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I avoided another blow, then drew back h to truly hurt her, but enough to knock her out

When her body went limp, I blew out a breath and studied the shadows out of which she’d come A small trapdoor led down into deeper darkness-and it was here that the aro froet up to any rabbed a shirt fro basket and tore it into thick strips-lots and lots of strips that would be hard to tear as a whole-using those to tie both her hands and feet Then I stepped over her trussed body and ducked through the trapdoor, walking cautiously down the short flight of stairs

It was a s lined one wall, stacked with dusty wine bottles, many of which looked older than me In the middle of the roolasses and a tub of old corks In the far corner was a bed, and on this lay the zombie

I walked across He was dressed, his clothes freshly ironed and s a whole lot cleaner than he did His skin had a waxy, marblelike appearance, and his veins were so close to the surface I could trace theertips Not that I actually wanted to

I stepped closer and studied his hands There were ertips were black, and the rot was spreading down his reested to anyone paying attention that things were not what they seemed when it came to this wolf

That and his eyes There was no life in the filence Just a blank e

I hesitated, then carefully reached out telepathically Nothing but e my phone out of my pocket to call the Directorate "Sal?" I said when her face caet soht be able to trace back the ive hi I’d have to do if I took care of him And I didn’t think his parents would appreciate that "Roughly how long will it be before soets here?"

"Give us half an hour"

"Thanks, Sal"

She hung up I shoved my phone away and looked around as noise vibrated abovehell," Habbsheen shouted "What have you done toto raise my voice He’d hear me no matter where he was in the house "She’s h technically, I should arrest her ass for trying to kill a guardian"

And if I wanted to get really technical, I could have just killed her She was interfering in Directorate business-had actually tried to bash iven she wasn’t huive her the saot Sad, but true But Jack preferred an arrest over a kill in these sorts of situations, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to argue

Although there were some in the Directorate who did

Habbsheen’s face appeared in the hatchway, and a second later he was hustled down the stairs by Kye Who, although a bit ruone for a quiet stroll rather than having gone several rounds with a wolf determined to protect his own at whatever cost

"So you found hin of the effort it aze went fro deep inside trembled at the intensity so obvious in those a frohts orflesh surviving on ic and other people’s blood"

"That’s not true-" Habbensheen began, then stopped as Kye shook hiht ht have left some sort of telepathic link hich you could trace her," Kye said "She has to have some sort of link, after all, to control his actions"

"True, but if she’s not currently connected to him I can’t trace her" She wasn’t connected at theto delve deeper into the lanced at Habbsheen "When did you realize your son had been pulled froht, when he walked in the door" He hesitated, looking at the body on the bed "He was naked, and confused, and he didn’t really say anything"

Meaning the witch had made him duotten here "I would have thought a son teeks buried would have caused a serious amount of panic"

Or did the witch know these people well enough to be sure that the mother would never turn away the son, supposedly dead or not?

He hesitated "My as too happy to see hio He’s our only child you see" His gazeto take hi that, deep down, she probably knew the truth "Mr Habbsheen, you surely must be able to sertips and toes"

He didn’t say anything Ultio, Kye"

Kye raised an eyebrow, but did as I asked Habbsheen slumped down on a nearby chair and rubbed his hands across his eyes "It’s going to kill her to lose hiue to say there was no "again" about it, because the thing laying on the bed wasn’t their son, but as the point? "Did your son make any new contacts in the days before his death? Were there any proble?"

Habbsheen shook his head "Nothing Rob was an easy going kid, well liked by everyone"

"And there were no strangers at his funeral? Someone who seemed out of place?"

He hesitated "I didn’t know a lot of his friends and work colleagues, and many of them were there"

"Where did he work?"

"Coles He was a shelf stocker"

"I veryshelves," Kye said, aaze with a smile "Probably not But it still s, or if she has a pattern" I hesitated, and glanced at Habbsheen "Where was he buried?"

"Fawkner"

The other zoh I wasn’t sure it was Fawkner Maybe there was no pattern except that they were fresh burials Maybe the witch was siave her the best options "And there was a notice in the paper?"

He nodded "If what you’re saying is true" He paused, glancing at his son’s re heavily "Who would do this to us? Why chose our son? He didn’t do anything to anyone We didn’t do anything to anyone"

"Whoever is raising these people doesn’t see so" At least, not one that he’d like to hear It was bad enough having a son raised fro that he’d been raised solely to murder other people would be an absolute kicker

"Then Rob’s not the first zombie? you’ve found?"