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"The hard way" Her grin faded and she got up frolass barrier to look down on the rest of Crave When she turned back to face ely fa about you," I ure it out I feel like I know you"

"Is that what your gut tells you?" she asked "You should listen to it It’s telling you that you can trust ht seerasp, but please try your best You’re important to this, Samantha More important than you even realize You’re the center of it all That’s why I needed to find you"

"What do you ged into this because Stephen kissed me"

She looked weary suddenly, like she hadn’t slept in days "You know that’s not true"

She was right There were no coincidences here

"You’re the reason the other grays exist," I said quietly "You’re their leader--their boss You’re the one in control here"

"I am," she said evenly "So you can see why I need to know about your friend Bishop and that very special golden dagger Stephen toldfor me--even now, at this very moment If he findsBut he’s not"

My mouth went dry I didn’t want her to know the truth about Bishop, but at the sa me that Natalie wasn’t simply the evil entity I’d expected her to be There was more to this story, a vital seed of truth here, but the picture was still too blurry for me to see it clearly

"I don’t knohat you want fromfor"

None that I was prepared to share right now, anyway

She lass barrier and approachedhim"

I shook my head

"I understand why you’re confused Frankly, I don’t really care about Bishop that much, other than concern about my own survival All I care about now is you"

"But why do you care about me?" I searched for deception in her expression, but I saw none She moved away from me to sit back down at the table