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Trajan nods, opens the back door on the Escalade and et inside with his hand palm up Nervously, I look back at Isaac onehis time so that he can use what’s left of it to watch ," he says telepathically, "and if I sense the slightest bit of alar"

"Okay"

"Leave the link open," he adds "Even if my father tells you to close it off Do you understand?"

Easy for him to say that, but I’m the one outside with Trajan Alone If Trajan tells ht have to cave and do what he says

"Yes," I answer

Isaac walks inside the house to the voices of a dozen concerned people:

"Isaac, what’s going on?" Isaac’s sister, Camilla, says restlessly

"Why is he here?" Daisy says "I sense so"

"You left her with hi better," Zia says and I always find it a how she can be so sarcastic in even theher fears than some are

The flurry of voices snaps out of ht switch when Trajan speaks

"Please get in"

I finally do as he wishes and cli I do is look around the seats for Aramei and I’m baffled to see that she isn’t here

I sit down and the noises from outside close off as the door shuts behind Trajan

"I assu why you can feel her?"

It takes me a second to understand his question because, quite frankly, I’ in a close, confined space with the world’s ht to be pushed up on the level of stupid and it not count againstthe nervousness down sonity "Where is she?"

"Aramei is in the cabin," Trajan reveals, "and why you can hear her and sense her is the reason that I aht presume he isn’t capable of violence if they didn’t already knoho and what he was But truthfully, the calm in his voice is what intimidates me the most It translates as confidence and do words to get his point across because that eerie calm does it for him

Trajan, as always, is handso facial hair that grows perfectly on his chin, under his nose and upward along the lower half of his cheeks, buzzed short so that it’s not too bushy But he’s dressed differently than I’ve seen hie and ancient, wearing no shirt and an old leather coat split down the sides Today he looks ht with hiht black t-shirt better than they do There’s so about a man with power that makes hihten ether in my lap I try to look him in the eyes as little as possible because it feels disrespectful ofme first why I can sense her at all?"

Trajan rests his back in the cos splay, folding his strong hands together adorned by thick silver rings that look like soothic shop The only difference is that his rings are, I know, very real and very priceless But more than their worth, the fact that they’re solid silver shows even more hoerful this olf is because silver burns like hell Isaac told ave me in June is silver, but now that I’ periods of ti I have since put it away safely and I don’t wear it at all

Trajan looks out ahead of him and says, "You were once bonded to Isaac when you were hu a Black Beast doer have to drink his blood to stay alive, but it is still in you and it will always be"

I turn my head to look directly at him so that I can focus solely on his words as they fill aze focused out ahead, not appearing to look at anything in particular, but not lost in his thoughts, either

And I continue to listen with the greatest intent