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limited to animals doesn t mean Kett is. She could change her eyes, hair, skin she could look
like anybody.
His third thought was, Does this mean I didn t cheat on her?
His fourth thought was, Damn, even bruised and sulky she s gorgeous.
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Cat Marsters
It was me, Bael. I was trying to prove I wasn t your mate. I didn t know if you d go
for another woman, so I figured&
Bael tried to shake off the fog of lust and confusion clouding him. Why?
She let go of his arm and plucked grumpily at the bedcovers. I don t want to be
tied to anyone. I never did.
You got married once.
Yes, when I was very, very drunk, and it ended very, very badly. I don t like fate,
Bael. It tells you what to do
And you don t like being told what to do, Bael finished, incredulous. She was
dumping him because of a problem with authority?
I don t expect you to understand, she said.
Try me.
Kett heaved a sigh then said, All right. You want to count these? First up, my
natural disaster of a marriage.
Lots of people have failed relationships.
Do they end up in jail as a result of them? All right, when I was about seventeen I
was sleeping with this pro-Treegan player. He did some aerial stunts to impress me, fell
off the gryphon, broke his back. And it s not just sexual relationships. Look at my dad,
he ended up dead.
Temporarily. Bael still couldn t quite process this.
Look, even my friends get hurt. Jarven, there s a nice, recent example. And my
army buddies, they tried to stand up for me, and not one of them ever got promoted
because of it.
So bad things have happened to you Bael began, but she cut him off, her eyes
steely and defensive.
It s not just me. It bites everyone in the ass.
What does? Bael asked, frustrated.
Love. Whatever shape it comes in. Look at Chance she sacrificed herself for
Dark.
But she s fine now. She survived.
Striker s been killed for love at least three times that I know of. Chalia even shot
him herself once.
Can t entirely blame her for that, Bael muttered.
Captain Tanner did you meet him? Got his finger cut off trying to defend his
fiancée. The king? You know he s a widower? His wife was killed protecting her
children. And then there s me again. I tried to protect my dad from the sorceress who
was bumping off Striker s friends. Remember how that one ended up?
He touched the scar on her stomach and she flinched away.
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Mad, Bad & Dangerous
And finally we come to you. Deliberate or not, Bael, because of you, I ended up
almost dead in that cell. Maybe it is just me. The Curse of Kett, Bael. Falls on everyone.
I ve hurt more people than I can remember, and you can be damn sure they ve hurt
me.
She rubbed her shoulder and Bael ached with the effort of not touching her,
soothing her contradicting her.
So I gave up. Went to live with Jarven, who s a total sociopath. Figured I couldn t
do any damage there, to me or anyone else. Don t you see, Bael, I m not like other
people. I can t do the relationship thing. I can t do the normal thing.
You re not normal.
Cheers.
No I mean, why would you want to be? Kett, you re amazing. You re glorious.
Stop, she said quietly.
No. Kett, I love everything about you. Don t ever be like other people, they re
boring. You re
No, stop. Don t do this. Don t praise me, don t tell me I m wonderful and for the
love of the gods, don t pretend you love me.
But
You don t love me, Bael. You just think you ought to because you re stuck with
me. She touched his shoulder, stroked over the skin until she found a sore spot then
dug in. Bael sucked in a sharp breath of pain.
See? You re hurt this bad already. Imagine what d happen if you actually were in
love with me.
There wasn t anything he could think to say to that.
* * * * *
How s that bruise on your face? Nuala asked as Kett took a bite of toast at
breakfast.
Five by five, Kett said through her mouthful.
Are you sure you re not having any problem with movement?
She swallowed her toast and shook her head. No, it s fine, see? Else I d be eating
through a straw.
Oh, said Nuala, frowning in a way that made Kett wave her hand for more
information. Well, if it doesn t hurt that much, try smiling.
Her father guffawed. Realizing she was being made fun of, Kett snarled at her
stepmother and grabbed three bread rolls as she stood up to leave. She rolled them into
a napkin and added some fruit.
Oh Kett, I didn t mean it like that, Nuala said, looking like a kicked puppy.
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Cat Marsters
I don t exactly see how I ve got a lot to smile about, Kett said, tucking the
coffeepot under her arm, taking two cups and leaving the room.
Going back up the stairs was agonizing. With her arms full, she couldn t lean on the
banister to spare her aching leg or hop without losing her balance. The main staircase at
Nuala s house was enormous, as tall as it was wide, stretching into infinity.
She was halfway up and considering dumping the food when someone came up
behind her and started taking bread rolls from her arms.
Gerroff, she said, because it was Bael, and she d been avoiding him all morning.
I ve been thinking, he said, ignoring her.
Novelty. She forced herself up another step.
Yeah. Look, Kett. If you and I had just met, say in a bar or something, and hit it off
and gone back to your place or mine
You mean your castle with the turret cell? Cozy.
Or anywhere. And we d felt the same kind of sparks we had from the start, Bael
went on, prizing the coffeepot from her arms, which left her with one hand free to hold
the banister.
Kett stubbornly folded her arms, clinging to the two coffee cups, and trudged up
another step.
Would we have had something? If I d never mentioned this whole mate thing? If
we d just& gotten together and had fun and shagged each other rotten
Kett lost her balance at the mention of that and Bael steadied her, his arm around
her shoulders. She wondered where the hell he d put the things he d taken from her,
then saw Var, dog-shaped, patiently standing there with the napkin held in his mouth.
Great, now there s dog slobber all over that.
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