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We sent Gregory in his kitty-cat fur down to watch Daory was about the only one in the house not tied to me metaphysically Well, okay, Fredo and Dr Lillian, but Fredo wouldn&039;t leave her alone, and Dr Lillian said she wasn&039;t finished with Richard&039;s arory&039;s job

He inforlided toward the base behind a very huht at Guilty Pleasures I can&039;t go on like this Jean-Claude will need to find a sub" He gave that kitty-cat grin of bared teeth and vanished around the corner

"What does he e?" Clair asked

"He&039;s a stripper at Guilty Pleasures," I said

She made a little O with her mouth I wasn&039;t sure why, unless her world was so protected that just being in the car with a stripper was a big deal For her sanity&039;s sake, I hoped her world was bigger than that

"But, I don&039;t understand, why can&039;t he"--she ht?"

Richard saved me the lecture "Remember that once in aniht hours"

"I thought that was just because I was new"

Richard shook his head, winced as if it hurt, and said, "No, most shapeshifters spend their lives tied to a cycle of six to eight hours in ani passed out once they shift back to human form"

"Sit down," Dr Lillian said, and her voice indicated she expected to be obeyed

He eased himself into the same chair he&039;d vacated There were lines at his eyes andreally hurts How e had Damian done to him?

Clair tried to help hirab hiood arm on the table to brace himself She sort of hovered uncertainly by him, as if she wanted to help but wasn&039;t quite sure how "But you don&039;t have to stay in aniht hours, and you don&039;t pass out when you shift back"

"He is your Ulfric," Fredo said, "no one&039;s king is that weak" His voice was deeper than his chest ide

Clair gave him quick eye flicks, as if he made her nervous Maybe it was the knives "Do you pass out when you come back into human form?" she asked in a voice that matched the nervous eyes

"No," he said

"I do," Nathaniel said He smiled at her "Don&039;t ask the rest of them, they&039;ll all make you feel bad, because they don&039;t pass out either"

"How long have you been" Her voice trailed off

"A wereleopard," he finished for her

She nodded

"Three years," he said

I did quick ht you over when you were seventeen"

He nodded "Yes"

"That&039;s illegal," I said

"It&039;s illegal in ly with a potential fatal disease, regardless of age," Richard said

I shookto treat lycanthropy the way the law treats vahteen you can choose"

"The law doesn&039;t treat it the same," he said

I knew that, but I&039;d spent so ot Careless of ot"

"And you a federalcomment lacked snap, because he hunched with pain at the same time

"How hurt are you?" I asked

"I&039;ll answer that," Dr Lillian said She smiled, but her eyes were serious "If he were hu the use of that arain 50 percent, aion"

"But he&039;s not human," I said, "so he&039;ll heal" I let the "your vao I liked the doc, and I didn&039;t want to fight

"He&039;ll heal, but it will take days, maybe weeks, if he refuses to shift"

"I proet home"

She looked at him like she didn&039;t believe him

"Just because I can shift back to human form almost immediately doesn&039;t mean that it doesn&039;t come with a price I&039;d rather not be exhausted for the rest of the day If I shift and stay in animal foro back to hu more for Clair&039;s sake than anyone else&039;s She really was new "So I&039;ll wait until I get ho around with a olf in the car" That last sounded a tad bitter

"He won&039;t say it, so I will I&039;h that if one of e, too And I&039;m not trustworthy when I first turn ani anyone&039;s eyes

Richard took her hand "It&039;s alright, Clair, everyone has problems at first"

Everyone nodded, some said "yes" That seeer than I&039;d thought at first, er If she hadn&039;t been Richard&039;s new girlfriend, I would have asked But it see and none of my business

"Even if you shift at hoe in forty-eight hours," Dr Lillian said

"So?" he said, sounding defensive Had I o to school on Monday with your arm useless and then by Friday it&039;s usable, don&039;t you think soht wonder about your remarkable recovery?"

"I&039;llthat could heal that fast"

She shook her head "If they find out you&039;re a olf, they won&039;t let you teach children"

"I know that," he said, voice fierce, and the first thread of his power trickled through the air like a line of heat

Clair&039;s breath came out in a quiver She looked dizzy Micah put a chair under her, and helped Richard ease her into it

"How long has she been a olf?" I asked

"Three months," he said

I looked at him, and he wouldn&039;t meet my eyes "Three months, and you took her outside a safe house less than a week before the full moon?"

"Doesn&039;t your house qualify as a safe house?" he asked

"You can come here to shift form, but I don&039;t have a reinforced room" Most true safe houses had a room with a steel door and reinforced concrete walls Most people put the rooms down in their basee

"We were supposed to have a picnic today," Clair said in her small, uncertain voice

I had to turn around so Richard wouldn&039;t see my face You did not take a brand-new shifter out for a picnic, if she was having this kind of trouble

"She was fine this ," he said

I turned around when I was sure h

"She&039;s responding to your anger, and your beast," Micah said

"I know that," Richard said, a hint of a growl in his voice

She swayed in her chair

"Richard," Dr Lillian said, "you have better control than this"

He just nodded

Lillian sighed "If there was a way to heal your arm before Monday, your secret would be safe"

"No," Richard said

It tookwhat I think you&039;re suggesting, not only no, but hell no"

She put her hands on her hips and actually sta childish"

We said no simultaneously

"Fine, then I&039;ve done all I can for your arm I will stay until we are certain that the va to rise and cause more havoc"

"His name is Damian," I said

She nodded "Damian, then, but if you won&039;t let her help you, then I think you and Clair need to go to your house I would suggest that you take her to the room in your basement, before you shift She seems very swayed by your power" She said the last as if she wanted to say soht better of it

"I&039;ll stay until Damian is down for the day"

"I think you&039;ve done your part," Lillian said

"They needed ue that, but "How did you happen to be Johnny-on-the-spot this et anyone here to pick hiot worried On his way over, his car broke down I was next on the list at the coalition help line"

I hadn&039;t actually known Richard was helping staff the eency calls "Why didn&039;t he call AAA?"

"He wasyour phone than his car"

"I didn&039;t think Gregory cared that much"

Fredo said, "All your leopards are very serious about your and Micah&039;s safety"

I looked at hirinned, a brief flash of teeth in his dark face "You don&039;t like being babied They know that" The smile faded "You are their safe harbor; they value that"

I don&039;t knohat I would have said to that, but Lillian interrupted and saved o home, Richard"

"Micah is here now, and Fredo," she said, "I think you can leave it to us"

He started to shake his head again and stopped in mid-motion "I&039;ll stay until we&039;re sure"

She sighed and shrugged "You are a very stubborn man Fine, stay, stay and be in pain" Then she turned to me "Is there coffee to spare?"

I had to smile "I think Nathaniel can fix you up"

"I&039;ll just bet he can," she said, and did a polite leer

Nathaniel took it in stride, with a laugh

I don&039;t knohat the look on my face was, but it caused Lillian to say, "I&039;m over fifty, Anita, not dead"

"No, it wasn&039;t that" I wasn&039;t sure how to put it into words, but it was s like that about someone&039;s boyfriend, not in front of theain in my head, with Nathaniel attached to it

She was looking at me, sort of narrowly "By the look on your face, I stepped in so Is he more than just a member of your pard?"

I said, "yes," and Richard said, "no" Which left the two of us looking at each other "I don&039;t think you get to answer questions like that for ht, I&039;m sorry, but he&039;s not your lover, or your boyfriend"

"No, he&039;s "

Richard shook his head and had to stop again I don&039;t think he kne often he ht, he was your live-in, but now I know he&039;s not"

"He does live with me," I said

Richard started to shake his head, but actually caught hiun the movement "I know that, but he&039;s not your live-in lover"

"And that ht, children," Doc Lillian said, "I made a careless re hed "I didn&039;t mean to offend anyone, let&039;s just leave it at that"

"You didn&039;t offend me," Nathaniel said, and handed her coffee in one of the colored s He&039;d thought it would be nice if we had enough reed, if I didn&039;t have to shop for them, so he shopped for thereen Nice

He handedwith coffee nearly to the brim, just the color I liked it, pale brown By the color alone, I kneould be perfect "Drink," he said, "you&039;ll feel better once you&039;ve had some coffee"

"I feel fine," I said, but I sipped the coffee Perfect

He&039;d also already plugged in the coffeeh coffee at a tih for h for one more cup, ants it? There&039;ll be etting s out of the cabinet

"He acts like it&039;s his kitchen," Richard said

"He cooks in it more than I do," I said

Richard h he wanted to "No, I , but he doesn&039;t move around the Circus of the Damned like he owns it Nathaniel acts like this is his home"

Nathaniel had his back to the rooh to me that I felt his sudden stillness, as he poured coffee and tried to pretend he couldn&039;t hear

"It is his hoh to hih of his breath, as if he&039;d held it waiting to hear what I&039;d say He was careful not to look atas he puttered with the coffee

"Jason lives with Jean-Claude, but he isn&039;t" Richard seemed at a loss for words

Lillian helped hi how cute Jason was, youabout Nathaniel If they&039;re both pos, then I think Richard and I are both confused about hoe&039;re supposed to act around the"

Nathaniel was very carefully not looking at me, or anyone, but especially not me I don&039;t kno I knew that he wasn&039;t just busy getting real creae to pour into an honest-to-God creaar boas green, so theI knew his favorite color was purple, and had asked hireen, and not purple? His reply was that blue was reen was Micah&039;s favorite color The answer seemed to make sense to hi to learn that things didn&039;t have to make sense to me if it made the people around me happy, and the new dishes seemed to make Nathaniel very happy

He set the creas for the sugar cubes Why sugar cubes? Because Nathaniel see howhouse No, that wasn&039;t fair He was like a new bride that had never had a house, or a kitchen of her own, and was really enjoying the hostess stuff But it was like he didn&039;t knohat real people did in a house, so he was taking it froazines I ar anyht?