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And yeah That’s probably how I’d feel in his place Like I wanted to rip s they’d becoth He could do it And sure, they’d eventually grow back, but not all scars heal Like theoff your own flesh, for instance

"Okay," I told hiive ain, not soto think about But to avoid having to meet his But it didn’t help es of the hands I’d been staring at so intently

And in the afterie, they looked norant lines They were an artist’s hands, an actor’s hands Not surprisingly, I guess, since that’s what Jules had been once

He’d been an aspiring Hollywood up-and-comer sometime in the early days of movies, when Mircea had met him and offered him a different kind of deal Only it hadn’t turned out as well as Jules had hoped Maybe because, while he had talent, intellect, and drive, he was also hotheaded, blunt, and had a bad tendency to leap before he looked

Like Rico had said, he was a terrible diplomat

Which wouldn’t have been so bad, but Mircea’s fauy who didn’t havelike this would hurt Which probably explained why his hands were suddenly tre in mine

Damn it! Pritkin could have handled this in a heartbeat, probably without even breaking a sweat But thanks to Rosier, he wasn’t here And I couldn’t very well call Jonas, ould find a bunch of coven witches in asket Which would equally probably spark a retaliation, since the coven’s leadership hadn’t exactly impressed me with their restraint so far And then both sides would call for help and then--

And then we’d all end the night clucking

"Cassie?" Jules’ voice caain, more timid this ti had started to worry hi up with anything Well, other than Roger’s old ht not helpa that would

"Yeah," I said thoughtfully, stroking the backs of his hands, and trying to channel every doctor I’d ever heard "Yeah I thought so"

"You thought what?"

"You shouldn’t worry," I told hi deal"

"No big deal?" Jules sounded incredulous

"Well, sure, it probably doesn’t seem that way to you But it’s an easy spell More a prank than anything else The es’ kids sometime use it on each other for fun"

"For--" He broke off with a choked sound "Mages are crazy"

"Tell ht I’ll get rid of our guests as soon as I can, and we’ll get you all fixed up All right?"

He blinked at h water-beaded lashes, sort of dazed, as if he’d been bracing for a death sentence But then he nodded, looking a little cal-wet form out of the shower

Fred didn’t follow "Who you want me to call?"

I scowled at him "How do you knoant you to call anybody?"

He just looked at hed "Central, the Corps’ HQ Ask for Caleb Carter"

"Who?"

"One of Pritkin’s friends You ht at the pizza place Tell hiet over here"

Fred sent uess it’s bad, huh?"

"I don’t know But Caleb will And he kno to keep his mouth shut"

"So does Pritkin," Fred pointed out "Why not just call him?"

"He’sbusy"