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can.”
    “But why? What’s going to happen to him?”
    Hinthial smiled. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. What I do know is that he will fulfill his destiny. I just can’t tell you what that is because I don’t know.”
    “So we should go into hiding? Like my parents did with my sister and me?”
    Hinthial shrugged, managing to make the motion look elegant. “That’s one option, though probably not a solution you or he would be happy with.”
    Cara noticed Hinthial had yet to mention Michael in all of her talk about Aron . “Then what do you suggest Michael and I do?”
    Hinthial’s mouth curved again in a knowing smile. “I suggest Michael continue on his quest to rid the world of Franklin Bennett so that your secret might be safe. And…I suggest you go with him because there were some unexpected consequences to Michael’s healing.”
    Fear made Cara’s stomach turn over. “Is he okay?”
    “Yes, he’s fine. And he’ll continue to be fine. As long as you remain in close proximity.”
    Cara frowned. “I don’t understand.”
    The goddess sighed, shaking her head. “You and Michael, your energies are linked now. Because of your involvement in his revival, your arus and his have linked in a way that closely resembles being blood bound. Except for the way Michael’s arus appears to weaken the farther apart you are physically.”
    Shock blanked Cara’s mind to everything but two words—blood bound.
    That phrase was the holy grail for Etruscan lovers. They considered the act of mingling blood during sex and tying their souls together for all eternity a sacred gift. Not something forced on a person without their knowledge or consent.
    Blessed Mother Goddess, Michael was going to freak. He’d feel trapped. He’d have to stay with her for all the wrong reasons and he’d—
    “Cara, dear. Breathe.” Hinthial’s sharp tone snapped Cara back to attention. “This isn’t as dire as you might imagine. Yes, it’s going to require some adjustment from both you and Michael, but I don’t think it’s a cause for panic.”
    It was on the tip of Cara’s tongue to blurt out something smart-ass but she bit it back at the last moment. Probably best not to mouth off a goddess.
    Still, Cara’s stomach felt like someone had stomped all over it. “Thank you for your guidance, Lady. I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
    “But you’re still worried.” Hinthial sighed. “I suppose I can’t blame you. I know you feel that everything is so unsettled right now. And you’ve already had more than your share of trials.”
    Cara lifted her gaze to Hinthial’s . Did the goddess see the bitterness that still thrived in her soul? Had Hinthial heard Cara’s prayers during the long years of her and Lacey’s imprisonment by the Mal? Had the Etruscan deities cared what happened to two young girls?
    Hinthial glanced away then, as if she knew exactly what Cara was thinking and was upset by it. “Despite the wishes of some, we are not all-powerful or all-knowing. There have been many changes over the millennia. The eteri rule the earth now. It’s a world where magic can be explained away as a parlor trick and anyone who claims to be different is labeled crazy and subjected to drug therapy.”
    Hinthial rose from the table, a dark expression on her face. “Maybe we haven’t been as careful of our race as we should have been. There are no answers, not clear-cut ones anyway. Maybe there never were.”
    Then Hinthial patted on her hand and left the room.
    Cara finished her cooling coffee, her mind a riot of thoughts and fears, almost too much for her to bear. She needed a little space, a little quiet to collect her thoughts.
    And there were way too many people in this tiny house.
    The clop, clop of Sal’s hooves signaled his approach and she turned to watch him.
    “Never a dull moment around here, is there?” Her dry tone made Sal’s eyebrows lift as he stopped by the table.
    “Not typically, no.” He tapped his