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. Where d you get this?I crossed my arms. They re plastered all over town.Now he did straighten, stretching blithely, which annoyed me for some reason. And when did Olivia Archer become a patron of the smut peddlers? Actually, Ben discovered it.He s decided he doesn t like you.Hunter turned back to the pencil and scale he d been working with. Oh, I mreal worried about the mortal who keeps stepping on his own dick. Hey! I straightened, indignant.He waved my protest away and kept working. Big deal.So Ben told the littlePage 66ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlsister of his not-dead ex-girlfriend who really is his ex that he doesn t likeme.Meanwhile he s dating her sworn enemy.Stop me when this gets ridiculous.I circled to the other side of the table and leaned forward so I really was inhis light. You mean ridiculous like pissing off a P.I.so badly, he sharedeverything he s learned about Hunter Lorenzo with his new girlfriend?That had him looking up. What?I shot him a grim smile now that I had his attention. Ben didn t show that tome.Regan did.I saw his mind working, body still as his eyes wandered the floor, mentallycovering all the angles as I had.The Hunter Lorenzo identity, the odds ofRegan tracking him to Valhalla.Finally his tensed shoulders relaxed. Itdoesn t matter. It does if she ever sees you at the casino.What are you going to say,security is your side job? Or hooking is?His jaw clenched, but he still offered no explanation. You worry too much.He meant I asked too many questions.Feeling my temper rise, I linked my handsto keep them from curling into fists, and worked on keeping my tone light andeven. I m not worried, just curious.I mean, what kind of women call you?Desperate? Homely? College girls come to Vegas to party? Doctors wives leftalone too many nights in a row?He turned away again. Business etiquette prevents me from speaking of myclients. How quaint.An escort code of honor. I held up my hands as his gaze whippedup to mine again. Hey, I m interested.I mean, do you go to dinner? Dancing?Or is it straight to the bedroom for horizontal gymnastics?He almost smiled, and I realized my voice had risen. Whatever they want, hesaid coolly, twirling his pencil lightly between thumb and forefinger.He waswatching me carefully now. Each woman s needs are a unique and fragilething. Don t go all new age call boy on me, I snapped. Warren doesn t know aboutthis, does he?Hunter shrugged. He wouldn t care.As long as I m discreet.I glanced back down at the flyer with his face plastered across the cover.Hunter s jaw flexed as my eyes returned to him. Not that it s any of yourbusiness.I was in no position to argue; I d turned him down repeatedly, and made itclear we would never be an item.Sure, I was physically attracted to him, butthe imprint stomped on my heart was Ben-shaped, and it d been there longbefore Hunter came along.No matter how honed that capable body and mind mightbe, he would never fit into that space. Fine, I said agreeably, backing up a step.He watched me for a moment,sniffed, then pulled the cap off a bottle of water, downing it in practicallyone gulp. So what are you working on?He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, then tossed the empty bottleinto a lined trash bin without looking. A new conduit.And anyone could see that designing the weapons each agent carried into battlewas his true passion.Two oversized drafting tables took up the warehouse snucleus, and both were littered with sketches, pencils and erasers, rulers andflow charts.He then cast his experimental weapons in foam templates, thoughthat didn t mean his work was tentative.The weapons master prior to him hadbeen an exacting teacher, breaking Hunter s inferior efforts underfoot untilhe d finally learned to abandon caution and rely solely on his warrior sinstinct.For every conduit created there were a dozen more abandoned asevidenced now by the two full bins of discarded foam but the result wasweapons with responsiveness and punch, a harmonic blend of stiffness andtenuity that coupled with the individual agent s personality and talents.These martial creations were a big factor in our troop s success. For whom? I asked, picking up one of the foam templates from a metal binnext to his drawing board.It was probably one he d discarded for somethingbetter, and too bad, because even carved in foam it was very nearly sleek.ItPage 67ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmllooked like a gun with a barrel as long as a spine, but somehow the palm-sizedbutt was still easy to handle.Probably ballast at the end; I turned it overto look, but Hunter snatched the template from my hand, gave me a hard look,and tossed it back in the bin.I held up my hands until he backed away.Passionate could be another word for freaky. It s for Kimber Marshall.Her official metamorphosis is on the nineteenth.There will be a new moon, it ll be a new week, a new Libra.Marlo s old sign.I waited for him to say more, but the mention of Marlo was enough to tell meHunter still blamed himself for her death.Sure, he hadn t been responsiblefor the virus lying dormant in her young body, but he was there when it dsparked to life inside her.He d been the one to ignite it& but I d been theone responsible for it being there in the first place.Time to change thesubject. Why a blowgun? I asked, glancing at the vellum paper splayed over hislargest drawing table.The hollowed-out tube was represented there indifferent dimensions and angles, as were the darts. I mean, how do you choosethis weapon as her conduit?Conduits were like prosthetic limbs, extremely personal and individuallyfitted for the wielding agent.Mine was a miniature crossbow, bequeathed to meby my mother, as conduits often were.But Marlo s lineage had died along withher, which meant a new dynasty could lay claim to the Libran star sign.Yetbecause Marlo s ancestors had been here since the birth of the troop, therewere no other Librans of Light in the valley.We d sent a message out to thetroops nationwide, a sort of supernatural want ad asking for a second daughterof good lineage.Our succession was matriarchal, and second daughters wererarely called into duty, but that didn t mean they weren t well trained orambitious.And if a family could have two daughters serving the Light in twodifferent cities, it served to strengthen their legacy and interests [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]