And tonight, her first night off in ages, had to be spent with Larry the Louse. He just had to dump her butt in the worst section of town he could find-not that she couldn’t take care of herself, and that was the problem. It would always be the problem. She wasn’t normal. She should be afraid of what lurked in the night, not afraid of harming someone.

She sighed. She had no idea why she had gone out with Larry at all. She didn’t even like him or his rotten breath. The truth was, she didn’t like any of the men she dated, but she wanted to like them, wanted to be attracted to them.

She sank down in the small booth, drawing her knees up to her chest. Jesse would come for her, she knew it. It was as certain as Jess’s silly story about needing someone to rent the upstairs apartment, or how it was so cheap because he needed someone to do light housekeeping for him.

The place was a palace as far as Saber was concerned. Wide open spaces kept immaculately clean. The upstairs was no apartment, had never been an apartment. The second upstairs bathroom had been added after she had moved in. The huge, well-equipped weight room and full-size swimming pool were an added enticement that he’d said she could use anytime.

For the first time in her life, Saber had swallowed her pride and had taken a handout. The truth was, as much as she hated to admit it, she had never had cause to be sorry, not once since she’d moved in-except that she’d known she couldn’t stay too long. Jess was the real reason she stayed-not his house, the swimming pool, or her job. Just Jesse.

She closed her eyes briefly and rubbed her chin on her knees. She was getting far too attached to the man. Six months ago it wouldn’t have occurred to her to call for help, now it didn’t occur to her not to. The revelation made her uneasy. It was time to leave, past time to leave, she was getting too comfortable. Saber Wynter had to go out in flames and a new identity had to rise from the ashes, because if she stayed any longer, she was in terrible danger, and this time, it wasn’t going to be anyone’s fault but her own.