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"No" Raina shook her head "It’s all mind interaction Until you were on these stairs, you didn’t even physically touch"
There was so such an inti It allTheo with me," Ruby said Her voice was even Cal calm about death Death was just… silent Eternal A cold wind blowing across stone on a desolate hillside "I’ll give hiht to make him comfortable For the sake of our friendship these many years, and with no other choice, I’ll have to trust you with that other et back, we’re done This is unforgivable, Raina"
"Nothing is unforgivable, Ruby Not when it’s done out of love"
The Darkness surged forward at that It barked out of her throat in a harsh, shrill laugh From the startled look on Raina’s face, and the sudden tension she felt froave her laugh a sibilant echo "Yeah," she said "You keep thinking that"
I hope you never have to face the truth the way I did
Pushing past Raina, she left the house, her back straight, though her body felt brittle as glass Neither one tried to stop her
THE MOMENT THE DOOR CLICKED SHUT, DEREK WAS down the stairs He looked torn betanting to go after Ruby and having to deal with Raina Raina would have preferred the former, because she wasn’t in the mood to deal with a male tantrum, but he pivoted on one booted foot, squared off with her "What the hell is the matter with you?"
Raina arched a perfect brow "You should be thanking hty thoughts--"
Derek caught her by the throat Raina found herself slaainst the wall, pinioned there not just by a powerful, angry y that swirled out from him like a furnace blast She faced the sorcerer as a Guardian of the Light, who’d gone toe-to-toe with soet yourself, witch," he said with chillingiron was suddenly in his hand, called froe steel against her windpipe "This part was real You made me hurt her, cause her pain You betrayed her trust"
"It’s a tracking mark," Raina said with a calmness she didn’t feel He could shove the iron up into her brain with one effortless y and turn her into a shower of confetti over her pricey Persian rugs But that didn’t bug her asmanhandled just pissed her off in ten different ways "Unable to be reain That brand is your mark, a physical connection between the two of you that can’t be broken You can thank odda iron away from himself It shimo, though, his lip curling in a silent snarl as hea hand over his face and the back of his neck "I’ to ask you a question, and I want an answer I won’t ask twice What happened to her, Raina?"
She had half a ive his, but she couldn’t out more important was at stake than his bad s a little far Well, tough shit She had as er as they did
"I can tell you what I know, but it’s what I don’t know that’s key to it all She lost a baby, Derek Yours, in case you had any doubt"
The anger evaporated, sucked out of the room When he turned, a stunned look on his face, Raina’s own te her feel an annoying pinch of regret "Derek…"
He held up a quelling hand, his jaw tightening "Keep talking" But his voice had a hoarse note, and there was a swirl of thoughts ether
"It was during the Unseelie conflict"
He’d told Ruby he had to deal with a problem in the Fae world, and, of course, while he was there, he wouldn’t be able to contact her While he’d teasingly assured Ruby it wouldn’t be like the stories, where he eed three hundred years after everyone he kneas dead and gone, he had warned tiht be out of touch for a few months Raina had seen the worry in Ruby’s eyes, the worry she always had when Derek left her to face Goddess-knehat
It turned into the second longest stretch of time Ruby had been out of contact with Derek since their relationship had begun As a fewbaby had been a blessing for a lot of reasons Aside from the obvious distraction it provided, Raina could tell carrying his child changed Ruby for the better, settled sos in her Gave her ht out that when Derek ca to want toto consider before