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I handed the phone over to Fraale "Give her the address, please"

"It’s 23585 Forsythia Sray house set back a little ways Be careful about the yard--it’s booby-trapped--so stick to the ay" She handed the phone back to lanced out theat the sidefollowed, but that didn’t count for shit There were too ot it," Ca him with us We need every hand on deck for this one, and he’ll just have to take his chances that Karvanak won’t catch him Not the best idea but I’m also" Here, she dropped her voice and I knew she didn’t want to be overheard "I’ht--kill hiht as it passed by The ht seeraveside "Yeah, that’s probably best," I said after a ain, Cah "Oh my Kitten, we could walk up a stairway to the stars and never find norhtmare And you knohat? That’s okay, because our lives have er and violence, I think we should be proud to carry the burdens we do We’reourselves that Now, be careful, and we’ll be there as soon as we can"

As the phone went dead, I looked back out into the night As Menolly deftly swerved through the streets, driving us tohatever disaster next awaited, the clouds parted for a h to let ainst the velvet night At least soer, of hatred, of insanity, at least the stars were--for all intents and purposes--eternal

CHAPTER 26

Forsythia Street was tucked away in the Industrial District, cloistered fro so you’d never knoas there unless you were looking for it Before she turned right onto the street, Menolly flipped off the headlights and Cahostly and silent We glided slowly down the street before Menolly parked a few houses down from where Fraale indicated the house was

"I’d rather not park directly in front of the house," she said "Too etaway" Menolly climbed out of the driver’s seat and tucked the keys in her coat pocket, then zipped it shut "Let’s go We want to get in there and out before Karvanak arrives home"

Karvanak I shuddered The more I learned about the demon, the more my stomach turned when his name was mentioned Fraale’s last comment about the servant who pissed hie out of hts And yet, I was part cat--and I’d killed as a cat In hunger as well as from my basic nature But this--this was spite Pure spite Surely, whatever she’d done, Karvanak’s servant couldn’t have been that out of line

"What are we facing in there?" I asked "Any deles for sure Several of theot a few human warriors, too There are some servants, but most of them are runaways he’s picked up at the bus station and put to work or uses for his fun They’ll run the other way, hoping to escape"

She shivered, then slowly turned to face s over the years It goes with the job I’ve broken up families, broken men’s hearts, and shattered wo quite so bad as the horrors that have taken place behind those locked doors"

"You can’t help your nature, Fraale," Roz said "But nothing you’ve ever done remotely resembles the hellhole that Karvanak has carved out for his victims" His voice sounded wistful as he added, "Don’t ever coin to believe you’re as bad as he is"

Fraale gave him an icy stare "And just hoould you knohat I’ve been up to the past three hundred years? For all you know, I could be a raving lunatic who decided to play mass ods chose to destroy our lives, Rozurial And not once--not one tiht to askwith this You always ht as soon as you can"

Rozurial bared his teeth "Leave our life together where it belongs--in the past There’s no turning back Regrets will only poison what memories we shared I loved you ere married, and I loved you after that bitch Hera transfored And I hen Zeus did the same to me But you know, as well as I do, that it never would have worked--not e were beco I cried until all the tears ashed away and there was only a hollow void"

Fraale’s face twisted "And then you left me You left me alone"

"I had to To save you To save ainst the car "Surely you can see e had to move on And this conversation only proves e can’t be near each other Too er I couldn’t save you then, and I can’t save you now"

She stared at hiht for sure she’d pull out the love card and play it And how could he resist her tears and her heartbreak? But after a moment, she just shook her head and turned toward the house

"You’re right The gods won, and we lost," she said softly "Let’s get this over with, because the sooner we do, the sooner I can get the hell out of here And I’d like to leave knowing I don’t have to constantly look overup behind lanced at Menolly and, in a hostile tone, said, "It’s obvious how he feels about you, but watch your heart He’s an incubus He’ll never be able to love anyone again without hurting them in the end Incubi are born to fuck you, then walk out the door And so are my kind We’re all just users"

Menolly wisely held up her hands "Hey, color me Switzerland I’m not involved in this," she said softly "Whatever you think is going on between Roz and et in there and rescue Delilah’s boyfriend before he ends up as cube steak on Karvanak’s et a move on Karvanak’s bound to be on his way here"

"Should ait for Ca me on the shoulder

I shookto have to start this fight all by our lonesoet here I just wish I wasn’t wearing this crap It’s not going to provide a whole hell of a lot of protection" I tugged at the leg of ht, and three stories tall, looking altogether way too bird Lane But instead of the jaunty Her Karvanak

The house was, indeed, set back on the property, with a narroay of broken concrete leading to it Grass poked through cracks in the cele of dead foliage fro with new runners as the bra

"Where is he? What floor is Chase on?" As I stared at the place, it suddenly hit me full force