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She stopped short, her lovely face going co dawn, and he had no doubt Relief coursed through hiain, more closely now "Of course," she murmured "Of course" Then she looked back at him, and Ty could see that whatever Anura had just realized, it was deadly serious business

"We still need to get her out of here," she said "Now But I will help you I swore I would, though I never thought I’d see the day" Her pupils, already huge, dilated until they turned her eyes black "Blood of the goddess, Ty, what else have you brought down on me?"

That hen he smelled the smoke

Chapter TWELVE

IN A SINGLE INSTANT, Mabon descended into pandemonium

Lily found herself quickly released from her partner’s embrace, which would have been a lot more welcome if she hadn’t been surrounded by shrieks of "Fire!"

"Coet you out of here"

Lily shook her head and took a step back, though a quick look for Ty had shown her nothing but a crowd of people all rushing to the door He was there; he had to be in there soly anyway Not after all this

"No"

He didn’t look happy about it, but he didn’t reach for her either "Suit yourself," he said, and was gone

Despite the grayish san to coil around her ankles and the un: finding Ty She shoved past panicked patrons, all of ere headed toward the single exit There were no s, and she worried that the air would quickly become difficult to breathe The hting

She kneithout a single doubt, that this was happening because she was here Soht up, and ined But then, Ty had warned her

Suddenly he was there, one hand on her ar to be heard above the din His quicksilver eyes reflected nothing but steely resolve, and it steadied Lily the way nothing else could have

"Come with me," he said "This way"

He took her hand and pulled her through the crowd, heading in the opposite direction as everyone else They headed to a largeon the wall opposite the bar After he felt along the side of it, Lily heard a faint click, and the entire thing swung outward like a door No one paid any attention as they rushed by

Ty o in ahead of hi hihed as she looked around her at an opulent office now hazy with smoke Inside were two people: Anura and another h she supposed she could have h He could have been Ty’s younger brother, with his chin-length black hair tucked behind his ears and the sa Jet-black eyeliner riht blue eyes that warily watched the two of them enter, and on one of his forearms, a tribal black cat stretched

Ty’s reaction surprised her, but she thought it surprised the other two evenup an otherwise serious countenance He strode forward, grabbed the younger ht embrace "I worried you were dead, brother You should have tried to find me"

Jaden stiffened for a moment but then seemed to accept the spontaneous show of affection One fist pounded Ty’s back a couple of times, and then he was released He didn’t return Ty’s smile, but Ty seemed too preoccupied to really notice Instead, he rounded on Anura, and Lily could see the confusion and anger in his expression

"I expect you to explain this You lied to me about it even when you knew I hadn’t co her hands before her "Much hangs in the balance, and your loyalties are divided We couldn’t be sure which side you would come down on I told you… you don’t know all of it"

"We?"

The pain in Ty’s eyes when he looked back at Jaden was so deep that Lily could feel it herself, a knife in the belly She didn’t question why it hurt her so, didn’t have time All she kneas that she didn’t ever want to be the source of such anguish for hi I’ve done, I’ve done for my blood I protected you when no one else would have We are brothers How do I not deserve your trust?"