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Shepherd's mother was not the only woman thrown into hell

At dawn, Claire was exhausted but determined Maryanne swore up and down and yanked Claire to bed when the O Once under the covers, it was so si Claire's hair just like she had when they were little

Hoping the ansould not be as disappointing as she anticipated, Claire sighed, "The way you talk about the Undercroft, the look in your eye every time I say the name Shepherd… You know him"

"Everyone knows him"

No, it was much deeper than that Claire rolled over to look her friend in the eye "Don't lie to me, Maryanne He scares you He scares you because you know him Somehow you were once involved with that monster Are you still?"

Maryanne tried to be flippant "Involved? I should be asking you that saet me killed"

"I am not mated to Shepherd by choice" Claire would not let herself blink or stutter "I went into estrous unexpectedly in front of him He forced the pair-bond"

Maryanne had the decency to look stricken "Don't take this the wrong way, Claire, but this is Shepherd He's a powerful e that he would bond to a woive hias for Christmas"

Svana's words echoed in Claire's head 'We have not shared a heated Oa in some time'

"They do… I don't knohy he bonded to ave only pointless, erew harder, as did Claire's demand for answers "My question, Maryanne How do you know him?"

Pursing her lips, Maryanne confessed, "I, um, needed friends once"

"I was your friend I would have been, had you not run off… and," Claire sighed, knowing Maryanne well enough to see she was not exactly an innocent, "done the things you did until you got thrown into the Undercroft"

Maryanne snorted "Before I found a way out"

"From Shepherd"

"My services in exchange for le trespass she had committed in her life looked at her old friend with uncustoret "I was the one who recovered the access codes to the Judicial Sector and the Citadel"

Brows drawn tight, Claire hissed, "How could you?"