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I lagged behind the others at the entrance to the subway station, pretending to have to search forI was sure they couldn’t see without being too obvious about it It tookover my shoulder, and when I did, I relaxed considerably It was a male fairy--or sprite, as they preferred to be called, as they had issues with being called "fairies" Go figure I hadn’t realized they could shrink that small, but then I re that a lot of things I thought were just stories were real, so why not that, too? The sprite saluted uard With the threat from Idris and his people, I was almost always tailed by someone in the MSI security force

Thatout with my friends With my enemies on the loose, did I really want to put myself out there in public around my friends? I didn’t think Idris or Ari would hesitate to try to at least eht harm me or them In the ical disasters that could happen "I just reo on and have a good time I probably wouldn’t have skated anyway I’ve never been on skates before in my life, since we don’t have a lot of ice in Texas that’s not in drinks, and I’d rather not spend Christmas in traction"

"I bet I knohat you have to do," Connie said "You have to find a gift for the new boyfriend That’s the proble to date someone so close to a ift that’s ful as well as appropriate for where you are in the relationship"

I was perfectly willing to use the excuse to get away fro about what Connie said set off a panic attack I’d already given Owen a gift, but that was only because I was his secret Santa at work I hadn’t considered that I’d now need to coift for him on a personal level "What is appropriate this early in a relationship?" I asked

"Well, it needs to be personal enough to show your feelings, but not so personal that it presu too expensive, but possibly soful if the relationship lasts"

"No pressure there," I said with a snort "I guess this is where you’d give a girl a cute stuffed aniuy?" I thought I heard a high-pitched, faint burst of laughter and turned to shoot e, hovering somewhere I couldn’t see hireatthey like is expensive and, therefore, inappropriate this early in a relationship Maybe you should have waited until after Christmas to hook up"

"What kind of et him a CD"

I hadn’t noticed any CDs or even a CD player in the one ti was books everywhere If he had a stereo, it was probably buried under piles of books And when someone had that many books, it was hard to find a book you could be sure he’d like that he didn’t already have Besides, that’s what I’d given hiet going I have my work cut out for eneral area around Union Square, but no ifts perfect for ato know jumped out at ical havoc, and I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad It would have been really nice if I could have tackled Ari, turned her in, and ended this whole thing After a while, I gave up on either finding the perfect gift or having the bad guys show the, I went ho Alas, the "and unlit

I’d underesti upwas too perfect for it to be a coincidence "Katie?" a voice on the other end said when I answered "It’s Owen"

Like I didn’t recognize his voice alh we’d only ever spoken on the phone at work "How are things going?" I asked, grateful that he’d called when I was at home alone, so I could talk freely