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someone else in his house.
A kid, wearing jeans and a black knit cap, stood next to Kaine, holding her hand as
if comforting her.
Was he dreaming?
He looked back at Kaine. She looked& stricken. Guilty.
Why the hell
Shit. Evie lay on the couch, unmoving. He ran for her, nearly stumbling in his haste.
Or from the dizziness in his head.
 Evie! Evie, wake up.
 John, stop it. She s fine.
The boy s tone barely filtered through his brain as John lifted Evie into his arms. He
had to hold her, had to make sure she was okay.
Her cheeks were pale and there seemed to be a bruise on her chin. Had someone hit
her?
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Stephanie Julian
Rage began to build in his gut and he tried to stand, tried to get him and Evie away
from the boy. It had to be the boy.
 What the hell do you want?
 I m not here to hurt you, John. The kid s face twisted in a grimace and John was
caught by his eyes. The kid had old eyes. Ancient eyes.  Kaine called me for help.
 What? Why? I didn t hurt you. I wouldn t hurt you.
Tears welled in her eyes but she blinked them back.  I know that. I didn t call for
help for me. Evie needs help, John. I think she s in trouble.
 I know that. I just don t know what s wrong.
Shit, what the hell had loosened his tongue?
Kaine and the boy exchanged a glance as John held Evie closer. Should he run? He
had to protect Evie but even though the situation was surreal, he didn t sense danger.
Which could just mean he was more fucked up than he thought and not thinking
straight.
 Maybe you want to tell me what s been going on. The boy who d been holding
Kaine s hand released her and took a few steps closer to him.
 Why would I want to do that?
 Because maybe I can help.
Help? Yeah, help would be nice. Help would be really nice right about now. But
why would he accept help from a kid who didn t look older than twelve, a kid he d
never met before and who shouldn t be in his house?
John shook his head, trying to clear his brain.  I don t know you.
The kid nodded.  No, you don t. But you can trust me. Kaine trusts me and you can
too.
Kaine. His gaze shifted back to the beautiful woman he d brought home from the
bar. She stared at him with huge, dark eyes.
He trusted Kaine. Why the hell did he trust Kaine?
 Christ, none of this makes any sense. He lifted one hand to rub at his temples.
 And my head fucking hurts. Who the fuck are you?
The kid looked at him with old, old eyes and a well of patience.  My name s Sal.
I m Kaine s friend and I can help Evie. You just need to tell me what s going on with
her.
What was going on with Evie?
Hell, weird, freaky shit was going on with her. Light bulbs burst when she got
angry or scared. Tables and chairs moved across the floor on their own. Doors
slammed, windows cracked.
 You re right, the kid said.  That s freaky. Hell, Kaine. This is bad.
Whoa, he must be really far gone. He couldn t remember saying that out loud.
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In his arms, Evie started to wake. Her eyes fluttered until finally she opened her
eyes just enough to see him.
 John?
 Shh, Evie. It s okay. I ve got you.
 What s going Wait. Her eyes shot open.  There was someone in the apartment.
Someone was here, John.
 It s okay. I know. Kaine s here, she s a friend.
Evie started to shake her head then couldn t stop.  No. No, she s not. She did
something to me. She& She hit me.
 What? His gaze snapped to Kaine and her guilt was so easy to read.  Why?
 Tinia s teat, the girl s pulling some serious power, the boy said.  We ve got to
shut her down or she s going to blow the roof off this place.
 I know. Kaine s voice was barely a whisper.  I don t know what I did.
 Let s not get ahead of ourselves here. The boy walked over to him, his smile
easygoing.  Hey, John. Everything s gonna be okay.
Evie burrowed closer to him as the pain in his head threatened to crack his skull
open.
Then everything went dark.
* * * * *
John and Evie went out like someone had pulled their plugs.
As John s arms loosened around his sister, Sal caught her before she fell off John s
lap and hit the floor.
Evie already had a bruise on her chin from where Kaine had knocked her out.
John would hate her for that. Hell, he d hate her for a lot more than that.
He d slept with a monster. And if the streghe had to lift the spell masking his
memories of everything that had happened, he d know that.
And he d despise her.
 Kaine, we don t have time for you to fall apart right now. Sal s sharp tone
snapped her to attention as he set Evie on the couch next to John.
He d released his glamour and the cap, the clothes, were all gone now. His hooves
made little indentations in the carpet as he moved to stand in front of her. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]