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A guardian, or an unwitting accomplice to fate? "Is he hu to tell you And now, the bill for ht to de I needed in order to live "What do you want?"

She gave er bone of a dehed "I don’t know any deer bone foryears, you will know faronslaught, you’ll have plenty to choose fro me your favorite," she said "And if you don’t, then one of your fingers will do just fine"

Before I had ti back in the center clearing of the grove, alone I whirled around, looking for Grandmother Coyote, but she’d disappeared, and I couldn’t pick out which tree was hers

For a , but when I looked down atin thethe need to be out of the woods as quickly as possible, ran through the trees, glancing at the ht winds, the Hunt only a few nights away I couldn’t afford to get swept up in the pri over our heads, but when the Moon Mother called, I answered

At my car, I took one quick look back at the forest For ainno further hint, I slid into the driver’s seat and pulled back onto the road As I headed for home, I wondered just where in the world I was supposed to find a deer Because I sure as hell wasn’t ready to give up one of mine

The night aning by the time I sla roo Delilah Menolly sat by her side, apparently back frolance at the TV ot to develop so taste Maybe we should make you watch PBS?"

Delilah snorted as she fished another corn chip out of the bag of Fritos "You and what arh, Menolly burped She flipped off the TV, looking sated Obviously, she’d fed well Delilah bea a packet of papers

"I found Louise Jenkins! You want to pay her a visit toet out of these clothes first," I said, dashing up the stairs I changed into a long satin nightgown and slipped on a ners Victoria’s Secret was hts flickered briefly to Trillian He loved silk and satin

Sighing, I brushed out my hair and slid on a pair of fuzzy slippers By the ti room, the knots of tension fro to ease, but my shoulders still hurt like hell I plopped myself down on the floor in front of Menolly

"Neck rub?" I asked, leaning back She wrinkled her nose and ss were retracted, but there was a se of blood on her lower lip that she’d missed I silently handed her a tissue and tapped ht?"

"Very good," she said, rubbing the kinks out ofthat it occurred toa er’s neck brought up other thoughts--not so good ones I backtracked from the idea Menolly had self-control, but even the best of us could experience a weak moment

"I found out more than I expected to, and the world now possesses one less perv," she said "He was about to slice up a hooker orks the back alley around Jocko’s I wiped her memory after I took care of her would-be suitor In fact, I wiped her ood job as a waitress When she coet herself off the streets" Menolly had a penchant for tracking down the whack-jobs of the world Since we’d been here, she’d saved the police a great deal of expense and trouble, even if they didn’t know it

I grasped Menolly’s hand and gave it a quick kiss "Good work," I said "So what did you find out?"

Her eyes glistened, flaring criray they’d turned when she’d died "I talked to one of the men who sleeps in a box next to the restaurant--not Chase’s informant, but a buddy as drunk when Chase interviewed hiures ca, dragging Jocko by a rope They left hi it off behind a pile of cardboard boxes But it’s bad Big, bad news"

I held my breath "As in?"

"As in a trio of deured out e’re looking at Starting with a Psycho Babbler"

"Oh great," I moaned Psycho Babblers were reptilian, able to shift into the eous of mortals They were similar to incubi, but they never bothered to have sex with their victims They just charmed them into a violent and bloody death And they were stupid Real stupid

"It gets even better," she said with a grim smile "The second one’s a harpy, and that’s just nasty But the third… we’re in worse trouble than we thought" Her nostrils flared, and her fangs extended just a s had rave

My spirits sank Grandh the portals, and it see the truth Maybe I had ht

"Okay, I’ll bite Who’s our third man?"

"Reht on one of his scouting missions? The one who killed Uncle Therasin? He showed us the dee in the Crystal Mirror"

"Oh hell," I said, leaning back "Bad Ass Luke"