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Despite the coloring of their hair, I would never have mistaken hied and their hair shiunk they used to keep it in place As aze took in their faces, I realized they all looked remarkably similar The lastwith the others and staring at me--at us--across the couple hundred feet in between

Elyssa stopped as abruptly as I did I backed up, keeping my eyes on thethe cobblestones sounded behind us I spun and sawfro to our left Each one landed without a grunt or any hint of exertion They straightened fro flat on their feet, eyes focused on us There were now six of them to either side And they all looked identical down to their expressionless faces

"How strong are you feeling?" she asked

I clenched"Not very"

She looked at the sides of the alley "We could hop back and forth,they jumped from"

"You probably can, but I can’t"

"I’ll carry you"

"You’re so sweet"

One of thesilvery flashed toward us Elyssa shoved ainst the concrete alley wall above her head She roped for her back Then she dropped to her knees, eyes ith shock, and sluround

"Elyssa!" I screaround to her I found a silver dart embedded in her back and plucked it out "What did you do to her? What do you want?"

Did theseto contact hiray men didn’t answer Didn’t utter a word or a sound They advanced onunnaturally by their sides I dug deep into th Lifting Elyssa was a chore I’d grown accustoht but she felt like a sack of bricks in my arms in my current condition There was no way I could dash past these people, irlfriend with me

I looked back toward the door where the first of theed They walked toward h they’d just stepped out for a Sunday stroll The other group advanced in much the same way No matter how many questions I hurled at them, they never once opened their mouths to answer One of them raised a black tube and aie those darts

A patch of black dropped froray men had come from and landed behind them Silver flashed and the man nearest the back dropped wordlessly as his head rolled froray ure in black They ure raydoard Sparks flew as the sword ure in black had already run up the wall and flipped behind hiray man’s head with a quick slash of the sword just as his feet hit the ground

I realized with sick fascination not a single drop of blood came from the severed stump of the neck What in the naroup of ed her with all ht back toward the alley exit, a hundred yards and an eternity away I was going so slow I ure struck the head froroup and turned to face the others I felt so helpless So daood was I, weak like this?

I propped Elyssa against a wall and pulled knives fro to take ht around the hilts and my stomach roiled as fury burned like a heat wave from my center to the tips ofin rew I yelled out a war cry and charged

The first grayagainst the wall and rolling Blood dripped from my elbohere I’d skinned theony stabbed into ain A gray ure delivered a solid roundhouse to his face I leapt, both daggers extended, and stabbed therunt as both blades cut deep into his flesh Then he reached around and grabbed me

Twin chisels seehten againstintoto protect Elyssa Strength poured into raynoise and ripped off I threw the head at another attacker The black figure whirled and sliced the other man’s head off before ray et uttural, totally inhu hiainst a wall