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"What’s on your hand?"

I blinked at the black pentagraht The Land of Souls hadn’t been a dream after all

"Cora touched me and there it was"

"Last tio," Jessie said "I hate those guys"

Nic slid in front of Jessie’s 44 "Put the gun down"

"Hey!" I tugged on his ar to shoot oing through that Weendigo shit again, even for you"

"A pentagraood" Edward’s voice - randfather’s voice - drifted across the ravine "Two points ascendantat uess you aren’t Satan’s hand at the pain the lanced in Edward’s direction

All of the olves froround, dead bodies still s lycanthrope, rifle nearly touching the guy’s nose

"How did you e to arrive in the nick of ti" She shrugged, kicked the ground "His feelings couy, I headed here" She lifted her gaze to mine "Lucky I did"

The witchie wolves surrounded as left of Billy Even though he’d deserved what he got, my eyes still shied away fro

"Where’s Lydia?"

"Poof," Jessie said "We got a little busy with" Her nod indicated the olves, Billy, h Edward did find so in her pocket before she left"

Jessie held out her hand In it lay a set of dentures and a bottle of clear liquid

"Okay, I’ll bite"

Jessie snorted at my pathetic pun

"What the hell is that?"

"We couldn’t figure out how the bodies were being bitten by a olf in human form when Damien said there was no evidence of a olf in Fairhaven"

"Hoere they?"

"They weren’t - not really We think Lydia made an impression of Billy’s teeth, collected his saliva, then did the deed herself"

"Why Billy?"

"The usual reason, ure Lydia didn’t want to release hiuy hacked"

"But the coot out, came here, and she had no choice but to ith hilanced at the bloody grass "Guess we’ll never know the truth for sure, but it all fits"

"Lydia’s going to try and rule the world again," I said

"They always do But we’ll be here to stop her Unless I have to shoot you in the head Tell the tale, Doc"

Quickly I explained my journey to the Land of Souls

"You’ve been wasting your tiovernment’s money? All you had to do was touch them, and they’d be human?"

"Not exactly" I frowned "I’ve touched a feolves Got a headache Never cured one"

"So what’s special now TheCora had said began to combine with all that I’d learned, all that I knew "Not the ic, and th and led uess that ," Jessie said "So why don’t we find out if that brand-new fashion accessory works?"

I followed Jessie’s gaze to the olf Edward held under the gun "Okay"

"Wait" Nic put a hand on ht happen?"

"Exactly, G-ht happen? She’s the most powerful olf now I don’t know about you, but that hty nervous"

"She was the lanced at the witchie wolves "He’s right"

Jessie aiun and so did Edward No moss on them

"What the hell?" Nic asked

"She commands the witchie wolf army," Edward murmured "They are indestructible"

"So if I’m of a mind to rule the world - "

"You can," Jessie finished

However, I’d never been big on world domination

"Wait for me in the Land of Souls," I said

Before the last word left an to fade Flesh and bone becaone

"Oookay," Jessie muttered "They can’t be killed, but they can be coun "Let’s ood or evil - "

"She just proved she’s not evil," Nic said "She got rid of the witchies"

"That proved she’s the most powerful I don’t like it"

"I’m not wild about it myself," I murmured

"And if she’s evil, you shoot her?" Nic asked

Jessie aze in his direction Stupid question

"I won’t let you"

"You won’t have anything to say about it"

Nic’s hand crept toward his gun and I put mine on his "I’ to work Watch"

I got to ed not to wobble This day, this week, hell, this life, was taking a lot out ofthe mess that had been

Billy The last olf from the basement, Jack Mc-Grady, stared at me in fear

"No!" He tried to skitter back

Edward thrust him forward "Do it"

"I don’t want to be human," Jack shouted

"Would you rather be dead?" Edward shoved the barrel of a rifle into Jack’s ear

Jack was just a kid He’d had his whole life ahead of hi other kids’ lives I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt over using hi out, I placed ainst his forehead