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There were three stages of fire in target shooting: slow, timed, and rapid Synjon had been at it for an hour and every round he went ended up rapid He had no patience for conventional practice rules Reain, aim and shoot-that&039;s all he was after Hit after hit until he saw the battered wall behind the face on each of his target papers

He set the se used to give hi of control It was like the bite into flesh before the suck-the initial action that drew blood

But there was no relief inside him anymore No matter what he did All he felt, all the bloody ti blacker every o?"

The Roman brother&039;s deep, concerned voice didn&039;t , catching his scent as it had drifted in fro the target paper in his fist as he walked back toward Alexander "Glad you stopped by"

"I think it&039;s you who&039;s stopping by"

"Yes," Syn said "At long last I&039;m sure Frosty&039;s told you what I&039;m after" He picked up the semiautomatic and started to reload "A reo"

Alex leaned against the wall, crossed his arenes showing in every thick eance"

The word made Syn pause, look up His eyes narrowed "I could say &039;justice,&039; but why bother? I hope there&039;s no problem with that"

"None whatsoever Except for the fact that we&039;re having so the bastard yourself," Syn finished

"Right" The skull-shaved paven&039;s eyebrows drew together "But I think I may have stumbled upon a way"

Syn lowered his weapon "Tell"

"Can&039;t Not yet" He released a breath "It involves et to Cruen?"

"No But she will be affected, perhaps even hurt, if I use this possibility"

The urge to throttle Alexander Rohts, his plan, was almost impossible to repress "I understand your caution, but the paven must be taken down"

"I know," Alex said calmly "I just need a little ti froun "For you, me, the balas who lies in wait of a rescue, and that paven bastard who killed et and fired ten rounds without blinking All shots landed right between the eyes

Erion burst through the front door and flash-ran down the hill toward the gate like a paven possessed What the hell would he find waiting? Who would he find waiting? And if it was a trap, how badly could he rip the bastard apart before the ht hiate&039;s entrance He&039;d already bitten into his wrist as he traveled, and he ran it over the lock He sprang forward as the gate allowed hi every ht his ears, a scent too, and it was one he kneell One that was nor wafts of dust

"What the hell are you doing here, Raine?" he called out

Nothing Just wind through the trees h clenched teeth "Get over here before I&039;ht snack for mine"

He heard a whimper, then saw a flash of pale skin Raine had stepped out fro toward him "I&039;m in deep trouble because of you"

"You carowl "Truly?"

The mutore&039;s terrified features intensified as he drew nearer "He knew I told you that I could be the only one"

Cruen had contacted him Erion&039;s skin prickled with hope "Good"

Raine, however, looked shocked at his response "You are pleased"

"I want to oods It is all I want"

Raine stared piteously at hihed "Then rabbed Erion around the waist Before Erion had a chance to react, they flashed frorounds But it was a flash unlike any Erion had ever experienced before It was slow and strange and rendered him utterly ih him, but it hardly had time to take hold In an instant, he touched down, his feet sinking into wars When he realized where he was, his bowels tightened He despised this place, hated what he&039;d done on this beach, who he had manipulated, who he had humiliated

"We have spent many hours here, my son"

The words, that voice-it broke the spell over Erion&039;s muscles and his ability to speak He lifted his upper lip and flashed his fangs at the paven who stood beside hihed, but it wasn&039;t a light, frothy sound It carried the weight of worry within it

"There was a tied me to call you son, when you reveled in my parental care"

If only I had the ability to kill here, Erion mused "It was the desperate need of a desperate child," he stated flatly One who only wanted to be considered worthy of love "That desire was over theable to produce a balas"

"It was for your protection, Erion"

"Was it?" Erion turned and regarded the ancient paven

"Of course I have always protected my children" He looked out at the ocean, the waves so calm, so serene-so unlike the pavens who stood before it "All of my children"

"Then you will understand that I lea his eyes "Coive you the balas He can remain with you in my home-"

Erion interrupted the paven&039;s worthless words with hter "I will be happy to trade the female for the boy, but you will never havewith you anyly cause, no speci out there in the world?" Cruen said with a trace of sadness in his voice "Look at you You&039;re a beast, soht You can&039;t have a real chance at life in that world, Erion Neither can your brothers"

Erion wouldn&039;t believe that Refused to believe it He already had a life-the beginnings of one, at any rate He had his brothers and the Roman brothers, he had a homelare "They will not return, and neither will I"

All traces of melancholy left Cruen&039;s expression and hissoon You won&039;t be able to handle it alone You will need me, my medicines, and my expertise If I could see your blood, study your cells, I may be able to predict the exact time of your transition"

Desperate threats were lost on him His transition wasn&039;t for several years yet, and he would deal with it when the time came His ansas simple "Never"

Around them the wind picked up, aze stirred too "We will see"

"I want the balas," Erion said, going to stand in front of the aged paven, blocking his view of the seawater he loved sothe fee combination of relief and irritation He wanted Hellen, perhaps needed her, but he didn&039;t like her That realization should&039;ve washed off Erion&039;s back The boy was all he cared about; the fe chip

And yetit bothered hihts "You will couards and you can take the female and the boy? I don&039;t think so" Erion nodded at the ht him here, the mutore who hovered a few feet away Raine looked terrified, exhausted, like he wished he were anywhere else "We will do the exchange at Raine&039;s shop"

"No!" theup a foot

Cruen put a hand up to silence hirabbed his adopted father&039;s wrist "We will do it now, paven This very moment"

Cruen htly less confident than a o "It is not possible"

"Why?"

A shadow of humiliation moved over the paven&039;s face He shook his head He wasn&039;t going to answer

"Your delay is suspect," Erion said, tightening his hold "I warn you not to attempt trickery If you hurt the balas in any way, your bride-to-be will have the life&039;s blood sucked out of her every orifice"

Cruen&039;s nostrils flared "Twenty-four hours"

Erion cursed and released the paven&039;s wrist Not because he wanted to, but because his hand was on fire What the hell? He stared at his palh he&039;d been burned His gaze ratcheted up just in tie flicker on and off before hilow for a ether

Erion rounded on Raine "What was that?"

"An illusion," he offered weakly

Realization dawned He had been tricked

He cocked his head to one side and growled "He was never here"

Raine looked terrified "Hison?"

The ed

Erion stalked toward the ue, and I will cut it out" With the asp, Erion continued, "Is he contained so around himself, Raine whispered, "I don&039;t believe so"

"Then what?" Erion de down the beach "He blazed with heat, with color at first; then he looked as though he were fading, like he&039;d lost power before he"

Raine looked up, blinked at hi on thewrong?"

"It is all the time we have here All I was allotted If you are deterue, it will have to be done back in France"

He grasped Erion around the waist again, and in a flash they were airborne