So far it had been a relatively slow day. Tarin didn't know if it was the warming trend that the weather had taken or if after the holiday and New Year people weren't as interested in speaking to the spirits of their dead loved ones. There was also the fact that after he'd closed the shop down...then reopened it, the massive influx of customers had been a little out of hand. Maybe they'd figured he was going to leave again and had wanted to make sure they all got their readings done.

At any rate, there had been so many spirits in and out of the shop for the first two weeks he'd been open again, that Tarin had almost forgotten what it was like for the buzzing, rushing sound to not be in his mind. It was much more quiet now, and honestly Tarin was thankful for it. Business had been slower than usual, but he'd made more than enough money in those first crazy weeks of being open again to make up for a few slow days.

Almost on cue, the bell on the door of the shop jingled and a man entered in a puffy coat. Tarin couldn't help but notice that lately people had been ducking into the shop without necessarily knowing what they were getting themselves into. This particular person was looking around the shop like they were confused, they really hadn't known what they were walking into.

Slightly suspicious of the new..."customer", Tarin took a few steps towards him and nearly stumbled at the near tidal wave of spiritual energy that crashed into him. Struggling hard to hold himself together in fear that this was one of the people who were sent to search out mutants, Tarin swallowed hard and plastered a smile on his face, "Hello." he said, hardly able to hear himself speak over the number of voices speaking in his head and the exertion of keeping them from mentally linking with him.

Who the hell was this guy...and why the hell did he have so many dead people following him around. Tarin fought his initial instinct to simply toss the guy out on his arse, there was something dangerous about him. "How can I help you?" Tarin said, keeping his distance.

Tarin was most definitely on his guard. The man in the shop with him said that he'd simply wandered in off the street because this was somewhere he'd never been before. However, the neon sign on the front windows that bore the word, "MEDIUM" were kind of hard to miss in any situation, unless you really weren't looking for them. The man seemed friendly enough though, and sincere, but the sheer volume of spirits he'd brought into the shop with him made Tarin doubt both of those assumptions.

Head already starting to pound from the spirits attempting to get their message across and being rebutted by Tarin's sheer will, he regarded the visitor as he cocked his head to one side and asked exactly how it was Tarin could help him. Frowning slightly, the business man and curiosity in him battling against his better nature, Tarin thanked every deity he could think of that this was one of the times Lee had chosen to take in a show with her ex-roommate. She wouldn't be back for ages probably, and hopefully Tarin could deal with this visitor before then.

"Well...." Tarin said slowly and cautiously, "No, we don't really sell many products here. It's too hard to keep the good stuff in stock...."

"It's a mediums shop." he added as an afterthought to his explanation about the products in the shop. "I can commune with the spirits of the dead." This was said softly, he was working too hard to keep the spirits in the shop at bay, he could see them now....more than Tarin had ever seen gathered around one person and it alarmed him to a degree he didn't even want to acknowledge at the moment. This was some serious business.

Tarin didn't know at this point whether or not he believed the man's story about having randomly wandered in off the street simply because he'd never seen this place before. That's supposedly how Naveed had entered as well, but he'd only brought the one spirits, something not uncommon at all. This multitude of death was simply shocking, but as much as Tarin wanted to find out from one of them how they'd come to be with this man, he knew it was a bad idea. Tarin had a feeling if he let his guard down enough to let one spirit in, it wouldn't take much before they all flooded, and that would seriously be bad news.

"So are you interested in a reading?" Eff.... Tarin couldn't help but mentally curse himself, of course...offer the exact service you're trying to avoid like the plague at the moment.

This was quite possibly the most odd that Tarin had ever felt with someone in his shop. The man seemed perfectly polite and considerate, quite interested in a reading, in fact, but the sheer number of spirits surrounding him indicated an extremely violent life.

Smoke and mirrors, incense? These were things that Tarin despised with a virulent passion, things that hacks used to trick unsuspecting patrons out of money while taking advantage of their grief. How many people had he been forced to do that to over the years to keep himself from being discovered. Tarin had always tried to make up for it though, he'd always done his best to find some way to change what it was he had to do, even if it was just trailing the thread of real truth to someone who desperately needed it.

Tarin shrugged his shoulders at the man's question, "Well...to speak frankly, yes. The incense helps to clear the senses and focus the mind. The same with a crystal ball. It helps me focus on a specific spirit...." Tarin trailed off, the corny mysticism he tried to inject into situations like these was lost today.

It was getting harder and harder to fight off the onslaught of the spirits with the man standing in his shop, and of course the dude was interested in a reading. There was no way that he was never aware of the death that constantly surrounded him. He was full of questions too, questions that Tarin wouldn't have found odd coming from anyone but the man standing in front of him.

"Naturally you would be skeptical." Tarin said, the words flowing easily after years of practice convincing cynics that he really was what he said, "We live in a society that views death as absolutely final. For some it is." Tarin paused, making eye contact with the visitor, struggling in vain to keep the pressure building in his head at a minimum. "For others who die violently, or have some unbelievably strong tie to the world they're living in. It's not necessarily the end. They stay behind in limbo, unable to be seen or heard except for a select few who can connect with them."

The man had asked more, Tarin shrugged his shoulders, "I can attempt to call anyone you'd like to speak to." he said simply, "No guarantee that I'll be able to contact them though. They have to actually be in the spiritual realm in order for me to find them...and as I just explained, not everyone becomes a spirit."

The man was getting uncomfortable, Tarin could tell by the sudden change in his posture. People of all kinds were absolutely fascinated by death, whether it was a fearful fascination or a darker obsession, in every person there was a desire to know more.

"Was there a specific loved one you were wanting to speak to? Someone you're wanting me to get a message to?" Tarin's mind was working a thousand miles an hour as he tried to stall before the man could actually decide he wanted a reading. Was there another way to get him out of the shop? Tarin didn't know, but what he did know was that before long he wasn't going to be able to keep the spirits at bay, and lord only knew what would happen then.

Something told Tarin that to lie to this guy would be even more dangerous than telling the truth. If he was one of those hunters, or whatever they were called, one of those bastards that drug people off to the camps, Tarin figured he could thank his lucky stars that Lee was out of the shop.

The crystal ball was hokey, Tarin shrugged his shoulders, "Most of it's for show." he said, dropping his pretenses as a very fine sheen of sweat formed on his forehead. "People need to see those kinds of things to believe in it. I really don't need any of it."

The guy had Tarin pegged. Whether or not he knew he was a mutant or just thought that somehow he had the capability to converse with the other side, he was taking him seriously. The questions the man was asking, he'd seen the way Tarin had reacted. It hadn't really been his fault though, the sheer volume of spiritual energy surrounding the man was extreme.

"You do. Though I wouldn't call it karma." Tarin said bluntly, eyes scanning the area around the man in his shop, landing on this spirit and that. There was no rhyme or reason to the spirits with the guy, all ages, shapes, sizes, races. It wasn't a serial killer Tarin was dealing with, and from what the man went on to say, he was at peace with the things that he had done.

That in itself kind of baffled Tarin, he considered himself responsible for but a fraction of deaths that this guy obviously was responsible for, but the guilt weighed heavily on him almost constantly when he thought about it. This guy was responsible for way more death than that and he seemed pretty nonchalant about it. He was asking difficult questions though.

Tarin frowned slightly at the man's blunt address to getting rid of the spirits. "I've never had much luck personally with getting rid of spirits for good. The key is finding out what business they feel like they haven't finished." Tarin paused, shaking his head slightly as it was really starting to pound, "I know it sounds cliche, but it's all about finding the ties binding them to the Earth. I've got spirits that are still with me that I've been seeing since I was 11 years old. Sometimes people come in, pass on a message and the spirit...moves on or whatever you want to call it."

This conversation had gotten more and more odd by the minute, and Tarin was still extremely uncomfortable with the fact that he was being so honest with this guy. Half of him, the paranoid half that was constantly fed by Lee's current attitude, was waiting to have a collar slapped around his neck. The other half was absolutely intrigued by this guy and wanted to see what he was really about.

Frankly, Tarin had to respect this man's honest and blunt questions, the honesty he was portraying in his requests. It perked Tarin's curiosity even more. "To be completely honest with you, the sheer volume of what you're bringing in here frightens me a bit." Tarin paused and frowned, "Bad things happen when I get...overwhelmed."

The man mentioned payment and Tarin waved his hand dismissively, "A seriously modest fee...I'm not in this to be rich." he said simply and left it at that, "I can see what I can do for you." Tarin paused again and met the gaze of his visitor, "There is an element of...prying involved in this process. If you've got secrets, you have to be okay with them being exposed. When I make a link with a spirit, I see what they saw, know what they knew. The strongest spirits may even be visible to you. If you're not ready for that, this may not be a good idea at this time. It's all up to you though."

"I didn't think any leading would be necessary." Tarin said, more and more he was intrigued by the way this man was acting. The way he spoke was old fashioned, refined, to be honest it made him seem all the more dangerous to Tarin.

Tarin nodded his head, "It's when my dad died." Tarin said softly, "I woke up that night with him hovering about six inches above my face." Why was he sharing something like that with a seemingly dangerous stranger? Tarin didn't know, but it seemed imperative to make this man understand what it was he'd gone through as well.

The guy seemed absolutely unaffected by the mention of money and Tarin decided that he wasn't going to force the issue anymore. Money was something that he always needed...and if this guy had more than enough of it and wanted to give it away then he wasn't going to argue. "You don't have to leave..." he said, shaking his head slowly, "I'm just not sure how much I can handle at once. "

Apparently his eyes were honest and Tarin was suddenly very glad that he'd opted to tell the truth. "Well. When I establish a link I see their death, feel it too in some cases. All I can offer you is effort. If things get out of hand, you'll know pretty quickly, then all I can recommend is that you get the heck out as fast as possible."

Tarin tilted his head and thought for a few moments, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to go about contacting one spirit without letting the others jump him. Tarin wondered if reasoning with them was an option, but first..."There is one more thing, and I hope to god I don't offend you with what I'm about to say, but I have someone else to think about here."

Tarin took a deep breath, "I need to know that I'm safe from whatever it is that you can do...and that if my fiance comes home, she's going to be safe as well. I'm not here to pass judgment in any way, shape, or form on what you do or what you've done...but I've got to look out for mine...If there's nothing else besides that...then we're good to go and you can come to the back of the shop with me. It's better to do this back there in case things become....visible."

Again, Tarin hoped that his last comment hadn't caused offense, but the last thing he wanted to do was to put Lee in danger through his actions.

"Nope. No peace." Tarin said, resisting the urge to shudder at the thought of just how many times he'd seen his father over the years. "That's what I was talking about when I said that I can't always help people get rid of them."

Tarin just nodded mutely when the guy said that if this worked out they could schedule sessions. Honestly, Tarin didn't know if he could handle this more than once. The sheer pressure from all the spirits was starting to make him dizzy.

Not willing to risk the living for the dead? That seemed odd to Tarin considering the fact that this man was standing in his shop surrounded by a multitude of death. There was no doubt that he had to be responsible in some way for it, otherwise the spirits wouldn't have attached themselves to him. It was bloody odd to say the least.

Tarin shook his head and smiled sadly when the man said he'd stay and try to make sure Tarin was safe if something went wrong. As much as death surrounded him, it sure seemed like the guy at least had a sense of honor about him. "I have to ask you to just worry about yourself if things go south." Tarin said blandly, "I'll be fine. "

They were working their way back to the back of the shop and Tarin was still struggling to figure out what exactly he was going to do as far as contacting the spirits was concerned.

Now he was being offered the services of the man in the shop, Tarin's eyes widened imperceptibly at the offer and what it had to mean. "I appreciate the offer," he said softly, then shrugged his shoulders, honesty radiating from his face, "You never know what you may have to do these days...being one of us."

They were in the back of the shop now and Tarin sat down at the table, realizing how silly some of the trappings and furnishings looked. Tarin had never realized that before, even when he'd done real readings. "Okay...here we go..." he said simply, then picked out a single spirit, then another, then another. Concentrating hard, his eyes going milky at the effort he was exerting, Tarin felt the connection link and a flood of memories and pictures flooded his mind.

It only took a few moments and Tarin gasped slightly, raising his eyes to the visitors, "Who are you?" he whispered, shaking his head, but not breaking the link. "They're angry....confused. I don't understand..."

"Mmm hmmm...." was all Tarin said to the comment about meddlesome parents. All this talking about the past was making Tarin think about it, remembering the way it had been when he was a child, trying to deal with his powers and fit in. Things that seemed like oxymorons now to be honest. There was no way to fit in and be a mutant.

At least the man was listening to Tarin now when he said that the best thing he could do if something went wrong was to simply leave. Tarin was relieved to be honest, but relief was the furthest thing from his mind once he set about the task he'd been given by the strange visitor.

Tarin was so confused by the way the man was acting, here in front of him in the shop, and the way that the spirits were reacting to him, he couldn't help his jaw from dropping slightly at the explanation the guy gave. He was so cavalier about it...how could someone be so careless about life. Tarin shook his head slightly in disbelief, "They can hear you..." he said softly, looking up at the man. Still not passing judgment but still slightly numb at the prospect of all this life...snuffed out as it was.

There were women...children...they were the most bitter, angry. Muttering about the sins of the fathers, innocence, things like that. Tarin was starting to feel a little sick from the pressure and the sheer volume of feelings and images coursing through his head.

"They don't understand...the kids, the women." Tarin said, tilting his head slightly to one side, eyes narrowing as a particularly sharp image flooded his consciousness. "They're not angry really...just feel cheated...." he said, concentrating to clarify, "Cheated out of the ability to choose for themselves?"

Things were starting to go south...not for Tarin, but for the man who'd wandered into his shop and asked him to bring up the ghosts of his past. There were just simply so many of them. The things they were saying...and showing Tarin made him feel clammy and nauseated, the man in the room with him still seemed to feel like he was justified in what he'd done.

As he moved against the wall, eyes wide in an emotion Tarin couldn't place as he couldn't imagine this guy actually being scared, he realized he'd been feeding enough energy into the mass of spirits that they were becoming faintly visible to the naked eye. Pulling back sharply on the reins of his power, his eyes going milky white with the exertion of severing several spiritual connections at once Tarin took a deep breath, trying to figure out exactly what it was he was supposed to say.

From what he'd heard the man saying to the ghosts, trying to make them understand, convince them that they were wasting time with him, Tarin couldn't help but pass a little judgment. There was just something in a Texas upbringing that wanted to condemn a person who killed women and children. There were reasons though, obviously they'd been connected to men of serious evil, but did that give one man the right to become judge, jury, and executioner all in one? Those were questions that Tarin didn't often ponder, but obviously this man was paying the price for his deeds in the constant stalking by a mass of spiritual humanity.

Things were getting a little grave though, and it was obvious that at this point the spirits weren't going to go anywhere. If anything at this point in time they were angrier than ever, realizing that this man had really thought he was justified in his actions. Tarin was a little torn about what to do, but didn't really want to risk lying to the obviously dangerous man who was in his shop. Pulling back on the spiritual reins even more, severing all but the most basic of connections to the group, Tarin took a deep breath and rose a little shakily from the table.

"I think that's all that I can handle for one session..." he said, wiping a hand across his brow to find it every bit as clammy as he'd thought it might be. "The sheer number...." he paused and shrugged his shoulders, "It's somewhat exhausting. I think we've at least made the first step towards reconciling them though. It's not an immediate process always." he added, rolling his shoulders to try and shake off the feeling. It was getting harder to keep the spirits out of his head too, and he subconsciously rubbed at his right temple, feeling a hell of a headache coming on.

"We can try again soon if you'd like?" Tarin said, "I'm sorry I'm punking out like this so soon...but I don't want to risk...." Tarin bit off the end of his sentence, "I don't want things to go south..."

Tarin had known that he was getting himself into something pretty overwhelming when he'd agreed to try and help this guy. The fact of the matter was, though, he'd been too afraid not to help him when he'd realized the sheer volume of violence that the man had brought with him. It was simply baffling though because the guy seemed exceptionally courteous and even good willed. It made Tarin shudder, things most definitely weren't always what they seemed.

The man was phased now, though, and Tarin could tell by the way he was moving that it wasn't something he was used to, not at all. "I'm sorry for that..." Tarin said, gesturing in general at the space around him, seemingly empty now even if Tarin knew it was not. "They caught me off guard." he wiped his forearm across his forehead again, he was really sweating.

The guy was letting him off the hook. Tarin tilted his head to the side for a few moments, brown eyes appraising the man in front of him and looking at himself deep down in himself. He'd felt so helpless lately, the merges, the spirits using him for their own devices, this was a chance to actually use his power as more than a parlor trick. Sure this guy had killed...but Tarin couldn't judge him too harshly on that without taking a hard look at himself.

"I can do it." he answered, then somewhat numbly took the card he was offered by the man. It was a gift card, one of those reusable ones that people were mad about giving out as Christmas presents. Tarin frowned at it in his hand, his head jerking up when the guy started fishing around in his pockets. He pulled out a wrapper and a pen and a moment later Tarin was staring down at an email address.

"I'll help you." he said, but held the gift card out, "we can talk about fees once I've managed to actually help you out. I wasn't ready today." Tarin paused for a moment and thought about what he was going to do, the consequences it might bring about, then dove forward, "I'm going to have to be pretty specific about the times we meet. I'm sure you understand, but I don't want my fiance around when I'm dealing with this much. I'll get in contact soon though, and next time I'll be ready."

Lee was nervous about going out, she was always nervous about going out these days, but she had to be able to see Jason at some point, some times, if they were going to keep up their friendship. Even with as close as she and Tarin were, even with everything they had and would share, she still thought of Jason as her best friend; Tarin was just...Tarin. From the very start, they had had a very different and unique relationship.

But there were other problems, such as the fact that Tarin and Jason still weren't able to get along, so even with the worry about being discovered, Lee had gone to see a movie with Jason that afternoon. And once she had gotten there and they had spent a few minutes together, Lee had started to have fun.

The afternoon couldn't last forever, though, and Lee ended up back at the shop almost before she expected it. Just as she reached the door, a tall man with sunglasses came walking out. Waiting just long enough that the guy was out of the way, Lee entered the shop and saw Tarin sitting in his armchair, one hand raised and rubbing his temples.

"Busy afternoon?" Lee asked softly, dropping her coat and purse on the counter as she made her way over to Tarin.

"Well..." Tarin said, frowning and looking at the gift card in his hand, "I guess I could hold on to it..." He fully intended to call the man back to the shop, to try and free him from some of the spirits and vice versa. It couldn't possibly be a beneficial relationship for anyone involved...there was simply too much violence.

Tarin actually flushed slightly at the gratitude of the man. He supposed it was much better than anger or disappointment considering the multitude of death that followed him around, but he wasn't used to people of this sort giving him praise. Sure, people thanked him all the time after readings, sometimes it was extremely heartfelt and it made Tarin feel just a little bit better about the times he had to scam people. Other times they thanked him and he gritted his teeth because he knew how wrong the person's actions against the spirit had been. This thanks was simply uncomfortable and confusing, as were the man's next words. It was about the spirits...

Tarin was so confused, the only thing this man could be was an assassan of some sort, as odd as that sounded even in his head. Modern day assassans killing hoards of people and not getting caught, it was almost enough to make Tarin shake his head...almost. "Well, I hope to help more in the not so distant future." he said honestly. "For everyone's sake."

The man was taking his leave now in the same elegant and stealthy way he'd entered the shop, sunglasses donned. Once he was gone and the wails and pleads of the spirits with him had toned down to a monotonous buzzing caused by the few stragglers that stayed behind, Tarin sank into one of the chairs and sighed. That had been quite possibly one of the most exhausting sessions he'd ever encountered that hadn't gone terrribly wrong. Maybe he was getting better with his powers...or maybe today had just been his lucky day.

Reaching into his pocket, Tarin pulled out the visa gift card he'd been handed by the Asian man and held it in his hands, tilting it this way and that while looking at the numbers and letters. Tarin wondered vaguely how much credit was on there. For some reason he had a feeling it was a retarded amount of money considering the fact that he'd not done much of anything to help.

Sighing again and dropping the card onto the arm of the chair, Tarin leaned back and rubbed his temples, his head was pounding and what he really wanted to do was go home and take a long nap...trying to forget about the things he'd seen in the heads of the spirits.

Almost at the same time as the door closed, annoucing the exit of his strange visitor, Lee made her way into the shop. Tarin smiled as his eyes traced the familiar path from the toes of her boots up to the top of her head. No matter how many times he saw her, he never got tired of doing that. She dropped her purse on the counter and made her way towards him and Tarin looped an arm around her waist, pulling her into her lap for a kiss before he answered. He was pretty sure she wouldn't like what he had to say.

"You could say that..." he started when he was finished with the kissing business, "I had a strange visitor...you wouldn't believe the number of spirits he had with him Lee. It was unreal...everything I could do to keep control." Tarin paused and thought before he went on, "The guy seemed amazingly interested in my help with settling them. They were mostly innocents...the spirits were and he was responsible for their deaths..."

Tarin frowned, leaning his head against the back of the armchair, "The weirdest thing though...he didn't seem dangerous at all. He was polite and gracious...and he gave me this..." Tarin held up the gift card, "I've got a feeling it's more than generous compensation for what I was able to do...he wants to meet again...gave me a completely cryptic email address to contact him at when I'm ready. I think I'm going to do it." Tarin paused again, thinking.

"If I'm right about this..." he said, holding up the card, "We might have our trip to Texas taken care of."

Lee couldn't help but smile as she felt Tarin's arms wrap around her waist and pull her down onto his lap. Even after all these months, all the many times that Tarin had done this, or something like it, it still made Lee smile and her heart pound slightly when Tarin touched her like this.

And the smile was even wider when he pulled back from the kiss, those were always a good thing. But Lee's smile faded as Tarin started speaking, explaining about the man who had been in the shop earlier that afternoon.

"Everything's ok now, right?" Lee asked, the worry clearly evident in her voice. It didn't really matter that it had been Tarin to pull her down onto his lap in the first place; she had to make sure.

But then after Tarin held up the card, explaining that this man wanted to meet again, Lee's eyes widened in shock. "There were that many spirits," Lee started slowly, staring Tarin in the eyes as she spoke. "You had problems controlling it, yet you want to meet with him again?

"Wait," Lee continued, leaning back and giving Tarin a hard look. "How much does he know about you being able to 'settle them'? How the hell do you think we'll actually be able to make it to Texas with how many people you keep telling?"

Tarin smiled slowly at Lee and nodded when she asked if he was alright now, "Yeah...I'm alright." he said, shrugging his shoulders like it was really nothing. It kind of felt like nothing now that he wasn't sittting the same room with that guy. Now that the spirits weren't there anymore.

Tarin didn't like where this was going though, Lee was in his lap still, his arms wrapped arounder her, but the tone of voice she was using was a little much and he frowned. It was starting to seem like she was always mad at him these days. "Yeah...I do want to try again Lee." he said, leaning his head back against the chair again, "I wasn't ready for that kind of activity." he searched for the words to explain what he was trying to say.

"It wasn't that they were trying to take over, I think you know I'd never knowingly put myself in a position like that...well you should know that. " he said, looking levelly back at her. "I just didn't know where to start, or where to look first."

Lee sounded downright mad now and Tarin looked at her indignatly, "Yeah...he knows. I told him outright, he asked me to try." Tarin closed his mouth here, trying not to let his temper get the best of him, Lee was just concerned he knew, but her lack of faith in what he did was frustrating to the maxmum sometimes. He shruged. "It's not like I walked up and asked the dude if he was an undercover cop then offered my services...I walked out here and the spirits nearly knocked me on my ass. "

Tarin scowled for a moment, looking at nothing in particular, "You really think I would do anything that would knowingly put us in danger?"

Lee listened as Tarin explained about the spirits he had encountered that day. That apparently though there were a lot of spirits, they hadn't been interested in trying to control him, trying to merge.

Lee was trying not to get angry, she really was, but with how Tarin seemed to keep telling people about his powers...And as Tarin continued, Lee just couldn't keep herself from anger, despite her attempts.

"You didn't ask if he were a cop first," Lee said, getting up and walking a few steps away as she shook her head. Then she spun back to face Tarin. "You've already told a cop, remember? And how many other people? We've been lucky so far, but how much longer until we're turned in?"

Tarin's words had obiously done noting to asauge Lee's fears about their exposure in the shop and Tarin narrowed his eyes slightly at her response. "You know Lee...if I could control myself better, chanses are I wouldn't doing this line of work at all. Considering the fact that there were so many of them there was no ignoring hte fact that they were here, I wasn't really in a position to pretend." his jaw clenched slightly, it was frustrating that she was acting this way.


He hadn't wanted to tell her the other part, but there wasn't a choice, "Besides...he was responsible for what happened to all the spirits with him. I was afraid to say no when he asked for my help. I didn't want to risk making him angry by faking." he said bitterly, angry with himself for being afraid and angry with Lee for making him admit it verbally.


"Yeah, I guess I got lucky...and I guess I'd have been screwed if a cop with a hoarde of spirits came in here ready to haul me off. I. couldn't. Help. It." Lee was still on his lap and for probably the first time he could remember, Tarin regretted pulling her down there. There wasn't any way he could get up and pace without displacing her in a way that was less than nice. She solved that problem though by getting up and walking away, just to turn on him and throw Rupert in his face.

"Again Lee, it wasn't like I had a huge choice in the matter. I was supposed to let the kid in the street get drug off when there was something I could do? Tell me you really feel that way." He was daring her to almost, "Yeah, I know we've been lucky so far, and I'm not trying to go out of my way to expose us...the last week things have just been happening that are out of my control. Instead of blaming me, you could just realize it and roll with it. I told you that eventually word gets around cities about what I can do."