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"I can see why he wants you He’d have to be a fool not to, and if you stay on this course, he won’t be the last But you’re , Lily There’s a lot you don’t understand about us And about hi that"
Jaden chuckled, another rarity, though there was little true huh not hard enough, obviously" His expression grew ht was the first you’d heard of his family He doesn’t talk about that, not that I blaot harder for a while after he was changed Has he told you how he came to the Ptolemy?"
Lily shifted uneasily "No Only that the queen of the Ptolemy saved him and that he owes her"
Jaden snorted "Yeah Well, she wouldn’t have had to save hi a Ptolemy raid of the local Cait Sith lair" He stopped, shook his head "But it’s not my story to tell That one’s his"
Her interest was piqued, but she refused to rise to the bait She hadn’t exactly been going on about her own past issues, either, and Ty hadn’t asked until she’d nearly plastered a city block with vauts Which was fine, she told herself Just fine She didn’t want to talk about it He didn’t want to talk about it Which left theoing up "And I don’t have any expectations, Jaden He hasn’t lied towe have one If being with hiuess I am"
She hadn’t realized hoould hurt to say it, that there was no future, only the now Nor had she realized how easily Jaden would pick up on that pain She saw his pity and recoiled froh pity in her life It had never been warranted, and it wasn’t now Still, she couldn’t help adding, "Ty’s different He’s a good h he thinks he isn’t"
"See, that’s where you’ll pay the price for giving a da "Ty’s not a bad man Hell, he’s one of the best I’ve run with Tookwhen I didn’t know round and hated everyone and everything But he’s a lowblood Worse, he’s a lowblood Ptolemy-owned Cait Sith His life isn’t his own, and he does what he has to in order to survive"
"Yeah, I get it," Lily said unhappily "I don’t like it, but I can accept it"
Jaden’s burst of fury surprised her "Don’t pretend it won’t hurt you when he gives you to that viper and walks away!" he snapped, eyes blazing with a sudden flash of unnatural light "And he alk away, Lily It’s all he knows Apart from that, this is about more than him The Cait Sith are his family, and he thinks about them first: how his actions will affect their treatraces will allow hiives him more chain than most, I’ll say that But then, I was a favored little pet of hers too And I think you sahere that gotas quickly as it had appeared "Ty’s the standard-bearer for the Cait Sith who have to live under the Ptolemy’s thumb, Lily To a certain extent, Arsinöe’s favor of hiend to the ones still out in the world who are trying to hbloods won’t come for them the way they did for so ested this and remembered the scene in her kitchen "Damien, the Shade who’s after ht maybe that’s hoas looked at, period"
Jaden rolled his eyes "Damien Yeah, he would say that Never listen to a Shade, Lily They’re professional assassins with a God complex He thinks he’s his own man? Not hardly He has bosses to answer to, same as the rest of us But whatever makes him feel better about the path he chose Anyway, you wouldn’t see many of our line around here to find out what they think of Ty The Cait Sith tend to live in the Ptoleholds, and this sure isn’t one You can tell their queen is an Egyptian Fucking cat fixation At least they give us jobs when no one else will, but the price for refusing them is steep To the Ptole to see if I can get far enough away to try being neither"
"What happened? Did she do that to you?" Lily asked It was urgent, so urgent that she know
Jaden’s gaze chilled, turning his blue eyes arctic, and he looked away "She o back I’d die first"
"Jaden" Lily reached out, bridging the distance between thehtly he held hiet him to look at her
"You need to tell Ty Please"
"Tell hly irritated Lily turned and saw Ty standing in the doorway, lookinghim was the same it alas: She immediately wanted to be in his arms, wrapped around him And when his eyes met hers, she saw she wasn’t alone in the sudden rush of desire