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"Good thinking" Chuch took a seat in the recliner, leaving Chance and ainstfrom the hall

"The place was totally ransacked" She clicked a few tiht up a folder "I downloaded some snaps from his cell phone before he left"

We all leaned over to take a look Blood spattered walls, paper shredded all over the floor

"Christ," I said "It looks like soent," Chuch said with a shrug "With the warlock in charge of the operation gone, Montoya is cutting his losses and tying up loose ends"

Shit Good thing we had another avenue open for finding Montoya I hoped like hell Esteban would coh

War Council

We sat around waiting for Chuch’s phone to ring I fed Butch, let him out, and then held hi I wondered if hepassed the time best, and Eva was all over that

"When we hit, I’ree "I kno to handleto say about that, but she went on "And it would be stupid to leavecould happen to ht?"

Oh, well played, Eva

That silenced the rising protest frolanced out thethe wide open sky fading to dawn-- the horizon Like a nocturnal monster, I yawned Man, my sleep schedule was all screwed up

Still, we needed to lay our plans Yesterday , we hadn’t done such a stellar job of that, and only Chance’s luck coh We couldn’t count on that again

Apparently Chance shared that opinion because he said to Eva, "Get a pen and paper, will you? We need to talk strategy"

"Good idea!" She bounced to her feet, hurried to the kitchen, and returned, ready to take notes I laughed softly at the idea of having an assault secretary

"Here’s what I have in ht better on his feet, he slid off the couch and paced the length of the living room "Once I find the location, we send Booke in first to check for ickal traps"

"You should ask hireement While Chance went to look for Booke online and Chuch checked his weapons cache, I ate a bowl of bean soup for breakfast No one cahed and tookzo

Was it unreasonable of me to want Chance to put me first? The way he blew hot and cold co our relationship With that dance, I thought ed, but now I stood in the kitchen with a burned hand and no help I kneorried about Min and wanted to be ready to ot that, but I hated he hadn’t asked if I was okay after all we’d been through in the last twenty-four

Shit Maybe I was just high maintenance

Since everyone else was busy, I went around checking wounds Chance waved et gangrene No help for it, I’d have to do for myself, so I headed to the bathroom The bite on my shoulder looked puffy It hurt when I poked it, but all I could think to do was slice it open and pour peroxide on it I probably needed a tetanus shot

Hesitating, I gazed at nize the wo red hair looked familiar

"You want me to?" Kel asked from behind me

I froze, fixated on the knife in his hand Maybe I had a death wish because I heard myself say, "Yeah, please I don’t think I can cut myself"

If he’d said, My pleasure, I’ Instead he set about sterilizing the blade Then, with the precision of a surgeon, heup the inflamed skin I tried not to think of the dead woman’s teeth that had made those marks

Not for the first ti ability instead of the "gift" of being able to read objects Part of me wished I couldn’t do that either, but a without it Good or bad, the touch defined me every bit as much as my blue eyes

Could I actually live a nor up the last link to ift I never wanted?

It shook me, how ably Kel treatedOne small slip of the scalpel and the doctor beco

"Thank you," Iout theabove the sink

"You okay?" Eva asked

I started and tried to pretend I wasn’t edgy as a cat in a guitar shop "I don’t know," I said "I feel like shit I’ot one"

The shop ot back to it If I did That seemed less and less likely as the days wore on

"You’ll always have a place here with me and Chuch"

Her offer surprised a sniff out of ed Chuch was still out in the garage, taking inventory

Eva fetched her notes "What did Booke say?"