Unless this was all a distraction? A pretty damn risky distraction, using fire. But effective. Damien was here, and—and so was Isabella.“Madam Lea...vion.” Damien ran across the hall as he saw the woman step into the fire escape stairway. She held the door open for him.“Mister Burksen. I take it you came here when you learned the building was under attack?” She held a contemptuous smile, dressed in a trench coat of her own, something to protect against the flames.“Madam Turio sent me.” He looked. In fact, I was embarrassed for the coarseness of my fellow Australians. I could see those noisy children from the paddleboat desecrating the secrets of the Ancestors.I got back into the Range Rover and got back onto the highway. In the back of my head I heard a voice say: “You are a worthy father of the Carpet Python.” I actually felt less hungry.I thought of stopping to see the Goonoo Forest, one of the most-recently established preserves. But I decided to forge ahead and it was only a bit. " As we passed through the hall towards our waiting taxi, I caught myself in the mirror, my blonde hair falling in curls of perfect contrast against the midnight blackness of my dress, resting softly on my breasts, which rose from my chest and rippled with each tentative, high-heeled step. Yes, I knew exactly how I looked. I settled down in the back of the cab and stretched out my freshly-shaven legs. I gazed down to the tiny, black straps of my sexy little shoes, which pulled against my calves. "She wasn't used to being on the receiving end of any bad situation - she was hot and popular. Pete, on the other hand, was a nerdy loser. There was no way she was going to lose to the likes of him regardless of whatever power he had stumbled into - it just wasn't the way the world worked. Winning was what people like her did, and losing was what people like Pete did. She would just have to play along until she could figure out a way to get the upper hand."You really think you can fool me?".