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Fey and winsome, the room matched the rest of the aparts and the s After stripping to s Twila had said worked on h, and I found it hard to sleep

When I finally did, I dreas ers of light stealing across the floor Nobody had disturbed me that I could recall, and either Twila’s wards held, or nothing caan to feel anxious about Chance I’d always assumed I was the eye of the storm and that trouble followed because of me, but what if--

Well, I refused to entertain the possibilities when I o hours away and couldn’t see if he was all right

Saldana sat at the s a cup of coffee He looked even rougher than I felt

"You’ll want another shower before we go see your ex," Iafter you didn’t sleep with the guy who probably would’ve been a glorious, et back"

"I’m not sure all the showers in the world will help," he said dryly "But noted"

I made myself some toast Apparently Twila’s hospitality only ran so far, as the cupboard offered a box of tea, instant coffee, cornflakes, and some stale bread It wasn’t bad slathered with jaed with his tawny hair slicked back, I decided I could do with so up too I didn’t want to h a hedge By the ti room read quarter to eleven

"Sorinned as we ht for a Noveht the area looked even seedier but not actively dangerous Jesse readyou’d find on these streets Half the community owes her one way or another, so it would take soround"

"Good to know Maybe so the alarm on the Forester, he opened my door for me "You’re fine the way you are, Corine"

"If you say so" I got in, none too sure of that

We drove across San Antonio to a neighborhood just off the freeway Nothing stood out--all the houses were built along the same styles The only differences ca choices Jesse parked the SUV before a pale gold house whose front yard boasted an inomes in various poses

Despite the warmth of the sun, a chill crawled down my back the closer we came to the house It was the middle of a workday, true, so perhaps that explained the unearthly stillness, but there should be birds at least I heard nothing but silence

Saldana cut me a sharp look as he rapped on the front door "Maris should be here She does palit?"

"Yes" He sounded distracted "She’s a gifted witch I’ve seen her work spells that nobody’s ri, she does"

Nobody answered

Wordlessly I circled around to the garage and peered through the sideA to be driven He came up beside ed "Well, if she’s gone, someone must have picked her up"

"Is it too Han Solo ofabout this?" I loved the way he dropped his Gs, the Texas twang of his voice

I shook my head "I don’t think so Do you knohere she kept the spare key?"

In my experience, most people hide them somewhere stupid, like taped to the top of the mailbox, under the welcome mat, or inside a fake rock in the flowerbed

In answer Jesse went straight to a lawn gno" His tone held a melancholy fondness "Let’s take a look then"

"Is this questionable legal ground for you, officer?"

"We have a key," he said, which didn’t quite answer o

As soon as we pushed open the door, the place let out a little gasp, like air settling back from an is I didn’t want to go farther, but I wouldn’t let Jesse out of ht either so I stayed close on his heels

We found Maris in the bedrooht to keep ot at her"

I couldn’t look away from the horror etched into her pallid face or the bloodstained carpet beneath her The room sht, though Bits of her flesh werehad fed

"Sory and stupid" I could tell he didn’t want to believe that by the way he hesitated, so I went on "These people aren’taround They really don’t want us to find out what happened to Yi Min-chin"