Page 24 (1/2)

As ent out the door, Susan pulled ot one ar the base of round with Susan on the bottoain The i, but I was on the botto I felt only through my contact with Susan

We wound up on the tiny patch of grass two doors down frohouse, in front of some cheap converted apart cars went roaring by after Martin and his rented sedan I kept my head down until they had passed, and then looked at Susan

I was on top Susan panted quietly beneath h between hers Her dark eyes glittered, and I felt her hips twitch in the kind of s, and afternoons, and late nights) to mind

I wanted to kiss her A lot I held off "You all right?" I asked

"You never complained," she answered Her voice was a little breathless "Nothing too bad You? Anything hurt?"

"My ego," I said "You&039;re eth and whatnot" I rose, took her hand, and drew her to her feet "How&039;s a guy supposed to assert hisboy You&039;ll think of so"

I looked around and nodded "I think we&039;d better get off the street, pronto"

"Is running and hiding assertively masculine?" We started for my apartment

"The part where we don&039;t die is"

She nodded "That&039;s practical, but I&039;m not sure it&039;s o," Susan said

We went only a couple of steps before I felt the spell co It started as a low shiver on the back of my neck, and my eyes twitched almost of their own accord up to the roof of the apart by I saw a couple of bricks frorabbed Susan&039;s collar and sidestepped, pulling her with me The bricks shattered into shards and red powder on the sidewalk a step from Susan&039;s feet

Susan tensed and looked up "What was that?"

"An entropy curse," I muttered

"A what?"

I looked around, struggling to sense where the next surge of ht come from "Sort of a bad-luck spell A really, really bad-luck spell Preferredrid of so it?"

"My guess? Snakeboy He seeotten so surge of energy tooverhead "Oh, hell Run"

Susan and I broke into a sprint As we did, I heard one of the power lines snap, cables squealing The longer end of loose cable fleard us, trailing a cloud of blue and white sparks It hit the ground somewhere behind us

My clothes hadn&039;t yet dried out frouest accoht have killed le wash over et a few ained control of , bringing a gust of ith it, but before I could zero in on it Susan shouldered round just as I heard a loud cracking sound A branch as thick as round I looked up to see a strip of bare white bark showing along the trunk of the old tree behindme to my feet and we ran the rest of the way to my apart, stronger than the last I fuh the predawn grey, and we got inside

I could still feel the curse growing and reaching forone, and I wasn&039;t sure that either my apartment&039;s threshold or my standard wards would be able to keep it out I slammed the door closed behind me, locked it The room fell into darkness as I reached for the basket beside the door There was a waxy lump the size of ainst the door, across the crack between the door and the ja out from the wax, focused on it, and drew in ic, and the wick suddenly gloith a pure white flame

Around the room at precisely the same moment, two dozen other candles of white and butter-colored wax also lit with a gentle flicker of white fire As they did, I felt a sudden thruic, prepared months before, raise into a raain, soainst the barrier, but ainst it

"Boo- ya, snakeboy," Iout a tense breath "Stick that in your scaly ass and smoke it"

"The action-hero one-liner doesn&039;t count if you

"Looks like no Harry Dresden action figures for et him?"

"Slammed the door on his curse," I answered "We should be safe for a while"

Susan looked around her at all the lit candles, getting her breath back I saw her expression soften, and turn a little sad We&039;d eaten a lot of dinners here, by candlelight We&039;d done a lot of things that way I studied her features while she stood lost in thought The tattoos changed her, I decided They changed the proportions and lines of her face They lent her features a sort of exotic remoteness, an alien beauty

"Thirsty?" I asked She shot me a look with a hint of frustration in it I lifted my hands "Sorry I didn&039;t think"