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at.”
    “I don’t know…,” Cassie mused. “What if you don’t like it?”
In answer to Vale’s puzzled look, she slapped her forehead. “What am I saying?
Men and disembowelment… What’s not to like?”
    Vale glared at Rafe from across the room, as if saying I
told you she wouldn’t understand.
    The blond Guardian grinned back and whispered towards Alise,
“If she gives him a major breakdown, she’ll be paying the therapy bills.”
    Alise had never heard of Guardians suffering from emotional
breakdowns, even if they weren’t necessarily sane … or healthy. They had to be
a little nuts to put up with that kind of life. Her neck ached so she sat up on
the couch. She tugged at her shirt, which had slipped down during the night,
exposing a shoulder.
    “Don’t do that on my account.” Rafe watched her, smirking.
    She ignored his remark. “What did you give her this time?
She’s way too cheerful.”
    “She was terrified when she woke up, so we gave her a
spoonful of long-lasting courage and obliviousness elixir. She’s not afraid
anymore, but now she won’t stop talking.” For some reason, that seemed to amuse
him terribly. “Humans are so weak.”
    At the kitchen island, the conversation continued.
    “Is Alise on your hit list?” Cassie asked.
    “No.” Vale sounded bothered by that accusation. “We’re not
murderers. She declined her status and left of her own free will. She’s not
part of our … jurisdiction anymore.”
    “But she can still do stuff, like that thing with the
monster? I’ve seen it,” Cassie said.
    Unconsciously, Rafe scratched at his shoulder where the scar
had been.
    “She’s still a … What did you call it? Magic user?” Cassie
asked.
    “For now. But, with no source to refill her magic, that will
soon run out,” Vale said. “She’s not one of us anymore.”
    “So she didn’t have to help you locate that creep.”
Cassie’s voice had taken on a certain tone Alise recognized. Heads were about
to roll, metaphorically speaking.
    “No one forced her,” Vale said. “She did it willingly.”
    “And had her back split open? Why would anyone agree to
that?”
    “Because she wants him caught just as much as we do.”
    He was wrong. No one wanted Gorem dead as much as Alise did.
    Cassie went quiet, but only for a moment. “You took
advantage of her.”
    Vale didn’t look disturbed by that idea, but a muscle
twitched on Rafe’s face.
    “Will you protect her now that you got her in trouble?”
Cassie asked.
    “We don’t have to, but we will,” Vale said with a pensive
glance in the direction of the couch.
    “Because you plan to use her as bait.” Cassie shook her head
and blew at the copper curl that fell on her forehead. “You sure are some piece
of work.”
    “He’ll come after her whether we’re here or not,” Vale said.
“She’s got better chances with us around.”
    “But why? Why is he coming after her again? And why did he
take her wings?”
    “ That is a good question,” Rafe said aloud, and all
three pairs of eyes turned to look at Alise. “He’s coming after you because
you’re a witness of his crimes and you can testify against him in front of the
Council. But why did he take your wings in the first place?”
    Alise shrugged. “I don’t know. I was in too much pain to
ask.” And what she did know, she wasn’t ready to tell them yet.
    Rafe failed to look convinced by her answer, but he didn’t
push it.
    “You’re up!” A big smile lit up Cassie’s face.
    Alise answered with a faint smile of her own. The wave of
relief washing over her at the realization that Cassie still considered her a
friend took her by surprise.
    “We let you sleep in,” Cassie said. “We thought you needed
it.”
    Alise didn’t know how to answer that, especially the part
where Cassie included both her and the Guardians in the “we” part. She didn’t
like that. Cassie shouldn’t fraternize with the enemy.
    “Breakfast is ready,” Vale announced