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She sed and he saw the hard movement of her throat His hands clenched when she said, "I knoon’t Why do you think I’ve been running?"

"Erin--"

The door to Catalina’s swung open with a soft swoosh Zane’s head appeared and his brows lifted "Jude, you ready to--"

Footsteps The slam of a car door

Jude shen he saw his ADA drive away Running away "Not finished, Erin"

Not by one hell of a long shot

By the ti and the ball in the pit of her throat, that weird tangle of fear and fury, had finally dislodged

Erin h the rest of the day in a se at the other lawyers No flash of claws or teeth

But Jude’s words kept echoing in her head

And they twisted with her o "Kill or be killed, that’s the only e know"

Her

She hadn’t wanted to be like herher no choice

Hell, yes, she knew the prisons couldn’t hold some paranormals She knew that But the only other option--

Death

She’d never taken a life before

The bastard renching her choices away Because she knew--she kneanted her to kill

So she’d be just like him

Dammit, no

Erin went to court at the end of the day A last-ht She hadn’t been scheduled for a court appearance, but the cops needed her help, so she had to go Erin needed a warrant to search a suspected drug dealer’s house on Grant Avenue, and the cops waiting in the wings didn’t have any et in that house before ned, the cops were ready, and Erin was so darowling She headed across the er to--

A rich, musky scent teased her nostrils

Erin froze

Pine trees Sweat Animal

Oh, hell

Her heart slae briefcase crashed into her back He grunted an apology and stulance

She closed her eyes for a h to smell

The whiff of his scent was deliberate She knew it She’d learned that lesson the hard way He could control his scent, disguise it The bastard had told her about his little secret technique that fateful night He’d bragged about it

But now, he was baiting her with his s

Her hands curled and her claws dug into her palms Her eyes opened and her head turned to the left There The door ht red letters The stairwell

Erin was at the door before she had ti She shoved it open, sucking in a hard breath, then she cli metal echoed with every move sheand the hair on her nape rising

Tired of running Tired of the blood

The killings had to stop

The stairs ended at another door Big and thick Erin knew the parking garage was on the other side of that door She’dbefore her first court date Since she’d attracted the freak, learning all the exits in the buildings she frequented had becouy’s scent hung in the stairwell He’d been there, recently, and he could be waiting for her now, just on the other side of that door

Her fingers lifted Touched the cold h to take him?

Not if he shifted No way she could handle him then, but if he was in human form, well, his ass was hers Nice little side benefit from her mother’s side of the fa I was

Erin exhaled Run or fight? Her choice was si

Her cell phone vibrated in her purse, the shaking followed irabbed the phone, yanking it out Jude She recognized his number now She pressed the receive button on the screen and lifted the phone to her ear "He’s here" A whisper

Static crackled in her ear Stairwells were bad for cell phones, she knew that but--"Jude, the asshole is here" Waiting for her on the other side of that door

"What?" A bark "Where are you?"

"Courthouse" She shouldn’t have been there Another lawyer had been assigned to this case but he’d wanted to wait untilfor the court order and the cops had needed soe" A quick breath "I can smell hiive hiet close to hi NoShit, I’m on my way"

"Then hurry," she whispered, and ended the call Hurry because I’ain

He was too close She couldn’t just stand there and let hiet away She couldn’t let him escape and attack someone else, for her

Lee’s bloody face flashed before her eyes The guy was in ICU, hooked to a dozen tubes and needles Because of her stalker?

No one else could get hurt She couldn’t stand by and let another person face the shifter’s fury

The sick bastard needed to be stopped, and she’d do her daht hied

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

When Jude’s pickup screeched to a stop in the dis barred, and he was ready to kick ass

And he was scared--dammit, scared When the hell was the last tiht Better be completely safe Completely unharmed ’Cause if she had so

He shoved open his door, ju area His nostrils twitched as he caught the other shifter’s scent He’d stalked her, tracked Erin here

"He’s gone" Erin’s voice Quiet Steady

Jude whirled around and found her standing in front of an open door, a stairwell