"Well, I'd have been somewhat disappointed, of course..." "I'm not joking, dammit!" Shrugging, Cade began walking again as he said, "Okay, you weren't joking. Next subject." Taking two strides to catch up, Mandy snapped, "What?" "Next subject. Next topic of discussion. The last one wasn't entertaining us, so let's talk about something else." "No! I want to know how you could just presume that I'd..." Interrupting her, Cade said, "I just did, and it's history, so let's drop it. As far as I'm concerned, you can probably do anything I can imagine; anything I ever saw in a comic book. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that the comics about superhumans began after someone found out about you or someone like you back in the thirties." Mandi's gaze narrowed tightly as she asked, "You really think I'm that old?" Looking her over, Cade said, "Could be. I think you'll probably look just as delicious another sixty years down the road. Or maybe a couple of hundred years. How long do superpeople live, anyway?" Pretending vast shock, Mandi rolled her eyes and softly exclaimed, "Oh, wonder of wonders!" Giving her a narrow look of his own, Cade asked, "What wonder of wonders are you referring to, ma'am?" Not bothering to contain her grin, Mandi said, "You finally asked me a real question. Did it hurt?" "Well, it didn't at the time, but I think it's beginning to. Wanna know where?" Laughing, Mandi said, "Ah... no, I can guess. I can't tell you how long I'm likely to live, Ed. I really don't know." Nodding, Cade said, "Doesn't matter. I was just curious." Lifting her hand upward to kiss it, he added, "And I hope it's a really big number." Chapter Eleven