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Will was nervous when Kahli&039;s eyes slipped over his runes He wondered how much she knew? If she would notice? His throat constricted as her fingers trailed over his chest and down his side, her green eyes trailing across his bare skin There was so s to explain, but he couldn&039;t Blood runes werethan she realized They burned under his flesh, searing into his soul, co him in a way that Kahli&039;s betrothal runes did not The way she looked at hi on hi his runes was a calculated risk, one that he would regret later if she ever found out the truth about hih to sate her insecurities Although Kahli didn&039;t realize what she could do with it, or that she had any power over him at all

Even after his shirt was buttoned and his coat pulled back on, Will still felt her caress on his skin He wantedat her, Will wondered if it ainst vaether A relationship with Kahli was forbidden, but what did it ht, their fates would be dismal anyway, probably worse than the instant destruction pairing with a human would have deht about Kahli The way his lips tingled reminded him how much he wanted to kiss her and hold her in his arhts before Kahli could feel the them to the back of hisago Being bound by three people required it or he would have been long dead It was the last rune that caused all the problems It was the one he couldn&039;t deny If Will had the chance to do it over again, to take the oath that involved the wild girl standing in front of hilanced at the fire and ran his fingers through his hair There was still blood crusted to his scalp He needed to melt some snow so they could wash The wolves and the vamps would catch Kahli&039;s scent faster if they didn&039;t

Watching her, Will thought, If I had to do it all over again, I&039;d do the sa That final rune would damn him It cost him his life in ain

Kahli faced the fire A smear of dirt and blood lined her cheek Will looked at her when she asked about his assassination plans Hope floated into his chest, lodging sorinned at her, "I have all of it planned I aiting for the , "and for a crazy red-head to show up and carry out my evil plan"

Kahli folded her arms across her chest She watched him as he fished out a small piece of metal from the back of the cave It looked like part of the crashed bike Will held it up and walked toward the mouth of the cave Kahli watched hi He read the question on her face before it sprang forth in her , he said, "We need water I&039;m afraid you have to clean that blood off or we&039;ll be found too soon If it isn&039;t s you back to the palace, the plan fails I&039;ll be executed and you&039;ll be on your own"

Kahli followed hi to the slick rock as they neared the hter "I understand I&039;ve done this before, Will" He glanced over his shoulder at her as he scooped up so, I mean I killed every Tracker who caood rinned It made his stomach twist and Kahli flinched, surprised to feel his reaction

Will turned and filled the metal make-shift bowl "You killed every Tracker, except me"

"Yes, except you and the deviant who took ether hard, like there was a secret burning her tongue

"How&039;d you adapt so quickly? You were so young when she was taken" Will was careful, wording it so she couldn&039;t tell that he&039;d been closer than she knew for longer than she thought He turned and went back into the cave with Kahli in tow Her voice soothed hi else could

"We were close to the safe house when that happened I should have gone onto the next, but I turned and went back At first I thought that Mother would co back, I tried toI stayed too long I was too sun Besides, the shots attracted the Trackers" She shrugged, watching Will put the pot of snow over the fire, setting it on top of the logs "Where&039;d you find wood?" He had the feeling that she was going to ask sos distracted her Trees that weren&039;t covered in ice were scarce

"It&039;s not wood," he replied "It&039;s a firelog They burn forever Each bike is outfitted with a pack in case a storuard can&039;t return to the palace They were in the fras we need - well, the basic stuff anyway"

She nodded and watched the logs They weren&039;t wood Kahli could see it when she looked closer Although it had the appearance of bark along the surface, it was too perfect to have grown that way The fire did not consue-red and danced with fla was still the same size as it hen she awoke

"So," Will said, steering her back to the conversation, "How long did you stay in that safe house?"

Kahli watched him, her pink lips parted He felt her e a hole with her conte?"

Will sat in front of the fire and shrugged "Seeood question Everyone wonders how you survived so long, alone" His voice trailed off He didn&039;t want to push her and he wasn&039;t ready to admit what he knew

Kahli stared into the fla softly, until she adlanced at Will

Will didn&039;t pretend to be surprised Misleading her was bad enough, he didn&039;t want to co, too He cursed to hi - an omission was a lie They were two parts of the same deception

"But you knew that," she added after watching him for a moment He didn&039;t look at her Instead Will re liquid from the fire and set it down "It was you, wasn&039;t it? The food and water? The one who chased off the wolves that first ti open like she couldn&039;t believe it "Why?" she breathed, and inched toward him When he didn&039;t answer she touched his arm The sensations she caused, the river of heat that flooded up his arreen eyes right in front of him "You never lost track of me, did you?" Her eyes darted back and forth between his, wanting an answer that he couldn&039;t give

"I don&039;t knohat you&039;re talking about," he lied, but he was sure she felt it He was certain she knew

Kahli didn&039;t press hi the torn dress beneath Blood soaked through the once violet front panel of her bodice Kahli reached around to unlace the corset strings They were looser than they had been Will s and felt the bodice loosen

"What about the clothes? They&039;re covered in blood"

Will nodded He handed her soly, but it&039;s war at it in her hands It felt light like one of the frivolous dresses they put her in at the palace

Will laughed, "It&039;s not It&039;s a synthetic bodysuit that the Trackers wear under their outer coats It protects fro I can still fight in this thing" she said looking at it

Will nodded, "Exactly"

Kahli hesitated before looking up This was the second ti in front of Will As soon as she realized it, her heart pounded harder She knew he felt her pulse racing, even though he didn&039;t s her privacy

"Thank you," she said softly, and he nodded

"There&039;s a cloth in there," Will said He pointed over his shoulder toward the pot "Use it to wash off the blood It ht take a few tries Do your hair last so your head isn&039;t wet very long We can bundle you in one of the microfoil blankets so you don&039;t freeze"

"I&039;ve done this before, Will" After a , but it was id air on her dah the blood bond

"I know," he replied "I just don&039;t want anything else to go wrong We need to get out of here as fast as possible"