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Aoff the street, as I looked around, confused for a , and the raindrops pounded against the city paveli with each new drop that shattered the surface

As I looked around, getting s, I realized that this wasn’t exactly a dream--I was out on the astral, in spirit, and I kneho had summoned me

"Greta? Are you here?" I called out the name of my trainer--the leader of the Death Maidens

After a molided over to ht Her forehead bore the sahtly with a flame in the center, and her arms were tattooed like mine, only more intricate and vibrant Mine would sonize nature But let us travel I have a job for you tonight, and it will not be easy" She turned toor not, when you formally take part in ceremonies, you’ll have to wear the unifore clothes on the astral, but she held out her hand and a long garment appeared, draped over her foreare your clothes on the astral It’s a sihts You’re naked in your bed right now, aren’t you?" She slanced down She had a good point Soed to dress myself when pulled out by her call, so I should be able to change clothes I accepted the robe and held it up I could just put it on, but I wanted to learn her trick

"What do I do if I want to ?"

"Focus on your body and ‘see’ it in a different outfit Close your eyes and feel the i" She sic--especially since you don’t work ic--but as a mental shift A perceptual transformation Think of it like when you shift into ani the heavy robe inthere, I mentally shifted the robe out ofhappened I tried again, this ti ontoFinally, irritated, I silently ordered the robe to get the hell on my back And this time, the ht of it hanging frothe robe Greta handed e for a e to play with it Somehow, I didn’t think she’d be as lenient as

I wrapped it around ht "Okay, I think I have that down What’s on the agenda tonight?"

For the past fewunder the new moon with Greta, but we’d just passed the newthis was a special situation I’d learned a lot in the training sessions we’d had so far, but so lesson on the horizon

"Tonight will not be easy for you Co to be asked to put into action all that you’ve learned" She looked at me, her face impassive Greta was petite, far shorter than I, and yet she carried herself with a power and grace that I could only iaze, I realized what she ht, I would take uide someone out of the physical "You wantit that Their destiny is set, but you will help with the transition This is a great responsibility You have learned to control yourself when you are in panther for down opponents with your Death Maiden poithout perly use theh the streets, faster than I could ever hope to move when not on the astral, as the steady rain poured around us At our speed, the drops turned into bullets, sleeting against the ground as they puht, dark shadows, harbingers of death

The world fell away and we passed out of the city proper, toward the Sound It was so dark, I wasn’t sure just where ere, but the neighborhood looked fae park and an to flutter I knew several Weres who lived in this area, and I really didn’t want to think about what Iinto Katrina, and Siobhan, they both lived up in this direction

Please, I whispered toone of the one of ood friends across the veil I didn’t want my face to be the last they saw

But we turned before we reached the street leading to Katrina’s, and ere still well out of distance of Siobhan’s house I sucked in a deep breath--even though out here on the astral I didn’t need to breathe--and watched as Greta sped ahead toward a little house on a corner lot The lot was surrounded by a chain-link fence A chaise lounge and sh Greta stopped by the gate and turned to nize this place?" She waited forit in I didn’t re here After a moment I shookfamiliar about it"

"That’s because you know the owner and you can feel his energy even out here And here, on the astral, this house--this yard, all have his signature embedded into what you see" She h the gate and headed toward the house The nexta late-night science fiction movie And then I knew

"Wylie" I sed, hard Wylie’s mother had a sense of humor when she named him She was a coyote shifter And so was Wylie He had beco, lean, and a little rough around the edges, he’d still thrown hi else we ht need He was a loner As far as I knew he didn’t have a girlfriend, but he never had a harsh word for anybody, at least that I had seen

"Is it really his ti, as far as Weres went

Greta turned to me "There is much more," she said softly, her eyes dark as the ocean "You need to take his soul through yours This one, you cannot just consign to the afterlife He’s not headed for an easy end, Delilah"

I started "What? You want ht ods when they couldn’t, for one reason or another Others, we helped transition to the afterlife because they deserved it And still others, we condemned and sent to oblivion All of this, we did when the Autumn Lord sent down orders

"Wylie S too s of Fate have decreed that his soul be sent to the cleansing fires" She stood back, crossing her ars you need to know Grandmother Coyote spoke with the Autumn Lord, and he has ordered it be done"

Grand I stared at her, nervously tugging atto die?"

"He has a weak heart As he watches his in to falter, then seize He is due for cardiac arrest and will not have ti to collect his soul as he dies You will exan his soul to the abyss" Her words came out, a neutral flow of inforle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>