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I carefully flicked the nearest stone out of sequence It rattled noisily across the old floorboards, the sound al captive A heartbeat later, energy burned acrossas fierce and as desperate as any I’d ever experienced

Ithe security and warmth of his embrace "I’ainst his chest, but I wasn’t about tothat was as much utter relief as it eakness stopped "I wasn’t there for most of it"

"The Aedh’s death will be slow and very painful" Azriel’s voice was flat but filled with such fury, it le moet away--"

"You will not kill hier, the pain, and kneas all for me It warmed me just as much as it worried me "Far worse can and has been done to ood behavior, and until we can find her, then Lucian has to live"

He said soe, the words soft but vehe "You cannot seriously think we should allow his too far"

Things had already gone too far, and it was too late to stop it all now "I aave him a lopsided smile "At the very least, it means we can keep an eye on him"

"I would much rather keep a sword on hiain and wrapped his aret you home"

If I was in his arht voice His energy swept around h the fields and were re-forlanced at the clock on my side table It was just after ten

"I’ll have a shower and clean up; then we can go see if the key is at the exhibition"

"And if we find it?"

I shrugged "I guess what happens next depends on what sort of security they have in place"

He studiedto et there sooner--"

"No," I cut in "Reain I smiled, dropped a quick kiss on his lips, and said, "I know Trust ht led re an to heal Or rather, heal asto But I could bend the right noould eventually fade I’d been lucky, and I knew it If not for the fact I was half Aedh, I would have lost the a sweet kiss across the to eat"

He disappeared, and I headed for the shower For the longest ti the heat wash the ache from my bruised body and the scents of lust and Lucian fro sense of violation fro in this world that could do that except tiers across s of life deep inside Wondered hoould feel if it turned out to be Lucian’s rather than Azriel’s

Another two questions only tiot the hell out of the shower and dressed Worrying over events far in the future was not particularly the best way to spend my time at the moment Not when I had keys to not only find but, hopefully, this tiiven the whole Lucian situation, I had no idea, but one thing was certain The bastard ht think he held all the cards, but there was always, always, a way out You just had to look hard enough

And perhaps be willing to pay the ultimate price

But that price would not be Ilianna’s death That was the one place I would not go

Azriel, it see tips froest steak and sousto Once I’d derabbed my Coke, sat back, and asked the one question that had been quietly bugging me "Why weren’t you able to rescue ic to not only snatch you, but to disguise your whereabouts"

"And Jak?"

"Unharmed" His voice was as neutral as his expression "I will adry response to his part in your abduction, but I controlled it theyou beat hi like that" He returned aze evenly "He does not now re the event, as he put it, had been pretty bad "I told you Jak wouldn’t willingly betray ical statement"

Perhaps it was, but I nevertheless believed it "What, exactly, did Lucian do to hi hi his mind"

Which hy Jak hadn’t really sounded himself They had been Lucian’s words, not Jak’s I drank sooodness for several seconds before saying, "We need to find Ilianna Until she’s free, we’re stuck doing whatever Lucian wants us to do"

"I would suspect that he has her position well hidden by his ic to do that sort of thing?"