Hours later, Razl still wasn’t quite sure how he’d ended up in such a screwed-up situation. One minute he’d been using every ounce of strength he possessed to keep from running across the Alley and grabbing Tourmaline up in his arms, the sight of her after everything that had happened damn near killing him. Then her phone had rung, and he hadn’t been able to stop himself from going to her when it was clear that something was wrong. The others had all argued that he didn’t owe her anything, telling him to stay behind and let them handle the situation with Sapphire Smart.

 Taking a deep breath, Razl parted his lips, praying he could think of the right thing to say. But he didn’t need to.Before the first word could fall from his lips, Tourmaline gave a choked cry and ran straight toward him…right into his blood-covered arms.It had taken Razl and the Runners a good hour to deal with the bodies that had been scat

 Tourmaline took another step back. “No. I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I won’t.” Her voice shook. “I can’t bind my life to you, Razl. I can’t be what you want.”She watched his strong, tanned throat work on a hard swallow, but he didn’t give her another argument or heartbreaking plea. His jaw was clenched so hard and tight, she wasn’t even sure that he could. She was breaking his heart and along with her own but she knew that she had to do this. Otherwise it was going to be devastating for

 Razl looked at the house at the corner of the street and the warm red colour of the door, which looked like the leaves of maple in autumn just before they were going to fall. The rest of the house was also coloured in warm earthy tones which reminded him of her bright cheerful smile and he could smell her womanly innocence all over again.Even though he did not feel comfortable in the city, h

 Razl walked without rhyme or reason to his footsteps, striding between the coniferous trees as the forest enveloped him. There was no path to follow, only loam that was rarely trodden by human beings in its isolation and a quiet peace that chased the ache of study from his mind. Spring sang through the forest, a harmonious melody of birdsong as the culprits flitted from branch to branch, and he lost himself in their instrumental language, sinking into a world that he feared, one day, mankind would forget. From his flat, it was only a short walk before he reached the tree line of the woods and, from there on out, he could forget the human world completely, losing himself in a natural, unspoilt world.He scratched his head, fingers raking through a mop of brown hair already tousled from a light wind. It never seemed worth the effort that others of his age went to in styling it, though it was the fashion of the younger generation to glue it in