Page 18 (1/2)

Not good

Andra waved her hand in front of his face "Hey You in there?"

His an"

Nothing Andra put her hand on his shoulder and shook hian! Snap out of it"

He did Finally His eyes blinked slowly and stopped their Ping-Pong routine He sucked in a deep breath as if it were the first one he’d had in a while

"Leave us I need ti"

"I promise you I will not har Paul in from outside, the Synestryn will likely find hi about?"

"I needed strength to attend your sister Paul offered me his blood Unfortunately, I needed quite a bit and he had already donated recently He’s outside Recovering"

"Why the hell didn’t you say sonoreout there in the dark with all thearound "If you soto kill you Are we clear?"

Logan gave her a patronizing smile "Go to your Theronai Nika is safe in ht have made her certifiable, but there it was Paul needed her now, and without him, Andra wasn’t sure she could keep Nika safe froiven his blood to help Nika, and in her book, that made him a hero

She had just turned to leave when he said, "Oh, by the way, that necklace he wears is yours if you choose to take it"

Andra stopped in her tracks She’d felt that, too, but brushed it aside as one"Paul never said that"

"Because he’s protecting you"

Andra frowned "From what?"

"From the responsibility of the power you ield if you choose to wear it"

"Power?"

He gave her a level stare "More than you can ih to heal her as well"

It took her a couple of seconds to process what he was saying This whole thing was so far-out, she didn’t knohat to think at first, but one thing was clear If Paul could help her save Nika, she was going toweird when I touch hiest you don’t wait too long toto claim what’s yours Nika is nearly out of time She’ll be lucky to survive three days at this rate"

Three days Andra’s throat tightened as she fought back tears "I don’t need any tian wasn’t full of shit Then she was going to do the only thing she could

Save Nika

Andra found Paul slu Panic skittered over her skin as she raced to hiainst his neck to feel for a pulse, and war breath, and Andra’s eyes closed in relief His pulse was strong and he was breathing steadily

Now all she had to do was get him inside, where there was at least a door between them and the monsters She knew fro, but at least it would slow them down Out here in the open with darkness all around the Lord, he was heavy--easily eighty pounds heavier than she was She could do it, but one of theet their shoulder dislocated in the process

Maybe if she pushed hiet splinters in his ass, but she’d be glad to pull those out for hietting a nice long look at his h that his head lolled to one side The iridescent choker he wore caught and held light fro above them

That choker was hers It always had been She wanted to take it back

All thisin the dark, but she had so, and she wasn’t afraid to follow the If Nika didn’tto lose, anyway

Andra reached out and grazed it with the tip of her finger A happy tingling sensation swept up her ar her confidence that this was the right thing to do The colors inside the band swirled around that contact, as if it knew she was touching it A pluer, expanding in concentric rings as it moved across the necklace

The color was so pretty, so rich and deep, she wanted to have it for her own and see it grace her throat Just as the thought entered her head, the band split open and fell froth fro it from one hand to the other It was still warm from Paul’s body and heavier than she would have expected It looked as though it were made out of soht, she knew that wasn’t the case

The ends were blunt, with no clasp, but she figured that the saain She placed the band around her throat and the ends seenets

As soon as she felt theto itself, Paul’s eyes opened Gold chips shone bright within the deeper brown of his eyes, aze moved to her throat and his hand went to his own

"How did you?" His voice was a shocked whisper of sound, barely audible over the crickets chirping nearby

He reached out and placed one blunt fingertip against the band and slid it over it, brushing her skin along the edge as he passed His pupils dilated and his nostrils flared He let out a deep, satisfied groan that ood," he told her "You probably shouldn’t have done that, but it feels so good not to hurt anymore"