Well...I'm on birth control" I was drinking the water again and choked on it. It took several moments of coughing before I could gasp out. "What?" "It takes a while for it to start working, so I figured I should be prepared, just in case." "Just in case," I repeated, still dumbfounded.

I haven’t even really tried to win you over, Roza. When I want to, I can be very persuasive.

I’ve seen all I need to. I’m going to go drink now in a futile effort to wipe away the memory of this debacle.

His warmth was all around me, as was his love, and again, I felt that completeness. I had that missing piece of my word back. The soul that complemented mine. My match. My equal. Not only that, I had my life back -my own life. I would protect Lissa, I would serve, but I was finally my own person.

You've always been my equal, Roza.

I looked back and forth at them in amazement. I didn't know if I was witnessing a fight or foreplay. I wasn't thrilled about either option.

Where are we going?" asked Victor. "If I'm allowed to ask." I squirmed around in my seat so that I could look him in the eye. "That's what you're going to tell us. As hard as it is to believe, we didn't do all that just because we missed your pleasant company." "That is hard to believe.