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"We’re going through the computer, day planner, and phone book to see e can find out" She slid into the passenger seat ofone foot out of the house until

"Be careful Don’t jinx us" As aved to the others and pulled out of the parking lot, Ca

She flipped it open "Hello?" A second later she mouthed Vanzir to me and continued to listen After a moment, she sucked in a deep breath "Are you sure?…When did he call?…And he’s positive?…Does he want to see us tonight? No? Tomorrow? Okay, we’re on our way ho hell, to paraphrase Menolly"

I glanced at her quickly, then pulledon? Please tell me we don’t have another explosion or fire to attend?"

"I wish This is far worse" She slaainst the dashboard

"Hey, watch it Snowdrop doesn’t like rough treatment"

"Snowdrop? You named your Jeep Snowdrop?" She stared at me with an incredulous look but then shook her head "Doesn’t ot a new de, but ere speeding along the freeway at sixtymy hands off the wheel wasn’t the best idea "Okay, fill me in I don’t want to wait"

"Vanzir will do that at home All I know is his name is Gulakah and he’s known as the Lord of Ghosts And he’s just arrived in Seattle"

I swerved over to the side of the road and parked, flipping on the hazard lights We weren’t supposed to unless ere in a fender bender or had a flat tire, but I didn’t give a daht now If a cop wanted to ticket me, so be it I openedwet, but tonight I just needed a cold shock to the face

"Can’t we catch a break? Can’t we deal with just one monster of a problelasses aren’t any way in which to see the world I’ve learned to be tough I’ve learned to accept my destiny But dauys?"

I wanted to cry, but as I sat there, Camille’s hand on my shoulder, I realized that--for now--there was nobody else We had allies When Shadow Wing broke through, if he did, the dragons would come to help us And Queen Asteria would send help And the Triple Threat weretheir own army But for now, for the skirmishes in between, those were just for us Because we’d landed--either for destiny or chance--on the front lines of this war And ere here to take care of the vanguard

Cah "You knohen Hyto kidnappedhis sorry butt Delilah, we fought a dragon and won An old, crafty, powerful dragon And we’ve killed off three deenerals so far Noe face another So what? We’ll kick his ass back to the Sub-Realht And in And even e falter, we still co ht"

"Dah all this crap, eat ourselves sick on Cheetos, and find out what Vanzir has to say about this new freak"

"Sounds good" And with that, I eased back onto the road, and we headed hoh the doors, everybody was already in a flurry Vanzir had the household laptop out and open Since I used eneral one for the house so everybody didn’t have to keep borrowingwhile Morio--still in his coat--atching over his shoulder

As we trailed in, Hanna took our coats and bags and pressed s of hot soup into our hands We settled wearily at the kitchen table, where a tray of sandwiches waited I grabbed one and bit into it, too tired to even notice what it was until an explosion of beef and cheese hitwith some spicy spread I couldn’t identify But it woke my taste buds up, for sure

"Okay, let’s hear it What or who the fuck is Gulakah?" I had no energy to stand on niceties"

Vanzir pushed back the computer "Carter doesn’t have a lot of information on hiot over here, but there’s no question that he’s in Shadow Wing’s pocket This isn’t another case like Stacia, where the servant is trying to outwit theto ask us to play in his sandbox" I tapped ain with us She had been out to take over Shadow Wing’s position and had tried to win us over to helping her The ene about ghosts?"

Vanzir nodded and pointed toward the e-mail that Carter had sent after his call "Gulakah is known as the Lord of Ghosts He was originally a god in the Netherworld, where he abused his power over the innocent dead whose souls have not been laid to rest His brother, Shekah, cast him out to the Subterranean Realms and took his place He cursed Gulakah to preside over the angry ghosts who exist between the worlds--those who choose not to move on because they’re so furious The curse is to last ten thousand years, and then Gulakah will face a jury of gods to see if he’s fit for reinstateodlike status, prowling around Seattle How long has he been over here?" I was thinking about the spate of ghostly activity that had been going on the past few hosts had almost killed Morio

"Carter says he doesn’t knohen Gulakah got here, but it can’t have been ether I’ve looked up everything I can find on this demon, but the ators who’ve turned up the na concrete" He circled a note on the steno pad "I’ve got an idea, but you aren’t going to like it"

"Tell us Right noe have to entertain every possibility" Things were getting worse and worse, and we couldn’t afford to lose any le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>