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n Cai reached out to Rand in his iven Lyssa his decision The queen had instructed everyone to go to ground and rise at dusk, with the intent of finishing up the planning phase, getting Cai and Rand on their way as soon as possible

Cai didn't ask for company, but Rand chose to meet him at the top of the steps to the lower level He wanted to see Cai arrive The ht Pastureland and horses His hair was dao and hadn't yet abated, giving the air that autuhtly to his upper body, his jeans freckled with the rain drops

CaiJust jerked his head at him and headed down the stairs Rand followed the unusually quiet vampire back down the hallway, but when he slowed at Leona's room, Rand stopped with him

Lord Greenith Leona, sitting on her bed He held her hand, had his forehead resting on it, the rest of his powerful body sheltered over it as her other hand rested on his head, an unbroken circle for two broken parents

Like Cai, Rand had not been as kindly disposed toward the father as the mother, since until now he hadn't seen evidence of a connection between thee of comfort This eased some of his concern about Leona's support froht lessening of tension in Cai's shoulders suggested he felt the same

Georg lifted his head at the quiet noise of their passing The haunted look in his eyes was instantly replaced by guarded aggression, but it was te's events

His daughter's fate rested squarely in the hands of the ate for those who'd taken her There would be no apology for that All of Rand's knowledge of vampires before Cai had been secondhand, but it had only taken a short tiance, sexual volatility, and creative brutality were innate to the s Rand wasn't surprised to see Cai turn away from it and continue up the hall Rand nodded to the vampire and followed

Third mark Cai had said he wanted to do that before they e, even if Cai didn't believe in it If they did survive this, Rand's life would be bound to the vampire's, but Cai wasn't the type who'd turn that into indentured servitude They'd see where they were at when this was over He ht still join the cantankerous male in Syria

The past few days, Rand had had far less time to think about death and the pain of his losses Cai was a good diversion, if nothing else

Rand expected the vahts with sarcasm, but he seemed deep in his own head When he reached the room, Cai stripped off his clothes without any erotic intent and washed his face in the bathrooda, ainst the sink

When he lifted his head and stared at the mirror, Rand wondered if that held any pain to a va what his face looked like, except when soave him an interpretation of it

It took hio He'd woken to find Dylef leaning over hiers When Rand opened his eyes and s deep and full in his gaze "I don't need aI need to know about myself in your eyes"

A quiver went through Cai's shoulders The sudden wave of distress from him made Rand move into the bathrooed him off and pulled a towel fro it aside, he clipped off the light, leaving Rand standing in darkness, and headed for the king-sized bed

"Get in with et some sleep We'll only be able to travel by vehicle to a certain point, then it'll be a deep hike into the mountains As I said, I know their vicinity, but not their exact location We ht have to talk to so for him"

Which reminded Rand they still hadn't talked about the shifter pack that h, since the vampire didn't look in the mood for conversation He did ask one question, however "Won't they ghost if that happens, like you said?"

"Not if they know it'sfor Goddard, and not some Council vampire extraction team If needed, my cover story will be that I need a favor froion Master who's reported me to Council, so I need a place to lie low Which will ree to it" Cai pulled back the covers "That is, if I agree to lop off a limb to prove ure it out If you don't want to sleep right now, then take a hike and let et some shut-eye"

"The third --"

"Yeah In a bit Not right now" Getting into the bed, Cai turned his back to Rand He shut off the bedside la them in more darkness

A curt way to treat soo to hell with him and watch his back, but Rand didn't take offense He was starting to understand Cai's patterns Even if Cai had told the Council to go fuck themselves and left, in several days Rand would have expected to find hi down deep inside the vampire