Page 19 (1/2)
"I don’t need a collar to knohen I ooman, Raina You should keep that in mind"
"If we play for stakes"--she nipped at hi this collar on you Or you could just concede defeat now"
It made him chuckle with dark pleasure "I’ve never lost a battle yet"
"How do I know that’s not an exaggeration, a boast? A lie?"
"Because I’estured to the box, the froth of tissue paper "I noticed a nice paddle over there When I win, I’ll use it on you"
"Or leairl cutout, I think that imprint would look fabulous on your very fine ass"
8
"SO HOW DO YOU BECOME A DARK GUARDIAN?" RAINA shuffled the deck of cards, let hi from the loins of the Underworld, or does Lucifer belch you out after a particularly good meal of fried puppies and newborn babies?"
"Cute" Mikhael leaned back in the chair They were in the sarden they’d been in earlier in the day When they’d entered the roo in the breeze and faint scent of her roses, as well as the gurgle of two sements on either side of the doors A card table with two chairs was already by the open archway
When he said nothing further, she gave hi intoa to?"
"That was et all pouty if I don’t throw you a bone"
She snorted "Just "
"Mmm So you don’t want to know"
He ducked, barely in time to be missed by the book that shot out of the case on a direct line for his head It stopped short of tulance, a tiny ripple of power "The house doesn’t like save her a dark look
She smiled sweetly "There are a lot of books in here Soer than that"
"See, I said you’d pout" At her dangerous expression, he relented with a dry chuckle "My mother was huel and a huel A mixed breed like you, witch"
She let that pass "So that’s where the wings coed when I reached sexual iven them when they receive the commission"
"But they’re really yours Not a factory add-on" She dealt their first hand "Practice rounds while we chat?"
"You’re trying to figure out uine smile "You said you have to accept a corunted, considered his hand "There’s a school for the arcane, a very exclusive school It takes a class of thirteen students every two decades You don’t apply; you’re invited You attend for thirteen years Two cards"
She passed them over, took his rejects back into the deck
"It’s an initiation into soes of the Underworld The school is held there, in its lowest chambers, so it’s hot as Hell--literally" He pursed his lips, seely unaware of Raina’s fascinated attention "You don’t see topside for all of those years You live, eat and breathe the things they teach"
"The knowledge ine the skills it had given hiic she’d experienced, it was equaled only by things she’d seen Derek Storht for over a decade and attend What’s the tuition?"