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"Where am I?" he asked

Eyes of crystal blue flicked up and stayed on hi to the weapon "Only the best place ever--etting the bill for h, like, ten thousand pounds?"

"How long?" he croaked

"The bill’s only one, ood doctor said--"

"No How long have I been here?"

"Oh Three days"

Three days? Nicola had been on her own for three days After he’d promised to spend at least an hour a day with her But now he could spend far more than an hour, couldn’t he? Zacharel had placed her in Koldo’s constant care

He s over the side of the dais, and despite the return of the dizziness, stood He waited until his vision cleared, then looked down at hi white robe, the material as clean as he was In fact, he was as clean as if he’d just taken a couple hundred showers

"Don’t worry," Axel said, holding out the stick, closing one eye and zeroing in on one of the ends of the weapon "I checked on your girl She’s fine And I mean that in every sense of the word"

He left that last part alone "The serps stayed away from her?"

"Of course They were too dead toaround"

Two hty returned? If so, they would have to be dealt with--per, Axel set the weapon aside and peered over at hi happen? Did she see you?" Want hie blossomed

"Uh, no Nope Not at all She’s fine, too"

receded "You’re sure?" he asked, watching for any sign of a lie The s of his nose A deeper frown Axel displayed none of those

"I am" Easily stated Expression relaxed

Very well The de around Laila, then, and he’d already known that "Thank you," he said, only slightly grudging

"I’ll be collecting, don’t worry"

Koldo would have said the same, and couldn’t blame him "Collect from me Not her" He’d promised to pay her bills, not to add to her tab

Axel rolled his eyes "As if there was ever any doubt She’s got nothing I want" He wiped his hands on the towel draped over his thigh before digging a piece of ht the fruit and bit into the juicy center Sweet flavors exploded on his tongue, and his body purred gratefully Sent Ones could die in a nu one

Thank the Most High, Koldo had had the foresight to stock Nicola’s cabinets before leaving her She had been well fed during his absence And thank the Most High forever to see to her defense

But Koldo wanted to doIf anything like this ever happened again--not that it would, Koldo never ht be too busy to check on Nicola Heof value to offer in trade

I’ll have to ht Not just with the essentia, but with ink He would code her

The Most High had e for obeying His laws, they were given protection Koldo hadn’t been kicked from the heavens, therefore the promise still applied to him, and the code was still etched into his heart And because Nicola was his charge, his responsibility, the proive her an outward sign of it

He would etch the code into her flesh, and that code would be able to create a barrier between her and any demons that dared approach her All she would have to do was concentrate on the nu an attack The er the power of the code would beco her entire body and shielding her

But if a de to happen, Koldo assured himself He would train her for that, too

"So ere the serps after you?" Axel asked

"I’d like to know the answer to that, as well" Was his father still out there or not?

Koldo hadn’t seen Nox’s body, had only watched as grenade after grenade soared toward hi to flash away There’d beenthe ground and bouncing into the sky

Should have killed him up close and personal But Koldo had had a choice Destroy Nox face-to-face--or destroy thehe’d worked for in one swoop Koldo had chosen the latter

When the fires eventually died, he’d dug through the rubble and found toohimself kno had he tracked Koldo to Nicola’s home?

"So, what do you plan to do with the redhead?" Axel asked