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10
“Beautiful,” he said softly, and her eyes shot to his in surprise. Surprise? How could she not know she was lovely?
“Ah…thanks,” she said. Sending him an uneasy glance, she took a seat on the couch.
Jayems tried to think of something to relax her. Before he could speak, Keilor strode into the room unannounced. “She is here.”
Relieved to have the subject changed, even by this, Jayems shut the heavy ledger he’d been perusing. His boots remained crossed on the desktop as he waited for more details.
Rihlia wasn’t nearly as calm. She leapt up off the couch and demanded bre
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Keilor looked at her with a knowing expression. He turned to Jayems and made a few signs with his hands. “The girl is planning to bring back help.”Jayems sent her a dark glance and signed back. “I see it.” This was not how they’d planned this. The girl was supposed to be scared out of her mind, begging to go. That’s how Rihlia had behaved, and she was a Haunt. Keilor was supposed to have terrified the girl. Hadn’t he tried?“I could take care of her,” Keilor offered. His face was carefully blank. He’d never harmed a woman before, but both of them knew the stakes.“I swore not to harm her.”
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She looked at her arms and stiffened with fright. In seconds she was back to human form, her face paper white.“Scared yourself, did you? You’ll get used to it. It’s been under a minute, however.” He moved toward her.She cursed him and dashed for her door.He got there first and slammed it shut, then spun her against the panel. “Change or be kissed,” he warned her again.“No!” she tried to kick him. Blocked, she squirmed and tried to rip loose, but she was firmly caught. “Please…”
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An image jumped to mind at Keilor’s words, but Jayems swiftly thrust it aside. A spike of possessiveness stabbed him instead. He didn’t want any man speculating about his woman. “Be careful how you speak of her.”“Noted. You do need to marry, however. You will marry. I’d just like to see you hurry it up.”Jayems snorted. Keilor was a practical man, as long as they weren’t discussing his marriage. Keilor was happy as a bachelor and had his share of ambitious huntresses trying to catch him. Any mention of them usually sent him running to the practice fields to grind out his frustrations.He was right, though. The political situation
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Guilt pricked her. She didn’t want to admit what she knew, since it might lead to questions of how. To stall, she moved to an armchair, tucking one long leg under her. “Lights,” she ordered and then, “Shutters.”Hoping to avoid more in depth questions, she said, “They figured it out right away. The Haunt brought me back here and Jayems told me they knew.” She shivered, remembering what else he’d said. “I was afraid of what Keilor would do when he found you.” She peeked through her lashes to see Jasmine busily avoiding her eyes. Her voice ached when she asked, “What did he do, Jas?” She was afraid of the answer, but she needed to know. Even if it was the worst, she needed to hear it.Jasmine looked
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“It’s your father, Crewel Sotra,” he said softly.Wiley looked at it, feeling numb. She didn’t remember his face, had forgotten long ago what he looked like, except for the dark hair. Dressed in the black uniform of the Haunt, he had an indigo shirt under the leather vest, and a red Celtic knot, a symbol of rank, on his shoulder.“He loved your spirit. He would have been proud of you for surviving the way you did. He was a good man,” Jayems said quietly.An ache started behind her eyes and spread to her throat. She looked down to hide her expression, but her eyes kept returning to her father’s face. Afraid to cry in front of Jayems, she laid the picture
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Before she could lambaste him, he added calmly, “There are things about your body you’re probably unaware of. It sounds as if your instincts saved you, but I wanted to make certain you hadn’t come to harm.”“Nobody harmed me,” she said coolly. It was tricky deciding what to add. Did he want a history? He wasn’t getting one.“Then you were aware that, once mated, there is no going back for us? You knew that once the male and female sexual fluids mix, you cannot mate with anyone else without going insane?”“Huh?” She blinked at him, feeling stupid. First off, his choice of mealtime conversation was stunningly blunt, but what was he
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Still, Nilla didn’t look weak, only strained. She didn’t flinch when Wiley met her eyes, either. Hm. For a girl with a sweet name, she didn’t seem like too much of a cream puff. Score one for Jayems.“I don’t want him,” Wiley told her firmly. “I don’t want to be here. Knowing that, if there’s anything you can do…I heard your father has a lot of influence with the council.” Her approach was blunt, but sometimes blunt worked. It all depended on how motivated Nilla was.Nilla looked shocked. She glanced at Wiley’s guard in bewilderment. “You want to discuss this here? Now?”Wiley couldn’t blame her.
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Lemming had been walked on a leash while her mistress was riding, and she sniffed Rihlia all over when she took the lead.“Stags must smell as funny as they look,” Jasmine said as Lemming nosed her as well. “It’s too bad horses couldn’t survive here; they’re much nicer.”“But an inferior steed,” Jayems said dismissively. True, he’d never ridden one, but he knew his history.“What’s that?” Rihlia gestured to a grove of log posts to their right. Each log was covered with plate sized, frilly yellow mushrooms.“Honey fungus. You had some in yo
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