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"All right," Rojer said stepping between the the of ot couzi to take the edge off"

"Night, that’s all we need" Leesha had made some of the worst decisions of her life when she drank "Please, have a seat I’ll put on tea"

Renna had already taken the flask and tipped it back hard Leesha thought she would have spat fire after a gulp like that, but Renna gave only a slight cough, handing the bottle back to Rojer "Creator, did I need that"

Leesha’s head throbbed as she put the kettle on and set a tray of cups and saucers on the counter, but it was nothing colanced at the privy, but could not bear to miss a word Renna, like Arlen, had a tendency to vanish if one took their eye off her for even aas she joined then of you, we all feared the worst It’s ato the Hollow last Waning," Renna said "They had other business"

"What business?" Leesha dearies Where were you? Where is Arlen?"

"Don’t expect to see either of us again after tonight," Renna said "Hollow needs to stand on its own We were the reason the mind de time That would certainly explain Arlen’s disappearance If he was drawing the minds’ attention to the Hollow, he would put himself as far away as possible "Why?"

"Mind demons take this Deliverer business seriously as Tenders," Renna said "Scared as piss about it Unifiers, they call us Ones who get so strong they draw followings Wern’t gonna rest till ere dealt with, and you ent ready for that kind of demon attention Need time to fill the Hollow"

"So Arlen killed Ah?" Leesha de after Thamos, next?"

Renna waved a hand so dismissively Leesha was offended on her lover’s behalf "’Less he learns to shoot lightning from his arse, count’s beneath the minds’ notice"

She looked at them pointedly "You two, on the other hand, need to step careful Minds knoho you are Strike at you, they get the chance"

Leesha felt her face go cold Rojer looked like he ht slosh up "How can you know that?"

Renna opened her ht Saw it myself at new moon Stepped beyond the wards, and every demon on the field turned tobullseye onhundreds of cold coreling eyes turned upon her and the vulnerable life she carried within The child would barely be bigger than her curled little finger, but she could have sworn it kicked Her bladder cried out to enored it

"So you’re going to leave the Hollow at the o off and … what? Take your honeyot any mercy, Gatherer," Renna said "You of all people should know that Don’t tell ood to me like no others Just because I ent here don’t ht"

"Then why’d you co back?"

"Ay," Renna said "Owed you that "

"You could’ve just left a note," Leesha said

"Can’t write," Renna said "Not everyone grows up with a rich da and tiot questions, sodeeply Renna had a way of infuriating her past her ability to think She ht ask directly if Arlen was alive, but there was little point She didn’t believe for one moment the wo," Leesha said

Renna crossed her arms, but she waited on the question

"Did Arlen kill Ahmann?" Leesha asked Her hand went to her belly as if to shield the child from the answer

"He ent comin’ back, either," was all Renna said "Hollowers ent the only ones need to stand on their own"

"That’s not an answer," Leesha said