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Reaching the edge of the town, Salvatore took a moment to consider his options There was always the possibility that Harley had decided to return to Caine She had to know the cur would be willing to forgive her anything if she agreed to stay with him There was also the possibility that she’d stolen a car and was even now speeding ever farther away

His instinct, however, told hi the woods that sprawled north of the town, Salvatore cautiously threaded his way through the thick undergrowth In the distance he could hear the call of birds and the rustle of same, but a heavy silence cloaked around him Not unusual Animals could sense his predatory nature It was, instead, the prickle of energy that warned a Were was near

"Harley?"

Alar meat filled the air Whoever was out there, it wasn’t Harley

Swiftly tugging off his clothes, Salvatore prepared to shift Under nore hi bondhis power, Salvatore hesitated as a cold chill blasted fro outline of a nized the short Were with unkempt brown hair and crimson eyes

He was paler than he recalled, his face thinner, and his eyes an even deeper red But there was noto his," he hissed

"Ah, Salvatore Giuliani," the lish accent as pronounced as it had been centuries ago Briggs had always been too arrogant to try to blend in with the crowd Which explained the long black cloak he had wrapped around his slender body Or"You cannot kno long I have waited for thissince I kicked your ass, tossed you in a fire, and spread your ashes on a dung heap," Salvatore sneered

The cri to bite into Salvatore’s skin Dio What had Briggs done to himself?

"So proud of yourself, and yet here I aaze He didn’t know jack-crap about h power fros had to be projecting his appearance

Not that it erous

Or less crazy

"But not in all your glory," Salvatore taunted, vividly recalling that Briggs’s weakness had always been his inability to control his teic-sucker?"

"And why should I bother when I have slaves to collect the trash?"

Briggs lifted his arered backwards as the Were sent a crushing coht the Were any restraint He’d always been a big fan of overkill

Shaking off the pinpricks of pain, Salvatore studied his age-old ene for the curs to arrive Before then, he needed to kno Briggs was still alive and what the hell he was plotting

"Surely you can’t be idiotic enough to believe your curs can capture s smirked, confident he had Salvatore cornered "They are remarkably inept, but they serve their purpose on ed, deliberately nonchalant "Unless you have a few hundred hidden a the trees"

"As always, you have sadly underestis, as always, you’ve overestimated yourself" Indifferent to the fact that he was stark naked, Salvatore folded his arms over his chest and peered down his nose at the ss hated to be re once would have taught you that you will never be as good as , and you’re a tainted has-been who has to use black gs curled his lips "You’re a pathetic upstart who stole as rightfully htfully yours, I would never be allowed to sit on the throne You were found unworthy"

"Bastard" Briggs lifted his arm and Salvatore felt icy bands of porap around hiic," Salvatore snarled, nearly gagging at the stench of rotting th was a war in coic "You’re pathetic"

Briggs h the leaves beneath his feet made no sound

Freak

"I’m not the one onyou took from me"

Salvatore spit at the heavy boots that haltedcorpse who stinks of treachery"

"They will have no choice"

Salvatore’s sharp laugh echoed through the trees "Weres always have a choice"

"I can give them what you cannot"

"And what’s that?"

The Were smirked "A future"