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Kahli clung tightly to Will as they round on the back of the battered bike Snowflakes made it nearly impossible to see, but they also covered their tracks A storh while they were in the cave Will steered them toward the nearest safe house He asked Kahli for directions, but she couldn&039;t always tell exactly where they were Will kept going, urging the bike forward Somehow he knehere the safe house was located, which uesser or he&039;d been there before
When they dised the bike inside, Kahli unwrapped a scarf froenerator in the darkness, "How long were you following me?"
Will stood behind her motionless Her hair fell across her shoulders in soft, fla about it, he said, "Is there an answer I can give you that won&039;t piss you off?"
The lightssound before they finally turned on The darkness flickered like an old ht Kahli turned toward Will with her hands on her hips, lips pursed She didn&039;t like the idea that so her and she didn&039;t realize it How long had Will been there? How many times did he save her? His appearance at the Empire Safe House wasn&039;t a coincidence She knew that now, but as he following her? Why did he help her? It wasn&039;t until she saw hiht next to hiht What the hell was he doing? Why let her go every other time and capture her then?
They were hidden in a safe house that was only a hundred miles, possibly less, from the palace It was a crazy location that no one ever used It was too close to vamp central That meant there were still supplies left
"Probably not," she gave a weak lopsided grin and took a deep breath Her hands slid off her hips, "I just don&039;t knohat to uy, but other times you seem like them I just wish I knew" Maybe she shouldn&039;t have said that out loud It sounded more like a confession than a wish Her voice sounded flat, like he&039;d disappointed her
Will watched her intently, he was alatching her "What difference does it make?" he finally asked
"I can&039;t tell which side you&039;re on," she confessed Turning toward hilanced away She pushed her long hair out of her face as she spoke, "Thatyou here, but it appears you&039;ve already been here" Kahli fell silent, her thoughts swirling in herher theboth sides, aren&039;t you? From day one, I didn&039;t knohat to make of you You saved me from one wolf and threw ," her hand drifted to her throat, pressing on the thin white scar that was still on her neck Calling it "stuff" and not na had wanted to do to her lanced at his I can&039;t say," Will&039;s voice was soft, apologetic His blue eyes held hers for a moment and he breathed, "I wish I could"
"I don&039;t understand"
"I can&039;t explain it to you," he said, stepping nearer to her Will looked down at her beautiful face, wishing he could say more, but it wasn&039;t possible
"Can&039;t or won&039;t?" She held his gaze, searching for the lie Kahli had to know the truth, she had to knoho he was fighting for, but the blood runes hid that fro her cheek Kahli&039;s heartbeat increased at his touch, the breath she was about to take remained locked behind her lips "I wish I could, but there are s"
Kahli wanted to close her eyes and lean into his hand, but her ht her body His replies were always masked and this one was very convenient Will didn&039;t see, but she&039;d seen him with the vamps He was one of them The vampires were as certain of Will as she was, and yet here he ith her There was a s that his true naht not even be real There was no way to know unless she gave it to sohed and pulled away
Will&039;s gaze followed her across the room, but he didn&039;t h Kahli wanted both
Finally, Will asked, "What was this place?" His blue eyes lifted upward, taking in the tall h the side of a hill covered in snow and ice There was a crack, like the ice had snapped centuries ago It was large enough to walk through They followed the crack inside the hill, which took the was inside, buried beneath the snow
Kahli glanced at him as she crossed the room "I think it was a tornado shelter Most of the safe houses were fallout shelters of some sort You know, most have typical concrete walls andarm in this roo and stay somewhere, but that was a life Kahli couldn&039;t even fathoed to assassinate the King and Queen Kahli fished out a few silver packets from the pantry "Would you like freeze-dried packet A or this delicious looking packet with a C?"
"Is C for cookie?" Will asked
"Or cat," Kahli replied, glancing between hi toward her, Will took the A packet and flipped it over in his hands There were no other s "Seriously, what&039;s the difference?"
Kahli shrugged, "Well, that one is waythan this one Good luck with that" She turned and grabbed a bottle of water and sed the food without chewing Will watched her, still holding his packet in his pallanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "What?"
He shook his head, "Nothing It&039;s just - " What was he supposed to say? Sorry I left you alone for so long that you no longer chew your food? Part of her ild and alould be Kahli was part wolf and would destroy anything that threatened her From the look in her eye, he knew that she wasn&039;t sure of hiht and aith a knife in his neck She had no reason to trust hi what he did was too little, too late She&039;d been through too much and when Kahli eventually found out the rest of his deplorable past his heart sank That day would suck She&039;d blame him He knew she would
Kahli arched an eyebrow at hi a conversation in your head again, aren&039;t you?"
Will s in this ti hed and pulled out aon the tabletop, her legs dangling off the side "He see"
She choked, laugher bubbling up frohtly "Hoas it for you?" she laughed
Will looked at her For once, she see, and for that he was sorry, but it was the way things were There wasn&039;t ed, until Kahli realized what she had to do The question ould she do it? Will leaned forward and ran his fingers through his hair, breathing deeply He placed his foil packet on the table, untouched
Kahli poked the freeze-dried food "Coward," she goaded
Will glanced up at her, "No, Bane And, since I don&039;t have to eat asto"
"Well, then, stuff it in your pocket or so It&039;s already been a day since we left the palace And you haven&039;t eaten anything Plus you nearly died I would have thought you&039;d be hungry by now"
He shook his head, "Nope I had enough blood, rather recently, to overcome my freeze-dried food needs" Kahli looked down at hi to her drove him crazy Will tried not to look at her, but it wasn&039;t working Kahli was inore When he mentioned blood, the smile slipped from her face Will took the moment to press her "We need to discuss the Queen"
Kahli glanced at hi to her throat She nodded and slipped off the tabletop and onto a chair, across fro is secondary at this point He should be removed from the equation before we even step foot in the palace The Queen won&039;t let hi was his only gift The other things, the other girls, were stolen Each and every huh she plays the part well, she is stronger than the King Stronger than the Regent That&039;s why she&039;s "
"How is it that you&039;re able to speak of this, but not other things?" She sounded curious, not angry
"It&039;s information that wasn&039;t sworn to secrecy Most of the servants in the palace knohat I&039; to tell you, they just wouldn&039;t have found a crazy wild girl, and armed her, to kill off the royal family"