Page 9 (1/2)

Koldo just had to teach her how to fight the toxins And he had to do it while keeping her calthen what the paura had left behind, and tension would weaken her irzech had left behind Without fear and tension, the toxins would fade With hope and joy, the toxins would fade faster

Bottorew and what you starved died

Would she be able to look past her negative eht?

A spark of anticipation beaded, so cascade of acid his , he couldn’t wait to see Nicola again, to learn what she’d decided about his disappearance If she’d convinced herself she’d i other than hu for," a male voice said from behind him

Still naked, Koldo spun and faced Thane, the second-in-co free the word implied The male’s carnal appetite ell-known He hunted a new lover every day, discarding those he finished with as if they were dirty tissue

And yet, even knowing that, woh he was the onlyblue eyes

"What does Zacharel wantinto the air pocket at his side to withdraw another robe He yanked the s They arched over the warrior’s wide shoulders, sweeping all the way to the floor Pure white was broken up by dazzling gold Trying--and failing

"It’ll be better to show rather than explain," Thane said, an odd note in his voice

That didn’t bode well "Very well Lead the way"

CHAPTER FIVE

THE NEXT WEEK PASSED in a blur for Nicola Every day she woke up at the butt crack of daent to work, went to see her sister on her lunch hour, went back to work, went to her second job and toiled until the wee hours of the night before at last heading ho asleep for four ain

Now, she sat at her desk at Estell&au the clock Come on, noon Get here already The only aspect of her life that had changed was her thinking She couldn’t get Koldo out of her mind Who was he? What was he?

After his disappearance, she’d asked the girl at the coffee shop whether or not she’d actually spoken to a giant of a man with a bald head and beaded beard The answer hadn’t surprised her

"Are you kiddingor, like, is he available? Because I already wrote ive it to him"

Unless they’d shared the same hallucination, Koldo was real and Nicola wasn’t crazy Or maybe she was, despite that She’d actually taken the napkin, curious to knohat Koldo’s reaction would be

Butas he? she wondered again What did say-la mean, the last word he’d spoken to her? She had no idea how to spell it, so she hadn’t been able to look it up online And how had he vanished in the blink of an eye? Was he sohost that more than one person could see?

With as many near-death and death-death-for-a-minute-or-two experiences as she’d had, she knew there was an afterlife Several times she’d floated into it Once, she’d even talked to so

Isn’t this nice? he’d said He’d had pale hair, eyes as clear as the ocean and a pair of beautiful white wings He’d been handso robe as he’d tried to urge her down a long tunnel Isn’t this peaceful? Just let go of your old life and you can have this forever

He’d reels she’d seen in picture books, but there’d been so in those eyesshe had fought hi to return to Laila, and for a second, only a second, his affable ht red eyes, gnarled bones and fangs

A monster A monster just like she used to see as a child, before therapy and drugs had convinced her otherwise Now she wasn’t sure what to think about Koldo and the ure it out There was an overload of inforht ansould elicit peace; she knew that much Peace always accompanied truth

Koldo would just have to tell her If he ever showed up again

And he had to show up! Did he really kno to heal her heart? If so, could Laila’s be healed, as well?

The more she wondered, the more hope filled her To be able to fall asleep and not wonder if she would wake up, or if Laila would still be aliveto never fear losing another sibling To be able to walk up a hill, holding Laila’s hand, without either of the and juet married and have children To live, really live, as they’d used to dreaedy convinced them to deal in "reality" rather than "fantasy"

Koldo had said he would be visiting the hospital again, but hadn’t le him when he appeared, just to release a little steaently the nurses asked her if she’d like a Xanax or ten to help her relax

When has anything good ever happened to you?