Rachel's eyes widened at its appearance. She'd only seen hints of a form like this before, lurking on the edge of occasionally tear or sweat-blurred v...ision. Her stomach fluttered as the form congealed before her, a bulb shape tapering down into nothingness, "facing" her.Instincts flashed across her mind and body. Fight and flight warred in her mind, but no commands for either made it to her body. She stared, nerves tingling with sensual caresses and awful fascination as a dark line cracked. I questioned the backroom manner this all was getting done and he just assured me again it was all on the up and up. "Totally legal," he insisted. He explained he knew a judge who owed him for something or other and he had a friend working at the Department of Licensing that had done 'after hours' work for him in the past."Relax, you trust me don't you?" he kept saying. Yes, I trusted him, but I felt like my life was entering a tornado of changes. I mean, changes I wanted, but - well it was. Only the Architect could, but he wouldn’t approach me because I was using my templar skills to prevent him from using magic.“He bargained with me – he said if I didn’t go with them, he’d kill you, but if I went and didn’t cause trouble, he’d keep you alive. So I went.”“Sodding stupid thing to do,” Faren commented, and everyone chuckled.“That’s what you told me at the time, too. But I was hoping we would be rescued, so I wasn’t about to let them kill you and drain all the blood out of your. " Because, why? Because you really are a slut?"Even though they were just acting a scene, the word hit John like a tonof bricks and his eyes watered."Daddy...?" Don turned his back to John and John rose to go to him andreason with him, but, as planned, Don turned and backhanded him acrossthe face.Unfortunately, John had overstepped his mark and instead of astrategically precise stage slap, Don connected a mighty slap with theback of his hand on the small actor, sending him first to the edge of.