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Hours later Kaderin paced in the s than she could process

The first: Because of the Lykae&039;s stunt, she was being forced into this situation with Sebastian And she&039;d left the diamonds Silly Valkyrie

The second: Two of her half-sisters, her coven mates, had been wed, and she&039;d heard of it after the fact They are so not getting gifts fros? Am I that dismal?

The third: As if she weren&039;t already nervous about Sebastian co about his past As in all wars, the Valkyrie had had a correspondent in the field covering the Northern War, and they&039;d learned that the Wroth brothers were brutal warlords known for their skill and ferocity The brothers had bought their people a decade of freedoreater in nuht so well

The eldest - Myst&039;s husband - was the most well known, but Kaderin had definitely heard of Sebastian as well He&039;d been aofficer, and a ruthless warrior

She&039;d seen that authoritative officer side of him today, had heard it in the tone of his voice And the way he&039;d eyed that trickling bead of sweat, his eyes so intent, let her knoas going to be ruthless with her tonight

He&039;d be arriving within hours, but that fact hadn&039;t sunk in until she&039;d told the pilots to delay their takeoff from San Luis until twenty minutes past sunset - and not to disturb her for any reason during this trip

All of this was Bowen&039;s fault What in the hell was he even doing co and as he so deter suspicion ca to catch her in Scotland

"Kaderin! It&039;s so good to hear froin told ratulations, Kiddy-Kad! That ot so much I want to ask you about that, and, oh, oh, did they tell you - get this - I got ratulations Emma, I&039;d love to talk to you about all that, but first, tell me, do you know of a Lykae named Bowen?"

"Sure," Emma said, then asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"You&039;re not following the Hie online?" Yes, they were honeymooners, but still

Show Kaderin some love

Kaderin had her anshen she heard the sounds of teeth snapping and fabric being ripped E out of clothes!"

"Buy - rowl

Kaderin assured herself she was not jealous that Eeous,Oh, and one who had proven he would die for her and was at this s E that eet and lovely, and after her trials - and near death - she deserved her new life as Lachlain&039;s queen

Still, Kaderin sighed, unable to help feeling very old and very alone Then she recalled that she wouldn&039;t be alone for long She had a s to her She shivered, then shook herself "Emma, about Bowen "

"Oh, Bowe Sure, I know him Know he&039;s supercali hot" Athe phone and saying, "Not as hot as you are!"

So Emma&039;s neolf husband was the jealous type? Kaderin rolled her eyes

"Yeah, Bowe&039;s got that tortured, brooding thing going on He lost hisbut search for a way to reunite with her ever since"

The breath left Kaderin&039;s body, and she sank onto the bed

"Kaderin, I-I kind of have to go Can you call me later?"

"Sure, E up At least now I knohat I&039;ainst In Bowen&039;s mind, this win equaled the life of his mate But hoould he know to enter? Who was the friend he&039;d referred to who&039;d alerted hi to ire, Kaderin dialed the coven, calling for N&iuin answered She wasted no time on pleasantries "Any reason you didn&039;t tell eneral in the Forbearer army, more specifically a vampire?"

"Lookit, I didn&039;t want to distract you fro And I knohen I first found out, I was seriously, fucking, shrieking distracted I et freaked out - well, at least, you wouldn&039;t used to - but I thought it would be prudent to just hold off a few days It was ht have been nice to know in certain situations, Regin For instance, that vampire in Antarctica that you almost killed is now our brother-in-law!"

"No way! Nikolai Wroth&039;s brother?" A pause "But does that matter? Can&039;t we still kill him? I wouldn&039;t have told anyone if you wouldn&039;t have What happens in the South Pole, stays in the - "

"Regin, if you keep soain, I will annihilate you You know I&039;er than you are"

"Ah, but I&039;m wily"

Kaderin exhaled "How can Myst be certain he won&039;t turn?"

"I&039; to her"

"Then just let me talk to Nïx"

A second later, Nïx said in a jovial tone, "Kiddy-Kad!"

"Nïx, why is it that Bowen MacRieve - a Lykae who lost his mate - would know to enter this competition to retrieve her? Let , as did you - a soothsayer"

"Um, I dunno Dumb luck?" N&iu her silky black hair, trying to appear innocent Which reminded Kaderin sometimes tasks repeated

"Cut off all your hair," she said, her tone seething "Then shear it every day thereafter until I tell you to stop"

"Go froh to pull it off - "

"Just do it!"

"Angry, Kaderin? How unlike you"

"I&039;m livid, as you well know Nïx, ould you do this to ht to the death to bring back thathi hilanced at another female since then"

Kaderin put her forehead between her thuer "He&039;ll be unstoppable They live for nothing else"

"More unstoppable than a guilt-ridden two-thousand-year-old Valkyrie who, incidentally, keeps winning these things? I was thinking it&039;d be a wash"

She exhaled, striving for calave hi now?"

"Because it&039;s time for you to"

"Oh, since you explained it that way" Kaderin rolled her eyes "Will I win the Hie?"

"Lemme check" She hu in concentration -

The phone dropped

A chill crept up Kaderin&039;s spine just before Nïx&039;s screams erupted

"N&iu on?"

A in had the phone "What the hell did you say to her?" In the background, thunder boo succession like cannon blasts Nïx sobbed hysterically

"I just asked her if I&039;ll win the Hie! Why? What&039;s happening?"

"I don&039;t know - I&039;ve never seen her like this! She&039;s white as a ghost and in said, "Calm doeet What&039;s upset you?"

Kaderin heard N&ius, but couldn&039;t ?" Kaderin deone "She said " Regin sed audibly "She said that in the co to die"

Die? Kaderin frowned in confusion, wringing her hands around the phone How should one respond to that? I can&039;t iin, fired up once more, said, "Get out of the competition now!"

"You know that won&039;t help," Kaderin murmured "When your number&039;s up, it&039;s up"

"Yeah, but you can still freaking duck"

"Regin, how can you say so she herself had once saidout at her was as clear as if it happened yesterday For her own heedless words, Kaderin had had her arm broken and her skull and sternuet you, guard you in the coven"

"Nïx could be mistaken," Kaderin offered, surprised to find her eyes had watered in a rush "Or she read the prein&039;s benefit Kaderin knew N&iu And she&039;d never seen the death of a Valkyrie before

"N&iu"

"Oh" How brave Furie had been to go meet her destiny, how stoic

Kaderin could aspire to that

"Dain, only cowards don&039;t meet their fate If I&039;m to die in this competition, then that&039;s the hand I was dealt I&039;ll play it out"

"You&039;re talking crazy You shouldn&039;t be alone right now, not with this news"

She tilted her head, staring out the"I won&039;t be" Because dusk was in a couple of hours "I&039;ll be fine, Regin I&039;ll check in later," she added, then hung up, turning off the ringer

Kaderin knew that in the days leading up to the fullincessantly, trying to track her h her phone and credit-card use, as well as through the Accord&039;s network But Kaderin knew all the tricks, and if she didn&039;t want to be found, then she wouldn&039;t be

She shook The sun continued to set, and she had a va over