Page 9 (1/2)

"I’iveShe’s notthe words aloud an "

"I’htest stirring of hope He was out of tiood sport and take his defeat like a man He’d had more chances than most

Paul shut Andra’s door and went in search of so with hio into Andra’s room

Her apart areas crammed on top of one another The place looked like it hadn’t been dusted in ht bench that filled what should have been the dining rooave hi the kitchen, which needed a thorough scrubbing

Madoc had beaten hih her cabinets and fridge Fros on the counter--a couple cans of soup and some questionable lunch an was still lurking behind him Paul saw his sword, still stained with Andra’s blood, and picked it up

"She’s aluessed that part"

Paul wet a paper towel and cleaned his sword, then flushed the towel down the toilet, where the scent of blood couldn’t draw any trouble They were fairly safe during the day, but he wasn’t taking any chances with Andra asleep in the next rooht on his heels "Whatdoesn’t respond to her like it should No color"

"Yet"

Paul sheathed his weapon before he decided to use it on Logan, and spun around They stood eye-to-eye, but there was so Paul couldn’t place It was like Logan knew a secret he wasn’t willing to share

"Stop already and back the hell off I’o find a nest tonight?" asked Madoc, completely serious "I’ll stand witness for you"

Witness to Paul’s last heroic act It was a dangerous offer for Madoc to et hi it would be the last thing he did, and Madoc would stand by close to the action, Paul’s sword safely in his keeping to take back to the Hall of the Fallen

Paul wasn’t going to like using a different sword, but he couldn’t afford to let his be taken, and it wasn’t as if he were ever going to make it out alive, anyway The point was to take out as many demons as he could before they took hi to take you up on that offer, but I have to get Andra back to Sibyl first I proh Andra’s freezer, unfazed by the talk of suicide

"Go kill yourself if you like," said Logan, "but I’oing to regret asking, but he did anyway "Whatwhen you touched her"

A spark of hope lit inside hiile and faint he could barely feel it "She did?"

"Yes"

"But I didn’t There was no pain Nonothing"

Logan shrugged "I’ve been trying to tell you that your experience may be different from Drake’s We don’t even kno these women exist There’s no e can predict what kind of reaction they’ll cause--not after so uinar all got together after Drake found Helen and decided that his pain was due to the ti , but it didn’t hurt when she broke contact"

"It hurt her In a way"

Paul felt a sickening twist of guilt in his gut "I hurt her?"

"Not exactly Let’s just say she felt a lot better when you were touching her"

He’d turned her on That much was clear She’d been ready to let hian an

"What else did you see?" Paul de, and as foolish as it was, he was letting it He wanted to know everything about her so that s would be different Not like Kate

"Not much She was too weak for me to spend much time inside her mind I sensed that she’s not entirely what she seeain He didn’t want tragedy to ever touch her life again "What kind?"

Logan shrugged "The saone, which is a shame I’d hoped we’d find a way to question her and see if Andra’s father had any connection to Helen’s"

"Could they be sisters?" Paul couldn’t see any similarities between Helen’s lush, curvy body and Andra’s sleeker, muscular build Their hair color was similar, but that was about it

"No I don’t think so Their blood wasn’t close enough"

"Did you learn anything else?"

"Only that she works too hard Doesn’t eat well or sleep enough rumbled Madoc from the kitchen "There’s not much here that’s edible, and it’s too da a food run Any requests?"

"No," said Paul "Just be quick As soon as she wakes up, we’re hitting the road"

"That’s going to take a while," said Logan "You et co to happen Not while she’s vulnerable"

Logan s like a bondedIt looked like it had for the last two centuries, only faded with ti?

Madoc shut the door on his way out