It was clear the staff were already there, because the gates and the corridors were unlocked, but they wouldn't come out to guard them until well afte... 8 o'clock. Only then could the rest of the pupils be expected in significant numbers. This had been the norm for several weeks, and I had adapted my waking time and commute to take advantage of it. A little time alone within the school grounds for a good long while before class was my ritual to help cope with the day. Thus, until Carmen arrived,. ” she continued.“I've never asked for sanctuary before,” he responded.“That's alright. There's a first time for everything. Nothing wrong with that. How did a sword wind up through your ribs?” She asked, prodding for more information.“Astaroth demon,” he said, helping her wrap his ribs. “She was too quick for me.”“Astaroth, the right hand of Satan?”He nodded, with a wry smile.The man looked to be in his 30s, dark brown hair with a scruff of beard, perhaps not as clean cut as it could be. His. Laughter from our table filled the room and as the boozed flowed so did the flirting. I knew we were just meeting and friends and nothing more and NO freebees, but I loved every minute and Emma was too. The bar started to close and we stumbled out giggling and headed for the taxi stand and that’s when Emma grabbed my hand and pulled me down a side road and then into an ally that lead behind some shop. Emma pushed me against this fence and passionately kissed me and it was one of those really. Clean, shaved, and shorn, we walked back into the hotel feeling like new men.Anna and Yolanda were waiting for us up in the room with a fresh hot coffee service. We cuddled on the couches, sipping coffee until it was time to go downstairs for supper.Downstairs, we found Levi waiting for us, with a man not much older than we were. As we walked up, Levi turned and welcomed the ladies by name, and then introduced us all to the cattle buyer, Captain Richard King.As Levi was making the.