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Keeping my eyes on Trill’s still form, I waited impatiently for Nell to let us in Finally her shields opened, just a bit Anyan inserted a wedge of his oer, sea our combined force into Nell’s so that our little orb of shield grew out of Nell’s larger orb, just as sometimes happens when children blow bubbles and two of the seamlessly, until ere entirely within the circle of Nell’s power
Inside the gnoed shouts echoed as, to my utter disbelief, she swore a blue streak I am well aware of my own penchant for the potty mouth, but I could only stare at Nell in awe at the expletives strea out of her mouth
She had just started in on Conleth’s sexual affinity for ground squirrels when Anyan barkedat the sight of Trill The kelpie looked awful Her little pony shape was blistered and blackened, and it tookI ta wounds as I knelt down to where Anyan was already hard at work healing her
The barghest had created a bubble of power around her, keeping the air off her wounds to decrease the risk of infection Slowly, painstakingly, he was healing her from the inside out I sent him a thread of my oer, this time careful to monitor my power expenditure With all of his attention focused on Trill, Anyan pushed what I gave him into his little infection-shield without coy, but other than that, I didn’t knohat to do In this shape, Trill had no hand to hold and I couldn’t see a patch of untouched skin to stroke and try to co I could do to help her besides feed Anyaninsults and threats as she hurled bolts of power at Conleth I shifted around, trying to get a better look at the ifrit halfling, but Anyan was in the way
So, still feeding the barghest e of Nell’s shield where I could get a better look
Conleth was starting to falter under Nell’s onslaught, and his fire had becoht, which meant I could finally discern a human shape Tall and slender, his focus seely blue in all that fire, shift fro’s attacks ceased as we stared at one another It only lasted a few seconds, but his intense gaze was enough to raise the hairs on my arm To my amazement and horror, he raised a hand to
Before I could react, Nell had taken advantage of our attacker’s momentary lapse of concentration She hit him with a double-barreled blast of power--one froer He sent athered herself for another hit, and then suddenly he was engulfed in even more flame than before
And that’s when he blasted off, like arocket ship Oneaway froods only knohere
"Well, well," Nell breathed, obviously i in shock, when Anyan called to Nell
"Gno over for Anyan
I switchedstood and shook hiazeto the gnoaway to follow the trail of fire that Conleth had left blazing behind hi, I finally realized just how very fucked I was as I plopped down next to the nearly healed kelpie
Then I dug my cell phone out of , at 8:00 AM sharp, nized Caleb’s SUV as it pulled in the drive, and Daoud cli Ryu, but I wasn’t about to kick up a fuss, considering ood-bye to my very confuzzled father
"Okay, Dad I’ll see you soon As soon as I can I know this is out of the blue, but Ryu needsi to help around the house"
My words were backed up by a gentle compulsion from Nell, whom I’d called Nurse Ratched in a moment of coet the allusion, so it was fine Because, as I had learned last night, she could kicka sweat
"Okay, honey Call ily I hated all the ic we’d worked on my dad for the past week, but we had to keep him happy so I could lure Conleth away from him and the rest of Rockabill My dad also had to be auard Ideally without hiuard
So I hadfor me at work Now that Valentine’s Day had passed, Sarah, from the Sty, could also take a few shifts And there was always Miss Carol, although I shuddered at the thought Miss Carol, Nell’s niece, was an inome with a penchant for debauchery She special ordered books so filthy we had to keep them wrapped behind the counter Miss Carol was also constantly insinuating she’d like to work at the bookstore, for kicks, but the wo and anything that popped in her head "It’s just the truth," she would always say in her own defense, and I’d grown tired of trying to explain that the truth did not