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She would always hunger for hiible thing

"Connor would only have co weary

"Unlike ht To him this plane is probably hell"

"Great," she "

Aidan had refuted the ancient prophecy of his people that said she was the Key destined to destroy his world and the huht because of his love for her No other Guardian would have such a potent iainst the headboard, stretching out his long legs bared by loose khaki shorts Dusk was rapidly turning into night, but neither of them made any effort to turn on a la fro the bottle up, Aidan drank in large gulps and then settled back with the beer in his lap

"Maybe there is a way to track the Guardians through dreaood news"

"I hate feeling so helpless" Lyssa’s fingers picked restlessly at the bottle label, her eyes drifting to the sword and scabbard lying atop a nearby chair

"I can’t read your language, so I can’t help you with deciphering the journals you stole"

"Borrowed indefinitely," he corrected, laughing

She snorted "I have no coht I don’t have centuries of memories like you do, so I can’t help you find the artifacts"

He reached out and stilled her restless fingers with an icy, wet hand "That doesn’tYour ’very ied That’s why I brought you along this tione for days or weeks at a time I miss you too much"

Aidan looked her with a soft smile "I need you with me It’s not merely a ive ive me hope

Every tioing, Hot Stuff"

"Aidan…" Her eyes stung He could say the corniest shit, but it never sounded corny co from hi he did--even loving her

"I was dying before I met you"

She knew he had been Not physically, but ehtmares and disheartened by his lack of connection to anyone, Aidan had beenHe’d shared with her how lonely he had been, but he didn’t have to say it aloud She had seen the emptiness in his eyes

"I love you" She leaned over and pressed her lips to his

Despite their differences--which were as vast as being from two separate species--they were very much alike Tormented by lack of dreams, she’d been too exhausted for any kind of life beyond work Aidan’s love gave her optimis the back of her head and keeping her close when she would have pulled back He licked her lips and then nipped the lower one with his teeth She e you," he whispered, "but we’re going to have to leave soon"

Lyssa nodded and caught her pendant in her fist

Odd how a stone lass-like e her life But it radiated a unique energy--a coht her to sleep norot out of the shower earlier"

"Perfect" He kissed the tip of her nose "We should wait until it is co to ransack that ure out what our Guardian friend is up to We can take off from there and head down to Ensenada, where we’ll pick up the relic for McDougal and etaway driver"

"Yep, lead foot" Aidan took another long pull of his beer "At least this tiuarantee us teeks’ worth of search ti Mexico without that taza,"

Earlier in the month he had been only hours away from an auction bid on an obscure dreaal, called him back to California for his opinion on a possible sword purchase Aidan had been furious but didn’t have any choice in the al was an eccentric and exceptionally wealthy collector of antiquities, and Aidan’s firsthand knowledge of history and his expert grasp of every language on Earth had al’s acquisitions team leader The position provided him with the means to travel the world at will, all expenses paid, truly the only way they could afford to have Aidan searching for the artifactshis job was a necessity

"I don’t understand why the Elders waited until now to send Guardians after the artifacts," Lyssa said, thinking aloud "Why not before you came here?"

"Because before the Key-- you--were found, they were safer here The Twilight is small Over centuries, the items would have been discovered there Here, they were far fro out her breath, Lyssa tossed back the sheets and slid off the bed Aidan’s lohistle of appreciation as she stood hetti-strapped sundress and slipped it over her head, then grabbed her beer and went out onto the balcony to admire the last of the coastal sunset Athe railing, the other holding his beer His lips nuzzled the top of her shoulder and the eer body was a welcome comfort

The scents of a barbeque drifted up from somewhere below Nearby, on the small plastic table in the corner of the balcony, an open bottle of suntan oill released the faint s her were expected for a busy tourist resort town in Baja California She worried about Aidan, though, knowing that centuries of living in a bubble--