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"Of course you’re not At least not twice," she warned

"There’s no need for bravado We’re on the saasts killed your husband They killed my parents I’d say that puts us on the same side"

How had he known about that? It wasn’t exactly so she talked about openly

As she scoured her ical way that he would know her misfortune, she asked, "And which side is that?"

"The one that wants theood point "And they have this hammer of yours"

"Yes"

"And you think I can steal it back?"

"I know you can I made the boots, remember? I knohat they allow you to do, which means you’re perfect for the job Unless, of course, you haven’t yet figured out all the boots’ tricks"

That gave her pause She knew she could walk around in theasts, unlike several other artifacts she’d come across But what if that wasn’t the extent of their power? What if she wasn’t using them to their fullest potential? "Tell me what they can do and I’ll tell you if I already know or not"

He smiled at her, and that smile carved out a cute little diain your cooperation, I’o after the haree to go on this job--which I haven’t--there’s no way I’e they can see I work alone"

"Ah, so you haven’t figured out that power yet"

She stared, unwilling to let hi about

"I’ll show you hoorks if you tell me why you don’t want to help me"

"Isn’t it obvious? I really don’t want to die If the Fractogasts have your haet it back--one I intend to see fulfilled"

"What’s so important about it? What value can it possibly have that’s worth you trading your life for? Orit to build a portal Once that’s done, they’ll bring ht now there are only a few of them, and you’ve seen the devastation they’ve caused What do you think will happen if untold nuh a portal and end up in our own backyard?"

Since the night she’d escaped, Si about those creatures as possible It had been an act of willpower to keep her oing to a newly chipped tooth, her thoughts always strayed back to theain until she was filled with helpless anger and debilitating fear

"You can’t tell hton

"It falls firs labeled Not My Probleh for you?" he asked "They kill soe took over her linized what she was doing, she had Brighton pinned against a tiny strip of wall near the doorway to the bathroole, perfect knife a fraction of an inch away fro When they were done with ht"

He wasn’t scared of the knife He didn’t try to push her away He didn’t even blink "You see"

His chest expanded with a breath,her acutely aware of just how ainst hih brushed his, and the heat of hi leathers

That s them in a way she hadn’t felt in years

His voice was quiet, almost a whisper "If there’s anyone left on this planet that you care about, then you owe it to theht She’d been running away for a long time now At first it had been all she could do, but now that she’d healed--mostly--there were nodeeply to depressurize some of the intense vibes this man threw off "Tell h of relief Whether it was due to herthe knife or because of her interest in the job, she couldn’t tell

"There’s an abandoned warehouse a couple hours’ drive fro it to hide their work, but Ifelt what they were doing"

"Felt?" She peeked over her shoulder

He waved a dis I can do--sensing the innate poithin an object And the portal they’re building is powerful enough that when I got within a few , and that the haet a bunch of explosives and blow the place to hell?"

"One, because gathering explosives would draw too much attention Two, even if I had theet in and plant theht And three, chances are there are innocent people in there, being used"

Simone knew all too well about that part "You sure?"

"So their construction efforts I really doubt it’s the local power and light coo in and plant explosives?"

"No I want you to steal the hah juice to build so that powerful If we take it away, then they have to stop building"