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So Aiden did what so many rich girls did when confronted with a situation they did not want to face. She rolled her eyes back into her head and pretended to faint.
-----
She spun her stave and struck me in the backs of the knees, smacking the joint with enough force to bruise. I tumbled to the ground, teeth set against the moment of pain.
-----
“Listen to me, Aiden. He’s not a bad guy like your dad and Uncle Eddie are bad guys.” He took a deep breath. “Like I’m a bad guy. This guy? His name’s Arturo Taccone, and he’s a whole different kind of bad.”
-----
“Are you ever going to call me Kat, Marcus?”
“Not today, miss.” He repeated softly, “Not today.”
-----
The man who opened the door reminded Kat oddly of Marcus, the way he wordlessly took her wet coat and softly asked her to follow. There were marble floors and chandeliers, fresh flowers, and fires burning in two of the four rooms she passed. But there were no stacks of mail lying on tables, no coats or scarves hung carelessly on the backs of chairs. It was a place that valued beauty and order in equal measure, Kat knew. So she stayed quiet, following her guide toward a set of double doors more intimidating than the drawbridge. She stood silent, waiting for an audience with Arturo Taccone.
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Pretend and it will be true.
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Will snarled something Aiden couldn’t hear. She hoped it was rude. She tried to twist away from Jace. Her feet slipped and he caught her, yanking her back with agonizing force.
---
Aiden wondered if Isabelle’s propensity for unsuitable footwear was genetic.
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Dasha sat on a rock and sighed. “Now, shall we just sit or would you like me to blather?”
“Blather please.” “With pleasure.”
----
“I hate them,” Enna said. “Whoever is responsible for making me sleep outside without pillows, I hate them.”
“Mmm-hmmm . . . ,” Dasha said. Rin had noticed that the Tiran girl often had trouble remembering how to speak in the morning.
“If Finn were here,” Enna continued to mumble as she rewrapped her head cloth, “he’d let me rest my head on his chest at night. Or leg. Or arm. And then he’d find whoever was responsible for the whole sleeping outside with no pillows situation and hold him while I kicked him in the shins.”
“Hmm . . . ,” said Dasha.
“In the shins. Hard.”
“Just don’t you let go of that lofty dream, Enna,” said Isi. “Four or five days to Kel, where we just might have time for some shin kicking.”
----
‘Would you like me to stop talking? Because I can. I have to concentrate, but it’s possible.’
---
“Why, I’m just as true and honest as dirt."Jon said " And I’m even more charming than dirt.”
