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If he stepped out of the alley, he would be seen They would not question hiore and filth, and they would try to take hied by humans, not in his present state

He would have to wait until they had gone

Thierry settled behind a stack of flattened paper boxes and watched the rats as the light drove them to find sanctuary That hat he truly needed now: a house or place of business where he could wash, rest, and not be seen by huo, the people of the city lived like every day would be their last, never opening their doors, never unlocking their s

The city was a fist, squeezed too tightly against hiht-headed and cold, Thierry closed his eyes and put a protective arer His hand felt empty without the blade, and he could never rest unless he held it ready He had ownedlife, but this one was special to hiift from Treo, after Thierry and Michael had helped him escape Rome

If you are taken and there is no hope of escape, thrust it here Thierry could still feel the brush of Tremayne’s distorted hand on the back of his neck One quick stroke, to cut through It is the sa your head

Thierry would have done so when the Brethren had co with his wife, Angelica, and that was the only time he went naked of clothes and weapons

She had known this She had told the thein his lish and had understood what had happened to the girl as soon as he had opened the file Luisa had been tortured by the Brethren Cyprien would not know this; he had not witnessed the sadistic ways the monks worked on humans Thierry had So he had set out on the journey, certain that this would serve as his penance for attacking Alexandra, who had only tried to help him, and to pay back the Brethren, who had destroyed his life as well as his body

A light-colored convertible drew parallel to the alley and parked across the street fro farther down to the crime scene His attention sharpened when he saw the hu, thin, and dark, a little cat of a woman From the way she er She had her gaze fixed on the police lights, however, and was ignoring everything else around her

Like him

I could walk up and take her now Thierry rose, his hand tightening on the dagger as he scanned the area around her That she was so close to hiry He was not the only predator out tonight Has she no one to look after her? To keep her hos like lance, but walked down to the cri one of the officers her wallet, disappeared into the building

Thierry sank back down behind the crushed boxes He was as good as a walking sieve, and she was too small Women of any size were the worst of temptations But if he did not hunt soon, he would be too weak to do more than crawl deeper into the alley filth and hide Then he would have to wait until sorab

Not the woman Not any woman

His loneliness had beco himself to hunt a woman, not after what he had done in hisexclusively onon the streets of Mereatest mistake

He had not meant to stop in Meine problem, and forced him to leave the interstate, where there were too ht stop and offer help The car’s engine had died in the very heart of the city, where there were few places to hide

The Darkyn hunter who had crossed Thierry’s path had picked up his scent, but nized and pursued hi hunted, and no one else but Cyprien could have issued orders to capture him

If he was to find his salvation, he would have to outwit his oldest friend and elude his own kind

Tith he would need to rise again It had always been there when he’d needed it, but now it eluded hi to cru his journey to this city; his reserves were exhausted So, too, was his spirit Finding the htless tunnel His failure to do so would snuff it out, and then there would be nothing but the dark

He could not survive the uide him Had he not earned a little?

"Hello?"

He opened his eyes and peered over the top of the boxes Incredibly, the wo just outside the alley, looking in

"Is someone in there?"

Is she mad, too? Thierry dared not blink or breathe, and then soer than his fear for her His scent, always intense when he ounded, changed