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psychotic break
and my body is in a straightjacket somewhere. Maybe all this is
just a figment of my imagination—”
    “Really? Is
this a figment of your imagination, then?” he murmured, then tilted
his head to capture her lips with his. His lips skated lightly
across hers, then his tongue asked for entry into her mouth and she
granted it, melting into his arms as he kissed her breathless.
    As they broke
the kiss, she peered up at him suspiciously. “Considering you have
so few women here, how did you learn to kiss like that?”
    “Natural
talent.” His teeth flashed in a hungry grin. “Want to go upstairs
so I can show you where my other talents lie?”
    A shiver of
anticipation ran up her spine. “That sounds lovely.” She closed her
eyes for a moment and shivered. “So very lovely, but you and I need
to have a talk first.”
    “About
what?”
    “About babies.
What do you do about birth control here?”
    “Babies….” He
let out a slow, careful breath. “I understand that in your world,
women and men control for births. Here they are so hard to achieve
that it’s not usual for families to want to discourage them.” He
paused and his eyes became haunted. “In some cases, however…like
ours, there are ways. I have already taken this precaution.”
    “How?”
    “It’s a herb.
It’s one reason I didn’t want to take things further this morning.
Since then I have ingested this plant and we don’t need to worry
about making a baby.” He looked so sad uttering this sentence that
Caroline regretted bringing the subject up at all.
    She reached up
and cupped his cheek, and he covered her hand with his. “I wish we
didn’t have this fate hanging over our heads for so many reasons,”
he murmured. “I would love to have a child with you.”
    She opened her
mouth to reply, but someone pounded on the door. She jerked with
surprise.
    Torrent’s face
went alert. “It’s late.” His expression went grim. “This can’t be
anything good.”
    Pulling away
from her, he rose, walked over and opened the door. Still sitting
on the couch, she peered around Torrent’s form in the doorway and
glimpsed a tall, thin man who appeared bedraggled and dirty. Blood
marked his cheek and upper arm. “Logan! Come in.”
    “I can’t stay
long, but I have news.”
    “Can’t stay
long…Logan, you’ve been missing for a fortnight.” Torrent ushered
him to sit on a kitchen chair. “You’re injured and half starved.
Where have you been?”
    Caroline rose
from her place on the couch and entered the kitchen. The man looked
up at her and surprise spread over his face. He looked between her
and Torrent.
    “Logan, meet
Caroline.” Torrent’s voice sounded clipped, but she didn’t know if
it was because of concern over Logan’s condition or the fact the
man had just reminded him that their relationship was doomed to
tragedy.
    “Hi,” she said
to the man. “I’ll get some food ready.”
    A smile spread
over Logan’s face and she saw that under the dirt, blood and
apparent weight loss, he was a very good-looking guy. “I can’t stay
long, but thank you. I need some food.”
    She nodded and
smiled, then moved to heat up some leftover stew.
    “Obviously,”
snapped Torrent. “Why didn’t you take dire wolf form and hunt? You
shouldn’t abuse yourself this way.”
    “I couldn’t.”
Logan grabbed Torrent’s arm. “Listen. You’ve got to come with me.
There’s someone waiting in the woods. I didn’t want to bring her
here until I knew it was safe.” He paused. “It’s Jessa.”
    Torrent went
still and silent for a moment. “What’s she doing here?” he asked
sharply.
    “She left the
Magica, Torrent. She had to. She was found out. I helped her escape
and we were running and hiding in the woods for days. She has
important information for us. Information that could change
everything.”
    Torrent leaned
on the table and bowed his head. His voice was heavy when he spoke.
“It’s starting. The prophecy.