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The smile disappeared, and he looked ill and tired "The worst kind," he said "Council trouble I broke out"
I froze,of soup halfway to hosts of spices "Broke out?"
"They were keeping me in a hospital, the one where" He had an inward look, and what flashed across his face didn&039;t look like a pleasantthe junior Wardens for the hospital Marion Bearheart oversahere Wardens checked in and walked out-or were carried out-as regular huot neutered, or in my case, spayed
The place where our powers could be ripped away at the roots
"No," I whispered, and put the soup down to take his hands His felt cold, still "God, Lewis, they couldn&039;t Not you"
"They hadn&039;t decided, but I knehich way it was going to go Martin didn&039;t want it, but the others-" He shrugged "I don&039;t fit, Jo, I have too much power, and they can&039;t control it They don&039;t like that"
No wonder he&039;d run He had so reeing to it, but she orn to obey, like all of us Leas right not to take the chance
It explained why he&039;d come to me like this, wet and sick; he couldn&039;t use his powers, not even to protect himself from the rain or burn the virus out of his bloodstreaht like a Roman candle every tith, he couldn&039;t defend hi forehead and stared into his eyes The sparks jumped between us, weak but still there
"Trust et you here"
He fell asleep within s and put the water out of the bathtub By the tied the robe for a co
He looked very young, but then he was-older than er than most other Wardens I sat down on the floor next to the couch, leaned ainst it, and listened to him sleep while I watched TV with the sound turned down I didn&039;t dare close ht, alert for the approach of anybody who , the rain stopped, and whether I one fro The floor had taken a horrible toll on my muscles, and by the ti position and hobbled my way into the kitchen to put on coffee, he was back, dressed in ed the ground for th on Lewis, and he didn&039;t have to roll up the sleeves
"How do you feel?" I asked, and poured hi me His eyes were clearer, anyway, but his hair still stuck up in wet porcupine quills and gave him a vulnerable look
"Better"
"Good" I reached for the coffee cake I&039;d put out on the counter and winced as another roup went on strike "Wish I could say the same"
I didn&039;t see him move toward me, and the shock of his warm hands on my back came as a surprise
"Do you e, capable hands down to ht where it hurt in the long muscles Slow, deliberate pressure that hurt at first, then dissolved into absolute pleasure I pulled in a slow breath, let it out, and felt tension leak away froe therapy?"
"I&039;m open to new ideas" I could hear the shtly, in slow circles "Feel good?"
"Any better, I&039;d lose motor skills"
"I&039;m sorry I pulled you into this," he said His hands ht"
"I&039;ve had a few," I ad as you want to"
His hands made it to my shoulders and squeezed away hours of stress "No, I really can&039;t," he said There were a lot of ways to interpret that, but if Lewismore intimate, I couldn&039;t tell it froers on pressure points His thu into the nerve clusters just behind o weak
"So you&039;re leaving"
I felt that sht stand" He so If I stay with you, it just puts you in the fire with me You don&039;t need to attract their attention"
"Me?" I turned, startled, and found myself chest-to-chest with him He didn&039;t step back "Why?"
"You knohy" His brown eyes were bleak, but they never quite lost their edge of amusement "They only like Wardens to have so much power You- you&039;re different Not to mention uncontrollable"
"Hey!" I put my hands on his chest and shoved him back a step "Watch it, buster"
"I didn&039;t ed "Iyou, Jo Don&039;t give them a reason"
"You must still have a fever I&039;m just Staff, for God&039;s sake Why would anybody be watching me?"
Lewis held up his hands in surrender "Point taken I&039;lared at him "Don&039;t bullshit me"
"Don&039;t pretend you don&039;t knohat you are"
"Well, I don&039;t know" I felt my face set into a frown "You tell me"
He reached out and took my hand in his
Skin on skin
Sparks Waves of power echoing through me, back to him, amplified as they returned to me
I pulled free and stepped back until I felt the kitchen counter behindseconds we just looked at each other, and then he nodded, reached around me to pick up his cup, and wandered back to the bathrooh I drank the whole cup while watching the closed door
When he careen knit shirt, and hiking boots he&039;d been wearing when he arrived Dry, at least And with some color back in his too-thin face I went in the bathroo of snacks and bottles of water As care packages go, it wasn&039;t much I tossed in the contents of my wallet, which didn&039;t ers brushed ain He craved it, I knew So did I And neither one of us could afford that
He&039;d left so behind in my hand, a folded piece of paper with meticulously crisp corners I started to unfold it, but he stopped me "It&039;s an address," he said "If you need me, that&039;s where you&039;ll find ave him a faint smile "You know better"
"Yeah"