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"David, no! I’ to do it I could see it in his eyes, in the fierce, focused determination on his face "Please," I said I dropped all my defenses, and let him see me as vulnerable as I really was "Please don’t do this to us"

His lips thinned, and he flinched a little "I wish you didn’t look so much like her"

"I a to find that out, because the Deer proble to"David, God, stop it! Our daughter isn’t dead!"

It seemed like, for one second, time stopped Even the wind ceased to blow Then it all snapped back with a vengeance, as David snarled and grabbed a handful ofintofury

"You," he said, "don’t talk about hter Ever"

It hurt to talk, but I had no choice "David, if you open that bottle, you’re e mistake Imara’s alive She’s become the Earth Oracle Go check if you don’t believe le at which he was holdinganywhere"

He was about one second fro the cork on that sealed bottle I didn’t knohat that would do, but it wouldn’t be good

I got support from an entirely unexpected quarter: Lewis He said quietly, "It couldn’t hurt to check"

"Stay out of it," David hissed at hi? Look, I’m the first one to want to believe in miracles, but Joanne’s memories came back too fast; we both said so What if" Lewis looked atthe truth? If you’re wrong and you open that bottle, we can’t ht without a lot of death and destruction"

"She’s lying!" David’s grip on htened I squeaked faintly, surefroo and check" Lewis sounded awfully cal anywhere It’s a short trip for you to Sedona and back"

The pressure on my head relaxed so suddenly it was all I could do to keepoff the road The push of his hand on led up to le that didn’t hurt like hell, trying to ignore the cutting ache of the zip-ties onsilently around Nobody was shifting attention, including Lewis

David vanished with an audible pop of air

I let my head drop Sweat ran down my cheeks, funneled to the point of my chin, and pattered on the stained fabric ofto find, or believe But at least I had five an

"Yeah, yeah, you’ll kill me," I finished in a tired mumble "Save your breath" What if Imara didn’t appear to David? I hadn’t even considered that ht not want to see hiht about it, it was thinner than a Hollywood starlet on diuretics "I a your ass later, Lewis"

He smiled Cynically "Always possible," he said "Shut up before I seal your mouth"

He could do it, too I shut up and concentrated on breathing, and wondering where the hell my Djinn cavalry had ridden off to Venna had just left me Cut her losses and skipped I didn’t know if Ashan was dead in the wreck, or if she’d taken hi up forI tried adjusting my wrists, and tolike rubber bands I stoppedthat Lewis-or the other Wardens-hadn’t noticed It didn’t look like they had "How’s Marion?" I asked "I didn’t hurt her, did I?"

"Marion’s fine" Lewis’s tone said the subject was not only closed but locked "Last warning Shut up"

I’d blurted out the question only to keep hibrown-haired surfer dude, yelled a warning "She’s getting loose!"

Narc

I abandoned any pretense of trying to keep it low-key, snapped the zip-ties, pushed myself up from the road, and ran for the nearest fallen tree I dove behind it just as a firebolt zipped toward me, and the wood exploded into splinters and flame I didn’t stop I crawled, frantic to find some way, any way, to defendme on the aetheric The other Wardens weren’t as powerful, but they were coh, and when I rolled for the shelter of another pile of brush it went up in flaust of wind hit , and I tripped over a sudden profusion of wildly growing tree roots erupting out of the ground to wrap aroundgirl of Chinese ancestry, I guessed, as standing nearest to rasses, vinesanything that would hold I wrestled futilely, then relaxed as a vine wrapped three tiht," I choked out, and shut my eyes "I’ll wait here, then"

The minutes ticked by, each one both torturously slow and unbelievably fast I could allass-or,out ofto end up dead at David’s hands, or some crazed, Demon-infected Djinn’s Either way, my prospects looked none too shiny

I sensed the disturbance of air that accompanied David’s arrival, and openedout of the air He earing his coat again, the long olive-drab military coat, and under it his shirt was black, as were his pants He looked ready for battle, and the look on his face was fierce and focused

Shit I’d thrown my last set of dice, and I’d lost

"Well?" Lewis asked David didn’t pause, and he didn’t answer He kept walking, past Lewis, right to round that held me down, unwrapped the vine froather me in his arms and rock me slowly back and forth His hands stroked my back, up and down, then moved up to cup the back ofcuts, healing strained and herniated low of safety

He felt so incredibly warainst me