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The wind suddenly whispered in Lydia’s voice He’ll do anything to keephis secret

I ree Had the voice been Lydia’s? I didn’t think so How lanced at Edward, but he was oblivious to any whispers on the wind Which was probably the entire idea

I opened my mouth to call out to him and the trees murmured: I’ll tell you the truth about your mother

My teeth closed with an audible snap I knew the truth about my mother Didn’t I?

"What about Lydia?" I blurted

"Kill her"

"Sir?" I blinked "She’s a - "

"Murderer? Witch?"

"We shoot monsters, don’t we?"

"You do not think she is a monster?"

I wasn’t sure

"Shouldn’t we find out what she’s done and how to undo it?" I asked "If she’s dead that could be tough"

"Do what I tell you, Elise Or must I use that silver bullet I keep solely for you?"

Nic nored I kept aze on my boss

My eyes narrowed; so did his I was half-tempted to shift and chase him around the yard; too bad it was daytime Too bad he’d kill me without so much as a bat of his nearly invisible blond eyelashes

See? said the breeze through the leaves He doesn’t want you to know

I glanced away I ht be an alpha wolf, but in the hu around, I’d never find out if what I’d been told about my mother was the truth If Lydia could be trusted to tell the truth

Probably not Nevertheless, I found e just waiting in a tree - all she had to do was listen to Satan

The wind fluttered the ends of my hair, the silence so loud it pulsed with unanswered questions When I looked back, both Edward and Nic were gone, so I chose a weapon, shut the trunk of the Cadillac, and headed in the direction of the voice - conveniently in the opposite direction of the others

I hadLydia, I’d killed people before Just not with a gun

Besides, who knew? Maybe eli Lydia would also eli Areddon

Two birds, one stone I’d always loved that

I followed the wind Every ti me farther and farther away fro around a crop of low spruce bushes, I slid to a stop at the edge of the ravine The scent of wolves washed over uish it even in human form

I paced back and forth until I found an opening big enough for a woh the bra over the rihost wolves lolling on a grassy knoll

The witchie wolves olves, down to the huer shadows, they weren’t solid either, since I could see the grass right through their hides

"I’ve been waiting"

I spun toward Lydia’s voice, half-expecting to find nothing but the rustle of a nonexistent breeze through the trees But she stood a few feet away in a flowing skirt and peasant blouse ofrain, the sky just before a storles - wrists, ankles, feet - were in place How had she snuck up on me? She must be able to appear as easily as she disappeared

She held a gun in one hand, which looked suspiciously like the one I’d chosen fro at my holster, I saw she’d disarmed me as easily as she’d snuck up on me Edould have a stroke

Lydia tossed ers into the valley between her breasts and withdrew the icon, strung on a leather strip around her neck "Remember this?"

I nodded

"You hand over the power; I’ll tell you all about yourto agree, especially since I had no idea how I could hand over anything But if she was inclined to chat, I was inclined to ask questions

"You made the talisic" She rolled the icon around in her ringers "But you’re stronger than I i steal my pohen lycan-thropy’s caused by a virus?"

"Is it?"

"Yes"

Her se to beat every tidbit of inforood time

"Cora told me I could capture the essence of a olf, contain it in the icon and transfer the gift to "

If I had, I’d have bottled up o

"You’ve been barking up the wrong tree, pardon the pun, for a while now Concentrating all your efforts on science: tonics, balms, cures But there’s more than one answer to every question"