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I waited long enough to be sure she hadn’t forgotten so my vehicle, my camera and cell into look as inconspicuous as possible, for a six-foot-tall Cherokee girl with bloody, daed jeans and nefarious intentions But I passed no one before I turned down the narrow street and round and the lines that ram, just the odd broken lines, lines that looked half fa

I snapped a few pics and stepped onto the porch, expecting a ward to be up at the house to keep out intruders, but I felt nothing until I touched the lever handle at the back door The desire to go inside hit o inside Needed to I pushed the door open

Beast pressed claws into rowled I paused, and she bit doith her canines, the pain like knife blades inside asped at the sudden headache and was able to pull ertips cleared the metal, the compulsion left me and I remembered to breathe I took a step back "Crap," I whispered The door, already open, swung inward in welco inside was gonna be easy Getting back outI hadn’t rushed in to try to take down Evangelina It was possible that I’d have been inside too fast for Beast to save ht

I walked back toI remembered the scarf folded so neatly on the floor of the SUV Blood ic--likely two different spells with the saainst the two-natured and against the Everharts And unless the helpful valet had shaken the scarf, I had soelina’s head at my disposal

I carefully unfolded the scarf and found twisted hairs caught in the weave I refolded it to keep fro the on the back porch, I could hear the gurgle of the creek at the bottowoods were already turning, leaves tinged with cri of the compulsion "Sweet," I murmured

I entered the house and stood inside the door, closing it after, as if the air was too dry, superheated just to the point of pain Though huht not have been able to see it, the interior of the house was illu the walls, floor, and furniture Careful to touch nothing that ripped the scarf in both hands, using it to open the door to the baselow lit the walls of the stairwell, and illu at the bottom It seemed to move, as if it were a TV screen, with active participants instead of a static surface painted hundreds of years ago

I turned on the lights and e of thorns trap was still gloith red and pink energies, scarlettart, acrid Black and scarlet sparks fluttered through it, but now they were stronger,over the surface of the ward Solass, with no trace of the red energies The demon was more substantial, easier to see, half el He had huans, with a bird chest, wings with fingers where they s been arms, and a half-human, half-bird face Human eyes over a raptor beak, but pinkish, with red lids And inside with hielina had kept the demon in the hile she put the wolves in with hi the compulsion spell,the outer ring Like a one-way valve, allowing in anything that wanted to cross, but letting nothing inside cross back out

The de the wolves While they were still alive Gorge rose in u about it, holding hands, staring into one another’s eyes like goofy teenagers in love The big guy, Fire Truck, was uy wasan arm and chunks of muscle, but the lethal wounds had healed Sort of Which elina’s cereiven food or water to make up for the caloric drain, and they were e on their fraital photos of the trap and the thing inside with its dinner I didn’t know if it would photograph at all, didn’t know if digital caic I checked the shots, and was gratified to see that most came out, and tucked the camera back in my jeans I took some more shots with my phone, and sent them to myself

This close, I felt the cohtly The deies I knew not to talk to dee the you solid, isn’t she?"

He gestured, a tossinghand, as if what his captor wanted was uniers, black as a raven’s and twice as sharp "She thinks to control uttural, as if he didn’t speak often And his accent was odd, as if he caled by the beak "She thinks to use eance" He breathed in, the action like a i," he said "You are of the blood of The People I have fed upon the Tsalagi for many centuries No one controlsrandmother, little yellow-eyed child"

I jerked, thethe scarf He smiled, which was just plain horrible There was dried blood on the beak His tongue darted out, like a sapsucker, tasting the air