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Andrea felt sick "Blood?"

Dylan was pale and drawn, his fear for Glory coh to show Sean what happened"

"Where exactly are we going?"

"Here" Dylan jerked the truck into a parking lot

Andrea saw the familiar bulk of Sean’s lanced at it, and then tires screeched as he rode the breaks to avoid hitting the body of arubber filled the air

Andrea was out of the truck and racing to the ine She dropped to her knees and pushed blood-matted hair out of the face of Jared Barnett

"Jared What the hell?"

Jared’s flesh bore the deep marks of the fully extended, razor-sharp talons of a Feline Shifter The cuts went to the bone, Jared’s naked skin blue white where it wasn’t covered with blood He was still alive, barely, his heart fluttering in faint, rapid beats

Jared opened his eyes, but they were filaze unfocussed "Andrea?"

"What happened? Did you see Sean? Did he do this?"

Jared sed, fighting for air "Felines Sean tried to save me"

"Sean tried to save you? Where is he? What happened?"

"Gone He was taken The sword"

Dylan crouched on Jared’s other side "What about the sword?" he demanded

"The sword," Jared whispered His eyes drifted shut, but breath still rasped in his throat

Andrea cast her gaze around the parking lot Much blood had been spilled, red soaking into the cruray asphalt She smelled more Shifters than just Sean and Jared Felines, several of the lot ended in a field covered eeds and tall grasses A creek cut through the botto the place stayed nice and wet The field had been torn up by the fighting, leaving gouges of h the tall weeds, but no bodies lay here

Neither did the sword Nowhere did she see a glint of sliver, the hue of the field, she started to hear it The fa sound that the swordlouder and louder until Andrea clapped her hands over her ears An instinctive lance back at Dylan and Jared told her they couldn’t hear it