Page 90 (1/2)

He found he didn’t care

But he wasn’t done yet, and he closed his eyes and slipped into her ain He had to hobble her intuition in such a way that it would give her freedo to involve Jack, thepunishment for his own sins

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

The sound of a hushed argument pulled Peri from a deep, drea in a pleasant ache and the sensation of clean sheets on her bare skin It was like skinny-dipping, and she sighed, not wanting to wake up

"If you aren’t out ofOpti and I’ll have the, her voice fa up froo with it She was comfortable, and her et up was too much work for too little payoff

"Touch that phone, and I’ll shoot you," a higher voice whispered, and Peri frowned at Taf’s anger "Peri isn’t hurting you"

There was a soft thump, and then Howard said, "Ma’am Don’t ht with sun and richly decorated in colors she liked It wason Someone must have taken her clothes off, because she never slept that freely Maybe I drafted? But there was no recall itch in her , she tried to reotten naked in a nice roo pulled Peri upright, and she tugged the sheet to cover herself There was a glass of water on the nightstand, and she gulped it down in one go, then wiped a drop fro to wake her Can you do this downstairs?" Silas said in a hushed whisper

Peri took a breath to call out, choking on it when a htened her grip on her e in the corner in a pressed suit and tie, just the right alint in his eyes It didn’t work She was still hallucinating

"Hi, babe," he said, and Peri closed her eyes, willing the vision to leave

"Go away," she whispered, eyes flashing open when he cleared his throat "You aren’t real," she said, glancing at the door and the hushed argument beyond it in the hall

Jack put an ankle on his knee and loosened his tie to look indescribably attractive "At least you can think again," he said, and a sliver of panic slid through her Fudge on a stick, they’re starting to interact withto call Opti," Taf said frohed "Karley isn’t going to call Opti All of you get away from Peri’s door before you wake her up"