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I openedroom, her eyes closed She was crouched, her hands held before her as if grasping an invisible basketball As I watched, she entle, circular motions Tai chi It was a inally come from martial arts Lots of people who practiced tai chi didn&039;t realize that the movements they folloere beautiful, slow- throws and joint locks

I had a feeling Susan knew She wore her T-shirt and a pair of raceful si

A turn showed me her face, her expression set in peaceful concentration I spent amy own aches and pains

She suddenly s her eyes, and said, "Don&039;t start drooling, Harry"

"My house I can drool as much as I want"

"What was that rope you used?" she asked, still going through her routine "I&039;ve broken handcuffs before Magic?"

Shoptalk I had hoped for some other kind of discussion Or maybe I&039;d been nervous about it Work talk held a certain appeal for me, too It was safe "Faerie make," I said "Has hair froh it"

"Really?"

I shrugged "That&039;s what Fix said I iine he knows"

"Would be handy to have around if the Denarians showed up again, don&039;t you think?"

"Not unless they came here," I told her "It&039;s set to this place Take it out of here and it wouldn&039;t work"

"Why not?"

"Because I&039;ood yet," I said "It&039;s easy tothat works at home Takes a lot more kno than I have to take an enchant The clock said that it wasn&039;t yet ten in theI hopped in and out of the shower, dressed, slapped a coh my hair, and decided that the rakish, unshaven look was in

By the ti rooain and only four or five candles were still lit The defensive barriers inding down "What happened after Martin took off from the hotel?" I asked

Susan slouched into a chair "I tried to get hiun in my face"

I choked "He what?"

"To be fair, I wasn&039;t being very rational"

"Hell&039;s bells"

"Martin didn&039;t want to, but I convinced hiet you out of a mess with the Denarians it would be him"

"Seems reasonable to me," I said I debated between coffee and cola The Coke won by virtue of convenience Susan nodded at ot her one too "What about Anna Valmont?"

"She was in shock Charity put her to bed"

"Did you call the police?"

Susan shook her head "I thought shethat would help We wouldn&039;t be able to find out what it was if she was angry and locked away"

"What did Michael have to say about it?"

"He wasn&039;t there," Susan said "Shiro was Charity said that Michael and someone named Sanya hadn&039;t come back from St Louis and hadn&039;t called"

I frowned and passed over the second can to her "That doesn&039;t sound like him"

"I know They orried" She frowned "Or Charity was I don&039;t think Shiro orried at all It was al all of it He was still dressed in the samurai clothes and he opened the front door before I could knock"

"Michael&039;s done that kind of thing before Fringe benefit of his job, maybe"

Susan shook her head "God works in ed "Maybe so Did Shiro say anything?"

"He just told Martin where to turn left or right and where to park Then he told et you back to the car He just - smiled a little, the whole time It would have been a little spooky on anyone else He seeood poker face"

I toyed with ood poker face"

Susan arched an eyebrow "I don&039;t understand"

"I don&039;t think he&039;s dead Not yet He - he agreed to give hio The head Denarian guy, said his naht back or escape for twenty-four hours"

"That doesn&039;t sound good"

I shivered "Yeah I figure they&039;re archenemies When Shiro offered hi"