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I crept toward the door, keeping as quiet as I could No need for everyone to wake up and investigate the odd whisper Bones stirred, but his eyes remained closed My mother was dead to the world, Tyler's snores continued uninterrupted, and Ian didn't even twitch I couldn't help shaking my head as I looked at hi-well, a baby who continually kept one hand down his pants Guess his h to cost hi not to wake the others, I opened the front door Toover the far side of the ruined porch instead of Fabian or Elisabeth He let go of one of the loose boards when he saw esture

Oh, sure, I'll coht Did he think slaave hie, deciding to go a few feet away froive everyone else a few more moments of sleep If Kra boards at the house soon enough

The Inquisitor didn't respond toor speaking while I walked over withouta sound on the rickety reh I ventured away froes

"Fancy seeing you again," I said, keeping aze raked me from head to toe, but not in the sleazy way he'd done on other occasions This ti up his opponent and finding her lacking

"Do you truly believe that you, a ender insult, this was the htful and his voice was as quiet as e departure from his normal, trumpeted witches-will-burn rants I could respond to his question by listing all the other arrogant bastards I'd taken down over the years Or by pointing out that I'd already defeated his plans for Francine, Sarah, and Lisa by putting them out of his reach for now, but I preferred to re bad monster I'm harmless

"Talk is less We'll knoho's defeated hen it's all over, and there's only one of us left standing," I replied

Fro sound, someone in the house had woken up and was headed toward the door Before he got there, I kneas Bones froht sleep Kramer didn't seeh you are a wohost said, still in that sa way "You pushed the car aside as if it had no effect"

Actually, it had hurt like hell Under other circus like "O!" while I waited to heal, but I didn't have the luxury at the time

"You're not the first person who's tried to killas if either ti deal I could feel that Bones was in the doorway, but he didn't cohost in the shadows of the doorfra "I kneould not kill you"

Interesting Now that he nite the fuel tank while I was briefly trapped under it Didn't it occur to hi the car wouldn't kill s of ainstead of your usual blustering?" I asked, changing the subject "You lonely because Francine, Lisa, and Sarah are out of your reach, so you have no one to talk to?"

Please get pissed and tell ed him Go on, impress me with how much tiave me another of those contemplative looks instead "Why do you risk soto you"

"No, they're nothing to you," I corrected at once, "but theyto me because they're in trouble and I can help If I only put my ass on the line for people I loved, I'd be no better than half the monsters I've hunted Even evil people risk themselves for loved ones Just because you picked wo to sit on the sidelines and let the those brownish ums I couldn't help but think it was poetic justice that he would keep that nasty h eternity, hopefully while locked in a homemade jail

"You still believe you can stop me, Hexe, but you can't You don't fear me, but soon, you will"

"No, I won't," I replied sharply "You won't draw any strength froht be harder to kill with your whole lack of a physical body, but you're no scarier than all the other assles that are now dead while I'"

"Until Saht

I stared at the spot where he'd been, a s on, fker

Chapter Thirty-Two

On October 30, as soon as night's concealing veil fell, Ian, Bones, and I fleay froe, tarp-draped object Myfor Spade's tomorrow afternoon via a more conventional mode of transportation: a taxicab That way, in case my borrowed abilities had faded to where Kra alone, he could follow thee with thehost didto be sly and staying unseen After all, they weren't the targets he'd so carefully picked out Francine, Lisa, and Sarah were the ones Kramer really wanted, and anted to be sure he found his way to the in place, anyway

That e didn't fly our large bundles right to Spade's We went to a defunct building that had formerly been a combined sewer overflow facility in Ottu, a series of storm drains, tunnels, and sewers led to the Des Moines River It wasn't as perfect a setting as our cave with its underground river-and it sh it hadn't been operational in years-but it would suffice Bones had had his co-ruler, Mencheres, purchase the building and its surrounding riverside property over the past couple weeks using a du this down to put a new business up and disturbing e hoped would be Heinrich Kra place Noe just had to carve a hole in the underground trunk sewer deep enough to reach the river's water table so that we could ensure the flow of fresh water around where we intended to place the trap