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"Seriously, why aren’t you terrorizing ust "Because I don’t want you to die"

"But why?"

"You’redidn’t see me anywhere, so I tried another tack "Who were the twelve?"

"The ones who suo was that?"

Maury shrugged "Hoould I know? I spend my time in a forest Do you see a clock out here?"

"Corine!" Booke’s voice boomed out of nowhere

That washere?"

Our contact in the UK cah the woods "I don’t think you should be here with ht now," he told me I remembered he’d said he could find me anywhere in the world "And it doesn’t feel like real sleep; soently--

--and I snapped awake

Chance cradled ht? You’ve been out for ages"

"Cold," I ed to whisper

Damn, was I ever For the second ti in the dirt, this ti leaves, next to a pile of bones But at least I had Chance underneath azed up the heavy lattice of tree li I’d been out Butch whined and licked ot you," hethe skin I could hardly feel it at all

"Talked to a demon named Maury" Or had I drea ue stuck It took ht phone No luck I couldn’t iine his fear

"Don’t worry about me," he said "Here, drink a little" Chance held a water bottle to my mouth, and my throat ached as I sed "Stay with me Don’t close your eyes Tell me about this de me

I refused on principle to answer questions when I knew he didn’t believe ht

"I’m better; fine, in fact What time is it?"

Before he could answer, I heard the crunch of footsteps Thank God--the cavalry had arrived at last

When Sheriff Robinson, Jesse, Shannon, and three people I didn’t know strode down the slope and into the gully, I’d never been so happy to see other hu along with Sheriff Robinson and the two nized his class ring, as Shannon had, she sank down on her knees and wept

It would likely take theer to deal with the situation, but Chance conferred briefly with Jesse, probably telling him I’d had another one of my "episodes," which reed I needed to get ho He slanted a hard look athad happened that eren’t telling, but he had yards of red tape to deal with

Butch tucked under his arh the woods for home--well, our temporary one, anyway My real home arm and sun drenched I hoped I still had it when all this was over

I ood tacos al pastor I missed Tia, the local curandera who had a stall onbothered us on the way out of the forest Maybe Maury figured he had tor out of the woods and across the yard, Butch was happy as hell to see the house He yapped like a wild thing and wagged his tail until Chance put hiave hiet a shower--I intended to soak away the cold that had seeped into ot out of the tub, my skin was pink and wrinkled I dried off on one of our contraband towels, got dressed, and went to look for Chance

To my amazement, he’d made soup for me Just bouillon and rice, but I’d never known hi in the kitchen doorway

"Did you think I was dying?" I asked

Without turning, he answered in neutral tones "Yes"

"Oh, Chance"

He spun, slaainst the cupboard "We’re done, do you understand , and I’odda to punishIt would onlyup Chance was losing his teh out loud Instead, I sat down, trying to compose my face

"Is this funny to you?" he de my bowl of soup across the table

"A little," I admitted "Your clothes are dirty and wrinkled Your hair’s a mess Your luck doesn’t work for shit here, and I’ around?" I spooned up so for his answer