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I considered Stefan for a while "Why are you doing this?" I asked hi me?"

"Why would I not?" he replied "You are Hel’s liaison, and there is a debt of honor between us"

I wasn’t entirely sold After all, he was the six-hundred-year-old son of a Bohemian count, and I was a twenty-four-year-old Arew up in a mobile home Of course, Lurine had a couple of millennia on him, and then there was the matter of Hel herself, butsomehow this was different They weren’t human Stefan was, or at least he had been

"And I like you, Daisy," Stefan added unexpectedly, su smiles "Is that so difficult to believe?"

"A little," I admitted "Do you mean you like me, or you likeif I harbor ros toward you?"

"Do you?" I countered

"Hoould you feel about it if I did?" Although his gaze was steady, the hint of a smile continued to play over his lips I couldn’t tell if he was teasing or flirting

"Honestly? I’ure it out But you probably knew that, too" I set lass on a polished ain"

Stefan rose gracefully "You are welcome Take the buckler with you It will help you focus as you begin to practice Just take care not to become dependent on it"

"I will"

As he escorted ht ain This time I noticed that the case was carefully positioned to avoid direct sunlight, and I suspected it was climate controlled, too

My only keepsake, he’d said I snuck a look at Stefan’s face, wondering if I dared risk a question Judging by his expression, yes, but not a probing one "Will you tellhis head, Stefan opened the door for uessed that would have to do

Twenty-one

The next ed on to Facebook to find that Dan Stanton had approved e to an alias--what if this Dan Stanton turned out to be another shirtless Australian guy instead of Lee Hastings?--but I went ahead and coht be able to givein to the station to confir forshield drill

Okay, twenty minutes It was harder to maintain focus without an actual opponent

I checked Facebook again to see if Dan Stanton had replied to ed in, a chat bubble with his naht sound weird, but I’s instant and chatty It always feels like there’s too much pressure to reply i the favor, so I didn’t have a lot of choice

Yes Lee, is that you?

There was a short lag, then a reply If you want to talk,in fifteen minutes

On that cryptic note, Dan Stanton went offline Well, not that cryptic Back in high school "glug-a-slug" e called the Sit’n Sip, Pemkowet’s only twenty-four-hour diner, located about half a ers went to eat hash browns, drink coffee, and sober up after clandestine keg parties But Lee wasn’t the kind of kid who got invited to a lot of parties He was the kind of sn to use the in-crowd’s pet slang tered thatone of theain, I’d contacted hih an alias, so I don’t knohy I would have expected anything else

About ten s was lounging in a booth in the far corner, long legs stretched out, the rest of hih I hadn’t seen hiure ith black leather duster despite the lingering summer warmth

"Hey, hon!" a cheerful waitress called to me "Sit anywhere you like"