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Chapter 39

"You thought you could catch me?" Hector stared at Jessie and the others, then shook his head "I received not only the strength of a hundred wolves but also their senses I can hear better, see farther, ser-Suchers are no longer anyLeigh"

I guess I didn't have to ask if he'd chowed down on his olf quota I really needed to kill this guy

If I didn't, he'd decimate not only the J-S ranks but the hueddon, thy name is Hector

He stared at ht of what he had planned made a cold sweat break out on my body, I needed to pretend I was just like hiain, and then I'd be in serious shit Elise was gone, and no one here would be able to call her back

I stood, crossedleft to cover my crotch and my back was on full display Decisions, decisions

"I don't suppose you have a towel?" I asked

Hector frowned Oops, wrong question

Werewolves no doubt could care less if they were naked in the night S, I tried to remember what it had felt like to be attracted to hie, before the fur came out

"I'e, I'll be fine"

His eyes drifted over me He licked his lips

That phrase about skin crawling? It's not so much a phrase as a fact

"I've drea our one night It was never like that for , no one, made me feel like you did"

Gee, just what every girl longs to hear

"I will take you as the change does I will et the other one He is nothing compared to me"

Hector took off his shirt and tossed it across the space between us Though the garht-headed, I slipped it overnaked and thinking straight were two mutually exclusive conditions in my world

Hector continued to disrobe, slipping off his pants and his shoes, too His body was a muscles I could see why I'd been tempted

But hadn't my mother always told me pretty is as pretty does? I should have listened more carefully

The moon shivered at the tops of the trees Soon it would spill over and into the clearing Once the light touched hie Once it touched me, I wouldn't Then ould I do?

The brush rustled as theHe was still unconscious

That couldn't be good I expected them to tie him up anyway Instead, a uards; the rest moved away

"Come It is time"

The clearing filled with people Each one stared at us as if expecting a show Oh, right They were

My heart thundered My skin tingled I had a hard ti whenever Hector touched me, because my scar would flare like I'd been stuck with a red-hot poker I didn't want to think about what I would feel if he accomplished what he had planned

But he couldn't I wasn't going to turn into a hen they did, and pretty soon everyone would know it

Hector stood next to Dao When I reached Hector's side, his hand slid over ht not to flinch or gag I was supposed to be a olf I needed him to believe that, to trust me, or all of us would die We'd probably die anyway, but at least I had to try

Hector urged me to face him His hands were everywhere beneath theainst me He lowered his head and his mouth took ue I'd done this before - eagerly It was fit punishain before I died

My back was in agony My sto for a way to kill him before he killed us all

God, help me

Hector yanked his ht where they were He leaned his forehead against e or just plain lust Maybe both

"I aet e have come here to do"

"I thought we'd come here to do this?"

My throat tight with revulsion, my voice caht here on the ground He smiled and touched my hair

"Soon But first" He pointed to Damien

Oh, hell The sacrifice

He turned away I glanced at Jessie and the others They would be no help I stared down at Damien

Big round, cover his body with mine, protect him from whatever Hector had planned But I couldn't

"Here"

I turned Hector held a gun in each hand He offered one to me Was he stupid?

I took it He put the barrel of the other to my head Nope, not stupid

"What - ?" I began

"The sacrifice It is for you to make"

"Me?"

"Of course Only by killing him can you truly put the past behind you I made a mistake with Jimmy Renquist You pined for hio But this tiet him"

Was he insane?

Yes

"Why the extra pistol?" I asked

"I do not plan to leave anything to chance this time, queridaYou will be mine We will rule them all

Tonight But if you have ed to thwart my plan somehoill kill you I may love you, but I love me more"

Wasn't that romantic?

I stared at Hector and weighed my options I only had one Kill hiun and bloay so to take as many of them with me as I could

Hector's pentagraht trickled through the leaves

It re ied un at my temple

Dalanced up at Hector, and blinked "Bull's-eye," he murmured

And I remembered what Hector's tattoo reminded me of

"Do it," Hector urged

I spun and fired into the center of the pentagra as I did I surprised hi my brains out

Not a single flaht

The moon skimmed over the tops of the trees Hector howled, as did every other olf in the clearing They began to change Damien did, too

I could shoot close to a dozen, but I decided to save

No telling what they'd do or ould need to be shot first

Hector remained a e It wasn't preventing anything else - like his breathing I aihed

"You think you can kill me with the usual weapons? I a"

As if he'd willed it, the bullet hole slid shut Blood still glistened on his skin, black beneath the hunter's moon Memories assaulted me Another place, other bodies, different blood Dizziness threatened, but I biton the pain until one before, for the future I could still have, I needed to be strong

There had to be a way to kill him What had Will told me to do?

Shoot Hector with silver That wasn't working very well

No, wait Will's exact instructions had been to shoot Hector with silver, then eat his flesh I stared at the shiny black blood, the s; this was another

I didn't think I could do it

Hector glanced at the er-Sucher society appears a bit more advanced than I realized Ah well, a quick nip or two near soht No harm, no foul, as they say"

A chorus of howls rose into the sky The others had finished their change Hector reached for , and Daround, Hector had becoreat white wolf

The two of the for do before Da No matter how much et close enough to kill him I took one step in their direction and five wolves blocked my path

I shot the closest one The silver worked daood on hi and whi

Hector prepared to tear out Damien's throat, and I shot hiround