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His fangs sharpened, rage burning inside him What enemy is this? Another bolt of electricity hit hian blindly tracing throughout the cabin to evade theh the red haze, he listened for his prey, sensing , he plucked one heart fro the throat of another The floor grew slick with blood

Get to the ring get closer Another flash shot toward hi -

A short sword plunged into his side Behind hi it deep within Lothaire&039;s body Aone for an immortal Whatever is here doesn&039;t want me dead

Lothaire atterown too weak - as his foe obviously intended

Holding hi him" Once the male drew the weapon free, Lothaire dropped to his knees in his own pool of blood

Others besieged hi his wrists in unbreakable bindings When he roared, they slapped duct tape over his mouth

He&039;d just cleared his vision in his one good eye when more men approached with a black sack

To put over his head

He bellowed behind the tape, thrashing in the blood But they shoved the cloth over his head, cinching it tight

Lothaire heard the gold ring scraped over the floor as another collected his treasure Seething wrath burned to a fury When I get free, I will unleash hell

Back streets of New Orleans

Target: the Valkyrie

"That all you got, in the Radiant cried after her third dose of electricity "I like electricity, you dumbasses! Hither at her word, they did She sucked it in, and her skin glowed brighter in the night The street lay

A smile of utter bliss lit her face

"Knohat else? I&039;ht a jolt in one hand and with her other, she funneled it back, hitting her attackers, blowing theain "How &039;bout you?" And again

They were feeding her - and it felt glorious! She glowed brighter, brighter, illu one city block, then two

But within that blaze of light, a shadowmale with superhuman speed Before she could defend herself, he struck with a sword, planting it into her side, twisting Lightning speared close by, and she gasped at the pain, choking as blood bubbled at her lips

Her light dimmed When the man withdrew the blade, she collapsed Curled up on the street, bleeding out, Regin gazed up at him "You," she bit out "You&039;ll pay"

Theher"

Too late, she drew a breath to screa her head wildly, she watched as they neared with a black sack

Orleans Parish Booking and Receiving Facility

Target: the witch

"Miss Carrohat are you doing in here again?" Martin, her favorite guard, asked her He was the youngest of the guards, cute, with a ruinous crush on Carrow "When will you learn better?"

"Oh, I&039;ve learned better," she said, strutting to the bars He sed to see how short her black leather skirt was "I just choose not to use what I&039;ve learned in real world applications"

"Huh?" Martin scratched his head "What&039;d you do this time?"

"Beat up a cop, stole his horse, and rode it into Pat O&039;s" Before he could ask, she answered, "I needed an accessory"

At that, her repeat roommates, sex workers from the Quarter, cheered, whoop whoop whoop!

She curtsied for theh the cell bars, she tickled hi hiirls soht Popeye&039;s to Carrow and the roommates In a throaty voice, she asked, "Maybe some diiiirty rice?"

He sed hard "N-no, ma&039;am Came to tell you that you made bail"

"Really? No way!" She held out her flat palave her a low five in celebration The sun had just set - Carroould have the entire night for mayhem! "Who divvied the cash?"

"Dunno,open the cell door

She frowned The House of Witches had vowed never to bail her out again And Carrow hadn&039;t even called Mariketa, not wanting to bother her best friend again Twice in one as too much for even the most committed bail buddy

Carrow had actually been considering using her powers to liberate herself Which was a big, freaking, honking no-no

With a shrug, she turned to say farewell "See ya, Moll, Candy Cane, Lexxxie, Chastity And Exstacey, chin up, your ex is not going to bother you any more I promise" Carrowhi litter

Once Carrow had collected her belongings, she donned her jewelry and light jacket, then strung her nu Easy could grasp what a hard-earned and valuable currency those beads were

Martin gazed on longingly "You want me to look up who posted you?"

"Hey, I&039;ht, Martin" She winked and blew him a kiss "See you soon"

But as she sauntered to the front doors, she thought about that ole gift-horse saying She&039;d lied to Martin - Carroas exactly the kind of person ould look in its y in her pal her tons of new spells and funneling power to her - since she was on the bench for five decades Carroas quite the badass, when she could concentrate

Stepping outside onto the street, she gazed around warily No one was out here

Ah, but the city was just waking for another night With sirens and food scents and throbbing music, it roused like a beast from slumber She could sense all the e her Like a vampire, she wanted to drink fro it -

A frying surge of electricity hit her in the face, blasting her through the air She shrieked until she landed on her back a block away Her beads hadher skin, shtless froy in her pal? Can&039;t see can&039;t see to fire on theht have hit one Can&039;t see

She tried to rise, to blindly run, but only asp out the reaper spell, hoping no bystanders were near: "Ooth sbell nooth latoret - "

"Gag her!" a deep voice interrupted

"Ooth sbell - "

The shadowy hands seized her, shoving duct tape over her th in her body, they bound her wrists behind her She flailed, defenseless, more terrified than she&039;d ever been

Carrow&039;s sight was just returning when she heard that sa her"

"No, no!" she screamed behind the tape They stalked closer with a black sack, rolling it up like hose to force over her head

And her world went dark once more