I had to ring a bell; it was after midnight so it took a little time for the old guy that ran the place to open the door.“I want a room for one nigh...,” I said. He looked over my shoulder, saw my red Jeep and saw the two women in it.“Thirty-five dollars, cash,” he said as he handed me a key, “Take four, down there,” he pointed.I pulled up in front of the room, gave Cassie the key and told them to go in; I wanted to park around in back so my vehicle couldn’t be seen from the road.I took the first. I'm for anything that adds an extra layer of protection to her, when I'm not around." Just because you're one of my Seconds, doesn't mean that you're my babysitter," Megan complained. "This whole high school thing is supposed to expose us to the reality of everyday society. If you guys are going to wrap us in cocoons, then what's the point?" Oh, you'll be exposed to the reality of everyday society," Lilly said drily. "Sanding off some of the rough edges of that exposure before it becomes a. But McKayla had encountered an obstacle: as she’d tried to put her pants on, she’d been surprised to discover that they didn’t fit any more.Surely I didn’t gain that much weight since I got here? she thought to herself, puzzled. Sure, she hadn’t been jogging or hit the gym while she’d been in town ... but she was sure that she’d burned more than enough calories in the bed over the last week.Theo had consistently impressed her with his self-control: each morning he managed to drag himself out of. Following that through the wiring was tricky, but eventually I found a set of wires that seemed to be in or near the same room where Steph, in some anguish, was reporting our loss to Sun, Mei and Wei. With some effort, I managed to project enough of my chi to re-establish a tenuous connection.'Steph!' I 'shouted' to get her attention. 'Stephanie!''Darren?!' Stephanie's 'voice' was very faint, but clear. 'Where are you? Is Aunt Jun okay?''We're both all right.' I told her. 'You remember that.