For once, he wasn't going to beat me. I heard him gaining fast, but I was nearing the platform. I think I got there a split second before him, but i... didn't really matter. We just looked at each other and started to laugh. This was the most fun we had had in years.He looked at me and asked, How ya feeling?Fi-ne I squeaked in a high pitch voice. I then explained I had a sore throat from the smoke the night before.We climbed out of the water onto the platform. As we were sitting on the. He pulled his dagger and sliced through the bonds easily enough. Regan sagged against him, and he readily caught her weight. Lifting her easily, he coughed on the rising smoke. ‘Cien!’ Owen stood just out of the flames holding his hands out. ‘Throw her to me. I’ll catch her!’ Cien hefted her back and tossed her body over the flames and into Owens arms. Her body had long since gone limp and still. Cien dove through the flames praying for no serious damage. He rolled into the cold dirt of the. He liked Ben too. He thought Ben was interesting and so intense. Jeff hadn’t noticed Ben’s intensity was reserved for him. He thought Ray was trying too hard, but didn’t make a judgment about him one way or the other. Ray’s family was the relative highlight of my family. Larry’s family infested us on Tuesday. Larry and his wife, Linda, tried to come across as seen-it-all, done-it-all upper crust. They oozed so much ennui I was constantly tempted to ask if there was anything in life they enjoyed. "Done." I cut him off.Sonya shrieked with glee at the thought of having us in hock to them for years, Gary stared at me wide eyed while Mike loudly announced the new stakes to the rest of the gathering. Gary looked stunned, but the bet was that I would do anything he wanted me to do so I would have to snap him out of his shock or we would forfeit the bet. Pulling him to one side I touched his cheek and smiled at him when he looked at me."Rita," he whispered glumly "Mike is so confident of.