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Asubsided and she opened her eyes "There were two disks in the box One of them is still here Nearby The other" She shook her head "It’s too far away for aze drifted to the floor as if she were ashamed "I don’t knoorks, but I can feel certain artifacts when they get close Those disks were like that forEvery female Theronai see Sentinel artifacts, she was going to be invaluable to thereed to becoet that other wo their huht He couldn’t push her, no ht nohen he was touching her like this, and the pain was gone, it was easy to be patient
But as soon as he had to let go, and that ain, patience was a lot scarcer
He couldn’t force her to accept his luceria It had to be her choice, and lingering here in the room with the body of her dead friend was not the way to convince her to ht one
"I don’t want you to watch," he told her He was going to have toupsetting
She gave a tight nod and turned around, pulling fro hiony he kneas only a heartbeat away
He tried to prepare hiht that bore down on hiled sound hissed through his teeth, and he reeled inside the grip of that pain, powerless to stop it fro and shaking, but at least his vision began to return
If anything had happened during that moment of incapacitation--if the Synestryn had attacked--there wouldn’t have been a thing he could have done to stop it He would have been unable to protect Viviana
And that thought was the one that changed his mind about patience He had to convince her to take his luceria and end his pain Tonight It was the only way he could ensure that she stayed safe
But not here Not in this house He couldn’t do that to her
Nealthe professor’s desk for the disk When he didn’t find it, he moved to the man’s pockets, and there, deep inside the pocket of his sweater, lay the cold, metal, palm-size disk
He shoved it into his jeans pocket and eased the rabbed a crocheted throw from the back of a nearby recliner and draped it over his body
"Ti Viviana’s arm with his clean hand as he left the roo?"
"Yes" He ducked into a bathroom he found down the hall and washed the blood froht off so she didn’t have to see the mess "You said you can sense these objects?"
"If they’re close"
He hurried therip on her arm so she wouldn’t slip "How close?"
"I can usually tell whenever one of them comes into the city"
He had to find that second disk Froet would heal without both halves, and Torr was running out of time "Do you have any sense of direction as to where the second disk went?"
"I don’t know I have to concentrate," said Viviana
"Got it"
They got in his truck and he fired up the engine and drove back down the gravel driveway
"Where are we going?"
"Just waret sohbors to see his truck and report it to the police when they eventually found the professor’s body With any luck, the truck’s tire tracks would be filled in with snow before anyone else knew of the professor’s death
Neal drove a few miles and pulled into the entrance to some farmland A snow-covered chain barred his path, but for now, this was as good a place as any to stop It was nice and open around the him a clear view if any ," he said
Her body was rigid in the seat, and he could see shiny streaks where her tears of grief had finally fallen
Neal wanted to pull her into his arms and offer some kind of comfort, but he didn’t dare He still felt battered fro her bare skin, and he wasn’t sure how much more punishment he could take If the pain did eventually kill him, she’d be left unprotected
Viviana closed her eyes, squeezing outher cry da he could do to bring back her friend He didn’t even have a freakin’ tissue to give her The only things he had to offer were a strong sword arm and his desperation for her to save him It made him a needy bastard, but there wasn’t much he could do about that
A few seconds later, she let out a disheartened sigh "I can’t feel it It’s too far away I’ain, and Neal couldn’t stand it any longer
He slid across the seat and gathered her in his ar into hiers clenched in his shirt and he could feel the treh her "It’s okay, sweetheart Don’t worry We’ll figure soave his here"