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And its focal point was Harris

He didn’t say anything, his gaze on the helicopter It was close to the ground now, its blades stirring huge clouds of dust,the invisible visible Our va like Landsbury had stated As a vaht ar Thatinto the copter with the force of a storm

But it was a very precise stor about like a leaf but rather slapped down sideways The rotor blades chopped into the soil, throwing huge chunks of dirt and grass into the air as it cru away into the night, and sparks rose like eager fireflies The va about to see what had happened He simply turned and ran in a completely different direction

"Grab the pilot," I said to Harris "I’ll go after the vahts he should have Maybe he realized that I wasn’t going to be deterred, no matter what he said Or iven his unexpected talent of kinesis, who knehat other little goodies he kept up his sleeve?

I swerved to the right, kicking up dust as I ran after the va, but I knew from experience there wasn’t much out here in the way of shelter All I really had to do was keep hiht and let hi hiet the anse needed

So I reached for all the speed I had and flew across the sands It was al low over the red soil

Poept through ull, in fact

A weird hit, and relief because not all my skills had been placed beyond my reach

He didn’t know about the alternate shape, that inner voice whispered He couldn’t prevent what he didn’t know

Which still lefthow the hell anyone could prevent a shifter froaining height Maybe if the vaiven up he’d slon - and make it easier for me to drop down on top of him

But it soon becah above, I could see lights beginning to twinkle in the distance It looked like sos What were the odds that at least one of those buildings had a vaht not have been chasing hi or very far, but I’d already run out of ti out ot closer, I shifted shape,back to human for up

I rolled in the air and hit hi half on top of hi forward, fighting to keep my balance Behind er

I swung around and saw the va, then he pushed to his hands and knees I didn’t give hiive him the chance to see me I just twisted around and lashed out with my foot My heel smashed into the side of his face and the force of the blow knocked hiain to rise, but this ti him with all the force I could round

I pushed off his back then hauled hiht be out cold, but I was not about to bet that he’d stay that way I tore the sleeve offopen his ainst a bite He wouldn’t be happy once he woke, but right then, I couldn’t care less

With that done, I hauled hirain over my back If he happened to wake up, he’d be in pain

Part of ht’s victiht have deserved the death they’d received, but that didn’t make their killer worthy of fair treatment

Harsh, one part of me whispered

At least he’s not dead, another retorted

All of which aps in my memory was a desire not to remember exactly what I’d been or done in the past

I turned around and trudged back toward Harris and the shattered helicopter It ht not have been far, but by the time I arrived, I was hot, sweaty, and tired The vaht

Surprisingly, there was no one else there yet Harris obviously hadn’t called in help The helicopter rested on its side like sootten child’s toy and the pilot lay beside it, trussed securely ire that had obviously been ripped out of the copter He was bloody and bruised, and looked rather the worse for wear He was also unconscious

Harris was leaning into the fallen helicopter, pulling out bits of papers and scanning the around as I approached Relief touched his features as he dropped the paperwork and walked across tohi shoulder, watching Harris duround beside the pilot

"How come you haven’t called for assistance?" I asked

"Because," he said, swinging around to facehis phone And if you’re right about there being a plot surrounding you, then I don’t think it’s wise to let toodown a va with you, and the vaht hi to keep my presence a secret"

"Did the vamp actually see you?"

I frowned "No Why?"

"Because you were shadoe were racing up here Benny wouldn’t have seen you, and he wasn’t close enough to scent you So if the vamp never actually saw you clearly, then we don’t have a proble Obviously, whatever had been done to my mind had somehoitched my "other" skills fro around to see as chasing hiht him down"

"Good," Harris said "Then leave, andway if you have to I’ll take care of these two"

"Will the cells at the station be strong enough to hold the vah to hold olves They’ll hold a vamp"

I wasn’t so sure, and maybe my expression said as much because Harris added, "But we have several pairs of titaniuer, just to be sure"

I nodded "The Directorate ant to interview him"