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"You know, you're surrounded, Eden," he sighed loudly, as if exasperated "You are completely outnumbered and outmatched, so cut it out," he finished quietly, and his eyes narrowed into hard slits of reprih the s of the s there was any number of Immortals that would be able to stop h," Talbott said siout the guide or map that I came in here for in the first place

"Listen, we need to talk Eden, you need to take this seriously" Talbott put a gentle hand underneath esture was almost too much for me to bear and I wrenched my arm aith revulsion

I wanted to screas I kneas a party to But when I spun around on ot the chance to openand so confident all of the tie that he stood in fear of little, old ht now

"How did you find me anyway?" I inquired, suddenly interested in how exactly he came upon the very store I would be in I wasn't followed from Lima, or up the mountainside and until he entered the store, Silas was the only other Immortal presence I felt I was sure of that

Instead of answering aloud, Talbott nodded in the direction of my neck and specifically stared at ers fell on the necklace and engageers closed over the two stones, Talbott nodded his head ever so slightly, confir my suspicions

"We have our ways," he repliedhis clue

I recognized that he was speaking to whoever ith hiht on a very valuable piece of inforet me into a lot of trouble I was very confused suddenly, not knowing if I could really believe Talbott or if this was a show to gain my trust and then betray me later I was bewildered and that put the situation out of ured out what his real agenda was

"Sure you do," I ical stone that rested against my chest "What is it that you want, Talbott?"

"I want toaround the rooo somewhere else to talk?"

"Yes, I do et me out of a public place? And what kind of trade? What is this?" I tried to keepback a flood of feelings that I was not prepared to deal with

"Listen, Eden, we have you outnumbered," Talbott declared with all the confidence I expected him to have, but then he lowered his voice so that I was forced to read his lips to fully understand what he was saying, "besides, you want this trade You need this trade"

"Fine" I gave in, following hih "But just so you know, just so we are clear, I a to have to kill you and all of your little friends at the end of this"

"Just relax a little, all right?" he h the metal door and out into the first sunshine I had seen my entire time in Peru

I stopped, just on the other side of the door We walked into an eetation of the mountain just a few feet away and a pathway to the front of the store toinout exactly hoould escape should I need to run

But I couldn't think

I couldn't move

Jericho stood beforeat the corner of his lips He was alone, waiting for us

I wanted to run to hio, but I resisted The rest of the Guard stood just beyond the trees, just far enough away to stay out of ht, but there nonetheless I couldn't let ly openinside of me to keep the distance between us

Every ounce of willpower I owned

"You're giving ether "For what?"

"For Avalon's ht of his offer hit me in the chest with full force "Lucan has offered Jericho in exchange for your brother's ic back, I am authorized to hand Jericho over to you and you will both be free to go If you agree, Lucan will not bother you any longer; he will leave you alone, completely and forever You have his word If however, you refuse then, I'm afraid you will be escorted back to Roree to breathe and working desperately not to be sick I couldn't look at Jericho and betray hi to hear his voice and know that I would not be able to set him free

The compromise sounded so easy, but it would be the death of this race and I wasn't capable of extinguishing an entire peopleto sacrifice hi out loud and clear how unfair this journey I was on would be I would never have an easy decision again Every thought, everyconsequences And Jericho would be the first, the first to suffer froood