"Yeah, in fact it's just up in the next block." Oh, we're practically neighbors. I'm just a couple of blocks farther up."They made small talk as they...walked the next block, then Mike said, "This is my place. Have to put Otto in the back yard."Sara walked with him as he took the dog to the gate into the back and let him through. Sara was turning to head for her house when Mike suddenly grabbed her, pinning her against him, and clamped a hand over her nose and mouth. She struggled against. The elders were almost all veterans of the brutal fighting. Many of them were in this crowd, right now, watching. It wouldn’t take much to turn this celebration into a battlefield. People were going to die if this continued. It might already be too late.“Shoot me,” he said.“Will!” Jack barked. Her whole world seemed to slow to a crawl. She wanted to rush the Centurion, but the gun to Will’s head held her feet like shackles. Her best friend, the only man she’d ever loved, was committing suicide. .. ' She felt a tear escape and disappear into the pillow her eyelashes brushed against when she blinked. She hated feeling sorry for herself even more than she felt sorry for herself, which added to her misery.She also felt angry and restless. Lying on the bed, Elaine suddenly realized that the last time she'd flown was when she had abandoned her departing sister at Southern Depot early in the spring, at least a month ago. She struggled, trying to sit up in the soft, over-cushioned bed. Her. ”“Good. Stand easy. Now. John Barrowdale from the Highmouth Estate has just been on the phone. We’re going to have a visitor shortly. I’m guessing from the little he said that this is good news somehow, though how exactly I’m not sure. You’ve been acting as my adjutant for a while now, so I thought you might as well be here.” He paused and glared slightly at her. “I think I’m going to have to get a proper adjutant now. I can’t really have a private doing the role, even if she is my.