No, sister.”“I have no brothers.”“No you don’t,” Miranda agreed. “You have a stepsister to whom life has been unkind.”“My stepsister...died in Indiana,” Theresa said.“Is that what they told you?” Katie said coming to the counter. She was a hard woman in the body of a still-pretty girl. “Your stepsister was sold by your father to become a Texas whore. She saved the lives of three other girls, including me, by killing our kidnappers. And to thank her for her kindness, one of those stupid girls. She went to live with her boyfriend and never returned home. I have to work if I want to eat.”“You are still considered illegal in this state for someone my age.”“I’m seventeen, no prosecutor will touch the case.”That, I couldn’t argue.“Now that that’s settled,” she plopped down on my oversized, overstuffed, favorite leather chair. “Ooh, warm and comfy. Don’t just stand there. Aren’t you going to offer me a Coke?”“Natalie, would you like something to drink?”“Yes, please. A Diet Coke,. There were others from Glade’s original company just as apprehensive about Demure’s increasingly prominent role in the village and remembered her only too well as the woman who’d once been Lord Valour’s wife. Demure wasn’t the only former Knight who had close relations with the Ocean People. Audacity was the last surviving male Knight, but he was so utterly converted to the ways of the Ocean People that only his skin’s charcoal darkness gave evidence that he was originally from another tribe.. Almost unconsciously we reached for each other's hands and held on for dear life.Later, outside our bedroom where Aedan slept, Bain finally explained."I can't heal him, My Lady. There's no way to heal this ... problem."I looked confused, more so when Zevran's face went pale and he staggered back. Seeing my confusion, the healer continued, uncomfortable. "It's his Calling, My Lady. Not an illness. There's no way to heal the Calling."Horror plastered itself to my face, where I knew it would stay..