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Her eyes undoubtedly as wide asher shields with her Dashing away fronified little sprint, the Alfar picked the worst place to run I groaned, inwardly, as she made her away directly toward the one part of the cavern we didn’t want her to see: the part with the little tunnel Blondie swore, taking off after our favorite nee balls by the dozen in an atteet Phaedra to turn back around and e

Graeme, for his part, had dealt with his mistress’s abandonment with aplomb At first he’d hesitated when she’d run off, as if unsure whether to follow her I’d like to think he was afraid of takinghow often--and how thoroughly--he’d trounced ht rein on ive away the trap, so I didn’t overbait it by doing anything too dra a swoon But when his next hesitant probe touched htest step

Most likely realizing that the sareat protector away had also takenat my mental shields more firmly I kept up a modicum of the sort of shield I’d formed before, when I’d slammed his down, but I purposefully kept it weak

The nice thing about Graes: sadis my vulnerable defenses, he went ahead and slarueso life’smyself, I allowed my shields to recede before him But that was the key word: recede What probably felt like cru theo, until I think they were actually under the surface of my skin

The important fact, however, was that they still stood So when Grae he had, I was ready

Focusing my power into the narrowest stream I could make it, I waited till after Graeot under ured out what I’d done, he could have walked up toI would never have survived no matter how quickly Blondie intervened But I knew that Grae his victims collude with hi Not that he didn’t enjoy the pain-infliction part, but I knew he really enjoyed the fact that he could ic he leveled at ic And when he was done, it wasforith the thin shafts of power I’d created, i an ice pick as I did so, I pushed as fast and hard as I could I knew I had only moments before Graeme realized what I’d done and he closed off his channels

So I struck like a serpent, thrusting ical push Graeme’s eyes widened as he felt what I’d done, but he was too late My power burrowed through his channels, straight past his own defenses, buried as it was in his ownwinks,into his brainpan

Grae in a rictus of pain Unlike him, however, I took no pleasure in his obvious torht, so I pushed evensullied through contact with his depraved mind

Luckily, the contact was short-lived, for Graeround, twitching, his eyes rolled back into his head Before I could let any pity for that e ball to the head, and another, until he was still

I wasn’t sure if he was dead, but he was definitely still And I’d seen way too uy is actually dead and gets her ankle grabbed in return So instead I hit hie ball and then wove the water around hih juice in it to last a few hours

Phaedra, inal had caught up with the Alfar well before the entrance to the tunnel, and they were having a good, old-fashioned bash-off Blondie’s weapon was that sa sword, and Phaedra had created two short swords of her own, but her weapons were purely ainst Blondie’s fierce, real-steel-and- at inopportune moments Phaedra nearly lost her head, and at least one ear, a few ti to roll away or create another weapon at just the last second

I had to give it to the bald little Alfar: She was nothing if not a fighter

"Enjoying the view?" Blondie shouted fro at Phaedra

I didn’t answer, but tried to get closer to the Original

"Never o on up ahead! Fulfill your destiny!"