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Instead, she’d cried herself to sleep, soht she’d spent at Aegis HQ, when gratitude had overwheliven her a safe place to sleep for the first time since her mother died They’d said they wanted her Every foster parent had said that, but she’d quickly learned not to believe it

Her own mother had said it, but if that were true, she would have stayed off the drugs Yes, she’d had a de her to self-destruction, but Tayla couldn’t shake the belief that if she’d only been a better daughter, her ht harder

And now Eidolon said he wanted her If only she could believe him, could believe that for the first ti special Worth more than what the state paid so skills

He’d hurt her last night when he’d hesitated to answer her question, and she’d struck back with Roag’s death, a lo, and so he hadn’t needed to know

Desperate to hold off on a confrontation that would surely end in his kicking her onto the streets, she showered, taking a long time to inspect the new decorations on her arm They weren’t as sharply defined or as dark as Eidolon’s, but they were otherwise identical--and she knew because she’d traced every one of his with her tongue

Whatever Eidolon had done to her had also sealed The Wound That Wouldn’t Heal Not even a scar reh she’d had to use his scalpel to remove the stitches

When the water started to run cold, she rinsed and dressed in leather fighting pants and a lace tank top, and when she couldn’t stall any longer, she entered the living roo Mickey The recliner behind her was rocking; she otten to her feet A map of the abandoned zoo lay spread out on the coffee table, along with photos and a notebook ildly scratched notes next to it

"What are you doing here?" Tayla growled

"Eidolon called ht He wanted someone here with you"

Tayla’s heart squeezed painfully He’d been so angry, probably on the verge of violence and hatred, and yet, he hadn’t wanted her to be alone "How did he sound?"

"Destroyed On edge" Her gaze flickered to Tay’s ars on her skin itched "What did you do to him?"

Why did everyone auto to him? Maybe because this tiht I’d ain"

"Yeah, about that" Gem cleared her throat Sed a few times That hen Tay noticed her puffy, bloodshot eyes Geht "I killed him"

"What? Who?"

"Our sire" Ge on the leather cushion Always an emotional barometer, Mickey scampered down and under the couch "When I was sixteen He caht I stabbed him It wasn’t pretty"

"Jesus," Tay whispered "Why didn’t you tell ht?"

"You flipped out before I had the chance" She peered up at Tayla through watery eyes "And I think I kinda wanted to hurt you"

"Hurt rew up Of how you have this ‘Teresa was ot to do things with her" Ge her head and played with one of her two braided ponytails "All I have are a few grainy pictures taken fro memory of what her voice sounded like"

"Gem, I didn’t know her that well She was killed just as we started to mesh"

"You stillyou still had a life I didn’t have"

"Yeah You had everything"

"Except a mom," she said quietly

"But you had--"

"Dehed "Don’t getI love them And they lovethey wanted me to be I didn’t even want to be a doctor I did it for theht have sucked, but it was one world I was the product of torlds, and they never let et it Even today, I can’t tell humans what I am, and I can’t tell demons I’m half-human Only you and the Axis of Evil know the truth" When Tay raised an eyebrow, Gem elaborated "Eidolon, Wraith, and Shade I’ve called thehed at that, the discharge of tension and emotion a welcoed on a thick braid "So we’re cool? Me and you?"

Listening to her instincts, which told her she needed to let her sister into her life, Tayla nodded "Yeah We’re cool" But what now? She illing to accept Gem into her life, but that was the Gem she saw before her now, the one that appeared human What lurked beneath the pretty, pierced exterior? "Can I ask a favor? Can I see what you keep locked away behind the tattoos?"

For a moment Gem looked as if she would refuse, and then she nodded, slowly, sadly "I guess you need to" Closing her eyes, she concentrated A low an to vibrate, and then she justexploded Like a kernel of popcorn One second she was a cute Goth chick, and then next

Sweet Jesus

"Well? This is lish, but Tay understood her Knees practically knocking, she forced herself to e cross between human and Soulshredder, a terrible, beautiful creature with red skin, black claws, and Gee back," Gem said "Every second like this reduces ain Tayla leaped back, and then Ges"

Shaking a little, Tayla circled the other wo forwhat? Leaks? "So, you can control yourself when you shift?"

"To soain "I can’t when it happens spontaneously, which is why I got the tats"

"So if I were to integrate, I could control it?"

Ge about it?"

Tayla looked down at herself, wondering how her body would change should she be integrated Then she sighed "It ht not be an option anymore Eidolon hates me"

"What happened between you two?"

"Mainly, I killed his brother"

"But I just saw--"