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As the vibrations hit me, I realized that the pulse wasn’t just shock, but was part of the word I’d been hearing Joses Bar-Judas was speaking that word That wyrd A spell of darkness encoded into a single word, the power released when it was spoken

The first syllable slid alongit red-hot Before I could react to the heat starting to burn where I gripped the hilt, it rolled upthe silver-over-titaniu Over my shoulder and neck The wyrd of power slaehammer

Even in the time bubble, I was knocked backward, hard, my head whipped forward and back, my arm shoved down I struck the wall, spine and back ofMy whole body shuddered at the impact of the power

The time bubble popped

I was rawent dark, I saw Joses Bar-Judas skitter out the door Into the duskysunlight

I woke sloith a headache pounding like I had been tucked into a fifty-five-gallon druut isted, a gripping torture that felt as if I had sed a nest of live rattlesnakes and they were attacking ed, retched, doubled up on the floor, as ot to breathe The bout of pain and nausea lasted forever before it began to ease After too long a tihs and press against the knot that used to be my belly I lickedwhat I’d been saying

"Jane?" The voice was tinny and far away Oh yeah Soed to inhale, ly But the sunpowder, blood Lots of blood Battle I had to get better, fast

"Jane!" the tinny voice shouted

I grunted Managed to slit openI scrunched them shut and waited out a dozen of the painful , I tried opening the on a white ray-white wall and , crooked on the wall I blinked groggily at it to see a blond woauzy evening gown, her shoulders bare, her décolletage mostly bare too I knew her Katie Katie the vaht And I was sick because Beast had taken over and forced me to fold time At least this ti up blood

Using one hand and both feet, I shovedposition, knees bent up toup my arm as it landed on the floor There were blisters on the hand, the kind you get if you accidently pour scalding-hot tea on yourself I’d done that at my sensei’s dojo when I was a kid It had required a trip to the eency room, but the blisters had healed really fast Because I was a skinwalker It was all co back

The hand hurt when I tried to open it, and I sucked air throughIt clattered to the floor It was a knife, scorched, ruined The blade, once silver-plated steel, arped, the edge wavy, the silver blackened where it had ain The leather-wrapped hilt was blackened except for the shape of ht