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he was walking on eggshells around her, fearful of accidentally evoking a memory that
would trigger another traumatic response.
But, of course, it had been wonderful to have her here with him, too. Although
Duse needed to work during the day, he spent as much time with her as he could,
making sure that he paused in his busy schedule to be with her during meals or to
accompany her to her nursery. They always spent the evenings together. The evening
after she d arrived, she d challenged Duse to a game of chess. Now, it had become a
regular routine for them to play chess after dinner. Duse liked to watch her face in
serious contemplation as she considered her moves. He only half paid attention to the
game. Most of his attention would be on some compelling characteristic of Skylar s
features the soft, corkscrew curls of her golden hair, or the way she bit at her full, lush
lower lip while she concentrated, or the gentle rise and fall of her full breasts. Yeah,
he d definitely had to excuse himself during those chess matches more and more
frequently to engage in that depraved, selfish human behavior.
But he also felt moments of profound peace with her, like when they would walk
together with Ravi at the lakefront, talking quietly or just enjoying each other s presence
in silence. Yesterday, Skylar had spontaneously reached for his hand to hold it, and
then gave a little cry of alarm when she realized that her hand had passed through his
as it would through a mist.
 I m sorry, Skylar, Duse said quickly. He willed himself into corporeality. Being
directly next to Lake Michigan made him have to work harder to do it. Duse was most
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strongly an air spirit, but fire was one of his strengths, as well. He was a powerful
being, but he had his shortcomings. Being just a few feet from a large body of water
didn t totally damp his magical abilities as it might some, but it could certainly make
things more difficult for him. It didn t bother him at all once he got a hundred feet
away, or so, but when he was right next to it, the effect was a hurdle to his powers.
 I wasn t expecting you to do that.
Her eyes were wide in shock for a moment. After a few seconds, though, she
surprised him by saying,  No, I m the one who s sorry. I shouldn t have just reached
out for you without preparing you first. She hesitated a moment.  Can I now, Duse?
Duse nodded. When her soft, warm skin touched his, he exhaled with satisfaction.
Something about the fact that she had reached out to touch him at that moment and her
gracious understanding of what had happened when she realized he was not fully
corporeal, though visible, moved him deeply. He had wanted nothing more at that
moment than to take her back to the penthouse and spend the next week in bed with
her, making love to her wildly and tenderly, and by the Glorious Gods, without a
thought for restraint or worry!
Bale paused presently, unsure how to proceed. His brother was already a live wire
of suppressed energy.  Duse, you don t think it could have anything to do with her
shielding her emotions from you in regard to the night she was attacked, do you?
 Other than the fact that she s blocking me out in both instances, I don t see the
connection. Duse s eyes hardened on his brother.  You re not suggesting that she
actually knows something about whoever is behind this, are you?
Bale shook his head, refusing to back down from his brother s powerful stare.  I m
not saying that at all. But I have to wonder what connection there is between Skylar s
unusual behavior of Friday night and the fact that someone is obviously trying to harm
her.
 Well, I ll tell you the connection, brother. Because of Asmoday s twisted mind, I
was forced to put that spell on her and make love to her quicker than she could
handle.
 Your explanation doesn t take into account that someone found her and attacked
her, even before her Second Change. I would think that is related to her memories of
her past lives more than you making love to her. Bale snorted abruptly.  Lord knows
you ve made love enough times to her in the past and she never had her memories
return. You d better start doing it again, too, little brother. You re giving all of us bad
nightmares in the state you ve been in for the last few days.
Duse scowled at the telepathic portion of Bale s message. They stared across the
room at each other aggressively for a few seconds before he shrugged uneasily.  I don t
understand it, either. Asmoday s energy allotment is too scarce to have allowed it. Che
and Eli inspected Asmoday s bonds themselves, and there s nothing inherently wrong
with them. Even though Day couldn t have harmed Skylar, I somehow still have the
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feeling that he did. Somehow. If it wasn t him directly, then he was involved. Do you
think it could have been one of his followers?
Bale exhaled slowly.  It might be, he said neutrally.
 Thanks for the input, King.
Bale scowled at the bitterness in his brother s voice.  What do you want me to say,
Duse? It would be irresponsible for me to sit here and point fingers at the followers of
the Rush Initiative. You know as well as I do that those Watchers are as law-abiding as
you or I. Just because they have a differing opinion from you doesn t mean that they
were responsible for attacking Skylar.
 They want to use Watcher mates as chattels! Gods, it s no wonder Skylar fought
me so hard the other night. She was right! She s not an energy storehouse for our people
any more than Helen is.
 I voted down the Rush Initiative, Duse! Why are you acting like I m the enemy?
Bale shouted, his eyes blazing.  How can you think I would ever subject Skylar to that,
let alone Helen? Watchers have vigilantly encouraged anti-slavery ideation among
humans from the very beginning! But our race must survive. We must have hope. Our
mates are amazing women, the equivalent to us of goddesses in the old religions of the
humans. They aren t that different than how our mother, or Che s mother, was
considered by their people a revered, sacred representative of the divine feminine. I
won t deprive our race of that!
Duse sank back in his chair resignedly. It was far from a new conflict for him. He
knew that it wasn t a black-and-white argument. Even though he d traditionally been
more of a moderate on the long-standing Watcher debate, after spending more and
more time with Devon and studying Watcher history, he d begun to swing to the more
conservative end of the spectrum. He sighed heavily. Maybe his current outburst at Bale
wasn t just related to his irritability about being sex-deprived. He undoubtedly was not
only feeling guilty about insisting that Skylar take part in the Ceremony, but also the
fact that she d remembered that he d lied to her in the past about what really occurred
on that night& if lying by omission counted, anyway.
 If only we could ensure that the Ceremony encouraged love and respect for the
Watcher race and the women who perpetuate it the sacred divine, as you aptly put
it instead of inspiring power-hungry greed, he muttered thickly.
 I know, Duse. I m aware of the conflict.
Duse sighed.  I know that you are, King.
Bale exhaled slowly, hearing the respect in his brother s voice along with the
inherent apology for his earlier aspersion. A long pause ensued as both of them
gathered their frayed tempers.
 I m surprised that you let her go with Ainge today.
 What was I supposed to do? She wanted to go to her nursery. I told her specifically
that she s not a prisoner here. When we were on our way out the door and Sherry
arrived, I had to admit in front of Skylar that I had scheduled an appointment with her.
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Ainge offered to take Skylar to the nursery, and Skylar kept insisting it would be fine,
Duse said grievously.
Bale laughed softly.  Don t go feeling sorry for yourself. I saw Skylar last Friday,
felt some measure of what she was feeling toward you. Her emotions for you are [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]