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I walked by another housekeeper on doorknob-wiping duty When I reached the far end of the cart, I grabbed one of the extra spray bottles of cleaner dangling by its handle and held it up to ot up to our roo "Happy Birthday" three tiot out of my dress and hopped into the shower to wash off the rest of me

Asher opened up the door an hour later, with a bottle of cleaner also in his hands I pointed to mine on the table "Great h What happened with Liz?"

"I have no fucking idea" I’d been trying to work it out in the shower as I washed all of myhatever germs I’d been exposed to "It was like she was scared, but I’ him pills What happened once I left?"

"The doctor caot to see him in action He has no bedsidehis hands out in front of hi the door fortoward the bathroo shut behind him I cleaned off the handle he’d used to enter the roo in the shower as I had, and when he e with a washcloth to keep it fro his neashed skin "Let’s set it all out to be cleaned"

"Sounds good toup, and he deposited my dress carefully inside as well "What happened with Nathaniel?"

"Nothing He was concerned, but only in a clinical way He didn’t try to comfort Thomas, or soothe him, he didn’t even follow the stretcher all that closely"

I frowned at the thought of a little boy all alone on a gurney I’d been right to try to get Liz to go back downstairs

"It was like he didn’t even know him Cold"

"Was he like that all the time?" I asked, well aware that Asher had a copy of Nathaniel’s older-self so He loved his daughter, back in the day Her and s he loved" He sat down on the edge of the bed, which housekeeping had kindlythe brief time ere out "What were the pills for?"

"She wouldn’t say But not for seizures--if he had a seizure history she’d know better than to give hiers in the et bitten I sat on the bed beside hiitis between friends?"

"That is the obvious choice, isn’t it? Or so?"

"I don’t know yet Only that I knohat he’s capable of" He turned toward me suddenly "Edie, ouldn’t have been there--you wouldn’t have been sitting across fro public health clinic with you And you know I’ve seen worse--been bled on by worse--before"

His hands kneaded the edge of thehappened to you because of ive myself"

"Which I’ll ad out to put’s fine"

His eyes rose to aze soed, ludicrously i into er his threat to the universe hanging in the rooo to sleep I lay pressed against his side, h TV stations At ho of a novelty, even the commercials We eventually settled on an old vampire film It was hilariously inaccurate--all the va and deadly I foundwe had popcorn to throw at the screen

"Are you ever upset that shapeshifters don’t get TV shows?"

"No It proves ht about this "Vaer Presu it Plus, they have to drink blood Your kind can just go to Burger King"

Asher’s eyebrows raised, but he was still watching the show "Yes, but they canthey weren’t there"

"But you can do that, too Blending into a crowd, changing forhtful noise; I heard it rumble in his chest "True I think their real problereedy"