As I climbedout of the limo, the rich man handed me "my" things."Purse, keys, and mobile phone," he said, tucking the latter two intothe former. All ...three were cheap-looking and garish, bedazzled withvarious combinations of sequins, faux leather and false gemstones.Notably absent from the collection was any kind of driver's license,passport, or other form of identification."Keep that phone on your person; someone on my staff will contact youwhen it is time to meet Xavier. You start work at. Paul hadn't told me that!" I said. "I thought it was just the Rotary Club or some such." Don't be intimidated!" she said. "These people are fans! To them, you guys are all minor deities. They'll hang on your every word!" You realize, Ms. Warren, I'm barely a big-league player. I'm the greenest -- and the oldest -- rookie going." Call me 'Orlie, '" she said. "And Paul told me about your misgivings about being the new guy. As I understand it, you're going to talk mostly about what it's been like. He looked up at the cabin. Unless his vision was still not right, he was over a hundred feet away from the cabin. Whatever it was that had hit him was powerful.He took a step forward, then yelled in agony. The pain, the pain from before. The pain from when the reporter's daughter had found something in the woods. It had erupted into a glow that had bathed around her and had done something to him too. At the time, it had felt like a red hot needle had been burrowing its way out of his head, but. "I told her I'd work on it."My groin surged, heat washing over me. What she referred to was the redemption of my unintended contract with Liira, and the culmination of my relationship with my mother. My mother tittered, and I tore her clothes off, threw her down on the couch, and ravished her there and then. Both of us fired by the thought of me impregnating her, our lovemaking was savage, intense, and over all too quickly. Cradling her in my arms, I carried her to our bed, where we mated.