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couldn t, or wouldn t, help her. She wasn t willing to risk her life for it. The decision
widened the empty space inside her, but she could live with empty spaces. She couldn t
live with the treacherous creature that pushed her and pulled her in one direction and
then another based on its own inexplicable whims.
We re linked, you and I, he said. No breaking it. Some of the manic light left his
eyes. He rested against the side of the tub, both hands on it where she could see them,
and said, earnestly, I didn t want it to go this way. I wanted you to help me contain him.
Share him with me. We can still do that, but only if it s just you and me. There isn t room
for more than three.
A ludicrous Bride of Frankenstein vision came to her, and she almost laughed at the
image of herself in some ridiculous frilly gown, bound to this lunatic and his equally
insane dragon. Almost. The realization that he was serious stopped her.
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Dragon Queen: Book 2: Dragon Dance
A knock sounded at the exterior door of the hotel suite and saved her from the need
to respond to his proposal. Greg jerked in surprise and half-turned toward the door,
swearing beneath his breath. Cora scrabbled backward, just in case, but caution had
taken the upper hand over his earlier violence.
One more chance, he said, looking back to her. Swallow the pearl and join with the
dragon. We can hold it together. It needs you.
Join with the dragon. Cora s blood ran cold. Her skin crawled from the inside, and
her imagination latched onto a vision of treacherous Ii taking her from the inside out.
Fearful fancies turned the small bead in her stomach into an enormous boulder. What
had she done?
The knock sounded a second time, accompanied by a muffled feminine voice calling
through the door. Diane. Her sister was too precious to risk. She thanked her stars Greg
was more concerned with his own objectives than with dragging Diane in as another bit
of leverage.
Greg studied her speculatively. The manic light flared bright in his eyes. Don t let
him take it away from you, Greg cautioned. He doesn t need you and won t keep you
around if he gets his hands on it. He held his finger to his lips as if shushing her and left
her in the bathroom.
She gave him a few minutes, unwilling to cross his path in case he changed his mind
about leaving. As much as she wanted him out of her life forever, she didn t want to
tempt fate without a way to defend herself. Diane stopped pounding on the door. Cora
stayed where she was, counting to one hundred before deciding she could safely move.
Greg surely had fled by that point.
The countdown gave the adrenaline in her system time to recede; the anesthesia of
fight-or-flight wore off. Her head and jaw throbbed so persistently that it took her a
moment to realize either Salim or Diane or room service or somebody was back to
knocking pounding on the door.
She heard Diane s voice as she dragged herself into the sitting room. Ma, stabbing
him with your hat pin isn t going to get that door open any faster!
Wonderful. Diane brought maternal backup. The thought of facing all three of
them Salim, her sister, and her mother at once gave her serious second thoughts
about opening the door at all. One at a time would be nice. One doorknob would be nice,
too, but here she had four to contend with.
The doorknob leapt around, evading her grasp as she tried to connect with it.
Squinting did no good, and only served to make her vision blurry in its multiplicity.
Stop pulling on it, she muttered, planting her hands firmly on the panel and
guiding her fingers on the surface, determined to find the knob by touch even if her
vision wasn t cooperating.
The squabble in the corridor ceased.
Did you hear that? Miranda asked and immediately banged on the door. Coraline,
can you hear me? she shouted.
She couldn t answer and focus on the door at the same time, so she forewent the
answering. The knob finally cooperated.
My god, Diane breathed, eyes rounding with horror. Cora cringed and glanced at
her mother, bracing herself for a reprimand, no less sharp even if directed at Diane.
Instead of snapping a retort about Diane s deity reference, though, Miranda stood pale
as a ghost, both hands covering her mouth.
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Dragon Queen: Book 2: Dragon Dance
Greg was here, Cora announced; her voice sounded like mush, it hurt her mouth to
talk. She would keep her sentences short.
Salim moved first, shouldering past Diane and Miranda. His red glow still pulsed
around him, lighting up the ends of his hair and his eyelashes. If she hadn t seen it
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