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"Drainer," the witch cried "No No! Get back! Get away!"
"Well," Riley said dryly, "if either of us were in any doubt, that doubt is now alleviated"
TWENTY-TWO
ADEN AWOKE MORE CLEARHEADED than he’d been in what seemed forever, but also a little peeved He was in the va Victoria, feeding her, loving her, but noas alone in her n that she’d ever been here No Victoria
At least he wasn’t twitchy and in withdrawal, needing her to bite hiht
He sat up and looked around The roouess why she’d chosen such a blank canvas Her father remained true to the I’m-an-evil-badass stereotype: black, black and more black Colors, which Victoria loved, hadn’t really been allowed, so she’d done the next best thing The opposite of what her father had wanted
A s Deep down, she hadn’t wanted to be like her father Here, in the privacy of her bedrooives lanced down at hi his jeans and T-shirt, but his boot, socks and blades had been removed By Victoria? Had she run her hands all over him? He wished he’d been awake for that
’Cause there’s no naked girls
Aden laughed Typical Caleb
Well, I like it, Julian said Add your clothes in the closet, and this would feel more like hoaze straying to the closet in question The entry was dark, too dark to see what rested inside Probably black robe after black robe
It’s almost like we’re s here but blank pages
Which means we can write the story however ant And anyway, you don’t see this room as it will one day be, Elijah said There are colors, so many beautiful colors
That put a smile on Aden’s face "Will I be here?"
Elijah didn’t reply
Aden took that for a no, and said goodbye to his blossootten, even for a second, that he was going to die? I don’t want to die, he thought
Once, he’d si demise as fact Then he’d been stabbed in the heart to save Thohts--for the first tiing his future, even though he knew that would onlystabbed?
Yeah, and watching his friends die topped the list A sobering reured out where the witchheld, Elijah?"
No
"Caleb, you seem to like the will be?" Aden was beginning to feel guilty he hadn’t done
One day left, toress Six days had passed, and he’d learned nothing Yeah, he’d been busy fighting goblin poison,Twice But when it came to the safety of his friends, there really was no excuse for his lack of results
The door creaked open, and then Victoria was standing in the open entry, wearing a pink tank top and a blue reen ribbons woven into the strands She’d never looked so hu as she approached him She kicked the door shut behind her, her hands occupied with a tray of food "I’d never cooked before, but one of the blood-slaves helped me I hope you like the results" She sounded unsure, nervous
His chest did that constricting thing "Thank you I’m sure I’ll love it" And even if he didn’t, she’d never know
Still grinning, she closed the rest of the distance and sat at the edge of the bed, balancing the tray in his lap "I hate to rush you, but you’re expected beloasn’t able to keep your location secret--everyone sensed you, and since you’re here, the council"
The scent of pancakes, sausage and syrup wafted to his nose, and his " Not that he planned to go to school Was this even a weekday? He couldn’t reet some answers out of their witch They’d run out of time
"It will only last an hour, and it’ll be better if you attend They decided not to punishyou, since they were desperate to speak with you If you don’t, you’ll be hounded or even followed If you do, we can leave without incident afterward"