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I bit back a s and silent type, whichdefense of Ethan that much more enjoyable And the tension around Ethan’s eyes seemed to soften, just a little

"I’ll ith Malik," Luc said "We’ll talk about new procedures for supplicants" He lifted his gaze to uilt

It took ht have seriously hurtThat he’d have taken out the bride of his Master, thea nu," I said, and fire lit in Luc’s eyes at my harsh tone Good He could use the fire

"Excusehiuard-captain er than him, and better trained He’d been on the street for who kno long, and having so it was inevitable And more importantly, I was in the best position to handle it Better ot or anyone else who isn’t trained for combat"

Luc’s jaorked as he hts

Ethan reached out, squeezed my hand "You did train her well," he pointed out

"Da it thrown back in my face, especially when I fuck up"

"And none of that, either," I said "This wasn’t your fault"

He looked up at me "It was," he said "House security is my responsibility"

"Yours and mine," I corrected "I stand Sentinel It’s my job, at least in part, to protect the House We both had that responsibility, so if there’s any blame to pass, it’s mine, too" I looked at Ethan, hated the uncomfortable clutch in my belly, the fact that I’d only just now taken responsibility for the breach It shouldn’t have taken ize for it "I’m sorry for that"

Fire blazed in Ethan’s eyes, and I hoped it was pride, not anger

"She’s right," Ethan said, looking at both of us "We’ve identified a gap in our security--one we hadn’t known existed We kno, and we’ll adjust our processes We’ll correct and move forward That’s e do That’s ays do And speaking ofat me, "now that we’ve all donned our particular hair shirts, we should probably prepare for the evening"

"I think that’s our cue to go," Malik said with a sn of solidarity

"Sentinel"

I looked back at Luc

"I just want you to know--your taking responsibility tonight showsthat I trained you really well"

Iwith?"

He sht, we probably need it"