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Caitlin stared down at it The Lovers

Ryder Mallory s sh the purple curtain, and Caitlin stood, frozen, not breathing, until she heard the outer door open and close

Then she jerked forward and swept the cards up into their silk wrapper, slah the curtain

The daylight of the shop was nearly blinding after the candlelit cocoon of the reading roo with confusion and anger

She stalked behind the counter and grabbed for her cell phone, started punching the speed-dial for Fiona…

Then stopped, and forced herself to breathe

They didn’t believe you this , so what makes you think they would believe you now?

She set the phone down, thinking

This tiht

Then she turned and walked to the front , turned the Open sign to Closed, and hurried out the door

Chapter 3

Caitlin hurried down the uneven cobblestone sidewalks of Royal Air-conditioning blasted froh to entice shoppers inside

The wind, which had been quiet for , swirling flurries of glittering dust up froain, and then was angry at herself for using the shapeshifter’s words, even though she’d said thehth District New Orleans Police Department was located in the heart of the Quarter, just four blocks away from the shop, and it and the courthouse took up two square city blocks all on their own It was, Caitlin thought, probably the nificent police station in the country: acake of a building, with grand old ht-iron fences Even in such a for, the mysterious beauty of New Orleans carried the day

Tourists and locals alike were drawn to take rest on its sweepingback on their elbows, under the shade of blossoers played to their captive and willing audience from the sidewalk on the other side of the street

Caitlin hurried up the steps, past a group of Goth teenagers watching a couple of the boys on skateboards do whatever they called those flip things on the stairs

Across the street, a saxophonist played a sultry version of "Georgia," the notes enticingly full and sexy Caitlin turned and glanced at him The well-muscled Jamaican tipped his head to her as he played

She turned and hurried up the stairs

And on the sidewalk, concealed in his musician body, Ryder watched her, his lips wrapped around the ht, as he lowered the sax, staring at the police station He’d known back at the shop that the indifference the Keeper had been deht be distrustful of hier in the city; that had cohts The focus of her concern had also been clear--her sisters above all else, which was also interesting Ryder wondered if there had already been some kind of attack, or if she’d sensed some sort of menace, that would make her so instantly ju, which would have been to run to her sisters, the other Keepers, ere, in Ryder’s experience and at least in other parts of the world, notoriously clannish He had been counting on taking on some sweet, innocent forood for wo up in Caitlin MacDonald’s lap, either

Instead, here she was, going straight to the police, which was not necessarily in Ryder’s best interests, not by a long shot--but itAnd he intended to find out what

Beautiful as this Caitlin was--those silver eyes-- she was only aas it was useful, and no longer

He stepped into the stairhere he’d left the unconscious street ently deposited the sax on the step beside hiain

Inside the police departathered the belongings she’d had to send through the X-ray machine--shoes, belt, jewelry--and pulled them back on, then raced down the hall toward the Homicide Division