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Plans, plans, plans

Or, in other words, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit

Xhex had had the perfect plan when she&039;d cloaked herself in the ht As an assassin, she had prided herself not only on her success rate, but the flair she brought to her work, and this payback was going to be good Her "plan" had been to flank up on Lash unseen and slice his throat before going to work on him--while she looked in his eyes and smiled like the crazy bitch she was

First wrinkle? What the fuck had happened to him since she&039;d seen hi his head had stunned the crap out of her He had no flesh left on his face; there was nothing but black- slicked ht white teeth looking fluorescent in contrast And his hands weren&039;t right, either They had for but a deeper shade of darkness

Thank God she&039;d gotten away fro was the reason she&039;d been able to break out of her prison: It see as well

But whatever her second proble in the center of the alley with everything but a sign saying SHOOTME HERE on his chest

It was pretty frickin&039; obvious that there would be no reasoning with hiht next to his ear and screa his bared like a lion&039;s, his body arching forward like he was going to pile-drive the guy

Pretty good bet that he was going to die if he didn&039;t take cover, but he didn&039;t see scent was louder than any noise he could have made with his throat, the dark spice a roar that overcame every other smell, from the city&039;s body odor to the river&039;s sweat to the lesser stench that afting up froritty alley, John was the pri she hadn&039;t wanted in this situation for precisely this reason: Clearly, his personal safetyall his co

Botto to be able to survive whatever energy ball Lash was pal in her world

New plan No cloaking anymore for her No disable, disarony she had been through, no Jack the Ripper routine

As she took for herself Because when it ca that mattered to her

She tackled Lash around the waist at the very h she took hied to course-correct his aim and hit John square in the chest

The i hi hi bastard!" she screamed into Lash&039;s stripped face

The son of a bitch&039;s arth And as he flipped her around and pinned her to the pavement beneath him, his breath was hot and foul on her face

"Gotcha," he sneered, grinding his hips into hers, his erection enough to make her sick

"Fuck you!" With a quick jerk, she nailed hiht in the well, what passed for a nose with a head butt that had hiet another clean shot as they struggled for control, rolling around, their legs intertwining, that horrible arousal of his pushing at her Heone of her wrists, but at least she kept the other one out of his way

Which ht, she was able to reach between therab his balls, and twist them so hard, if it hadn&039;t been for his pants, she&039;d have broken the fuckers off

Lash wheezed out a curse and went rigid, proving that he od on the dark side, but he was pretty fuckinga hit in the jewels

Now she was the one in control of the ground ga him "Got you," she snapped at hiot the better of her--instead of stabbing hiripped him around the neck and squeezed the air out of his throat

"You don&039;t fuck hat&039;s ly-ass puss went vicious pissed and somehow his voice emanated up even with the lock she had on his larynx "He&039;s already been fucked good Or didn&039;t he tell you about that human who--"

Xhex cuffed the SOB so hard, she took a tooth with her on the follow- through "Don&039;t you dare go there--"

"I&039;ll go anywhere the fuck I want, sweetheart"

With that, he ghosted on her, dissolving into nothing--but that didn&039;t last An instant later, she was taken froainst his body In the still seconds that followed, she had a brief i on the asphalt, and then she ung around and used as a shield as she and Lash faced the Brothers

Her eyes didn&039;t waste ti her tea eapons were pointed in her and Lash&039;s direction

John was the only thing that in or whoever grantedoff whatever strobe-light nightmare had ass-over-elbowed him

At least he was alive

She was probably not going to survive this, but John he was going to live Provided she got herself and Lash out of here

"Take me," she hissed to the bastard "Just take me and leave theainst metal and then a switchblade appeared in front of her face, the blade flashing right next to her eye--so close, she could make out the inscription of the et real personal with your kills" Lash&039;s voice was so not right, the distortion in ithis words ripple in her ear "I know this because of what you did to that fool Grady Gave hie in life as much as he did in death?"

The point of the weapon dipped out of her visual field and then she felt the tip go into her cheekbone and drag slowly doard

The breeze was cool Her blood ar her eyes, all she could do was repeat, "Take me"

"Oh, I will Don&039;t you worry about that" So at what had welled up Then he called out, "She tastes as good as I reht there Anyone takes another step forward, and I&039;ll slice her where it counts"

The blade went to her throat and Lash started walking backward, dragging her with hiet inside his head in the event her symphath side could influence him, but she was blocked sure as if she were in front of a stone wall Not a surprise

Abruptly, she wondered why he didn&039;t cloak the He&039;d taken a bullet somewhere--and now that she was properly focused, she could s on the pave, those sorry-ass huain, and they looked like corpses, all pale and stiff to the point where she was aht Lash was going to try to take the two of theh he was co, and that knife? Steady and ready

Xhex stared down at John and knew she would reeance forever--

She frowned as she sensed his ee That shadow she had always sensed in the lee of his grid wasn&039;t a ible and vivid as that which had always been the primary construct within his psyche

In fact, as he stared up the alley, the two parts of him became one

After John had been hit with that boy, he was dazed and disoriented, but he forced his head to get back in the garound He couldn&039;t feel some portion of his body, and the other half that wasn&039;t numb screamed in pain, but neitherthe beat of his heart as the driver of his physical for his eyes on the scene before hihtened Lash was using Xhex as a living shield, all his best target points hidden behind her as he pulled her away

That knife to her throat was right on her vein Pressing against her

In a quick twist, reality warped and distorted on hi clear, only to lose its grip on the alley they were all in oncehard, he cursed the tricks that Lash had at his disposal--

Except the proble inside of hi up fro out what he was actually seeing

A field by a barn In the dark of night

He shook his head and was relieved when the alley in Caldwell caht a female who mattered held in an evil lock, a knife to her throat

And then he was abruptly back in the present, returning here to the warehouse district where a female who mattered was held in an evil lock, a knife to her throat

Oh, God he felt like he had done this before

Fuck that he had done this before

The epileptic fit ca hi in his own skin

Usually he ended up on his ass, but the bondedhim a kind of power that came from the soul, not the body: His female was in the ar to rectify the situation in as violent and fast a manner as possible

Or maybe even a little bloodier and quicker than that

He un but shit, as there to shoot at? Lash wasn&039;t taking any chances with his own vital organs and his grotesque head was so close to hers, there was no room for error

John&039;s fury screamed inside of hiun muzzle come up

Blink

A field by a barn In the dark of night A female who un brought to bear--

Blink

Back here in Caldwell, the love of his life in the hands of his ene off--

The explosion right next to John&039;s ear shocked him firing forward as if he could catch the bullet

No! he screamed soundlessly Noooo--

Except it was a perfect shot The slug caught Lash in the temple-- about two inches away frolanced over his shoulder Tohruy&039;s body, the weapon unwavering in the cold air