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I shivered into the snake And stole the body of tlvdatsi Not just the snake under her skin, to share her forht and cold and blood exploded throughme Inside with me Nononononononononono

I took tlvdatsi Made her mine I shoved my memory into her skin With her

I/we rolled across snow Heaving breaths The world shifted, shuddered, quaked I fought her for control And I/we rose up, hunger de I/we ate froed Eat, eat Belly aching with need Then, Kits Kits Kits

I stopped eating when I was full Satisfied And big The Beast was crouched inside tlvdatsi withKits, she demanded Showed me the path, back to her/our den Scents, landmarks, places marked to make it ours/hers, hers/ours Followed near the trail, in the spoor of a wolf, hiding er to kits

Kitswhistles Squealed low-pitched I/we followed h to crawl through, into the dark of earth, into cave Leaves had blown in Good den I/we touched, licked, s Breath full ofpaws Cubs pulled at us, e and history and memory fell away Buried Beast was born

I ith a shudder I was drenched in sweat, my heart an uneven trip-hammer "Crap What was that?" But I knew I knew It was a memory of my own past It was the ether I had stolen her body And ended up with her soul, inside, withbreaths I tasted her anger, old and worn like a bone with nothing left inside or out, no marrow, no substance except memory

"Dear God," I whispered "What did I do?"

Neither God nor Beast answered me

This was outside the life of a skinwalker I knew that without knowing how I knew I had done foulest evil I had stolen the body of a living creature Beast had called led damp sheets and stripped the bed,the da with flop sweat, I took a shower, standing a long time under the water as if it could really clean me Exhausted, I climbed back in bed and pulled the sheets and coverlet over ic

CHAPTER 15

I was still buck naked

I woke at the sound of a scream Screa before I ca weapons and crosses froun free of its harness I raced through the house and outside, into the half-light of predawn Dropping crosses overstakes intostride, brick scraping runted I was still buck naked Time to worry about that later If I lived

Katie’s back door was hanging open at an angle Ripped froes I paused and took in the door; claw ue’s compound scent was smeared on the door, the rotten reek upperured out in the previous long night was true, it needed to feed Mad one Liver-eater Beast bristled and I growled

I had just checked the loads, but h the motions anyway Satisfied, I set the stock ateach bare foot carefully before transferrings as I tried to breathe silently after the run, unable to draw in enough air;an erratic rhythht I sled with each breath, as if breathing underwater, or through a restricted airway The blood and gurgling ca rooedht to my shoulder, I moved left down the hallway Silent, I stepped into Katie’s office For an instant that lasted forever, I took it in