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"He’s a pickpocket Hospitals are great places to work, because no one expects it"

That’s because most people expected a certain level of respect in hospitals But then, a street kid living just above the starvation line isn’t exactly going to be respectful of anything but his own skin

"I’ll see what I can do, but you’ll oweup, then threw the phone down on the passenger seat and started the car It didn’t take that long to get to the hospital, but with the extended visiting hours the hospital had, parking was a bitch I didn’t even bother looking, just stopped in a no-parking zone and slapped the Directorate official vehicle sticker onto the dash I grabbed un from under the seat, then clied toward the hospital, keeping alert and usingthat seemed remotely out of place

People e wo if I should ate there, or stick to the hospital After a lass doors If I were a thief, I’d rather go to so to be that noticeable-and that wasn’t in a parking lot

The doors swished open, and the scents of antiseptic, sickness, sorrow, and death washed overodor of hu I hated hospitals at the best of tiht up there alking into a cemetery For a start, both places were filled with far too hosts

I paused just to the left of the entrance, studying the foyer and wondering where the hell was the best place to find a thief

The aroed my attention, and I headed that way Lots of people tended to get careless in cafeterias So their purses over the side of the chairs, others shoved their wallets casually in a side pocket while carrying trays of food Either one was easy pickings for an experienced thief

And Joe was obviously that

Most of the tables in the cafeteria were e counter currently occupied The kitchen itself see ofeasily with the murmur of conversation

I walked farther into the roo, and caught a trace of Joe’s scent My heart rate quickened, the ithin eager for the chase I followed h the cafeteria and out into a wide hall There weretoward the exit Joe’s scent was fainter, getting lost in the h the doors and back out onto the street Joe’s scent headed off to the left I followed, hoping like hell he hadn’t jumped onto a traot stronger rather than weaker, but twined within it was another Only it wasn’t a feminine scent, but rather one that was all too faht have risked talking to Mike, but she was canny enough to realize she’d never keep up with a fleet-footed street kid Not when she was in a wheelchair, anyway And in her crow form, she’d hardly be a threat

But why send a zombie when she had the hellhounds at her disposal?

And what had Joe seen that warranted such an action in the first place?

The scent swung left, into a side street I was running now,night Ato lose his pursuer in theleft again, heading back up toward the hospital, then sharpened abruptly I slowed and dugeather worn and rusted, its s cracked and roofline sagging Obviously not a warehouse currently in use-and the scents of age andfrom it seemed to confirertips Wind rushed pastthe floor I stepped inside and flicked to infrared Two blurs of heat becahter of the two half hidden by so ever so slowly toward it Joe obviously didn’t realize the zo as quickly as the maze of corridors and the rubbish would allow Ahead, the dark red blur that was the zo out of time

A door stood between ave way, tearing away frohter blur that was Joe jumped The zoht, and nothing was going to stop it achieve its goal

I raised the laser, the weapon huer At that moment, a crow squawked and the zombie instantly threw itself forward As Joe yelped and scraave the darkness a red edge as it cut through thebehind and sliced the zombie in half As its body flopped to the floor in separate pieces, I raised the laser and fired a shot toward the ceiling and the shifter I couldn’t see or feel

The bright bea dust and rust flying A second later, wings rustled and air stirred

The bitch was taking off

I shoved the laser into ull shape "Joe," I shouted, as the h across my torso and downthrough the hole in the rusted roof and out into the starry sky Luckily, a seagull’s eyesight was keener than a huht, and I spotted s, I flew after her The night was bright, filled with lights and bugs that teased the hungers of the gull even as the rest ofblack bird ahead, flying faster than I’d ever flown inlessons were paying off, even if I’d once despaired of ever enjoying the freedo a little le’s talons would have been handy right now, because short of dropping down on top of her, I wasn’t sure hoas going to force the sorceress to ground

I was only several yards behind her when she suddenly looked around and spottedher I have no idea-shifters could sense other shifters, but that shouldn’t instantly tell her I was pursuing her

With a harsh squawk, she twisted her wings and dove doard, the air als and followed, seeing sand and surf and a crowded foreshore below us St Kilda, I thought, and wondered if she was going to try and losethe myriad of backstreets and trees

She didn’t sweep toward the streets as I’d half expected, but rather toward the beach A second later I realized why A flock of seagulls erupted fro crow It was all I could do to check my speed and not hit any of them, and as blinds went, it was pretty daone

I swore underout as little more than a harsh squawk, then headed back to the warehouse I landed outside theinside

"Sal," I said when she answered "I need a safe house for a street kid Nothing fancy, because hevaluable"

"Then why the hell are we bothering to protect him?"

"That’s what I like about you, Sal You’re such a sweetheart" Although she probably would have been, if it had been a dog I’d been wanting to protect

She snorted softly "And you are a bitch I’ll send an address to your onboard You going to be there to lanced at my watch I was already ten et the kid to the safe house "And I’ll need a i team at etting the kid, but the witch ic"

"Half a zoic involved, I’ and her teah the warehouse Joe was still hiding in the shadows of the large bin that see an oily liquid everywhere The zombie lay near his feet, lifeless but maybe not entirely dead We wouldn’t know for sure until the ot here to take care of him

Joe rose as I approached, and his relief was evident

"You got her?" he asked, wiping oil-stained hands across his already grubby jeans

"No, she escaped" I stopped and crossedyou?"