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Chapter Twenty-Nine

The wo with Galen was one of their wizards Specialist Paula Gregorio was only inches taller than e brown eyes Her eyes doer than she was, and much more delicate than the personality that burned out of them

She shook my hand a little too hard, like some men hen they want to test another man But our hands were the same size, and no matter how fit she was under that uniforht have looked as delicate as Specialist Gregorio, but comparatively, I was a lot harder to hurt I was only part human, and she was all human

But the fact that she didn&039;t like ood start, since, theoretically, she was here to keep me safe and alive; it would have been better if she&039;d likeddark eyes to Galen let me know exactly why she didn&039;t likeout here for the last few hours with Specialist Gregorio toGalen, nothing he thought of as flirting He was just being friendly He&039;d have talked the saorio didn&039;t know that, and explaining it would have sounded either insulting to her or like I was trying to keep her away froo Hopefully, my safety would not depend on her If it did, we had other probleht Galen liked her

The second wizard was tall, though not as tall as most of the sidhe, which put hiorio was black-haired and dark Staff Sergeant Dawson had an easy smile and hair cut so short you could see scalp on either side of his cap "Princess Meredith, it&039;s an honor to escort you to safety" He shook e to it, but there was a flare of ic Not on purpose, because his own face looked too startled for that, but just a very powerful hu the hand of the new queen of faerie

He didn&039;t drop ood I drew azed up at hi I hadn&039;t before There was an uptilt to his blue eyes, and the fingers of his hand were just a little too long, a little too thin, a little too delicate for his height There was a sound like bells, and the scent of flowers, though not roses

"What was that?" he asked, in a voice gone just a little breathy

"I didn&039;t hear anything," Gregorio said, but she looked out into the dark, past the lights She trusted Dawson&039;s instincts I bet he had a lot of odd hunches that proved to be right

"Bells," Galen said, and he moved closer to Dawson and me He looked at me over the wizard&039;s shoulder He and I shared a e

Dawson noticed it "What is it? I heard the bells too, but you both knohat it is Is it so his hands on his arms as if he were cold, but I kneasn&039;t cold froh I had no doubt that his skin ran with goose-flesh, as if so ordinary to hide it all and not spook him more, but what came out of my mouth was the opposite "Welcome home, Dawson"

"I don&039;t knohat " But the words died on his lips, and he siorio turned back to us She jerked Dawson by the arm hard, so that it broke our eye contact "We arned about her effect on eant"

He looked embarrassed, and then stepped away froht beyond us "It&039;s not that I&039;ot a job to do"

"Do you both think that I just tried to seduce the sergeant?" I asked

Gregorio glared at me "You just can&039;t seem to leave any orio," Dawson said in a sharp voice, "you will not speak to the princess like that You will treat her and her party with the utmost respect" But he still didn&039;t look too closely at me when he said it

"Yes, sir," she said, but even those tords held anger

"It isn&039;t eant Dawson"

He shook his head "I&039;ll be riding in the first truck with the ot a female driver and the specialist to ride with you in the second vehicle"

"You have some faerie blood in your ancestry," Rhys said

"That&039;s not " But again Dawson&039;s words failed hi his head

"Don&039;t orio said

I laughed I couldn&039;t help it

"What&039;s so funny?"

In ainst me now if you tried" Out loud, I said, "I&039;m sorry, Specialist, I&039;m just tired, and it&039;s been a rather difficult few days It&039;s just nervous tension, I think Just get us out of here Farther away from the faerie mounds will be better for all of us"

She looked like she wanted to argue but just nodded and went to check on her sergeant

Rhys and Galen moved close to me Rhys said, "Your power called to his blood"

"You enetics?" I asked

"I suppose so," Rhys said

Doyleus all in close to talk "Is this what it means to call someone&039;s blood?" I asked

Rhys nodded "Yes, it&039;s been so long since any of us could do it that I&039;d forgotten what itmyself back into the curve of Doyle&039;s body Sholto and Mistral were on either side of our group, but they atching outhile they listened, as if Doyle had told them to do it He probably had

"You hold the hand of blood, Merry," Doyle said againstit out of the body," Rhys said "It&039;s also being able to call to the ic in a person&039;s body Itto any fey blood in the huood on one hand; it will up their power level, andto creep out the huure out how to do it a little more quietly"

"What does it mean, exactly, that my hand of blood calls to Dawson&039;s blood?"

"It ic calls to his"

"Like calls to like," Mistral said, his eyes still directed out into the night

"The fey in Europe interrated to the United States," I said

"Yes," Rhys said

"So this ed "Maybe"

"But it means more than that," Mistral said "It means that the princess may be able to call the part-fey to her cause"

I looked up, trying to see Doyle&039;s face, but he laid his cheek on top ofhis face, but just for comfort, I think "What does that mean?"

Doyle spoke low, his chest and throat so close to ainst me "Once, to hold some hands of power, you could call the humans to be your army, or your servants You could call thely The hand of blood was one of the few that could make humans want to join you Literally, if you have all the power that the hand of blood once held, you call to the ic in their blood, and they will answer"

"Do they have a choice?" I asked

"When you master this power, they will not want to have a choice They ant to serve you, as we do"

"But "

Rhys put his fingertip on my lips "It&039;s a type of love, Merry It&039;s the way men were supposed to feel for their lord and master Once it wasn&039;t like it is now, or has been for so long" He lowered his finger, and looked utterly sad "I could do it too, call ave them safety, comfort, joy I protected them, and I did love them Then I lost my powers, and I couldn&039;t protect theed ed us both

Rhys whispered, "I don&039;t knohether to be happy that this kind of power is returning to us or sad It&039;s so wonderful when it works, but when it went away, it was like I died withI prayed for true death then I prayed to die with my people, but I was immortal I couldn&039;t die, and I couldn&039;t save theainst his cheek, and felt tears frooblin who took his other eye had taken its tears too I felt Doyle&039;s arhten around us both Then I felt Galen come in behind Rhys and hold him too

Sholto put a hand on Rhys&039;s hair, and Mistral&039;s deep voice caain"

"Me, either," Rhys said, in a voice squeezed with tears

"Me, either," I said

Doyle spoke "You may have no choice"