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."André—""I shall take my leave after sunset.Young Lenny said that he and Keith shall look in on you—"" André—"He stopped in mid-sentence, and looked back over his shoulder at her, expression unreadable."Top drawer of the desk.The brass box."He turned around and walked slowly to the desk and put his hand hesitantly on the drawer pull,opening it as if he expected something to leap out at him.He took out the little brass box and opened itjust as gingerly.And held up the set of keys with an enigmatic frown on his face."I don't like the idea of somebody as vulnerable as you spending his daylight hours in publiclibraries and cheap movie houses," she said, trying to put her thoughts in order.She spoke slowly andcarefully to keep the pain that was returning from creeping into her intonation.I don't want his decisionsbased on the fact that I'm not exactly in top shape."Especially not—somebody I care for.Somedaysomeone who knows what you are is going to feed you a nice thick stake."Despite her best efforts, some of her pain must have shown in her face, if not her voice.He took atiny white paper envelope out of his pants pocket and silently handed her a pair of pills, and sheswallowed them dry."I thought we had agreed that it might be dangerous to become—entangled," he said, standingbetween her and the light, so that his face was in shadow.Just as it had been the night they met.Children of the night.All of us.Him, me, Davey.the night brought us together.Be damned ifI'm going to let it take him away without a fight."We did," she admitted."But we didn't discuss how dangerous it might be not to be entangled.You mentioned consequences.There are consequences there, too.""True." He returned to her side, dangling the keys from his long, sensitive hand."And would thatbe dangerous?""It might." She waited until he seated himself."For you, because living the way you do, you'revulnerable.For me—" She faltered.I hadn't thought about this, not really.But it's happened all the same.What I swore wouldn't.Ever."You're tied into me on a lot of levels, André.I like you, and I don't have tohide anything from you."She took a very deep breath, and made the last confession."I've been alone too much, and toolonely.You changed that, and I—I don't want to be alone anymore.I'd like you to stay.I'd like you to bewith me.Please?"He looked down at his hands, at the keys held loosely between them.Her heart sank when hedidn't immediately reply."Well," he said finally, not looking up."I prefer thinking that I am not a parasite.There is an uglyword for that, cherie.""I—could use some help—" she said ruefully, raising the plaster-encased bulk of her left hand."So I see." He looked a little happier.She gave him a wry grin."So tell me what you can do, besides the obvious.""Well, so this is an interview?" His smile appeared, tentative, but there."Very well,mademoiselle, I can type.And take dictation.I play the violin passably well, so I might entertain you.Ifear, however, that I cannot cook.""You said yourself we work well together.Would you be willing to give me a hand with thingslike tonight?"Please say yes—"Hmm.Indeed, I could help you with other things.I do have certain talents." He tilted his headsideways, and his smile faded as he considered her."It will not be easy, Diana.I am what I am.""So am I.No one's ever claimed I was easy to live with.Please, let's just try."He cupped his hand under her chin, and finally gave her that slow, sweet smile she'd been hopingfor."Very well, petite, " he said softly."We will try."The drugs hit her then, and she swayed toward him.He caught her in his arms—and then hecaught her up, lifting her easily."Wh-what are you doing?" she gasped."Putting you to bed, cherie.Where you belong.If you will insist on my being here, you must putup with my insistence upon certain conditions." He looked at her sternly out of the corner of his eye as hecarried her toward the bedroom."And one of those is that you must spare your maltreated ankle."She sighed as they passed the bedroom door and he flicked on the light with his elbow."I supposeI don't have any choice."He put her carefully down on the side of the bed, pushing aside the tumbled blankets."No, you donot.""But neither do you—"She still had her arms around his neck, and she pulled him down beside her, cast and bandagedankle and all."W-what do you mean?" he asked, eyes going wide."I mean," she whispered into his ear, "once I get to feeling a bit better, you're going to have tohelp me finish this blasted romance novel—""I am?""Uh-huh." She nibbled on his neck."Especially the research—"[Front blurb]"It's a delight to know that a writer whose work I've loved all along has written something so freshand original."—Marion Zimmer BradleyTurning Fear Into Power"I believe it is game and match, hmm?" Jeffries said smoothly, holding the gun on Di.As far as hewas concerned, the fight was over.He'd won.It took a moment to register on Di.First came shock.Then immobility.Then fear.Overwhelmingfear, the kind that used to paralyze her.And didn't anymore.Her shield-aura flared, much more potent in that small space than any sunlight.Jeffries screamed.[Version History]Version 1.0 - scanned, OCR'd, spellchecked, and formatted.Version 2.0 - proofread and corrected by The_Ghiti.If you find errors, please fix, incrementversion number by 0.1 and re-post.Note that Mercedes Lackey used lots of "combined" words — like"notecards," "coatracks," etc.This is really the way they were in the d.t.copy.Scanners' Note: The books are numbered in series timeline order, not in publication order.Seriestimeline order is:1.Children of the Night2.Burning Water3.Jinx HighPublication order is:1.Burning Water2.Children of the Night3.Jinx High
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