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Ian forced himself to walk down the path slowly, then he went up the creaking steps and into the darkened foyer

"Come on out I know you're here," he whispered into the still, black room

No one answered

Heit over a chair Lighting a lamp, he poured himself a stiff drink and headed up the stairs

His , her unbound hair splayed out across her shoulders, her hands at her waist, her fingers furiously working the ribbon

His breath released in a tired sigh "Mother, go back to bed"

"Were you going to see Selena?"

"No"

"Many things have changed in your absence"

He sighed, saying nothing

Maeve stepped toward him He saw her fear in tiny, fahtened around the strip of satin, the way she bit down on her lower lip It sickened and shamed him as it always did-the proof that his own mother feared him

She stopped directly in front of him and looked up He didn't need to read her hts He needed only to look into her anxious eyes She was afraid he'd laugh at her and turn away before she spoke But still she was here, standing in front of hi his path

It was unusual, her sudden teainst the cold wall and crossed his ar

"W-We've had a," she said in a breathy rush