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And then he was gone and on the other side of the gate, a folding trick she had only seen once in her en tire life

Caitlin was ate, but Ryder slammed it shut, whipped a key from his pocket and touched it to the lock One of those charate and pulled at it, but it was locked solid

She turned and ran for the fountain, where she scrabbled along the bottom of the riate and tried the key, but it wouldn’t turn for anything, and the gate was as iate, pounded on the bars…but Jagger and Ryder were long gone

"Daate, breathing hard, spent She could feel the scratches in her back burning, blood seeping again

How dare they? The bars of the gate only added to the feeling that she--they--were under house arrest Metaphysical problem my ass

She wasn’t just furious but humiliated It wasn’t entirely true anymore that this was her responsibility, that she was the Keeper by right and duty whoof this attack All the Communities were involved now, even the vae than anyone else’s, being that Ryder, their main source of in formation, was a shifter, the most recent victih whom they had contacted the lead walk-in

That makes it a shapeshifter case, and that makes it mine

She felt the sudden sense of a presence, then heard a step behind her, and whirled around…to see one of the were guards who’d accompanied them home from the restaurant

"Ms MacDonald, let h for a wolf, but there was nothat this was not a request

Caitlin narrowed her eyes All right, fine I’ll play along

She turned to the were, shrugged and s, Caitlin locked the door and breathed in deeply She’d begged an hour for a shower and a nap, pleading exhaustion froh she could see Fiona’s deep suspicion of her sudden co; she had lost some blood, and the adrenaline crash froh food was the last thing on her mind, she knew soht ahead of her She started for her private kitchen, then stopped

The light-headedness she was experiencing would lamour worked better on an empty stomach And invisibility was her ticket out

The MacDonald faenerations, and over eways had been added to the property, in case of attack Unfortunately for Caitlin, Fiona had shared all the fah the colamour, she encountered a olf or vauards had been hu by one of thehtened senses, not to mention that extra sixth sense, that could detect her, and she didn’t want to risk apprehension She only had one shot

Seething with frustration, she stopped in the dark courtyard to consider her options, as the wind skittered leaves across the bricks and the water whispered in the fountain

One of the cats padded across theup at her as if she could see her

Not now, Chloe, Caitlin whispered in her head

And then she stopped, thinking…

The young were stood dutifully but restlessly at his post in front of the garden gate Sentry duty was an honor, but standing still was agony for a olf, any olf, much less one barely out of his teens, with all his ani

Then suddenly his head snapped up as he caught the soft padding of steps hurrying across the stones behind the fountain, quick and quiet, barely audible to a hu were leaped toward the sound, loping around the fountain, snout lengthening and teeth starting to ee in anticipation…