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Lynnette pursed her lips at the man. “Well, I’m glad you’re not upset.”

“Oh, you can blame that on Darsihm. I used to be a real stick in the mud--not very lenient or understanding of other folks’ plights. But as I get older, I find his laidback disposition to be a more agreeable means of continuing through this dimly lit passage we here call existence.”

Lynnette just kind of looked at him.

Harper returned a chuckle. “Pardon my sophistry.”

“I suppose what I want to know most is whether or not I should expect any kind of drawbacks to wearing this gauntlet. So far, it’s been surprisingly easy to control.”

“Aha. Wondering what the catch is, huh? As far as I know, there isn’t one.” A beat passed, and then Harper added, “Well, apart from not being able to take it off.”

“So there really is no way to remove it?”

“Not without taking your arm with it. Oh, and I guess that leads to another downside, doesn’t it? Certain folks will try to kill you for it. Because it’s so rare and powerful, you see.”

“Right... Do you know why it can’t be removed normally?”

“That’s an easy one: because it’s not just bound to your arm. It’s also bound to your soul. It gives your soul physical weight relative to your own body. Like superglue. Except not really. In fact, forget I made that analogy. I suck at analogies. Dunno why I even tried.”

“Uh...?”

“Oh, and another downside I forgot about. Er--sort of. You might consider it a good thing, I guess.”

She waited with a disjointed expression.

“You can’t have kids,” said Harper. “Your living shadow will prevent your eggs from being fertilized.”

Lynnette’s eye widened.

“It’s weirdly sexist, too, because when it’s bound to a man, the shadow doesn’t prevent the guy’s sperm from fertilizing an egg. I guess it’s a matter of protection versus penetration? Or maybe it just has to do with bodily proximity. Very odd either way, if you ask me.”

She still didn’t have a response for him.