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"That’s true" He kissed her forehead, but his eyes never leftout her bones, one at a ti" She wasn’t even looking at me; she pulled free of Bad Bob and walked a slow circle around Rahel, inspecting her Miss America impersonation "Make her work for it"

"H stone" Bad Bob slaht, then Let’s see what you can do, my child Impress me"

Moira sat down on a handy boulder, open wine bottle in both hands on her lap, and tossed glossy red hair back over her shoulders "Rahel," she said "I want you to break Joanne Baldwin’s right leg in two Use your hands Do it now" She knew the rules of co a Djinn - be specific about intent, method, and time frame And I could see that they’d had plenty of practice with Rahel - she hadn’t gained that traumatized fury without cause

"Do it slowly," Moira said "Make her feel every second of it" Rahel’s eyes focused onacross the stones tohere I sat

Not a hell of a lot I could do to stop her; if I tried to resist,was sure to be crushed, andfor a tether

She still looked ridiculous in her getup, but I didn’t let that fool rip of truly evil people, and they were no more to be reasoned with than the blade of a knife

I looked past Rahel at Moira "I guess you hate hter he never had

Daddy didn’t trust you, did he? That’s why he came afterup Either that, or he wanted to screw me Your choice" Bad Bob’s face went very still, and I knew I’d guessed right

So did Moira She surged to her feet "Rahel! When I tell you, you’re going to kill that bitch foran ery Moira had just forgotten to explicitly frame her order as to whom to kill Bitch could apply to, oh, ht that error later on, Moira was in for a nasty surprise

I saw the light flare gold in Rahel’s eyes, and I took a deep breath Wait, I mouthed The desire to strike was almost pri the freedoe

I knew I could push that button anytime I wanted to - but first, I had to endure a little ave her the tied

Rahel bent down and put her hands on , the nontentacled one

Her opera gloves felt cool and sainst my skin "She did say to do this slowly," she said, and I let out a slow breath, then nodded Rahel was telling aps in Moira’s original order To a Djinn, the word slowlyentirely different than it did to a human Their time-scales were vast, and that instruction was not nearly as specific as Moira ht have believed it was

Noas up to us to hide that fact

Rahel froze, with her hands on- no increase in pressure, no pain, nothing She’d taken the freedom Moira’s instructions offered to siht take a lifetih to crack a bone, ot a brief, cold parting of her lips Her teeth were filed to points "Don’t panic, whatever I do"

Rahel raised one arched eyebrow, and I began to struggle against her grip, panting - selling the idea that she was hurting ht leg to the stone

As perforo, this one probably was a bit over the top even for high school melodraing and bargaining She loved it Pretty girl, but either Bad Bob’s genetics or Bad Bob’s black tattoo had rendered her broken and sick I remembered someone else like her - Kevin’s stepmother, Yvette Prentiss The avid shine in Moira’s blue eyes as I threw ony was alain, Bad Bob had been involved with Yvette, too I had the feeling all the sickness came from one poisoned well

Behind her, seated on his plastic throne, Bad Bob looked less focused on my performance

He scanned the horizons restlessly, frowning His attention was on the effect, not the cause - he wanted

I could have told hi Leas too careful for that

I wasn’t sure how long Rahel intended to carry on our little dra, and even Moira’s attention was starting to wander

When you’re losing your torturer’s focus, it’s probably ti shriek of utter agony, and went pitifully li likeexhausted Throwing yourself into so toll

Ah, she liked that I had Moira’s full attention once ," Moira said, and her pale tongue came out to lick her lips "Do it just as slowly" Really, you can’t spell sadist without the word sadShe’d just forgotten thatwas the one wrapped in Bad Bob’s tentacle tether

Rahel ht not have nor, but she’d just been ordered to do so that allowed her to freely interpret -fast ers deep into the base of the tentacle, and ripped

Oh Christ that hurt The tentacle fought back, clath, and I felt things pop andaround inside Rahel ripped at it again, digging her sharp fingernails into dark flesh and ichor, and tore the thing loose from its roots deep in the rocks

I rolled free, still wrapped in the black coil

"What the hell are you doing?" Moira screamed "Rahel, stop! " Rahel froze, still crouched over the thrashing remains of the tentacle I had seconds, at ely, Bad Bob hadn’t reacted at all I saw his face in a blur as I rolled behind the shelter of more stones, and it was i

I didn’t have time to try to remove the tentacle, but I didn’t need to; cut off fro into slime When it drained away, it left my skin pallid, wrinkled, and torn, like old paper soaked for too long I was losing blood, too hmatrix, and shut off the pain

I couldn’t afford it right now

"Hey, Moira!" I yelled "How old are you? Maybe nineteen? Twenty? I was about your age the first tiirl wants to hear that about her father, especially when it cohter-rival that Daddy loves more

Like I said, I could push that button anytime I wanted

"Rahel!" Moira’s voice was a raw, vicious snarl "Kill that bitch now !" Again with the lack of specificity

I felt the energy shift, darken, and as I peered around the edge of the boulder, I saw Rahel streak straight for Moira

It’s possible that Moira h Rahel’s attack clearly caught her totally by surprise