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"I cannot say" He turned around, but didn’t immediately release my hand "I suspect the only people ould know are the two people you’ve already noted"

Stanford and Uncle Quinn I rubbed oing to do, Azriel? Stanford is right about one thing--whatever she is, she’s not sane"

"Actually, I would suggest the opposite However, she is a being without emotion, someone whose soul lost contact with all that is hu beyond her own needs, desires, and plans"

I frowned "You can’t say she’s without feeling given she had us chasing the Jorõgue"

"That did not come from either the heart or the soul, but rather a far darker place So of hers, and she could not let the ed"

"So if I ever did?"

His se her every tiriree to ith Stanford"

"Then you’d better hope I am still around to defend you"

Fear swirled through me I kneasn’t any sort of match for Hunter, even with A Azriel basically confirm it was as scary as hell

"Well, it’s not actually so, however much I’d like to see the bitch dead"

"Which is the first sensible statement you’ve made for quite a while"

"I am capable of sensible on occasion" I rose up onfor a shower If you want to be useful, you couldto eat"

His eyebrows rose "I am not adept at human domestic duties"

"Now, that," I said, voice wry, "is a comment echoed by men the world over All you need to do is slap soe between a couple slices of bread, squeeze on some toe" He raised ertips, then disappeared

I checked my phone to see if Ilianna--or anyone else for that matter--had called, then headed into the shower By the time I’d dried my hair, dressed in co roolass of Coke and a stea of coffee

"You know," I said, as he pulled out a chair and seated ht just become a keeper if you carry on like this"

He didn’t immediately answer, but when he did, his voice was oddly formal "And would you wish that, if the situation were different?"

I paused, the sandwich halfway to aze "If the situation were different, if eren’t ere, and the option was there, yes, I would like that very ree what exactly that ht have been, but his expression--or lack thereof--very ested he wasn’t about to elaborate

"Because there is nothing to elaborate," he said softly "What happens next lies in the hand of the fates"

I sed against a suddenly dry throat and tried to ignore the tiny slivers of both hope and fear that began coursing throughthere could be so further?"

While that possibility scared the hell out of ht of being able to explore whether as between us had the strength to blosso real and permanent

But all he said was, "That is for the fates to decide"

"Then the answer is probably no, because fate and I have not been on friendly terms of late"

He didn’t reply, and there was little to be read in his expression I bit into roan of sheer pleasure Besides sex and a cold glass of Coke, the best thing in life had to be a fabulous la just as I finished an to beat a whole lot faster So I was certain of it even before I answered the da I pushed up fro around for several seconds before I foundto beat soh in ently"

Despite his words, he neither looked nor sounded worried In fact, he looked rather distracted

I frowned "What about?"