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The flutter of wings

She opened her eyes The flight attendants had gathered to stare at her The skinny woman was between them They all stared, and smiled, then opened their s, canine fangs, huge, glistening, white, sees, snake fangs, long, sharp, glistening, and they were laughing because she was here, on the plane, cornered, and there wereto back away into the next seat She earing a cross; she carried holy water

But she couldn’t reach her purse She couldn’t crawl into the next seat because so, and the plane was alive with flying creatures? bats Their wings fluttered everywhere And she whispered to Ragnor, "Help me, please, help me!" But, of course, he would not, because he had taken her for a fool, and his s of all, dripping, sparkling, like razors caught in the light, but it was ht, and she could almost feel the pain of his touch

"Miss Riley!"

She aith a start

A young Frenchwolish perfectly, was standing over her She had been gently touching her shoulder

She had no fangs

No bats flew about the plane

"I’ently, and with an aard s an iratein back of her "It’s reallywell, we really try not to allow our passengers to screa is wrong Really wrong"

"Oh, I aave her a suess If you could just try to stay awake "

"Yes, of course," Jordan said apologetically

"Uht be hard, but you really ain, I am so sorry!" Jordan said

"I’m sorry, too, but?it was a loud scream They heard you in the back row"

"I’ll stay awake"

She felt her cheeks reddening She tried to apologize to the man behind her He wasn’thereveryone around her aher htmare

But what had happened at the church had been real

She glanced at her watch

And prayed for the time to pass quickly as the plane continued over the Atlantic

She had been drea that so stalked by forces unseen

Hunted

CHAPTER 17

Ragnor faced his brother, his own flesh and blood, and so, it seemed, a horde of demons

And it was Nari who had led hih his efforts to save her, had brought about the deaths of so e passions and hungers, and the hope that he had found a way to exist

She didn’t intend to take part in the carnage; not willing to risk injury to herself, she stood back, keeping her distance

"So you survived," Ragnor told Hagan, buying ti to decide if there was a way to reach his sword

"Survived, yes, brother With a power greater than yours The seventh son of the seventh son The miraculous seventh child of the wolf! You refused to accept the gift of your birth, brother I would have knohat to do with such strengths and abilities For years I lived in your shadow, knowing that our father’s power lived in you, while I was the greater warrior Now I have a power even greater than what you knew at birth And do you knohat, little brother? I don’t wish to share this new strength I kno to use this gift and rule with it I will not let you hunt down the chosen of ile an paused to spit on the floor "There can be but one of us, brother And the one who ree fear, deeper than that for his own existence, wound into Ragnor "What have you done with Peter?" he dean leaned casually upon his sword "Well, brother, what do you think? The blood of a holy manit was really quite delicious And ere done, we roasted the flesh There is a singular lack of game in these parts, if you haven’t noticed The blood is the life, but I must say there remains a tres we learned that nothing of the hunt should be wasted"

Rage filled him

With all the supposed power of his birth, and the disease that now raged within whatever his existence ht be, he should have had a sense of reason At that an’s creatures ed to dive beneath the ene it to the end of the floor

He seized his sword, and turned, swinging Blood sprayed as his weapon sliced into those creatures who had so recently glutted themselves on the weak and the holy; yet blood sprayed from his own flesh as well He felt the pain, and felt the loss, but knew that he ed froh the creature’s gullet; he are of theelse that he could endure injury, but not to his throat and neck

He had to keep his head Figuratively? literally

A sword shot into his back He stiffened in his agony, and spun, catching the creature right at the neck

The enemy fell, hands at his throat