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"And you do not believe in hope?"
I snorted. "Hope is a fool's desire. I deal with realities."
"Really?"
With a suddenness, and an accuracy, that surprised me, she reached out and grabbed my hand. My instinctive response was to pull away, but I checked the strength of it almost immediately. Partly because I was curious about what she was doing, and partly because the minute her fingers touched mine, an odd sort of energy seemed to run over them. It felt like the power that caressed the air right before a summer storm.
She didn't say anything for several minutes, just gripped my fingers and frowned as the energy of her touch flowed between us. Then she sighed, and smiled as she released me.
"You will save us," she said softly.
Us? What the hell did she mean by that? Her and me? Did that mean she knew about the planned attack? Somehow, I didn't think so, but before I could ask what she actually meant, awareness surged, prickling like fire across my skin. With it came the stench of unwashed, unripe flesh.
Jack's stray vamp had shown up ahead of time.
And he'd brought a couple of friends along. ;Hey, Riley, you're supposed to be waiting out in front of the building."
Rhoan's cheerful voice rose out of the stillness, making me start. I glanced at the clock, and realized that almost an hour had passed since Quinn had left.
"Sorry," I called, rinsing the mug under the tap as I tried to gather my composure.
Why I bothered I have no idea. He wasn't fooled any more than I would have been.
"What's wrong?" He stopped in the kitchen doorway, his cheerful expression fading quickly to one of concern. "Are you okay?"
"Just dandy, bro."
He frowned, then pulled me into his arms. For several minutes he didn't say anything, just held me. Comforted me.
"Quinn raided my thoughts during sex," I said eventually, my words muffled by his chest. "He knows we're going after Starr."
Tension slipped through his muscles, quick and sharp. "Bastard."
"Exactly what I said. Several times."
"I hope you made him pay."
I sniffed. "Yeah, I did." But who was going to be the real loser - him or me?
"Good." He released me and stepped back. "Have you warned Jack?"
I shook my head. "There's no need. Quinn's going to the Directorate. He never got deep enough to discover we were going to Genoveve."
"But once he discovers Jack's not at the Directorate, Genoveve is the first place he'll check." He glanced at his watch. "I'll ring Jack. You ready to go?"
I nodded. There was nothing to pack, nothing to take, because from here on in, I was going to become someone else.
"Then let's get out of here, just in case he decides to come back for a little more raiding."
I nodded, then suddenly remembered Liander. "I just have to get one thing."
I dashed into my bedroom to get Liander's birthday present, then we left. Once we'd gotten into Liander's van and had merged into the flow of Saturday morning traffic, Rhoan called Jack. I leaned over the front passenger seat and plonked the present onto it.
"Hey, happy birthday, old man."
"Forty-nine is hardly old for a werewolf. And kindly remember that you're going out with someone more than twelve hundred years old."
"Yeah well, that situation might have changed." Though I'd forced a cheerful note into my voice, Liander didn't appear any more fooled than my brother had been.
