Page 4 (1/2)

Thud In the eye If only Kaidan could see me now

I hadn’t spoken with any of the Neph No word from Kai In the deep recesses of my soul, worry threatened to reach up and pull me under He could be dead for all I knew

Thud

I had my choice of defense maneuvers I could have studied My instructors wanted to focus on Judo grappling and hand-to-hand coth, and endurance for it They couldn’t understand my interest in knives, and I wasn’t about to tell them that it made me feel connected to the boy I loved I wondered what he would think if he sawit dead-on Would he be proud or appalled? Did he still care? I’d seen through a chink in his emotional arht forthe sweet, outdoorsy scent that see a lie to the outside world

When the dagger landed in the dummy’s heart, I left it there and sat hard on my bed

Even with all its terror, the events of the suels to spare my life If they hadn’t shown and intervened when they did, there would have been three additional deaths that night: mine, Kaidan’s, and Kopano’s, who’d also stood to defend me

I sighed and picked up the phone to call Jay I owed hiht away "What’s up, girl?"

"Hey, you," I said, surprised he didn’t sound upset

"Feeling okay?" he asked

"Umyeah, , ’cause I was just about to call you"

"You were?"

"Yep Can you co"

He sounded excited Maybe he was finally getting used to es