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Leaning forward, she studied the small intricate sketch of a child’s face Paulina was drawing on her palm with a ballpoint pen Beautiful "Did you know hiirl

"He’s my brother" Paulina’s misery was all the more pronounced by the terrible lack of eirl couldn’t have seen hio Her heart broke for Paulina, her deter inside her "I waited on a lady at the diner last night," Faith said casually "She works at the art academy"

Paulina’s pen stilled

"I showed her the sketch you gave e juice and took a sip, letting her words sink in "She wants to ry blue eyes shadoith raw vulnerability pinned her "Meet me? To do what? I’m a whore!"

Dammit Her own temper flared "It’s not like you chose this life!" She hated that these girls were victimized, then reviled for it It was so unfair "That’s not all you are, Paulina You’re a girl, too And according to that lady, a talented artist"

Paulina’s expression didn’t soften "You had no right to show her e juice, leaped fro it behind her

Faith sighed Getting past Paulina’s defenses was going to be a challenge Not that she hadn’t run into girls like her before They were the ones she eted Unfortunately, she failed with them as often as she succeeded Bitterness that thick oftenmore than the prostitutes that circumstances had made them

Maria turned to Faith ide eyes too old for her face "She wants it too much, you know To be an artist It’s better not to want anything"

Faith turned and leaned back against the stained wall "That’s what I used to think, too"

Maria scooted over to sit beside her, dropping her head against Faith’s shoulder "What do you want, Faith?"

What did she want? To help these girls And then others in another city And others after that That was all she’d ever wanted

But was it really? In a strange way she envied Maria because Maria believed she was loved, even if it was only by her pimp And Faith couldn’t say the sa ago learned it was true

Faith pulled her sweater closed against the evening’s dampness as she walked ho a lot of street traffic into the diner, and she’d wound up having a lucrative, if busy night The tips froh to buy food for another week, all of which she’d share with Paulina and Maria Assu Paulina ca, she passed several of the girls she’d had no luck in befriending As she neared the tenement’s half-broken door, she spotted a faainst a brick wall scarred by wartime bullets Her head down, shoulders bent, her pimp at her side, was Maria

Faith started to pass theht alienate her froirl, too Until Maria lifted her head and the streetlight illu her face

Faith stopped, hands fisting at her sides She ht not have the power of her shifter ancestors, but her i asthe silent threat, Stanislov looked up, aze "I’ll find him And I’ll kill him"

Faith saw the truth in his dark eyes and kneasn’t the one who’d hurt Maria Not with his fists, at least In his oarped way, the irl Maybe even loved her

Maria buried her head against the young pi on the sidewalk feeling sick and angry And, as so often happened, confused There were so few clear rights and wrongs on the street Stanislov was a piirl’s utter vulnerability A villain of the worst sort And yet, tonight, he was absolutely Maria’s chaht Even as she knew Stanislov’s protectiveness would only et Maria to leave hihed and was about to turn back toward her building when adown the sidewalk toward her, he looked like he belonged on the pages of a fashionsport coat and white turtleneck, he looked wholly out of place Beneath the flickering light of a streetlamp, he appeared quite tall, his shoulders broad, his hair overly long and slicked back With a settable But as the streetlary, predatory look in his eyes as his gaze coirls on the street corner had her inner alar for a harshfroht

Knives

Faith’s breath caught on the fear that he was going after one of the girls But his stance turned suddenly defensive, his knees bending as if he prepared for an attack His gaze had veered away fro at so just over her head

Faith pivoted, prepared to protect herself fro out of the ordinary Nothing to warrant such a blatantly defensive stance Then a flash of ht her eye, and she saw thee ht toward her!

She tensed for the attack, strangling a cry The humans couldn’t see them and wouldn’t be bothered by theht looked like jellyfish with scary faces were the s in her world They fed off Therian life energy and could kill her within e to kill them first Fortunately, few existed so far from the Therian enclaves She hadn’t been attacked in years

Unfortunately, they’d found her tonight Without weapons, her only h mouths lined with sharp, wicked teeth, and tear out their hearts

Her skin turned cold Her heart began to pound

As the first attacked, she lifted her hand to ward him off and felt the dozens of sharp little teeth tear into her wrist, latching on Before she could react, the stranger was beside her, stabbing one draden with his knife, then the other As quickly as they’d appeared, the creatures were gone, reduced to puffs of s wrist, dazed from the attack, she slowly turned and stared at the ave a shallo, little aze ski her he wasn’tShe was dressed for work, not a night on the town But as they eyed one another, soan to bubble up inside her, a feeling of recognition Connection As if she belonged to him somehow

The startled expression on his face told her he felt it, too "Who are you?"

"I’m Faith"

"I’ve never seen you I did not know there was a Therian enclave nearby"

"I’ve only lived here a few months And I have no enclave"

He studied her, his eyes taking on a speculative light "You’re mine"

"Yes" Why had she said that? But it was true She felt it deep inside She knew it Goddess, this wasn’t right She shook her head "I mean, no I don’t even know you"

"Destiny clearly has plans for us, Faith It is said, one always recognizes one’s mate"

The word stopped her cold "But I’an to thru at the first sign of hiiven him a wide berth Or watched hiirls