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So, she shoved away any residual guilt and pretended that everything was fine She wanted to be here, having a nice meal with Zach She wanted him to take her to his ho was easier if she forgot why she was doing it, so that hat she did Ninety minutes later, she was stuffed full and ht possible

He hadn’t grilled her about her decision to beco serious over dinner Instead, he’d talked about ss, like how he’d found this place so far off the beaten path one night when his car had broken down, and how he and his buddies had a contest to find the best places to eat across the country

He clairee

But once they stepped out of the restaurant’s door, his chared His pale eyes were bright and watchful and he casually maneuvered Lexi so that he was between her and the open farh to her she could feel the heat of his skin flowing between the his h his nose, like he was s okay?" asked Lexi Anxietywas rabbed her ar her to get her to hurry They were parked at the far side of the lot The dinner rush was over and all the cars that had filled the lot before were now gone, leaving the place nearly deserted The cool night air suddenly felt chilly against her skin, and only the heat of Zach’s strong fingers around her arht have visitors," said Zach in a tight voice

"Visitors?"

"Synestryn"

She blurted out, "Your pets are here?" before she could stop herself

Zach gave her a sharp frown "They’re not our pets, Lexi I don’t knohere you heard that, but the Synestryn are anything but friendly, loyal dogs They’re our enemy, and will kill us if they find us I can’t risk you like that"

Couldn’t risk her? What about him?

He unlocked the truck and pushed her up into the driver’s seat "Take the keys," he told her "I need to keep rabbed her arold chain bracelet--and closed his eyes for a brief second A hot spark of power shot through her wrist and the bracelet fell free He grabbed it and shoved it in his pocket

Lexi gave hi frown

"I don’t want you trapped by ly," he said

Fear skittered around inside her belly, threatening to shove her ly?"

An eerie howl split the night, silencing the crickets chirping nearby "There’s a love compartment On it is a dot in red ink northeast of Kansas City That’s Dabyr Go there Tell them who you are and they’ll let you in I’ll catch up with you"

"You want h in the truck, she had a good view of the cornfield Tall stalks of corn parted as sos

"I can’t leave these people here to fend for theht"

"By yourself?"

He gave her a wink "You’re not ready to help h I wished like hell you were Go now There’s no more time"

Zach shut her inside the truck and dreord that had been invisible only a e of the cornfield, his stride confident and steady

Lexi’s hand fu to separate the one she needed fronition on the third try, and the truck started easily Not at all like her ancient Honda

Whatever was out there in the corn was getting closer fast--it was only fifty yards away now Zach hadhimself between the people in the restaurant and whatever was headed his way He lifted his blade to a ready stance, and stood there, waiting

Lexi didn’t want to leave his weren’t his pets The way he was acting proved he wasn’t lying

Another deep howl make Lexi jump Thick, oily fear closed around her throat until she could only pull in short, shallow breaths

She needed to get out of here Zach could take care of hione out there alone if he couldn’t Would he?

Her feet couldn’t touch the pedals, so she slid the seat forward The first Synestryn broke through the field, co beast, as wide as it was tall Long tusks erupted fro with saliva It had a thick snout and was covered in long barbs froht, and all those barbs rattled as the thing laid eyes on Zach

Lexi’s body seized up in terror She’d never seen anything like it before

A loud hissing noise ca hiainst the dry earth Dozens of barbs shot out of the monster’s skin and some of them embedded themselves in a nearby tree Only a fraction of an inch of the long spike re out of the hard bark

Lexi didn’t want to think about ould have happened to Zach’s body had they hit him He was hard, but a hell of a lot softer than that tree

Before she’d had ti, Zach was back on his feet, sword in hand, closing in on the monster His sword flashed as he attacked, but Lexi didn’t watch A movement farther out in the field des out there closing in fast She didn’t know if they were the sa or not, but she was pretty sure that it didn’t really ainst one were not the kind of odds a man survived