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Dad scrubbed his hand over his salt-and-pepper buzz cut "I warned you against targeting a ithout Magister Chase present"

Magister Wolf Lykae Tank-throwing What the hell?

Her dad was ex-army, now sold computer systems to uy The driest, most unfanciful man ever to live He simply didn't talk about paranoreons and Dragons fanatics

She grew light-headed, the moment surreal How could this be possible?

"I still don't understand the soothsayer's insistence with this one," Dad said "What's the tactical value of one olf? Did she say?"

Dear God, her dad was talking about a ical monster and a psychic

"No, sirleft as soon as we'd laid thewolf's going down at last They'reinI'll confirm the capture"

Apparently, her dad was having some kind of psychotic break

Maybe she was too She couldn't actually be hearing hiame

"T-Rex!"

Chloe jerked her head around She hadAnd now Handbagger had the ball, charging across the midfield, about to pass to her own striker

Eyes narrowed, Chloe ran down the wo hell out of her from behind

"You twat!" Handbagger screeched, just as the ref blew the whistle

Dirty tackle Yellow-carded Shit!

Coach went ballistic on the sidelines; Handbagger got a free kick in scoring range

As the woman positioned the ball, Chloe told herself she couldn't fix her dad's breakdown right now-all she could do was finish the few ame

Dad was the one who'd taught her to focus, to stand her ground and see things through when the going got tough

The keeper snagged Handbagger's missile-a, too bad-then punted it into Breaker territory

One of her midfielders fed Chloe a hospital ball, a pass that would likely result in injury

She charged for it anyith Handbagger breathing down her neck The bitch slid, knocking Chloe off the ball and onto her ass Chloe's ankle twisted Handbagger couldn't resist a late hit, a nice elbow to the throat

No whistle? As Chloe scraaulation-she didn't have tiazed on stonily

Trying to shake it off, Chloe trotted to position, wincing as her ankle began swelling up like a balloon

She ignored the pain, repeating to herself, Rub some dirt on it

For all of Chloe's life, coaches had been telling her that in response to everything from a skinned knee to a concussion It was coach-speak for Grin and bear it, or I'll send in second string

The saying had become her life view Bad practice? Rub some dirt on it Fender bender? Rub some dirt on it It'd turned into an optirit her teeth at any obstacle, and muster an I'm just happy to be here, Coach smile It made her hunt hard for an upside

Her dad going loco was hovering outside the real There was no upside He was all the family she had in the world

Concentrate, Chlo Focus

But just as she finally settled in and got her head back in the game, from the other end of her dad's phone call ca ani out on her sweating skin, she swung her head toward her father

Then stood there, in thein shock

Because when Dad had heard that sound, he'd smiled-

A toe-kicked ball took her square in the face like a cannon shot Her body was sent airborne Pitched onto her back, she lay there dazed, watching the stadiurew quiet

Rub some dirt on it Upside? She now had her dad's full attention, his call disconnected, and the wolf's haunting roar was no more

Chapter Two

Orleans Parish, Louisiana

ONE HOUR EARLIER

Never let it be said that you doona drive like an ace," Will told the three-thousand-year-old mad Valkyrie in the driver's seat beside hi in reverse is no' the best solution?"

Nix the Ever-Knoas doing about twenty miles per hour in the left lane on the Lake Pontchartrain bridge section of I-10 Backward

She was slinking along with the flow of traffic, so the driver following them

To navigate, she used the rear-view ht, for all he knew

Though vehicles were backed up for miles behind her, she see drivers shooting her the bird-until they got a look-see at the hot -Futs Nix

She was preternaturally beautiful but vacant-eyed, with a tangledbold letters: S L U T

In smaller text below that: SEXUALLY LIBERATED UNINHIBITED TART

Atop her shoulder? A live bat

The soothsayer was fairlytrack of ti the future for millennia

With a wrist slung over the wheel and Jay-Z on the radio, she said, "It's ridiculous that a car this expensive doesn't have cruise control for reverse"

"You want me to drive, then?"

She'd called his private nu to meet alone She'd made him vow to tell no one about their "rendezvous," not even Munro Will had already asked why she'd wanted tofor her (answer: blanker stare)

"Mayhap I should call one of your sisters? You're looking a wee bit tired, Valkyrie"

"I'm fine," she said absently "I have Bertil with me"

Oh The bat Will decided that if Nucking-Futs Nix wanted to drive backward and answer none of his questions, to hell with it

He had nothing better to do than enjoy the ride, so he relaxed back in the plush seat, proud of his nonchalance Though he didn't like surprises and loathed it when fe his unease tonight

Mayhap he'd finally-finally-started to turn the corner

Just then, Nix glanced at Will, blinking in surprise, her expression saying, Well, how'd you get in here, fellow?

Her face brightened "Hot of the Hot and Hotter Twins!" she said in greeting "Or are you Hotter? I can never tell you apart-both of you with those solden eyes and dreaer hair?"