"You did tell me that you had some companions before Helmut. What about those encounters? Was it love or lust, or just curiosity, hormonal overload? W...at did you feel then? How did they turn out?"Karla was startled and, apparently, embarrassed by this new direction. "Berthold, my first time was terrible. It was messy and hurt a lot because I was so dry there. Thankfully, it was over in a couple of minutes. I did not much like the boy before, and certainly even less after. The others, two, were. Where we once ignored our different belief systems, we now talk about it. Respectfully, we sometimes even engage in debate. Still, we both look forward to celebrating our faiths’ special holidays, Passover, Easter, Christmas and Hanukkah, especially the latter two because it’s such a joyous time for us. I help Jill decorate the Christmas tree and she helps me light the Hanukkah candles. The kids spin dreidels. Jill considers Jesus the ‘son of God.’ She believes in the virgin birth, the. Then some clown yelled that Hayden and Kitty should have a race-off to find the supreme champion. Hayden recklessly offered to give Kitty a 10-yard start over the 100-yard course. Some of the women yelled acceptance on Kitty’s behalf. She won by eight yards. ‘Fuck me,’ yelled the red-faced host as he stepped on to the bank, amazed that he’d been zapped. Four half-drunk women rushed forward and pushed him into the lake. ‘Gentlemen don’t used that word in front of ladies,’ censured one of those. “I am not fooled by you, Typheryian or by your deception. Your kind cannot stand mine any more than I can stand here and tolerate you. Get to your point or I shall have you made into a sculpture for the rest of the Goji race to view you.”Typheryian knows when he has pushed far enough and Avyanna will be true to her word. What he doesn’t expect is just how honest she is about her feelings about the Sura or him. Trust is something he surely doesn’t expect to gain. “I propose we strike at these.