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.He shrugged and encircled my wrist with one giant hand before leading me down the hall to theroom Nathanial and I shared.After depositing me inside, he leaned against the French doors,effectively blocking the only exit.Jerk.I headed directly to the bathroom.I studied my neck in the mirror.The cut looked superficial, and the trickle of blood was slowing.I searched the bathroom cabinets, but there were no medical supplies.I did find a washcloth,and used it to rinse away as much of the blood from my skin as I could.I blotted at the tackyblood clinging to the bodice of my dress, but it was a lost cause the gown was beyond ruined.I turned the faucets on full blast and peeked out the bathroom door.Ronco still had his back tothe room, not paying attention.Good.After shutting and locking the door, I backed to the Twice Dead Haven 02 Page 168 of 246corner of the bathroom and whispered Gil s true name.On the third repetition, magic tintedthe air and she popped into the tub.Her eyes scanned first me and then the small room beforeshe spoke. Took you long enough, she whispered. Bobby gave up waiting hours ago.He s been combingthe city looking for you. Well it s a good thing he didn t find me.I never thought I d ask this, but throw me in the voidand get me the hell out of here. She blinked at me in surprise. You realize how close it is to dawn? she asked.At my nod, shefrowned. Where s Nathanial? Busy.Let s go. She didn t hesitate again, but laid a hand on my shoulder.Then the world dropped away.* * * *My eyes hadn t adjusted to the light in the alley before Bobby captured me in a tight embrace.Ipushed away from him, not only because he had a mate who wasn t me, but because hesmelled awfully good.Not sexy man good, but juicy steak good.I must have lost more bloodthan I thought. What happened? Where have you been? Are you okay? Bobby demanded, not releasing me.His gaze landed on my hands and the other questions diedon his tongue. You have paws? I frowned. I m too weak to change them right now. Gil stepped closer, staring. You can change them at will now? When did this happen? Shepulled her scroll out of the air. It s new, completely irrelevant, and not necessarily at will. I hid my paw-like hands in the foldsof my gown. We need to make a plan on how to search out the other men I might havetagged.I m not sure when I ll be able to get away again and I found one already. I stopped, my mouth still stuck in the shape of the next word as I turned and stared at Bobby. What? I found one of the shifters.He isn t a hunter.The scent isn t from Firth.It s like the rouges wechased before.A cityshifter. Twice Dead Haven 02 Page 169 of 246I blinked at him.So there were more.And he d found one.Which was great.I think. Did you& ? Kill him? Bobby shook his head. We don t know if he turned rogue or not.I scouted the areaand waited to see if he would move from his hidey-hole, but he hadn t emerged by the time Ileft to meet Gil. He beamed at me, bright eyes sparkling in the dim street light.He was clearly thrilled to be thesource of good news.And this was good news.Right? I mean, we didn t have to go out and hunt the shifter, wealready knew where he was.Too easy.Nothing ever came easy without a catch.I tried to share Bobby s optimism, but I just didn t have it in me.I flashed him a weak smile andstared at the night sky.It was still dark, without a hint of predawn light, but I could feel the dawn coming like agradually increasing weight around my neck.It had been a long night already, and Avin stillexpected me to turn a body over to him by dawn.Oh, and the vamps were at the mansiondiscussing whether I would be a side-show attraction.It was definitely a night I d like to have a do-over button for.But if we find the cityshifter&At least the night wouldn t be a total loss. How far? I asked.Bobby s gaze followed mine. We will have to hurry. Chapter Twenty-TwoI stared at the twisted razor wire ringing the fence around the junkyard. You re sure? I asked, glancing back at Bobby.He didn t answer.He didn t have to.I hadcaught a hint of city-shifter.He was right.Bobby hauled the edges of the chain link up, making a gap for me to slip under.The dresscaught as I crawled under the gate and tore as I jerked it free.Well, it was already ruinedanyway.Standing, I grabbed the bottom links of the gate, holding it for Bobby. Twice Dead Haven 02 Page 170 of 246Gil watched.Then she vanished, reappearing a moment later at my side.She smiled, and asmall ball of purple magelight appeared over her shoulder.Show off. So where in here is he? Gil asked, her bubble of light reflecting off mountains of twisted andrusted metal.Vehicles smashed beyond recognition, cars missing their doors and interior, and scraps of partswere thrown into towering piles.The carnage gave me a whole new reason not to trust cars.But it didn t tell us where our shifter was.I tilted my head, scenting the air.I could catch hints of the city-shifter on the wind, but my nosetold me only that he was somewhere further ahead.I glanced at Bobby, and he nodded.Okay,time to search.At one point, there had been a trail around the gutted cars, but busted glass and rusty partsnow littered the path.And I was in heels.I picked my way along the jagged path carefully.Not quite careful enough.My skirt snagged onthe rusted end of a muffler half buried in the snow.I jerked it free and the material gave waywith an awful sound.I glanced at the large V shaped rip.Let s see just how many holes I canget in this damn thing.I hauled the skirt up to my knees.It didn t help.I tripped over a snow-covered fender.I growled in frustration, and a growl answered.I froze.Gil s mage light flickered out, leaving me blind in the sudden darkness.The city-shifter?If it was, he didn t sound happy.Another growl sounded.I swung around, peering through the dark at the skeletal body of aJeep.Nothing moved.My heart thudded in my chest.Bobby crept closer.The growl soundedagain.Still nothing moved.Until something did.A huge body lumbered out of the Jeep.Not a shifter.A Rottweiler.Moonlight twinkled off the spikes in its leather collar.I stumbled back.My shoe ground intoshattered glass hidden in the snow.Another growl rumbled behind me.Closer.I twisted.Another massive canine emerged around a crushed truck.Crap
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