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.Herself, wearing black silk and sable, sitting on a black marble throne in abig stone hall where it was always twilight.Growing paler and colder, maybe,as she forgot about the ordinary world she'd left behind -but happy, maybe, inher power and position.Would she have little Shadow World creatures to orderaround and look after? Servants? Would she be able to control the elementshere the way Julian did?Or maybe not a black gown-maybe white, with little icicles all over it, likeHans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen.And jewels like frost-flowers, aroundher neck and a blue-eyed white tiger crouching at her feet.What would Dee andAudrey think if they saw her like that? They might be afraid at first-butshe'd serve them strange drinks, like the sweet, hot stuff in the mug, andafter a while they'd get used to it.Audrey would envy the pretty things, andDee would envy the power.What else? Julian had said she could have anything-anything.If she couldhave anything in the world she wanted, with no limits, no restrictions on herimagination-if she could have anything.I'd want Tom.She'd forgotten him for a moment, because the picture of the big stone hallwas so alien.Tom's warmth and strength and lazy smile didn't fit there atall-which of course made sense because Julian would never let him in.But anyworld without Tom was a world Jenny didn't want.The vision of the white gown and the jewels disappeared, and she knew somehowthat it would never come back, not the way it had for that one moment, whenshe could feel it and believe in it.She would never forget it, but she wouldnever be able to recapture it, either.Just as well, she thought unsteadily.She didn't want to think about thisanymore; in fact, she thought it was high time that she got out of here.Shewas tingling all over with a sense of danger."I'm warm now," she said, pushing the white fur away.All she could think ofwas that she had to leave.She should thank him, maybe, for saving her life-Page 52 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlalthough it wouldn't have been in danger in the first place if not for him.He was looking at her.Jenny looked away, concentrated on getting her legsunder her.When she stood, they were wobbly.She tried to step out of thewhite nest, and stumbled.He was there in an instant.She felt his warm hands close around her arms, steadying her.She stared athis chest, bare under the leather vest and lifting quickly with his breathing.The firelight touched everything with gold.She didn't want to look up into his face, but somehow it happened anyway.His eyes were still hugely dilated, the blue mere circles around pupils darkand bottomless as midnight.His pupils always sprang open for her, sherealized, but just now there was something haunting about those lonely depths."I'm sorry," she whispered, hardly knowing what she meant."I have to* leavenow.I'm sorry.""I know."In that instant he seemed to understand better than she did herself.Helooked very young, and very tired, and heavy with some knowledge she didn'tshare.Face still solemn, he leaned in slightly.Jenny shut her eyes.It was different from any kiss they'd ever had.Not because it wassofter-Julian's kisses were usually soft, at the beginning anyway.Not evenbecause it was so slow-Julian's kisses were almost always slow.But it wasdifferent, in a way that sent Jenny's mind spinning into confusion.Feeling.that was it.Not just sensation, but emotion.Emotion so strongthat it left her shaking.It was such an innocent kiss, so-chaste.His warmmouth touching hers.His lips trembling against hers.How could something thatsimple move her so much?Because she could sense his feelings, she realized.When she touched hislips, she could feel his pain, the almost unendurable pain of someone whoseheart was breaking with sadness.What she tasted on those warm, soft lips wasunbearable loss.If he'd been dying, or she had, she would have been able tounderstand such a kiss
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