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running and was completely out of breath.

Collin looked over at me and arched an eyebrow, "How would that not draw attention to us?" He laughed, "Mortals pay attention to death. Smart Valefar don't leave trails." I looked away from him and at the wooden walls. We were sitting on the floor of an old boathouse down by the docks, not far from Tahlia's house. Collin said he had come here frequently before he met me. This was his sanctuary. He led us into the old building that stank of salty sea air and mildew. There wasn't much going on at this time of night. It was quiet except for the sound of the water splashing into the dock.

Holding the book squarely on my lap, I looked up at him almost afraid to ask, "Then what'd you do to her?" He looked at me like that was a silly question, but I pressed, "I saw blood on the corner of her mouth. I know it was yours, Collin. Tell me what you did." The last sentence was more of a plea than a command. Valefar powers that involved blood scared me. They seemed to be the most heinous of their kind. I had no idea how true that thought was at the time.

Collin's eyes cut to me as if considering whether or not he should tell me. He finally let out a sigh and leaned back against the wall, and folded his hands behind his head. "I told you that I'd take care of it, and I did. Why does it matter?" He dropped his hands to his knees and looked straight at me, making my heart flutter under his intense gaze. "Why do you have to know?" He stared at me, and I felt that it was a warning. He wanted to hide this from me as much as I wanted to know.

Frustrated, I folded my legs and set the book down beside me. "Martis don't use their blood for anything, so this part makes no sense to me. I want to know what you did because...well, I expected you to kill her. I thought, maybe, you didn't...because of me. But then I saw the blood and knew that you still did do something bad, it was just something else." I paused for a moment and then looked away from him and up into the cobweb filled rafters overhead. "I just want to know what damage I caused by waking her up. I'm responsible for whatever happened to her." My gaze cut back toward Collin. "I have to know."

There was no sparkle in his eyes, no lightness on his lips shown by the smile he usually wore. He looked at me and nodded, as if agreeing that I should know. "Valefar blood is powerful. It's used in making another Valefar, as well as forcing things to take an unnatural turn. We're the living dead - a body with no soul. I'm the only one, as far as I know, that has any remnant of a soul, but even that wasn't enough to overcome what I am. But you, your blood is diluted and mixed with Martis blood. Maybe your mixture of good and evil blood cancels itself out. Maybe it doesn't. I don't know."

The look on his face became troubled, but the bond told me he was scared - very scared. I sensed his hesitation. "But," he continued, "the point is that Valefar blood is toxic to mortals. It either changes them to Valefar or it can be used to manipulate the natural order of things." He paused, not wanting to tell me what he did. Something brushed against the bond, and I felt him slam it back down, trying to hide it from me. I stared at him, horror growing within me, wondering what he'd done. "The blood made her sleep, and forget. I used it to erase us from her mind. But, Valefar blood is intrusive. The process will continue, routing backwards from today, until she forgets everything she knows. It will corrupt her body from the inside, destroying it in the process."

Eyes wide, I stared at him. My mouth was dry, and I couldn't swallow the knot that had grown to an enormous size in my throat. "So, you did kill her." My voice was a whisper. The fate Collin bestowed upon her was worse than I thought. He killed her anyway, but slowly. Oh my God! That was so much worse!

Collin didn't walk over and throw

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