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“I know a demon like that”
“Do you?” Mae breathed
Liannan showed her sharp teeth “It isn’t Nick It’s Anzu”
She paused to savor Mae’s reaction
“Of us all, Hnikarr was the least human,” she continued softly “I never in a hundred centuries saw hin he had war entirely different Would ithim if I said he was not like the rest of us, was the one shining exa and heel and love? If he is nothing but a demon and you still want him, what does that make you?”
Liannan’s nose was al Mae’s, she was so close, and there were uncontrollable shudders running down Mae’s back Her hair , but Liannan’s skin was ice
“If Anzu is the most human, and Nick is the least,” Mae asked, “what does that make you?”
It was only when Liannan’s hands closed on her wrists that Mae realized that, caught in Liannan’s eyes and her answers, she had come too close to the circle
She hadn’t made this circle She wasn’t safe inside it
Mae’s talis that came too late
Liannan’s fingers clath biting down to Mae’s bones She was still s
“I’m the best,” she whispered
She dragged Mae into her ar circle
“Oh no, you don’t,” Nick snarled, appearing behind Liannan and grabbing her hair again
Her hair turned into redthrough his hands It was suddenly clear that earlier, Nick could not have held her for a moment, had she not wanted to be held
Nick’s other hand was fastened around Alan’s wrist, but he lost that too when Alan pulled violently free and fell on his knees at Mae’s side
“You left Mae here with a demon?”
“Two, actually,” Liannancat “Another second and I would’ve had her”
“It’s okay, Alan,” said Mae She was still shaking, caught in constant uncontrollable tremors, from the chill of Liannan’s embrace His hands on her, warood after Liannan’s She had the ied hiot too close”
“Nick called her up,” Alan said “He shouldn’t have left you alone with her”
“Alan, Alan,” said Liannan “Aren’t you pleased to see ht”
Alan cut a swift look over to her, standing wreathed in ivy-clinging ribbons of fire and apart from them all
“Don’t talk to him,” Nick snapped
“I can handle myself,” Alan told him “Liannan, you just tried to possess and thus slowly reat deal to me”
Liannan raised an eyebrow “Does that mean we can’t be friends?”
“Itto be less sweet”
She reached out a hand to Alan, fire crawling in lovely patterns up her arht Nick put his ar at her hand and shaking his head, laughing a little
Liannan laughed back “I think we understand each other, don’t we?”
“Understand this,” Nick began, and Liannan turned on him in a circle of sparks
“I won’t touch him,” she said “I want to be on your side I’ll take your ters, I do not care I’ll leave them alone I will protect them from the others, even, and if you do not think they need ive, you do not know Anzu And you know him”
“Yeah,” Nick said “I know him”
“You knowclose now She sounded businesslike “I will be on your side, but you need to make it worth my while I want a body”
“No”
“I do not want to be against you, Hnikarr,” Liannan told him softly “Don’t do this”
Nick turned his face away, in Alan’s direction without actually looking at Alan “What else can I do?”
“Make me an offer,” Liannan commanded “Or I’ll make you sorry”
“Liannan,” said Nick “I dismiss you”
The balefire began to ebb at once, receding from the outer rim of the circle to the heart where all the lines crossed Liannan stood at that heart as if she was trapped, a dragonfly in burning amber, her eyes narrowed
“Nick,” she said,the name an insult, “you disappoint me”
He did not answer He waited until she was gone, until there was no trace of arden but the broken earth and a shi in the air
Then he lifted his head His eyes were like torn black holes in a white mask
“Sometimes,” he said to Alan, “I think you must be the stupidest person in the world”
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“I know a demon like that”
“Do you?” Mae breathed
Liannan showed her sharp teeth “It isn’t Nick It’s Anzu”
She paused to savor Mae’s reaction
“Of us all, Hnikarr was the least human,” she continued softly “I never in a hundred centuries saw hin he had war entirely different Would ithim if I said he was not like the rest of us, was the one shining exa and heel and love? If he is nothing but a demon and you still want him, what does that make you?”
Liannan’s nose was al Mae’s, she was so close, and there were uncontrollable shudders running down Mae’s back Her hair , but Liannan’s skin was ice
“If Anzu is the most human, and Nick is the least,” Mae asked, “what does that make you?”
It was only when Liannan’s hands closed on her wrists that Mae realized that, caught in Liannan’s eyes and her answers, she had come too close to the circle
She hadn’t made this circle She wasn’t safe inside it
Mae’s talis that came too late
Liannan’s fingers clath biting down to Mae’s bones She was still s
“I’m the best,” she whispered
She dragged Mae into her ar circle
“Oh no, you don’t,” Nick snarled, appearing behind Liannan and grabbing her hair again
Her hair turned into redthrough his hands It was suddenly clear that earlier, Nick could not have held her for a moment, had she not wanted to be held
Nick’s other hand was fastened around Alan’s wrist, but he lost that too when Alan pulled violently free and fell on his knees at Mae’s side
“You left Mae here with a demon?”
“Two, actually,” Liannancat “Another second and I would’ve had her”
“It’s okay, Alan,” said Mae She was still shaking, caught in constant uncontrollable tremors, from the chill of Liannan’s embrace His hands on her, warood after Liannan’s She had the ied hiot too close”
“Nick called her up,” Alan said “He shouldn’t have left you alone with her”
“Alan, Alan,” said Liannan “Aren’t you pleased to see ht”
Alan cut a swift look over to her, standing wreathed in ivy-clinging ribbons of fire and apart from them all