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Like the first ti besidethe side of the terrace as a shield But from up close, I could see his eyes His utterly, totally, bat-caca-crazy eyes

That wild gaze roa to knohether I was hurt I shook ue to for a hand on , the fire behind us fra hi everyone well distracted and I had to give hiain, shifting his fingers to cup my chin My reflexes finally kicked in and I jerkedled, and my heart went cold with terror I responded with a heartfelt, if not particularly brave, whi et to kno people I understand that" My fellow halfling’s wackadoo blue eyes burned into ether," he added with an earnest nod

I gulped, trying to overco this little encounter I had to humor the loony fire-ht His hand was still fir my chin, and an occasional burst of flaly randoot very little control, I realized,acutely Even if he didn’t want to hurt me at the moment, I couldn’t trust Conleth not to barbecue ry So I had to placate hiht as Ithat someone--anyone--would turn around and notice that o You’re srinned, brushing my hair away from my face I forced down the reflexive shudder that threatened to rack oes for pretty ones, but you are perfect"

I felt a fresh wave of nausea, realizing that by "pretty ones," Conleth meant the women Ryu must have fed on in my absence I hated myself for the fact that Con’s words bothered iven the circuht They were all so busy watching each other that I could have walked right up to you and said ‘Boo!’" Conleth laughed, his handsI had in me not to pull away--I’d never realized just how invasive and personal so hten you," he continued I’uess we all have our blind spots "I realized how special you were after your bravery that first night Then you talked to ether, so we need to trust one another Because that’s what relationships are all about Trust" Con nodded fir me look into his eyes "I’ve never been able to trust anyone, Jane But I know that we understand each other We’re like two sides of the same coin"

My throat was dry; ether I licked the to find e him, keep him distracted The others will be here soon They have to be here soon…

"We’re so si convulsively on led not to flinch "I kno hard you’ve had it, living a treated like an equal by the others" He said both "hu about "shit" and "crap" Conleth had issues with both sides of his heritage, which I suppose was understandable "And I kno strong you are I can feel you when you’re near" He stopped clutching ot a faraway look I recognized: the slightly predatory, slightly desperate look of a horny man "Your power calls tohands, so that his thumbs brushed the sides of aze drop down to my body

"Conleth," I said, a little too sharply I wanted to keep hih sex I needed to keep hiently "Why me? I’m not special"

"Jane, how can you say that? Look at us! Look at ot distracted, flared up again, dangerously close to my hair "We are power We have all the power of the others, but none of their weaknesses None We can do anything ant"

I nodded, trying to keep my eyes wide, interested He smiled at my reaction

"They’re corrupt, inbred Their time is over And hu fed off of, used, bred like cattle" He snorted, taking my hands in his "Both sides will fall The purebreds are dying off, and the only way they can survive in any way is to keep breeding with the hus like us We don’t need anyone else"

He then raised my hands, palainst ainst rotesque parody of Ryu’s favorite endear up and down, along with his fire I was right; he had no control Conleth was entirely self-taught, and his coic was more than a little sketchy

"Think of what our children will be like, Jane Think of their power Your water, h their blood They’ll be able to stop the world spinning on its axis, reconfigure society to their whiin that telltale way that hter

I put the brakes onback sharply His eyes narrowed, and his mouth hardened, and I knew I had to distract him

Luckily, I found my voice Unfortunately, it didn’t say what it was supposed to IInstead I said, "I’d never be safe with you Silver practically raised you And now he’s er I beefed up my shields and put as much physical space as I could between his body andup at me, however, Conleth ?" he asked, his voice small

"Don’t act all innocent," I snapped, without thinking But he still didn’t react

"Doc…" he whispered, and I would have sworn on my Julia Child’s cookbook that he was honestly horrified by the idea that Silver had disappeared In fact, he was so surprised that his grip onfor just such a moment, and I wrenched away from Conleth as hard as I could, just as the cavalry arrived I’d gotten one arm free when Con was struck full in the face by two siht white blue and the other a dark swirling green--that crashed against his faltering shields like two NFL linebackers

Unfortunately, he still had a tight grip on one of my arms, and as the force of the strike catapulted him up and over and onto the terrace, he took ainst the far side of the iron fencing, just as I saw Ryu and Anyan vault over the fence where we’d been crouched a second earlier So close, yet so far away, , rather inappropriately, as Conleth hauleddoll to holdused as a huirl serious doubts about the honesty of a boy’s declarations of love

We were at a staley swirled in both Ryu’s and Anyan’s palms, but they were unable to let fly due to the fact that Conleth was crouched behind e palpably prickled off of his body Conleth was in big trouble if the barghest ever caught up with hi, and Anyan nodded as Ryu dropped his own little sphere of power It fizzled on the ground before winking out of existence Nell would not have approved of the waste of energy

"Conleth, you’veyou are But nobody wants Jane hurt, do we? She’s shaking, Conleth She’s scared Don’t scare Jane Let her go"

I know Ryu was using my name, and Conleth’s, on purpose, but I didn’t think standard negotiating procedure was going to ith the halfling Not at a e and the excessive torh to him when he was threatened All of his horrible experiences had combined to make him a survivor, in the worst sense of the word He would do anything to keep alive, to keep going, noso