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As he made his way down and into the tunnels, he could hear the whispers of the Rats They were scurrying away, leaving their leader to deal with the predator who had invaded their ho attacked - DarkRiver kept an eye on the denizens of Down Below and, for thepack of their own The name - Rats - was a misnomer Only three of the Down Below residents were actually changeling

Now, one of those three stepped out of the darkness "You don’t have permission to pass this way Leave" A flash of razor-sharp canines

"Cut the theatrics, Teijan" Clay folded his arainst the tunnel wall

"Clay?" Teijan stepped closer "I didn’t recognize you - your scent’s got human all over it"

Rats had a superior sense of smell, so Clay didn’t doubt Teijan’s assessment But it was a surprise For a enerally required a sexual relationship But then again, he and Tally had belonged to each other since childhood The leopard wasn’t fussed - it liked the idea of having her so close "How’s your domain?"

Teijan’s near-black eyes darted away and back, an act that would have denoted deceit Above In the tunnels it was a far more nuanced action "Don’t you mean, ’How’s the doed "Your status is transitory because you choose not to swear full allegiance to DarkRiver" The world of predatory changelings was an unforgiving one There were allies and eneray were few and far between

Teijan shifted his body in jerky movements reminiscent of his aniive full allegiance to DarkRiver, we becoh your blood bond with the bit fat targets on their backs"

"We don’t use nonpredatories or hue in Teijan’s previous stance

"Rats aren’t exactly nonpredatory" He bared his teeth

"But you’re not strong enough to control San Francisco, even if you had a whole colony" A simple fact dictated by the physical attributes of their different beasts and the natural food chain "We’re locking this city down, Teijan You have another four weeks to make your decision Ally with us or leave"

Before the devastating attack orchestrated by the Psy Council on another one of DarkRiver’s allies - a deer herd - the Rats had been too weak to bother with Now they were a possible strength and a current weakness - the tunnels needed to be watched in case this cold ith the Psy escalated into a very real one But unless the Rats swore allegiance, their word couldn’t be trusted

"We ruled here before DarkRiver," Teijan snapped

"No, you cowered Belohile Psy walked Above," Clay returned, pitiless "You’re no ht have read his words as a hus understood doiance, we’d have to come to your aid if called? And to the wolves’?"

"Yes We’d come to yours in turn"

A pause "A cat will protect a rinned "Unless the mouse tries to bite the cat" Betrayal would not be tolerated

The other changeling’s eyes gleamed "Then perhaps, I should talk to Lucas"

"I’ll tell hi into his pocket, he pulled out a copy of Jonquil’s picture "Right now, I need a favor Show this photo around to your folks - ask if anyone saw anything"

Teijan took it in an inhuman burst of movement "A favor? Not an order?"

"A favor" Clay pushed off the wall "One predator to another"

A sharp smile, full of teeth That was the proble their humanity It hy there were only three of their kind left in the city The others had been hunted down after going rogue

Last year, Clay recalled, Dahlia had succeeded in killing seven residents of Down Below before Teijan had tracked down and slit his for reminder of the road Clay had almost taken Aliving that up He s thisHe could still taste her on his lips - a hint of coffee, spice, and pure female heat

"I’ll ask," Teijan finally said "You swear that if we ally ourselves with you, our home is safe?"

"Hell, Teijan, these tunnels are shot with cracks - but on’t do anything to push you out" The alliance would establish hierarchy once and for all, allowing coexistence Without that agreerace period ran out, the Rats were dead No arguments No second chances A harsh law, but it kept peace in the volatile world of predatory changelings

The only reason the Rats weren’t already dead was that Lucas had better control over the blood hunger of his beast than o, when DarkRiver had first begun flexing its muscle, he’d seen potential in the odd dwellers of Down Below

"The tunnels are sound" Teijan’s pride was in his voice "We keep them repaired"

"Then you’ll be fine We don’t want toWe’re everywhere under the city - basees, tunnels, house foundations - and there are ti"