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Suddenly, I realized why It explained why the barghest was always so gentle with me, why he’d done so row up He’d probably been introduced to me as a baby, by my mother I’d probably pulled his ears and drooled on his tail When he was a dog, obviously No wonder he looked uncoirl

And, to him, I was a child I didn’t kno old he was, but I kneas older than Ryu, o hundred and seventy in hues, but Ryu was just old enough to be taken seriously In human years, he was probably the equivalent of, say, a thirty-year-old Anyan was a whole different story I had the impression he wasn’t vastly older than Ryu, but that Anyan had lived just thattie difference in terms of experience

Not toyears

So no wonder he didn’t want to hear suggestions about irl anymore, and I hadn’t been since I held Jason’s cold face inwith all the other supes, needed to understand that Iby their standards, but I was no child

Now I just had to figure out how to prove it to theenuine threat, so no one but Anyan seemed to believe

I caht our discovery meant

"Either this is all coincidence, which I doubt, or Jis in order to stock laboratories" Ryu nodded, clearly wanting more

"But why?" she asked "And where are these labs, and as running them?" she continued

Julian spoke before either Ryu or I could

" ‘Why’ is relatively straightforward, Mother Huans But they’re tissues and organs you need to live, so…"

"Ah," Ca at her son "Of course"

Ryu nodded "And as for your other questions, we have no idea Julian can begin tracing those records as soon as possible But so to find the saanizations that ran Conleth’s lab"

"Basically, then, what you’re saying is that thereof Conleth’s lab and these other labs, if they exist," Caleb rumbled in his bass voice from across the table

Ryu nodded I noticed that no one had yet said the na my mind, Anyan spoke from the half-shadows of the doorframe

"The real question is, how as’ activities"

"Exactly," I said, as Ryu winced

"We can’t assume that Jarl is involved," Ryu insisted "We do need to keep an eye on him, yes But we can’t assulances I knew that all the supes didn’t want Jarl involved It , too portentous But I could also see the suspicion in their eyes They trusted their king’s second little roup’s presence here does seelasses nervously

"But the Alfar did save Jane last night," Daoud pointed out

"There will be no love lost between Jane and Jarl, or Jarl’son the secret he and I shared: that Jarl had attacked me and that he blamed hest, but his eyes were shadowed Was he inti that we should tell Ryu what had happened?

"At this point, we need to trust Phaedra," Ryu said "Capturing Conleth has to be our first priority And Daoud’s right; she did save Jane"

I’d seen the look on Phaedra’s face, like she’d been surprised to find me under the tree I wasn’t entirely convinced she’d saved me so much as she’d reflexively stopped the tree

"We’d be fools to trust the Alfar," Anyan said, estions And I’ve been told what she has suggested, Ryu, and the answer is no"

Ryu straightened up, setting his shoulders I had no idea as going on, but I got the distinct ithat up until I could talk to Jane in private," Ryu said to the barghest, his voice low and angry