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"Oh crap!" I yelled as the van’s tires smoked with the effort to stop it It still slammed into the pickup For a moment, we toppled on theels Then another car rear-ended the van with a crunch, sla it back onto all four tires I slithered into the driver’s seat So I looked up the hill and saw the hounds, now both in hu down the hill after us But they weren’t running at superhuman speeds any noms to their existence I didn’t know Didn’t care I slaot the hell out of there

"Take a right," Dad said He directed ed traffic for several blocks, the truck’s engine rattling like spray-paint cans He had ia Aquariu zone

My door was jammed shut from the hound’s earlier ies in front of all the tourists ja the sidewalks, so I crawled out theand almost face-planted on the sidewalk Elyssa pulled e crowd of people loitered around the outdoors ice-skating rink Centennial Oly the colder ed pickup truck with stea from beneath its hood Maybe the poor woes

I drew in a sharp breath "Dad, the woe--do you think the hounds hurt her?"

"They probably ignored her," he said as he set a very dazed Katie back on her feet "Once given an assignle-ht If he was, it o around here where she could vanish into the crowd

Elyssa pressed her palripped me and pulled me in for a quick but passionate kiss "You just can’t help it can you?"

"Help what?" I said, feeling a bit flustered and bone weary

She smiled and shook her head "Sometimes I don’t know if I want to punch you or kiss you You don’t think half the time, you just react and it scares me half to death"

I gripped her hand and shrugged "Life hasn’t given me much ti on a bench fiddling around with so in his hand He’d probably expected us a lot sooner I’d expected a boring drive through traffic, not a fox hunt followed by a demolition derby

We rushed across the plaza to hiently at a chalk circle on the brick pavers Dad stepped inside without batting an eyelash Shelton pressed a thuht hum and crackle popped in the air

"Christ, people What the hell took you so long?" He lookedof the back of my t-shirt, Katie’s wide eyes, and Elyssa’s frazzled hair Shelton sat back on the bench and chuckled "All right What happened?"

"Hellhounds," Dad said He turned his back to Shelton and pointed to the tattoo "Can you get rid of this?"

Shelton cursed and ju from hellhounds? Even if I remove the tracker they’ll just sniff their way to you"

"We lost them"

"Are you sure? I didn’t think it was possible to shake a hellhound"

Dad nodded "I’ve done it before"

"A spawn trick?"

"Only if you consider driving a pickup truck very fast through Atlanta traffic a spawn trick," Dad said with a grihed and looked at me "I swear, Justin You just can’t keep out of trouble, can you?"

I dropped onto the bench next to Katie Elyssa dropped down between us "Shelton, trouble likes n of the hounds but saw nothing but noroodness bless thee they’d stand out like a pi yipped and I al Chihuahua’s head as his owner led him by A sheepish look crossed Elyssa’s face as she slid a knife back into the sheath under her shorts

"Guess I’m a bit jumpy," she said

"You andShelton up and down He earing jeans, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt, cowboy boots, and his orn leather duster While he didn’t exactly look odd, he did somewhat resemble someone out of an old western movie, thankfully, sans the cowboy hat

"This is Shelton He’s going to relared at oing on, Justin?"

I shrugged "It’s not up to me" I nodded at Elyssa "If anyone kno much we can tell you, it’d be Elyssa"

Katie narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips "Whather teeth "Just shut up and stay on ed another civilian into the Overworld," Shelton said with a groan

"I didn’t drag the other one, in case you’ve forgotten," I said "The rogue vam--uh, you-knohats did that"

"Oh, yeah Guess you’re right"

"Are you going to look at the tracker?" Dad said, obviously losing patience

Shelton turned back to hibird tattoo for ato lose focus A split second later, he cursed and juer

Shelton sank onto the bench, his face white "This isn’t good," he said, voice hoarse