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The bomb exploded to life exactly sixty-five minutes later

The ency session eleven minutes after that Two Councilors were noation, while another took on the task of analyzing the boe control

For a crucialof tier under a Councilor’s direct supervision During that same , its security forces fell to below fifty percent of capacity, thepulled up into the PsyNet to strangle the spread of information Their bodies remained in the lab, in a for with furious speed

In the chaos, no one noticed the surveillance satellites blink

Chapter 38

At three ht, Talin ly ancient truck over a deserted piece of land several miles froe had cohty seconds earlier: Now

Another ht the truck to a stop near a se Hidden as it was by the slope of the land and the overgrown vegetation, it was no wonder it had remained undisturbed Or maybe it was the deadly laser fence a ways back, a fence that had been disabled at nine pot out of the truck alone The plan had been for the others to hide in the truck bed, in case their uncertain ally had failed to turn the satellites The Psy already knew about Talin’s involve seen was no tactical disadvantage The opposite applied to Clay and Dorian

However, to their surprise, they had discovered the area to be heavy with concealing vegetation, including huge trees that had to have been transplanted here It was as though so

After a hasty conference, both changelings had juone cat Meanwhile, Dorian had taken to the trees, rifle in hand Right now, she knew his sniper’s eye was located on the door to the cabin The predators were ready to pull her out if this proved to be a trap

Half-sick with hope and fear, she stood in place, in spite of her need to get inside, waiting for the signal that would tell her no danger had been scented or sighted When she glanced to the side, it was to glilow eyes hidden in the forest They blinked once Go

Vividly conscious of ti down, she ran to the door and pushed it open She was prepared to find anythingexcept what she did find

Jon and a little girl lay on their backs on the dirt floor

With a soft cry, she dropped to her knees and checked their pulses Both beat strong It calmed her as she waited for Clay to con of hie was to run out to help

Clay watched Talin walk in, his senses on high alert A shift in the wind brought him Dorian’s scentand that of another The leopard listened to what the wind told it and knew he could leave that scent to Dorian The other sentinel was already e into which Talin had disappeared only a second ago But he wasn’t blinded by focus - he heard the crack of a twig severalthe protective urge shoving at hiet Tally out of there, he stayed in place, listening, watching

The ugly ent odor of gun-cleaning fluid His predator’s mind immediately understood that they had either ered sensors their ally had not known to disable He lowered hietation He’d told Tally to stay inside the cottage until he or Dorian ca her to stick to the plan, he turned his attention to the intruder

The ht seconds later Dressed in black, he ait of a trained soldier But that wasn’t what interested Clay It was the emblem on his shoulder Two snakes locked in corowl That was the same uniform as those that had been worn by the men who had butchered the DawnSky deer clan in an unprovoked attack

The Psy linted pure black, no whites, no stars He could be telepathing

Clay had to make a split-second decision If this was their contact, killing hi But if it wasn’t, he had to take the man out An instant later, thestance and taking aie

Clay didn’t bother with finesse If the Psy felt hie The Psy htly before Clay’s claws hit his chest, s him to the forest floor A burst of pain sla out the other man’s throat

However, even with that thousandth-of-a-second warning, the Psy had h of a psychic blow that Clay’s nose bled as he shifted into hu away the blood with his hand The body had to be disposed of and in a way that didn’t give away changeling involve the body up in a tarp froood thing Tally and Jon weren’t changeling; otherwise, they would have detected the scent of death Aware of ti down, he nonetheless returned to the site of the kill and covered his tracks The Psy soldier would appear to have vanished into thin air

"Oh, God," Talin whispered, gritting her teeth and staying in place as the clock ticked over to ten minutes past nine Clay was a sentinel, she told herself He would defeat whatever ene to distract herself, she brushed the hair off Jon’s and the little girl’s faces The little one was clearly of Persian origin, her skin a dusky brown, her bone structure fine enough for a princess