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Thinking of Cadeon and Holly made another suspi­cion creep over him The two of them were complete opposites Cadeon, a slob and a cold-hearted enius

The obsessive-co-stone soldier of fortune A co

Rydstroood, Sabine as treacherous and evil It didn't seenore how his body had reacted to the sor­ceress Instinctively he knew that should he sink into her, the seal would be broken He would at last know the feeling of releasing his seed, and would be able to forever after

Recently, he'd consulted the soothsayer N&iurin, "It's a doozy" She'd see could beRydstrom's queen This situation was precisely what N&iu The Valkyrie worshipped fate like a religion

And they were the first to admit that fate was a fickle bitch

I can deny it

The cell door groaned open and servants entered "We're to get you ready for this eve" Again powder stung his eyes

8

When Sabine shot awake, she found her bed was sitting in the pouring rain and o

She blinked her eyes, realizing this was a chimera scene fro or in the grip of a nighters over the scar at her neck, the illusion faded, her bedrooain

This tower room was once supposed to have been the private chambers of Rydstrom It was in the west tower, the one closest to the water, and had wall-size s that she kept open to the ocean breezes She'd redeco­rated it with flowing banners in scarlet and black that whipped in the wind

She knew going back to sleep would be ied to drift off the first time-

"You didn't dream of your prisoner," a voice intoned from the shadows of her chamber

She jerked back to the headboard when she spied O in the darkness

After hastily covering her scanty nightgoith an illusion, she ht

This hy she could never sleep through a night Omort could have bound her wrists behind her back, a simple move that would have blocked her ability to cast illusions-her only defense "You've crossed a line by co into my room, brother"

"Wasn't that just a matter of for his mental probes out like sonar, but she'd learned to block them com-pletely He often demanded others open their minds to him, but never Sabine-as if, deep down, he didn't really want to know her feelings about him

"What does that mean?"

"With Rydstrom's capture, we are one step closer tothe inevitable"