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Jason took one crawling step towards me and stopped "No, no, no" Each as a low moan His head fell forward His yellow hair swept forward not long enough to touch the ground, but thick He earing an oversize blue dress shirt and jeans Clothes you wouldn&039;tif you happened to shapeshift in them

"Anita," Richard said

I ht of Jason

Richard was reaching through the bars One hand stretching out towardsan running hands over the lock He couldn&039;t really see the lock froe He pressed his cheek to the bars and closed his eyes When you can&039;t use your eyes they become a distraction

He leaned back and drew a slender leather case from his pocket He unzipped it to reveal tiny tools From this distance I couldn&039;t really see the to pick the lock We could be out in the woods before they kneereup

Edward settled back against the bars, one arm on either side of the lock, a pick in each hand His eyes were closed, his face blank, all concentration to his hands

Jason made a small sound low in his chest He crawled towardsupward His eyes were still the innocent blue of spring skies but there was nobody hoh he could see insidein my chest, smell the blood in my veins It was not a human look

"Jason," Richard said, "hold on We&039;ll be free in a few minutes Just hold on"

Jason didn&039;t react I don&039;t think he heard

I thought the fewto believe it if Jason would

Jason crawled towards e bars "Edward, how are you co with that lock?"

"These are not the tools I would have chosen for this particular lock, but I&039;ll get it"

There was so in the way Jason crawled towards me, as if he had muscles in places that he shouldn&039;t have "Make it soon, Edward"

He didn&039;t answerat the lock I had every faith that he&039;d unlock the door I backed down the bars, trying to keep an even distance between et the door open, but would it be in time? That was the 64,000 question

A sound at the entrance caused lance back Carmichael stepped into the cavern He had the 9mm in his hand He smiled It was the happiest I&039;d seen hi at the lock as if an armed man hadn&039;t stepped into the rooun and pointed it at Edward "Get away from the lock, now" He cocked the hammer back, not necessary, but always dra on the lock" He stepped closer with each word

Edward looked up at him His face was still blank, as if his concentration were still in his hands, not quite focused on the gun being pointed at hiht now"

Edward stared at hied but he tossed the two small tools away

"Take the coe Don&039;t even try to say you don&039;t have one If you&039;ve got those two pieces, you&039;ve got the rest"

I wondered what Car where he knehat tools would be in a professional lock-picking kit

"I won&039;t warn you again," Carer I a with this mess"

Edward threw out the sli sound on the rock Carmichael made no move to pick up the lock picks They were out of our reach That hat counted He walked backwards, keeping us all in sight He directed some of his attention to Jason and me Oh, joy

"Our little olf&039;s awake I was hoping he would be"

A low, ragged growl crawled up Jason&039;s throat

Carhter "I wanted to see hi I checked back in"

"I&039;m thrilled that you&039;re here," I said

He ca at Jason "I&039;ve never seen one of thee"

"Let ether"

"Noould I do that? I paid to see the whole show"

His eyes were sparkling with anticipation Bright and shiny as a kid on Christht my attention completely back to Jason He was crouched on the rock floor, hands and legs bunched under hirowl trickle from between his human lips raised the hair on the back ofatat you, Care," he said He had a point

"Jason, don&039;t get angry at hier will feed the beast You can&039;t afford to get angry" Richard&039;s voice was a to talk Jason down, or out, or in, or whatever word you used for keeping a olf frory, wolf I&039; to cut your head off and mount it on my wall"

"He&039;ll revert back to human form after he&039;s dead," I said

"I know," Carmichael said

Jesus "Police find you with a huet a little suspicious"

"I&039;ve got a lot of trophies that I wouldn&039;t want the police to find," he said

"What do you do in the real world?"

"This is as real as it gets"

I shook ue with him, but I wanted to

Jason crawled towards the bars, in a sort of y to it, as if he were about to launch himself into the air As if when he jumped he could fly

"Calm, Jason, easy," Richard said

"Coer"

I watched hi to the bars, hands clawing between theed a shoulder between the bars as if he&039;d slip through For one hed

"Shoot rowl than words "Shoot me"

"I don&039;t think so," Carripped the bars with his hands and slid down to his knees, forehead pressed to the bars His breathing was fast, panting, as if he&039;d run a mile in a minute flat If he&039;d been human he&039;d have hyperventilated and passed out His head turned slowly towards me, painfully slow, as if he didn&039;t want to do it He&039;d tried to force Car on ot him a lot of points in my book

He looked at er, both, neither, I didn&039;t understand the look in his eyes, and didn&039;t want to

He scra backwards

"Don&039;t run," Richard called "It excites hi into Jason&039;s alien expression, it took everything I had to stand still My hands gripped the bars behindwas bad

Jason stopped when I did He crouched just out of reach He put one hand on the ground and crawled towards me It was slow, as if he didn&039;t want to, but he kept coht ideas?" I asked

"Don&039;t run Don&039;t struggle It&039;s exciting Try to be cal"

"Speaking from personal experience?" I asked

"Yes," he said

I wanted to turn, see his face, but I couldn&039;t I had eyes only for the olf that was crawling towards e could take care of his, like a dog awaiting a coreen color spilled into his eyes The blue of his irises drowned in a swirl of new color When it was done his eyes were the color of new spring grass, pale, pale green, and not huasped I couldn&039;t help it He ertips brushed h and rubbed his cheek againstHe&039;d done more than this at the Lunatic Cafe, but his eyes had still been iven nearly anything for a gun right now

Jason grabbed the he at the cloth He was going to pull ed the coat off my shoulders Jason pulled it off me I stepped out of the circle of cloth He bundled the coat to his face with both arround with it pressed to his body like a dog with a piece of carrion Wallowing in the scent

He carace that was unnerving as hell Huracefully

I backed up, slowly, no running But I didn&039;t want hiain He reen eyes locked on me as if I were all that existed in the world

I started backing up faster He moved with me

"Don&039;t run, Anita, please," Richard said

My back thunked into the corner of the cage I gave a little yelp

Jason covered the distance between us in two ss I sed a screa to choke me

"Anita, control your fear Cal calm" My voice sounded strident, panicked

Jason had his fingertips hooked inasp and hated it If this was going to be it, then da

I listened toin my ears, and took slow, even breaths I stared into those spring green eyes and relearned how to breathe

Jason pressed his cheek against ave a little pitty-pat and I sed it I concentrated on my own heart until my pulse slowed It was the kind of concentration that let you do that new throw in judo The concentration that fed a zo

When Jason lifted his head and looked at ave him calm eyes I feltit would last but it was the best I could do

His fingers slid under my sweater, up my back I sed and my heartbeat sped up I tried to slow it down, tried to concentrate, but his hands slid aroundupward I grabbed his wrists, stopping his hands short of my breasts

As he rose,with his hands still underht of bare skin He knelt again, lettingwarue flicked out, a quick touch to one side of

I felt hi breath He pressed his face into the soft flesh ofhard His teeth grazed my waist It made me squirm, and not with pain His hands balled into fists underI didn&039;t really want to let go of his wrists but I wanted hi to eat me or"

"Fuck you," Caretting the un Maybe it was the realization that he wasn&039;t a danger toat my feet

"Jason&039;s only been one of us for a few y into sex instead of violence I&039;d take it I&039;d try to keep hi zones"

"What&039;s that supposed to mean?"

"Keep him away from your throat and your stomach"

I stared down at Jason He looked up athis eyes There was a darkness in those pale eyes, a darkness deep enough to drown in

I drew Jason&039;s hands out froers interlocking He nuzzledto bury his face where the sweater had slid over ether

He raised our hands upward, pressing gle, to jerk away Struggling was exciting, and that was a bad thing

We were al fros Jesus

He rubbed his cheek alongto keep hi pulse in ainst h that I kneas glad to be there Or at least his body was He buried his face in ainst e

I could feel the pulse in his neck thudding against the bone ofand falling as if he were doing a lot more than foreplay Was I about to move fro my skin but it wasn&039;t Jason I&039;d tasted this particular power before Was the show exciting Richard? Would watching me die like this be a thrill like the woman on the film?

"She&039;s mine, Jason" It was Richard&039;s voice but with a bass undertone The change was co

Jason whimpered It was the only word for it

Richard&039;s power rode the air like distant thunder, drawing close "Get off her, Jason Now!" That last word lunged out in so close to a screaave; no fear, but warning

I felt Jason shake his head against th of itto do

He let go of my hands so suddenly I would have stuht He jerked away frohs and lifted me into the air, too fast for ainst the bars I took most of the blow on my back Bruised, but alive

He supported me with one arm and shoved my sweater upith the other I shoved the sweater back down He made a sound low in his throat and slaht out of me for just ait away from my stomach He threw his head skyward and screamed, but the mouth he opened wasn&039;t huh air I&039;d have screamed

"Jason, no!" The voice wasn&039;t hue, thick enough to choke on Jason struggled almost as if the poere thicker than air He swiped at nothing that I could see with hands that had claws for fingers

"Back off," the words were a snarl, barely recognizable

Jason snarled back, teeth snapping the air, but not at

I just lay there on my back, afraid to move Afraid that any movement would tip the balance and make him finish what he&039;d started

"Shit," Carht back, folks, and the birde" Heus to a silence that was replaced with a low, steady growl I realized that it wasn&039;t Jason anymore

I rose up slowly on my elbows Jason didn&039;t try to eat e, but his face had lengthened He had a er The hair seemed to have flowed down his back, as if attached to the spine He was holding onto his hu

Edas standing very still near the door He hadn&039;t tried to run when Richard went all spooky Edward always did have nerves of steel

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