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Out behind the brotherhood&039;s mansion, Corrass as fast as they would carry her She ran to lose herself, ran in hopes of capturing some point of clarity, ran because there was nowhere she wanted to go and she could no longer stay where she was

Her breath tore in and out of her lungs and her legs burned and her ar down the flank of the retaining wall toward the edge of the forest, then turning around and heading back to the gardens

Layla and the Pri with the Primale Layla naked with the Pri to choose Layla He ard in his role, so he would go for the one who he&039;d seen around and who had served his Brothers with discretion and grace He would go for the familiar

He would choose Layla

With no warning, Cors dropped out from underneath her and she collapsed in an exhausted heap

When she&039;d recovered enough to lift her head, she frowned as she panted She&039;d fallen on an odd scratchy patch of the lawn, an imperfect stretch that was six feet in diaround had yet to recover

See over onto her back, she looked at the night sky Her thighs burned and so did her lungs, but the real fire was in her brain She didn&039;t belong on this side She couldn&039;t stand the idea of going back to the Sanctuary

She was like the suround and the star-studded galaxy above She was neither here nor there and she was invisible

Getting to her feet, she walked slowly back up to the lowed in the s of the house and as she looked around, she realized she was going to ht: The tea roses&039; reds and pinks and yellows and purples wereshy Inside the library, the deep red of the drapes was like banked fire, and the billiards room appeared to have been constructed out of ereen

So lovely It was all so lovely, this feast for the eyes

To put off the leaving a little longer, she went to the pool

The black water spoke to her, its shi sparkles ofher robe, she plunged into the soft darkness, penetrating the weave of the pool&039;s surface, going deep and staying there as she stroked through the water

When she ca inhale of air she took She would leave ith Fritz that she was going and ask hio to the Sanctuary and seek an audience with the Directrix Amalya¡ªwherein she would put forward a request to become a sequestered scribe

She knew that in the course of her duties as scribe she was going to have to keep track of the Pri, but better to deal with theions of young with multicolored hair and lovely yellow eyes

And there would be young Though she had challenged hi to do what he needed to do He was struggling ever harder noith his role, but his sense of duty would override his sense of self

Bella was so very right in her assessment of him

"Well, hello, there"

Corantic, , rangy body of a male dressed in what they called blue jeans

"And who are you?"he asked, settling down on his haunches, his voice s¡ªdeeply set and mismatched, with lashes the color of his thick black hair

Before she could answer, John Matthew caet his attention As the e of the water looked over his shoulder, John shook his head and signed frantically

"Oh shit, sorry" The dark-haired ht and lifted his hands as if calling a stop to himself "I didn&039;t knoho you were"

Another h the library &039;s doors This redheaded one had bloodstains on his shirt and an air of utter exhaustion about hiht with John, she thought Young soldiers

"Who are you?" she asked the one with the odd, lovely eyes

"Qhuinn I&039;ed in John Matthew &039;s direction "The redhead&039;s¡ª"

"Blaylock," the other one cut in sharply "I&039; for a swim," she said

"So I see" Qhuinn&039;s ser sexual

Still, he was attracted to her She could sense it And that hen she realized that with the path she was on, she would remain untouched forever As a sequestered scribe she would never be a the ones who the Pri storlorious ould never be suain

Ever

As the great stretch of her years of life unfurled before her, some restless, desperate cord was struck, and the vibrations of its dissatisfaction carried her through the ater over to the ladder Grasping the handrails and pulling herself out, she felt the cool air on her body and knew all three of the soldiers were looking at her

The knowledge depressed and emboldened her This was the last time any male would see her body, and it was hard to think that she was locking down all that was fe to be with anyone save the Pris stood with all her sisters So this was the end

In a few ood-bye to sootten started

So she would not apologize for her nakedness nor hide her body as she stepped free of the water&039;s gentle eardens at the back of the Brotherhood&039;sinto anyone With as in his head,the risk of¡ª

His feet stopped and his heart stopped and his breath stopped

Cor fro aterwhile three newly transitioneddown to their navels

Oh hell no

The bondedfree of the lies he&039;d fed hi out of the cave of his heart, stripping hi that was civilized

All he kneas that his fe coveted by others

That was all that mattered