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"Where are you going?" Ja the insult "You’re not scheduled to leave for another three hours and eight irlher ethics "Not that it’s any of your business, but I’otten per? And why are you taking those files?"
"Again, it’s none of your business And because so excite Resentaze narrowed "I kno to crunch numbers, and that’s what I’m here for, isn’t it?"
"I don’t know Is it? You haven’t so far"
Jarabbed the strap of the bag before Nicola could respond "I’ll make sure they’re done Properly," she spat at Sirena, as still on the phone, giggling
"No, I--" Nicola pressed her lips together Per Koldo’s orders, she needed less stress in her life "Fine Justplease don’t let irl snapped
Was she unaware that there were other ways to speak to people?
"Thank you," Nicola said, and soared fro her She slammed the receiver into place
Impatient, Nicola backtracked "Yes?"
"I’m happy to help Jamila out" Sirena ser "Since you’re the senior member here, I’d like your permission to take half the files"
"Sure, that’ll be fine"
As Jae, Nicolawas set in a circular pattern, inding hallways, multiple offices and very few exits The elevators were always cra squeezed inside like a pickle in a jar, conflicting perfu Scent, but she couldn’t take the stairs She enty floors up and would pass out halfway down
When she reached the parking garage, a quick walk took her to her old, beat-up sedan, a car out of place a it Bucket, she’d named the rust heap better suited for scrap ine and, after the expected blast of backfire, pressed the gas--only to slam on the brake
A monster stood just in front of the hood
She yelped, her hand flattening over her thuliness, with the body of a steroid-loving ht side of his head At one time, he must have had two There was a stump on the left side He had fur rather than flesh, and eyes as dark as the worst kind of nightmare
His lips pulled back fros "You’re mine, and I always kill what’s
KOLDO SHUT HIMSELF in the luxurious bedrooiven him at the Downfall, and sprawled atop the massive velvet-draped bed Thane, Bjorn and Xerxes were in their suite of rooms with the day’s chosen fe
That was probably for the best
His too-short visit with Nicola had left him raw
Her smoke-and-dreams voice still caused every ain he’d been able to sense her underlying scent of cinnaer masked by the taint of the demons Instead, it had been overlaid by the malodors that reminded him of his mother Jasmine and honeysuckle Far worse than sulfur
And yet, he’d forgotten that fact when he’d peered at her lips His own had softened in preparation forsoether, or iven in? He knew nothing about the art of kissing He could have pressed too firently, and left her wanting
He would have hed And if she’d laughed
Another rejection, he thought, his hands fisting It would have been one of thousands--and thousands h, and couldn’t ever be He was never what the people he most wanted to love him needed, and couldn’t ever be
He sucked in a breath as a portion of his words registered I don’t want Nicola to love me He didn’t need her love
He didn’t need anyone’s love
Whatever NicolaThe craving for the unknown
He jolted to a sitting position He would exercise until he shook too badly to stand That would stop everything
Thane burst through the double doors The warrior’s hair stuck out in spikes and his skin was scratched and laden with bite marks, but his robe had her than usual de in Kansas," the soldier said, not taking tiate"
"Kansas?" Where Nicola lived Koldo leaped to his feet, his own robe shrinking, tightening and thickening, becoht metal that would shield him from the poisonous claws of his opponents "We just cao, he realized with a bead of shock How quickly time had passed "Where in Kansas?"