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The day before, Leesha had called to say she’d finally found where they’d hidden the Dragonheart, along with the rest of the things stolen frohyll She’d wanted hih to fall for that She’d tried to make a deal over the phone, but Warren demanded that she e point, he could see if she brought anyone with her

Traders He snorted They always thought they were in a position to negotiate

If she was telling the truth, things ht work out after all It had been stupid bad luck that Jason got away before Warren had a chance to interrogate hiet the infors were back on track Once he had the Dragonheart, he’d have no need of D’Orsay With the covenant and the Dragonheart, wizards would flow to his banner He’din back alleys, watching for death over his shoulder

If Leesha showed, she’d bring the goods Otherwise, she wouldn’t dare leave the sanctuary She’d want the collar removed As if that would ever happen Hunted as he was, he needed so Slave Leesha He wasn’t ready to give her up

So on the street below Warren focused, feeling the proxi, careful of the broken glass on either side

It was Leesha She passed under a , her shadow stretching out in front of her, a backpack slung over her shoulder He looked up and down the street She seeht about it, a teenage girl walking alone in this neighborhood at 2 aet was in for a surprise

She reached the warehouse and turned aside, passing under hih theand descended the fire escape into an alley Once again, he looked up and down the street, alert for betrayal There was nobody

As he entered through the side door, Leesha was spinning around, fla hi his shields up, then realized he was not the target Blueblood Leesha was frying rats

"Hey! Be careful with that You’ll burn the place down"

She swung toward him "As if that would be a loss I can’t believe you asked me to meet you in this duht

"Funny," he said "People keep trying to kill me This place seemed safer than my apartment"

"Really? Darn Well, I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to in case so it on top of a barrel like it was onheart And some other stuff Only--be careful It’s really powerful and hard to handle They’ve been having trouble controlling it, I guess"

"Where’d you find it?"

"They had it hidden under McCauley’s porch"

"How’d you find out it was there?"

"I bribed someone"

"Good work, Leesha I’m proud of you"

She shifted fro What happened with J…with Haley? Did you…did you find hi one problem off his list Haley is history Never called Never wrote Never ca him out He must be dead after all

"Yeah, I did find hi "Why do you ask?"

Leesha bit her lip "Just…wondered, is all," she whispered

Don’t tell ht That would be inconvenient

But she pulled herself together and checked her watch "Look," she said coldly "You asked for the Dragonheart and I delivered Now take this thing off and I’er into her neckline and lifted her chin, exposing the glittering torc

Warren laid his hand on the bag "You expect onheart’s in the velvet bag on top I’d rather you not mess with it until after I leave In case you set it off"