Mal had said, about his past, present and future Lord Marshall and Nadia, losing their babies Danny and Dev, their fierce bond, how and what they’d fought, side by side She and Willis, looking toward a si it all taken away in one terrible moment Yes, they were all different, but they were the sa, capable of being hurt and grieving Capable of love

I William and Matthew here, as part of this household, she knehy Mal had reached out He’d taken the risk of co a severe offense with his presurow any older in appearance were far different from three born vampire babies ould have But he had exceptional intuition He thought this would be a good home for them and that, approached correctly, Lord Marshall and Nadia would consider the idea

So when all was said and done, to make that happen, he needed her to set aside her trepidation about whatevera deep breath, she took one last look at that view, the disappearing sun, and decided to head down to his rooe into those tiny scraps of underwear and clothes designed to show her off as so she was not, but that she could be, if the reason was ih And it was

She wasn’t surprised to find him still in the bed, since they’d arrived so close to dawn and he was young enough that such near-sun exposure could sap his strength Even when he needed sleep, though, he slept restlessly It was as if the human he’d once been ached to be out under the stars, rather than in a dark room like this, the curtains securely closed over special heavy blinds such that not a trace of light cah Because they lived by the water, there were no subterranean rooms, but Lord Marshall had outfitted the roon for Williale" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">