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I should have thanked Jilo, but when my mouth opened, the words, "He betrayedthat Jilo’s spell hat brought me to his bed I had been able to accept Jilo’s intervention when I’d thought the spell was ed for it made me feel violated

"Open yo’ eyes, child! It ain’t just your man who betrayed you Everyone, and I do mean every last one, of the folk you love, the ones you think love you, they all done betrayed you in one way or t’other Truth is Jilo just ht be the only one in this world you can trust"

"I can’t believe that," I said

"Believe it, don’t believe it It ain’t no never onna co you had power of your own, if only to protect yo’self You be set back to Savannah, when she all nice and settled in, you talk to her, and then you leave the rest up to Jilo"

I said nothing I siical life preserver The power began to surge through with renewed force, gaining strength as er remained, the pain I felt over what Peter had done instantly dulled He was, after all, only a human

TWENTY-FIVE

As I crossed the dark bridge that connected Jilo’s world to Candler, the living shadows began to press in aroundin equal measure I sensed that they were unrelated to the child killing derandfather had trapped within the hospital’s earthly boundaries, but these entities were undoubtedly just as nasty I could tell that the scent of blood hat , certain that if I stopped for even a moment, I would lose myself to them They stopped abruptly as a ray of true sunshine pierced the gloom from above I forced ave sudden flight, it--they--ive chase

Finally, I found the ht that illuminated the tunnel’s entrance I cli near the old hospital once again With a wave of my hand, Ioff the tunnel Witch s, invisible to the human eye, were etched across the cover Perhaps these too were randfather, but so before he’d walked the earth

Tiht that had led ed to find its way down there Another half an hour ht have been lost A chill ran down my spine, but I shook it off I turned to find Connor directly behind me

"You hurt yourself?" he asked, his eyes appraising the blood onthat my human ears had never been able to pick up on I looked at hih a witch’s eyes Instead of the bloviating and disapproving dictator I had always known him to be, I just saw a man A man who’d been quite handso figure sixty or so pounds ago A man who looked tired and defeated A man who had never quite been able to achieve what he wanted "

"It doesn’t look like nothing from here," he said and reached out to take the injured hand I pulled it violently away froht hold of my hand and turned it palm up so that he could assess the wound "Well, I’, "but I think I can handle this"

He traced the length of the wound with h him capable of, and I watched as the cut healed beneath his touch I was i tricks he did with his pendulu small ite like this before The effort seeray "There, now Care to tell me what you’ve been up to?"

"No, not really," I said, but with none of the rancor thatmy hand"

"You probably could have done it yourself today," he said "The goleic" He paused and looked at ot sori very is to say, but I’ you off" He started to speak again, but hesitated His shoulders drooped forward, and he shook his head "You always see me as the enemy, Mercy, but I’m not your enemy So hear me out for a few minutes, okay?"

Part ofshadows in the tunnel than listening to my uncle’s lectures, but I nodded anyway

"Good," he said, adding "thank you" in an uncharacteristic show of good ular hospitals aren’t equipped to handle witch births You tere born at home, and you came early Only Iris and Ellen were hoirls were born," he said "I was out of town But Iris toldwith life and power We all thought yourone child You weren’t even expected Emily picked the name Maisie out for your sister as soon as she was sure the baby was a girl" Connor stopped speaking for a moment and chuckled to himself "She said there were too many damned witches named Sarah and Dianna in the world You were a surprise to us all When you came out, you were scrawny and blue--you’d practically starved to death in your ," he said, and a large tear dropped down his cheek He brushed it aithout seeifted witch back before Ginny docked her powers, but even she had her liet aith so much A choice had to bethe last of her strength to beg Ellen to save her baby To save you"

Tears fornore Connor waved his hand like a stage ician and produced a handkerchief He held it out to htly in her ars It took a while, but she got your body to warm up By the time you had some color in your cheeks, your mama had already passed on Ellen naht a poor child like you was going to need some mercy I, on the other hand, took a different tack Once we determined for sure that you were powerless, I took it upon myself to personally knock you down every time the opportunity presented itself I bullied you I said bad things about you I rubbed your nose in your failures every chance I got And I did it all because I love you I wanted you to be tough enough to face the rest of the witches ere saying h enough to face--"