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“Because of their ue him He sat forward in his chair and pinned her with a look

“But I’m mortal too,” she commented “And I accept death as part of life”

“Perhaps too much,” he simply said

Jade continued to sip her wine It eased the re her back, which she was careful to keep fro contact with her chair

When she didn’t speak, Darien said, “Maybe one of the reasons you’ve allowed the connection to foran and myself is because you know you won’t outlive us”

She gaped, speechless

“You could have settled for Michael, even if he didn’t fully own your heart,” Darien said “You could have married him and had children But you told me you want more than amiable companionship”

Finally, she found her voice “Yes I want all the passion I feel with you”

“And you want so as you Because let’s face it, Jade, as we established before, you are not ordinary You can’t spend your life with someone who is”

“That doesn’t diminish how I feel about people like Lisette and Michael”

“No But you keep theth For a reason”

“They wouldn’t understandabout s I’m capable of…” She rolled her eyes “It’d send hi witchcraft with Lisette on the sly”

“And when it coe And her increasingly limited life span”

“The village will be a much bleaker place without her, that’s for sure” She brushed away the tears that crested the rims of her eyes and slid down her flushed cheeks After polishing off her glass of wine, she asked, “Why are we even talking about this? It’s very depressing I’ cold”

“And you really can’t afford to lose any ht There’s not much to you these days”