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"Oh, shut up"

A brilliant golden flanited in the e The ifrit was punishing Eduardo because we’d killed the bull

A voice rolled through the street, a voice charged with inhuainst my skin like static It raised every hair on the back of uilty will die Witness the betrayer spawn See his suffering"

George ran I jurab for her, but he wasn’t fast enough George dashed into the street, right into the fire It broke apart into a thousand sparks and transfore screae and pain, rolled into one horrible, soul-crushing sound She screa could put it back together

The snake lunged at her George grabbed it by its neck, heaved it upright, and slaainst the pave to wind around George and crush her The werebear planted one foot on the snake The muscles on her arht went out of the snake’s eyes, but George didn’t stop She rief on its body

We watched her rage, tears welling in her eyes, until she finally let it go, and then Curran and I led her back into the house off the street

Chapter 18

I OPENED MY eyes I lay in our bed, onfelt odd I puzzled over it and realized Curran wasn’t with me

The blackout curtains had turned our bedroom into a quiet, dark place I had no idea what tie had calmed down, Lyc-V finally took its toll and she crashed in one of our spare bedroo I’d seen in the vision to Raphael He owned a recla skyscrapers, and he had files on just about everydown, but I could tell nothing clicked with hieneric He said he would look through his files and Dali said that she would send a survey teas Raphael identified Curran told me that when he had dropped Derek off at the address the Clerk had given us for the gig Eduardo had turned down, he had recognized the scent pered to the man who’d stalked Eduardo We still didn’t knoho he was or why he was obsessing It was nice that two and two fit together, but so far they still equaled twelve, which didn’t help us

The djinn spoke English this ti in power Nobody liked that news

Finally everyone left I draggedshower, and collapsed on the bed I had woken up when Curran came in and went into the bathroom to wash the blood off He never ca Exhausted or not, my instincts still worked

I slipped out of the bed, walked across the slick wooden floor to the bathroo in our enor back, his eyes closed The tub was his favorite place aside froe, custom-made to accoh roo tech and with a ic volcanic rock at other tiht now it looked tight He was al, his thick eyebrows furrowed, the line of his square jaw hard

There was so to do, ever since I woke up in the hospital bed and saw hiry, all coiled strength and hard will

I slipped off my T-shirt My panties followed and I walked naked to the tub Tubs always got ers to the water It was near scalding

Worth it

I stepped into the water It cah

His eyes stayed closed

I bent hs brushed against his long lean legs

Curran’s eyes snapped open, a feral, piercing gray I pressed ainst his and licked his bottoue

Come back to me Come out of whatever dark place you’re in and feel ers tightening on ue slid into my mouth, the kiss deepened, and I rowling noise in his throat, harsh and male, filled with raw need, and I felt hi behind He was mine now There was no worry, no dread, no tomorrow There was only us and now