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"Once we are through this, perhaps I will"

And with that, he swept us to Stane’s

Only Stane wasn’t alone Tao ith hi in the haunted eyes, hollowed cheeks, and dusty, partially burned clothing, then all but threw runt and his arer of cracking I didn’t care He was here, he hole, and that was all thathilad you’re safe"

"So aaze searching his The flames had totally retreated and there was little more than ash and desperation in his eyes

"What happened?"

He shrugged and scraped one hand across his chin "I don’t really know One minute I was home, and the next I was flat on my face in a field the other side of Sunbury, near the landfill center there"

"The eleain"

"Yes" He shook his head "And it was close to getting there by the tiained control Up until that point I was --" He paused and a shudder went through hi as he added, "I was nowhere I was nothing No ht, all there ere flaony I think I’d rather be dead than go through that again"

"Tao --"

His gaze hit ry "Don’t say it, Ris Don’t you dare say it You have no idea what it’s like to lose your entire being to another force, and until you do, don’t lectureCouldn’t really, si I did say probably would co like one or the other

Tao kne I felt and what I believed I’d told hih already He kneere there for hiry and scared; ouldn’t be, placed in the same position?

So I simply dropped a kiss on his ash-stained cheek, then stepped back, took the index cards froaze, when itTao as well, only to receive a sih the cards with a slight frown "It’s very old-fashioned to store information in this form these days"

"They were stolen from the premises of a dead man Maybe he didn’t trust computers"

Stane snorted "It’s far easier to steal infors than it is from computers"

"Says the rinned "Well, yeah, but I’enerally isn’t as clever ashackers and black marketeers, not olves, obviously "If we haven’t already overwhelmed you and your coh these and see if there’s any link – however tenuous – to Lauren Macintyre?"

"Sure Could take a while, though There’s a fair few names in here, by the look of it"

"I know, and I’ to track down our sorceress" And maybe the only way to save Mirri But there was no point adding that Stane would do his best, as usual "We need to know the ed to get the autopsy results for the body parts and teeth the cops found at the storage place that blew up" Stane reached over to the second of his desks and flicked a screen Several docu to Genevieve Sands Proble before this blast tore her apart The coroner picked up evidence that the body had been frozen"

"Just like the real John Nadler" My voice was gri to lookwith not only a full-body face shifter, but one capable of taking multiple male and female forms"

"If that is the case," Azriel said, "then it is possible the clothesin Lauren’s wardrobe ed to her alternate lanced at hiht yet lead us to her, even if a search through the index cards doesn’t"

He raised an eyebrow "How? It is an inanimate object, and in and of itself can provide no clues"

"To you and me, yes But to soo see Adeline Greenfield about her apparently resurrected brother; maybe she can point us to someone who can help"

"Why not ask the Brindle?" Tao said, voice a little strained, but overall sounding a whole lot less tense than a few o "Surely they have witches capable of that there?"

"Yes, but their first priority has to be Mirri --"