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I turned ht up into Jonathan’s eyes "Don’t use him He deserves better than that If you want to killthe kid into it It’s cheap and it’s cruel"

I got a quirk of ash-gray eyebrows, a flash of surprise across the ageless face "I thought he was aThat’s what the last Warden had to say before he took the express elevator down You can still see the splash on the sidewalk if you look closer" He tilted h the back of the cushions Hung on for dear life and tried to s the urge to beg for my life

Twice in one day "You really think the kid deserves a chance?"

"I think he needs to be stopped," I said breathlessly "I don’t think that necessarily means he has to be killed And since I ht to think twice about giving lass just disappeared Poof The legs of the chair were one inch from theTilted forward as I was, as sun Below, the Bellagio’s fountains roared like Niagara, and I could taste theunder the desert’s constant fixed stare

I started to slide out, and the sunlight slid hot overover, screa

That hen Jonathan pulled in a breath so sharp and hard it was audible over the tearing wind, and reached out to yank me back, into the seat He let the chair thump safely back to the carpet

Stared down at me ide, dark, surprised eyes

"No," he said "He couldn’t possibly be that stupid"

He, who? Lewis? Au contraire,fairly stupidly, includingGod, I didn’t like heights, particularly heights froly survey of thirty-five floors on the way down I looked up throughHe looked honestly spooked It lasted for two or three heartbeats, and then he got control of his face and went back to his habitual I-don’t-give-a-crap expression

"It won’t work," he said, and leaned over to get right in my face "I don’t care what he told you, it won’t work If he told you it would guarantee I wouldn’t hurt you, he lied Understand?"

I didn’t Before I could say so, Kevin said, "Don’t throw her out theBring her over here to ht-out order Kevin’s voice shook when he gave it, but Jonathan didn’t object or try to screith him; he towed my chair across the room and delivered it in front of the kid, then stood back, hands in his pockets Watching h half-closed, expressionless eyes I could feel fury pulsing behind it, though He was ht I had no idea why Wasn’t like I’d done anything but try not to get myself launched, and I hadn’t even done that effectively

Kevin looked fragile next to hi hot wind colass back in place So, but I forced it to shut up

"What happened to the other Wardens ere sent?" I asked Kevin slued shoulders and studied the carpet

"They came before I told him to keep them out"

"You had him kill them?"

"I didn’t tell him to"

"Did you tell hi I closed , screaet out of this alive, the way you keep screwing up? You can’t kill these people; they’ll never let go of you!"

"I know" Kevin looked forlorn A little boy again "It was just the one; I just scared the rest and they said they’d stay away I just wanted them to leave me the fuck alone Why can’t they do that?"

"Because you have so it incredibly badly or it’s using you "The Wardens don’t knohat’s going on in here They’ve sent people; they haven’t heard back They’re afraid you’re killing people in here Kevin, if you’ll just tell !" He still had the crystal tumbler in his hand, half-full of Jiant table la to have some fun, that’s all don’t I deserve that? Not like h"

"Baby?"

We all cah-pitched Blurry with sleep I twisted my head and saw that the door to the bedroo there There was a lot of her on display, since the sheet she was covering herself with didn’t exactly drape properly- lots of pale skin, so the left arht hazel eyes, and her red hair was cut short in a straight-out-of-bed tangle that salons would work for hours to achieve Not pretty, really A wide jaw, narrow eyes, prominent cheekbones-and then she turned her attention away froht Beautiful Beautiful in a narrow, starved kind of way, a heroin-hungry elegance

"Oh," Kevin blurted, and blushed "Uh nothing you need to worry about Business" He pulled hio back to bed, okay? I’ll be there soon"

The hot hazel eyes wandered back toward me "Who’s she?"

"Nobody"

"Looks like somebody"

She pouted, and shuffled toward the door dragging the Egyptian cotton sheet along with her "Come back to bed, okay?"

"In a minute"

"Now?"

"In a minute!" His temper flared, and I saw the hurt explode in her eyes in response as she looked back "Jesus, Siobhan, just go back to bed, okay? I’ll be there in a minute!"

She turned and went back into the other roo quietly behind her I looked up at Kevin, as staring after her, and said, "Siobhan?"

His cheeks flushed dark red "Never mind"

"You pick her up out on the strip? Or did you get Jonathan to conjure her up for you?"

"Shut up, okay?"

"She’s real Not Djinn" I kept staring at hiaze "Kevin, tell irl And how old is she? Sixteen? God!"

"I didn’t kidnap her! She was on the street" The red flare in his cheeks was turning purple "You know There were these cards Dropped on the sidewalk"

Hooker cards Of course "You’re paying her?"

Jonathan, who’d resumed his comfy chair with his feet up, snorted and said, "No, she’s with him for his witty personality"