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Va mind control for centuries It was the only way to seducefood source And it was the only way to erase theirthe forhtly basis He&039;d never felt any qualms about it It was a matter of survival It was normal

These were the facts he&039;d told himself when he&039;d led Shanna up the stairs to his office He had nothing to feel guilty about Once he, Gregori, and Connor took over Shanna&039;sThen, when the job was done, he could erase her et ht of stairs? By the time he reached his office, he had serious doubts about this plan Three vaht be the only way to break through Shanna&039;s et his da to feel like a vicious assault

Now, as she stood in his office at their ed inside him There was no other way, he told himself He couldn&039;t be honest with her If she found out he was a deori and Connor pounced He could feel their psychic pooop across the roo in on Shanna&039;s mind

Her purse fell to the floor She ainst her temples

Roht She was She had erected a shield with ht huori reinforced his attack, blanketing her with icy deterhts will be mine!

And mine Connor&039;s mind chiseled at her defenses

No! Ro at him, stunned They had expected resistance frohts to hiht be needed to crack her defenses, but once her shield cru it in shreds

He strode toward her and pulled her against his chest "Are you all right?"

She leaned against hiood My head I&039;m so cold"

"You&039;ll be okay" He wrapped his ar his old carcass could produce more body heat "You&039;ll be safe with me" He covered the back of her head with his hand as if to protect her mind froed worried looks

Connor cleared his throat "Could I have a ith you?"

"In a moment" They expected an explanation, but damned if Roe feelings that were consuuilt, re Shanna had woken his heart from a deep sleep He hadn&039;t realized how dead he was beforeher And how alive he felt now

A shudder jolted through her body "Couided her toward the velvet chaise where he had fed on VANNA earlier that night

She curled up on the chaise, wrapping her arms around herself "I&039; in the suede co rooundy chenille blanket draped over one of the wing-back chairs He never used it, but Radinka had bought it for his office, declaring the roohan and stretched it out over Shanna

"Thank you" She pulled the fringed end up to her chin "I don&039;t knohat came over me, but I just had the worst chill"

"You&039;ll warm up soon" He smoothed back her hair and wished he had ti back and forth in front of the wet bar, and Gregori was leaning against a wall, glaring at hiori, would youfroori sauntered toward her "Hey, sweetcakes What&039;s up?"

Sweetcakes! With a grimace, Roman walked across the roohlander turned his back to Shanna and spoke very softly Only a va would make out his words "Laszlo claimed the lass was different I dinna believe it, but now I do I havena ever come across a ree" Ro on the charm because she looked amused

"Laszlo also told ht, it never will be"

"I know"

"We doona have ti another dentist" Connor motioned to the antique clock on the hteen minutes"

"I realize that"

"Then why did ye stop us? We were verra close"

"Her mind was about to crack I orried that once we broke through, that much psychic poould destroy her mind"

"Ah" Connor rubbed his chin with a forefinger "And if her brain is daed, she willna be able to fix yer tooth I see"

Roht about his damned tooth His concern had been for Shanna What was she doing to him? He&039;d co a conscience now He glanced back Gregori was taking a seat at the end of the chaise He lifted Shanna&039;s feet and set them in his lap

"So what can we do,Roman&039;s attention away froain her trust She needs to let me in of her own free will"

"Humph Since when does a woman ever cooperate? Ye could spend a hundred years at it, but ye have only eighteen minutes" Connor looked at the clock "Make that seventeen"

"I guess I&039;ll have to be extra charori was slipping the shoes off her feet

"Aye" Connor nodded "The ladies like charing Shanna&039;s feet Me with VANNA&039;s feet, raking his teeth over her toes And his eyes had glowed red Goddamh that everyone in the rooori set Shanna&039;s feet back onto the chaise as he stood "You told me to make her comfortable"

Shanna yawned and stretched "And you were doing a great job, Gregori I was half asleep when Ro like a ht the look on Roman&039;s face He cleared his throat and backed away from Shanna

"Connor, there&039;s soestured toward the wet bar

The Highlander opened the cabinet "Talisker fro withI&039;ll invent a new drink for hirand" Connor held the bottle up to admire it "I have sorely lass for Miss Whelan" Ro better now?"

"Yes" She lifted a hand to her brow "I had a terrible headache, but it seee I could have sworn I heard voices in otta sound bad"

"No, not at all" This was good news She hadn&039;t recognized whose voices she&039;d heard And she hadn&039;t connected her headaches to their attempts at mind control

She rubbed her forehead "Maybe I&039;ri, so me what to do"

"I don&039;t think you need to worry about that" He perched on the chaise beside her "There&039;s a si Post-traumatic stress"

"Oh yeah, that&039;s probably it" She moved over a little to make room for him "A shrink fro panic attacks for the rest of my life Doesn&039;t that sound cheerful?"

"The FBI?" Connor asked as he brought the glass of whisky

Shanna winced "I&039;reat You deserve to knohat&039;s going on"

"Just tell us what you&039;re colass from Connor and offered it to Shanna "This will help warue And lower your defenses

She raised herself up on an elbow "I don&039;t usually drink anything stronger than beer"

"You&039;ve been through hell tonight" Hell with a full cast of delass into her hand

She tossed back a portion, then coughed "Whoa!" Her eyes watered "Goddang That was straight up, wasn&039;t it?"

Rolass on the floor "What do you expect when a Highlander pours you a drink?"

She lay back on the chaise, narrowing her eyes "Jeez, Ro tohis way into a woman&039;s mind was a new experience for him Before this, he&039;d simply taken what he needed

She slowly s before There is hope for you"

God&039;s blood She had such cheerful optimism Would he have to crush it so demon But in the meantime, he&039;d let her fantasy of hope continue Especially if it helped hi us about the FBI?"

"Oh, right I&039;ram I have a federal et in trouble, but he wasn&039;t there when I called"

"Is Shanna your real nahed "My name is supposed to be Jane Wilson Shanna Whelan is dead"

He touched her shoulder "You feel very alive to me"

She squeezed her eyes shut "I lost ain"

"Tell lanced at the clock Twelve azed, unfocused, into the distance "I have a sister and brother, both younger thanup, &039;cause all we had was each other My dad works for the State Departn countries"

"Such as?"

"Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus"

Rolance with Connor "What exactly does your father do?"

"He was so He traveled a lot"

Roman tilted his head toward his desk Connor nodded and moved quietly to the computer "Your father&039;s name?"

"Sean Dermot Whelan Anyway, my mom had been a schoolteacher, so she hoed the chenille blanket up to her cheek

"Until what?" Roation of Sean Derhed "When I was fifteen,school in Connecticut They said it would be better for ood university"

"That sounds reasonable"

"I thought so, too, at the time, but"

"Yes?"

She rolled over onto her side, facing him "They never sent my brother or sister away Only me"

"I see" She was the one chosen to leave Roman understood that more than he wanted to ade around her finger "I thought I "

"How could you? You were a child" Me dead "Youterrible at first, but then I met Karen We became best friends She&039;s the one who first wanted to be a dentist I used to tease her about wanting to stick her hands into people&039;sBut when it came time for me to make a decision, I chose to be a dentist, too"

"I see"