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"How can you joke about so like this?" He motioned toward the body with a hand that appeared to be shaking "Someone cut this ood reason" It was absently said There was so I couldn’t quite catch or explain

"And there’d better be a da here" The voice was deep and authoritative, and not one that I knew "Especially when Cathie’s already warned you to stay away from the crime scene"

"Tell ht we’d better check, just in case there was someone here who needed aze seeht of his annoyance "Isn’t she the sister that went ot back I asked Cathie to let you know"

"Well, she didn’t" He stepped up besideme with his scent - warm spices and musky wolf

"You really need to step away"

"And you really need to know that there’s solanced at him then He was several inches taller than me, with dark hair and well-defined, handsome features His shoulders were broad, his body lithe - the build of an athlete, not a bodybuilder Soaze jerked up to his face, searching for a reason for the tug of falasses, so I couldn’t see if his eyes were as dark as his hair But part of me wanted them to be - expected them to be

Except that he was a olf

That bit didn’t fit hat I was expecting

I tore aze away fro else here An odd sort of energy"

It was thick and strong, and it felt like fingers of ice caressing th

It was also so I’d felt before, back in the times I couldn’t rean to stab at my brain - a pain that was scarily similar to the pain that occurred when I’d tried to shift shape

So when I’d hit whatever it was I’d hit

"I can’t feel - "

I grabbed Harris’s arertips, but he didn’t pull away I pointed with my other hand "There"

"What?" His voice was patient, as if he were dealing with a crazy person And who knew, maybe he was

Except that I could see it A faint wisp of white hovering just above the victim’s head

"A soul"

"A soul? Lady - "

"Damn it, it’s there Just because you can’t see it doesn’t ht Evin, I think you’d better - "

"Sorry, Hanna," Evin said, and before I could react, so hit me over the head and the world went black

I woke to darkness I lay there for several seconds, staring upward but not really registering that there was a ceiling above me rather than sky and stars

Then ht Only to wince in pain as my head protested theon the side of my head Evin The bastard didn’t have to hit s off the bed A dozen different aches awoke, andObviously, the olf quick-healing thing wasn’t working too well onEvin’s shirt, and his scent hung on the air How could e? It eird, and I really didn’t think it had anything to do with the lack ofthat was happening went far deeper than a lack of ure out the what and ithout raising anyone’s suspicions in the process I don’t knohy, but I had a bad feeling that would not be a good idea just yet

There were voices in one of the rooms beyond mine, and it took me several minutes to realize it was probably the TV I couldn’t hear Evinabout, but I could smell coffee, andto eat or drink in a while

I scrubbed a hand across rimy and achy, and I desperately needed a shower, food, and coffee Buton

And first on that list was re me

I rose and walked across to thetable My reflection was thin and sunburned My face was pleasant enough, and there was a sense of fah why this surprised me, I’m not entirely sure I es?

My hair was the saold as Evin’s and cut into a short, elfin style That felt different I touched it lightly, feeling oddly bereft It should have been longer Had been longer

There were fading bruises and cuts over my cheeks and above my eyes, and one earlobe looked as if soh, that apparently didn’t prevent s with a blue stone in the center, and really ugly I tried to take thes seeed

I frowned and undid the shirt instead The bruises over unshot wound looked puckered and red It wasn’t infected, but it had been If I’d been able to change before the accident with the roo, why hadn’t that healed? Surely I would have taken steps to heal my own flesh?

But then, if I’d been depressed, , not bad

I stepped back, then caught sight of the wallet sitting on the bedside table I opened it up and dragged out the driver’s license tucked into the one of the side pockets The picture was crappy - as they alere - but the face on the license matched the face in the mirror And the name listed was Hanna London I ho Evin said I was

Even if I didn’t feel like a Hanna

I shoved the wallet back onto the dresser and headed out the door to find Evin

It turned out the villa apart There was a second bedroo bathroo space co area, and a TV

area The furnishings were a basic, durable pine, and the curtains and cushions consisted of an alarish blue and yelloer print There wasn’t uess you didn’t need thelass, and the vista beyond was all white sand and blue ocean Even at night, it was a sight to behold