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"Oliver?" Kitsune said, studying him with obvious concern

He smiled softly and thanked the oldto take us back to the ht to start back"

"Of course, of course," Koenig said, but theGong "I would have liked to have heardIf I could be of any help, you would only have to tell h the Veil for decades"

"Maybe we’ll co to slits, sparks ju from them in the shadows cast by the fire

The professor looked at Kitsune and Blue Jay and then at Jenny There was kindness and gratitude in his eyes as he began to speak

The door blew open, the power of the storainst the wall and the snoled in, a tu whiteness that see the gas la the flah the doorway as though riding the wind, fingers elongated into twelve-inch knives of ice, features lengthened and thinned as though parts of him had been carved away Trailers of h hethe stored on the door and then blew it shut, cracking the wooden frame

"What in the name of God?" the professor cried

The winter man spun, madness in his eyes "The Hunters have come! How they tracked us I do not know, but they are here!"

Dark shapes moved past the s out in the storhed softly "Well, no need for the bait anyers around Professor Koenig’s throat, and twisted The crack of bone echoed off the stones of the hearth and Jenny let the old man crumple to the wood floor, a scarecrow off his post His ar of powder Frost’s arrival had spread over the floor, a grotesque snow angel

CHAPTER 19

Oliver shouted, refusing to accept what he’d seen He started for Jenny, but a powerful hand cla, he let out another shout The Black Dragon of Storht,his chest The lightning that sparked in his eyes brought thunder from somewhere deep inside of hiht he was dead, that Gong Gong had also betrayed theon snarled

"Jen?" Kitsune said, her voice raith pain Her jade eyes seemed impossibly pale "You are with them? The Hunters?"

"With them? I’m one of them, Kit Bloody hell, listen to you! You were always a roht, love? Did you honestly think I’d been hunted so many timesthat the soddin’ Manticore came after meand I survived? You stupid twat No one’s that lucky"

Oliver saw the way her words cut Kitsune, and he winced

Blue Jay did more than wince He twisted round with such speed that he was nearly ih he swung so that whipped toward her It ht have been real and physical He was a shape-shifter But Oliver thought perhaps it was a spell Magic The power of the trickster Blue Jay spun and whatever that blue as, it knocked Jenny to the floor, splitting the green flesh on her ar bones

Kitsune was there beside her before Jenny Greenteeth could blink or cry out in pain The fox-worowl she spoke, and Oliver thought he could le word

"Bitch"

The fox tore out Jenny’s throat, and algae-green blood puan to whine with sorrow, glass shattered and a Kirata cah a o er-ers of drool ran from their black lips as they opened their jaide in a roar One dropped to all fours and leaped at Gong Gong Blue Jay transformed into a bird and darted at its face, even as Frost stepped into the path of the second Kirata

The third Hunter was a blur of orange and black, fur rippling with e at Oliver From the pool of blood around Jenny Greenteeth’s corpse, Kitsune lunged, but only caught it with one paw, barely scratching the beast

Oliver’s hands were empty and there was no ti certainty of his own i death, could practically feel its claws in hians

Frost shouted his name

The Kirata bounded at him and instinct took over Oliver took one step backward, throwing up his hands, fists closing on the tiger- into fur and flesh The Hunter’s momentum drove him down and Oliver ith it, the damp stink of its breath a miasma in his face He shot one boot up into its th to propel the Kirata over his head, toward the fireplace

The tiger-man’s head struck the stone hearth and for a moment-- as he twisted round and scrambled to his feet-- Oliver was sure he had messed up his one chance at survival In the instant that he’d gotten a grip on the Hunter, he’d been aware of the fire as his target, as his one hope But the trajectory had been off The Kirata’s head had struck the hearth a foot to the left of the fireplace

Close was enough, however It collapsed to the ground, back turned toward the blaze, and its fur caught The Kirata’s eyes ide and it roared in agony as the fire raced over the surface of its body, fur burning quickly, blackening to char Aflaered toward Oliver, but then its panicked gaze darted toward theand the snow outside and it stumbled in that direction As it passed a love seat, the fabric of the furniture caught fire The Kirata reached out to steady itself and clutched a heavy floral drape, which went up in flaround, twitching and an to burn

"Frost!" Oliver shouted, thinking the winter uish the blaze

But when he turned he saw thatin Blue Jay, Frost, and Kitsune were fighting the nearly like a man, for he danced with such speed that he was onceone of the Hunters

Oliver needed to help them-- or at least to defend himself-- and he remembered the sword above the fireplace The sword of Euphrasia’s king He ran to the hearth and reached up, snatching blade and scabbard down fros

Thunder shook the floor and rattled the walls Oliver looked over to see that Gong Gong had continued to grow The Black Dragon of Stor and curled in upon hi the creature to the floor, and lightning struck fro the Hunter At the saer-on’s hide

"Enough!" Gong Gong cried "We need space! Air!"