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Thenoise, the sound of us explained as he pointed to the beach
Her ori were engaged in a swordfight With real swords Huge swords
Her heart leaped up her throat "Are they trying to kill each other?"
"Nay, they’re just practicing," Angus said "I wanted to see hoell the lad can fight"
She cringed when Robby’s sword slashed doard Gregori’s head He blocked it in ti with a loud crash "This is crazy!"
"Ye want a us asked as he calus chuckled "They’ll no’ kill each other"
Gregori shoved Robby back, then advanced toward hi The twoin the ht After a while, she realized she could relax They were carefully cutting short any thrusts that would seriously injure or kill
As the gruesoued Thea shirt, and sweat glistened off muscles that rippled across their chests and backs Even as the men circled each other, she could always tell which one was Gregori They were the saround like a brick wall Gregori was long, lean, and fluid If he took a hard knock to the ground, heback up And he did it with style and grace
She sori He rolled with the punches life threw at hius yelled "We doona want to wear out the fledgling"
She heard Gregori’s ling?"
Angus chuckled "Aye, just to irritate hiood man there, lass"
Yes, she had She watched him as he approached Beneath his charhter, a warrior just like the kilted Scotsht of the clay his brow and neck, curling slightly at the ends He s his cheeks
Good Lord, she wanted hiaze wandering over his bare, slick chest
He handed his sword to Angus, never taking his eyes off her "I’ll see you in a few minutes I need to shower"
She stood there a moment, then followed him inside the house "Shouldn’t you be inspected for injuries? What if Robby cut sorin, he pulled her into the bathroouest bedroom
After a leisurely inspection in the shower, she declared him whole and healthy He wrapped her in a towel, duhed "Aren’t you tired?"
"Sweetheart" He peeled the towel open "A good Va"
And he did
A few hours later, they teleported to Kyo’s estate outside Tokyo She called home to let her faed clothes, and ate a big etable teht had fallen in the Yunnan
It was tiin
Chapter Twenty-two
They arrived in the dark, but Gregori’s vision quickly adjusted Abigail skidded a little in the gravel, and he steadied her
"They’re here," JL told Angus on his cell phone "We’ll report in two hours" He hung up
"Hey, JL" Gregori gave him a knuckle pound
"Hey, dude Welco"
"Please call me Abby" She shook his hand "It’s so dark out here I can hardly see"
"Yeah, we’re in the boonies," JL said "We have some lamps inside the cave, so you’ll be able to see in there Lousy phone reception though, so we usually coori pivoted as he looked around Behind hiround In front of hilittered on an expanse of dark water "We’re next to a lake?"
"Actually, we’re in the middle of a lake," JL explained "This is an island It’s a good defensive position"
Gregori nodded The Vamps could easily teleport across the lake, but any hu to reach them would have to cross by boat "Where’s the cave?"
JL , isn’t it?"
Abigail touched the brown rock that rose steeply froe rock fore, it’s over there" JL pointed to the south edge of the lake
Gregori narrowed his eyes It was indeed strange The round, a whole arhed "I can’t see that far"
"It’s a whole field of rocky spikes," Gregori told her
"A stone forest, they call it" JL pointed east "There’s a bamboo forest that borders the lake over there Beyond it and to the north, the land is mostly flat farmland, but dotted with e is about a ht stuff at the estured to the west "Over that way, it’s e is about three miles We haven’t been there yet"
"I really appreciate all you’ve done to help ail said
JL suys And our humble home"
He led them around a pile of boulders to a narrow entrance that was covered with a makeshift screen of baht," he said, pulling aside the screen
Gregori ushered Abigail inside the small cave, lit by two kerosene lamps JL entered and pulled the screen back in place
Howard ju, then shook hands shyly with Abigail
"Hello, Howard," she said, s Thank you for helping me"
Howard ducked his head andto his feet "This is Rajiv"
"Delighted to er pressed his hands together and bowed "It is an honor" He straightened with a smile "Toail s in market just for you" He scurried to the wall and returned with so wrapped in old newspaper With another bow, he held it to her
"Why, thank you That’s so sweet" Abigail gingerly peeled back a corner of the paper and winced
"Chicken feet!" Rajiv announced proudly "Very good in hot pot I lanced at Gregori and grinned "I can hardly wait"
"We can’t cook at night," Howard grumbled "We would have to ht see it But we still have food here, if you’re hungry Would you like a donut?" He ori chuckled at the stack of donut boxes next to Howard’s sleeping bag "Sheesh, bro You can’t go a few days without your bear claws?"