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The seod, and I felt the surge of power around us as David pulled together a bubble of protection just before the world came to a sudden, sharp end

"Hey"

I jerked awake, sweating and tre up, a hot blur on the horizon, and I wasn’t dead - eren’t dead, and there wasn’t any truck There hadn’t been any truck for hours, since we’d left it behind at the gas station

We were alive It had been a dreahtmare, so real it still ached in everyso fast it felt as if it were on the verge of needing a shock to bring it back to nor at me orry in his eyes His hand was on mine, just as it had been in the dream Exactly as it had been I twisted around, sure I was about to see the specter of the truck rising up behind us, but no

Nothing but road, and early- nized the road I’d traveled it before I’dfor Lewis’s last-known address in a desperate bid to save h I were still on the run?

David chose not to ask about rateful He downshifted the Mustang and blended smoothly into the traffic as he reached down between the seats and ca hot cup of coffee Not a word spoken I cried out in relief, grabbed it, and found it was exactly right - just hot enough, not one degree over, although I would have gladly chugged it if it had been the same mean temperature as lava, damn the burns and blisters I felt badly off balance and unsteady

When I’d taken enough in that I felt part of the world again, I sighed, tilted ainst the seat, and asked, "So how far do we have to go?"

"Couple of hours," he said "We’ll be there on time Do you need a comfort stop?"

Of course I did We found a small roadside diner with clean facilities and a pretty spectacular breakfast Probably not too siven s, biscuits, and gravy all sounded like heaven If heaven came with a side of bacon

David watched me consume with a lazy sort of pleasure in his expression as he nursed a cup of coffee and a bowl ofand looking him over, he didn’t mention it "That was some dream," he said "What happened?"

I didn’t want to talk about it Unlike"We died," I said No explanations His eyebrows cli for details, and then think better "That truck Did you ever see - "

He was already shaking his head "There was nothing weird about the truck, Jo," he said "It turned off and went its oay a little after you fell asleep It was a Peterbilt, carrying a load of television sets The driver was a Haitian i his cooled on my upraised fork "You really did pay attention"

"Of course I did He has six kids, a wife, and an elderlyabout the truck, everything about its cargo I wasn’t taking any chances Not with your life I’ve nearly lost you too many tiht to ht to catch my breath He leaned forward, cup cradled in both hands with exquisite care "Nothing will happen You have to trust aze "And you have to trustmay not be as si about the package" I nodded "Jo, I promise, I’ll try to keep an open mind No matter howunlikely all this see More than that, I kneasn’t easy for him to devote so much time to me; there were constant demands in the Djinn world, just as in the human one He had a day job, after all

"I love you," I said "More than chocolate And you kno avetilt of his head "Wouldn’t want you to faint like a girl later and blaain"

"Hey, buster! When have I ever fainted like a girl?"

He picked up the spoon from his fruit bowl and licked it, slowly and conte very deliberately around the sleek curves "I can think of one or two times"

"That," I said severely, "is totally unfair"

"What is?" He dipped the spoon into the little pot the waitress had left out for ly into the bowl of the spoon "Mmmm Fresh crealass I distinctly heard one of the other onesthat sounded like Thank you, Jesus

"Stop it Not even you canfor stern, but it was co else It wasn’t that I illed; it was that nobody was immune to David when he really put effort into it Especially me

"Oh, I don’t know," he said, and even his voice was pure seduction "Fiveabout - "

"Is it that thing with your little finger? Because I’m ready for that one this ti of the thing with ue?"

His smile deepened, and sparks flew in the darkness of his eyes "You sure you really want ht here?"

I was pretty sure that if he did, there’d be a lot of wo I took a deep, slow, determined breath, and said, "Play nice, David"

"I’m always nice"

Oh, I didn’t think so That was part of his dark, chocolate-rich charm, and as I’d already noted to himI really couldn’t resist chocolate

He ate the rest of the fruit, nibbling on the estiveness that I think every waitress in the dinerat all she could do for hi lanced down involuntarily at hed, ate the last bite of cantaloupe, and nodded "Right," he said "Let’s get going"