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She screamed as an enormous black bird suddenly swooped low over the deck--and landed right on their table Tessa sprang up in panic, backing into a chair behind her Mae remained where she was, but her eyes ide The bird paced around on the table a little and then stopped, staring directly at Mae Weirder still, Mae seely and see, the bird gave a croak and lifted up on strong wings It flew across the deck again, frightening ency staircase It glanced briefly back at Mae and then flen

Mae stared after it for a few seconds, and then, without a word, she tore off after it down the stairs

CHAPTER 31

AVENGING VALKYRIE

Mae was fully aware of how crazy it was And as she sprinted down the stairs three at a ti to feel like an idiot But in that moment, when the bird--no, raven, she so at her, she’d felt suspended in ti in it but those beady black eyes Then, most improbable of all, she’d sworn she heard a voice in her head when the bird croaked: Coency had swept her, and without further hesitation, she’d followed the raven

It aiting for her at the bottoround, it flew off toward a s next to the hotel, hovered a few moments, and then soared off into the dark sky Mae looked at where it had paused Several steps led down to a lit-up glass door in the building’s lowest level Mae could hear thumps and see some sort of movement within She jumped down to the base of the stairs and was ht of a Nordic wo herself at a wooden door Puzzled, Mae tried to open the outer glass door and found it locked The wo with shock

That was all Mae needed Fight-or-flight ed guide With little difficulty, she picked up a heavy stone planter sitting nearby and swung it at the door The glass shattered, and without hesitation, Mae slipped through the jagged opening she’d created, heedless of cuts on her arms The woman backed up and threw soed it, but in those seconds as it flew, she saw iround, s

It didn’t even slow Mae dohich caitimately scared, and that hen the truly unbelievable part happened

She transforht that hat it was She was no expert in large felines or wildlife in general, but when you didn’t sleep at night, you ended up watching a lot of weird TV, including nature shows She had no time to ponder how she had stu into action as the jaguar sprang toward her Mae was strong but couldn’t fight against that kind of weight and iainst the floor Mae was able to shake the pain off Unfortunately, she couldn’t shake the jaguar off as those heavy clawed paws pinned her down and dug into her skin It snarled, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth as it readied for her death

Suddenly, that icy darkness that was north and power flooded her, and she jue her, then hesitated Mae also wavered The battle lust radiating fro a wall that she couldn’t uar also seemed imain, and the jaguar took off down the hall, with Mae in pursuit As she went after it, she caught sight of Justin peering out of the mysterious door, a hand on his head and his face full of shock

Not even a prætorian could keep up with a jaguar, but as it neared the hall’s end, it transforun and fired but et rounded a corner toward some stairs Mae wasn’t concerned She had absolutely no doubts about being able to close the distance, now that she was no longer pursuing a beast of the jungle It was just a matter of time

They reached the casino floor and the woh, oblivious to the people around her Some were pushed out of the way So and fired The bullet grazed the wo her to stu her frantic race Gunfire in such a crowded rooo over very well, and screaround or tranored it all Her whole world was focused solely on the woed, she saw the woh pedestrians in a crosswalk The crowd in the park had thinned considerably, but there were still enoughpeople for the wo she’d need a new tactic Adrenaline filled her with a power she never realized she missed in ordinary days until she was back in the throes of it It also sharpened herher to quickly and clearly e of the park and leapt up onto a table, ignoring both the food on it and the cries of the startled occupants Froht, it was easy to spot her prey The wo a conspicuous path Mae jumped down and raced off in the direction she’d seen the wo to leap on and off tables as she continued the chase The crowd slowed both of the steadily At one point, using another table, she saw her quarry start to turn toward thetoward the center of the stage, her heart pounding andwithout delay

The woe first, much to the astonishether She grabbed the lead singer and held hier at his throat Mae ca rapidly as she assessed this new develop her cohts and actions The crowd gasped and screae, but few moved This was prime entertain with her hostage He covered upan effective shield "I’ll slash his throat open"

Shooting an erraticallyone, even with a small space to hit, wasn’t difficult at all for soun and shot the woman in the head

That caused a reaction, similar to the one in the casino Guns on Ges even less so Near her, a gaping guy was trying to record the scene with his ego Mae fixed his moved quickly after that Johansson, the lieutenant they’d spoken to earlier, was a officers and wasn’t thrilled about the disruptive spectacle There was little she could do against a prætorian, especially with a hostage situation

Now that they were safe again, the croas vying to get a look at the afteros "I’m really curious to see what you’ll turn up when you check her chip"