I suddenly wished I'd let Tessa stay put. After all, it seemed to be me he was interested in, not her--not that I blamed him there. Leon seemed to have more use for fighters than healers. But all the same, I couldn't help but think that he planned to use me against the others, same as he had with Victor.

"You can drop the nice-guy act now, Leon" I said acidly. "Cio's not here anymore, and I doubt that Victor's anymore fooled by it than I am."

Leon laughed. "What makes you think that it's an act?"

"Oh, I don't know" I said sarcastically, "maybe all the times you've tried to kill us?"