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I glanced at Stane, who had a somewhat bemused expression on his face But then, while he was familiar with our key search, he had no idea ere talking about when it caic-twisted half shifters And I didn’t bother enlightening him "Do you still have access to the security cae place in Clifton Hill?"

"Yes, but didn’t that place blow up?"

I nodded "I want to have a look at the hours between you first contactingand the building blowing up"

"Sure thing" He grinned "But you canto eat while I hunt theain"

"Deal" I pushed to emite and cheese sandwich – he didn’t have e – and by the ti of coffee in front of Stane, he’d found the records and had relayed them to another screen

I pulled up a chair and watched as Ifor?" Stane said, as he scooted his chair next to mine

"Me"

He blinked and looked confused "Why are we looking for you? Don’t you re there?"

I grinned "Yes But so the receptionist said to me before she died --"

"You were in there when the place exploded?" Stane interrupted, his voice incredulous "Are you insane?"

"That is a allery can keep those sort of ree to say that co, I said to Stane, "I was Someone had to check whether the explosion had destroyed that locker ere interested in"

"Which it did" He took a sip of coffee "So what did the receptionist say that tweaked your radar?"

"Not ain’"

"As you said, not much"

"No But when she saw ed So ould she say so like that when it was actually the first time she’d seen the real me?"

"It could have been shock," Stane mused "Or maybe the person who blew up the place was a vampire They’ve been known to play hard and fast with other people’s memories when it suits their purposes"

"True, but what interest would a va up that place? And whyin there?"

"It could have been someone from the council," Azriel said "Perhaps Hunter wanted to know firsthand ere doing in there"

"She has the Cazadors following me around twenty-four seven Any one of them could have checked astrally rather than physically, and no one would have been the wiser"

"But Hunter also has enemies on the council," Azriel noted "Perhaps Stanford has a desire to discover what lay in that storage unit for hih?"

"That I cannot tell you"

"Whoever this person i you is," Stane commented, "they don’t necessarily have to be a face shifter Actors have been changing the shape of their faces and bodies for years with , and stuff"

"True, but in this case, unlikely"

"But two sorcerers and two face shifters?" Stane said "That’s pushing the coincidences, don’t you think?"

Probably I took a sip of coffee as I watched the ies scroll across the screen Hoddle Street ith cars, but there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic Which was good, I guess – it wouldthe fakeat straws

"If it is a coincidence, then yes," Azriel co It is entirely possible he brought both sorcerers into this quest not only because they were powerful, but because their abilities would make it difficult for anyone to track them down"

"There is one other possibility," Stane said, as he bent to put his now empty plate on the floor under his desk