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"I kinda had plans," said Madoc

"Change theo clean off in the lake and h?"

"Yeah Thanks, uy was not exactly Mr Friendly Andra was glad he was on their side

Paul got the women settled in one of the bedrooms of the Gerai house Like so many other Gerai houses, this one was isolated, far away frohbors It was a three-bedroo they ht need to refuel and protect the for the ride Because these places of refuge were kept up by the blooded humans known as Gerai, the terlad they had a safe place nearby Nika didn’t look good

Andra slid Nika under the covers, then lay down beside her and held on tight Nika looked so frail beside Andra, like a word spoken too harshly would shatter her thin bones

Even if she was a Theronai like Andra, she could keep going for only so long They needed to get soet that IV out of her ar everywhere They really didn’t need to draw more Synestryn

Andra stroked her sister’s hair and whispered to her in a voice too low for Paul to hear Whatever she said, her body was tight with tense desperation

Andra must have kno bad Nika was, even if she didn’t want to adave her away He could see it in the way her fingers trembled as she ran them over Nika’s head, the way her eyes darted frantically over her sister’s thin forrit his teeth to hold himself back from Andra He wanted to comfort her and pull her into his arms and shield her from all the bad stuff in life Ironic In his line of work, that was all he had to offer Anything else was just a temporary illusion

He made hian to look at Nika and see if there was anything to be done for her, no matter how small Now that she was asleep, at least he wouldn’t scare her

Logan was out in the front yard of the s the air Darkness seeed out here in the uinar seemed to be most at ease in the dark

Paul didn’t understand it, but he’d co on some sun-drenched beach, but that wasn’t in the cards for hi the day than a rancher could do his job in theto happen

"Are we clear?" Paul asked

"Yes For now"

"You should go see what you can do for Nika while she’s asleep"

Logan didn’t turn He continued to stare out into the night "There’s nothing I can do She’s dying"

Paul’s eyes slid shut in grief Poor Andra She loved her sister so much He could see it in everyto lose her

Whatever it took, he’d help her through this Be there for her "Why is she dying?"

"I can’t tell without taking her blood, and she’s too weak for that"

"Can’t you do anything? Help her hold on for a while longer so she can get stronger?"

"Why should you care what happens to one single soul?" asked Logan

He didn’t bother to rean turned and stared at Paul with those icy eyes "No Why should I? She was raised as a hu for my kind They call us vampires Have you seen the films they’ve made about my people? The lies they tell their children about us, as if ere out to hunt their kind to extinction?"

"They’re your food That would make anyone feel a little uneasy, don’t you think?"

"I only take their blood I would hope that fact would put theleI need to survive? It would be like a far down his orchard to make it simpler to harvest this year’s fruit"

A sudden realization came to Paul--one he’d never even considered "You resent them The humans Don’t you?"

"Of course not"

"You do You are pissed off because you need them Or us I have to admit, I’d be a little pissed, too, if I had to depend on soan snorted "You say that as if you don’t need a woman to live"

Maybe Andra

Paul stifled a thrill of excite to have to figure out what this thing between thes to think about "I do need a wo tian shoved past hi inside"