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To think, the Shifters in her Shiftertown had driven her away What total dumb-asses

“You need to learn to hold it,” Zander said, trying to tas, Rae next tosun trickles through the s

Zander cleared his throat and lifted the sheathed sword he’d brought out for hiic at all, as far as he could tell

Rae watched hi with a sword?”

Zander shrugged “You never know The Fae still use the to do whatever shit they take it into their heads to do They have swords that control the Collars—did you know that?” Zander jerked his finger at the Collar around Rae’s neck

The black and silver of it glea

“I know,” Rae said “My dad explained it to us”

The Fae had, twenty or so years ago, had a hand in overnment put around the neck of every Shifter they could round up Since that tiic swords that worked to activate the Collars when they were near a Shifter, thus rendering whatever Shifter they pleased in horrific pain

The Fae hadn’t yet burst out of Faerie waving their ic swords, but everyone knew they would so, in secret, to take off the Collars and replace them with fakes so the humans would be none the wiser The cubs and Shifters far down the hierarchy already had replace the Collars painlessly was an influx of Fae gold, which was rare and hard to obtain Their supply, given to Shifters by a Fae who actually wasn’t a total bastard, was small

Zander had never worn a Collar and wasn’t about to start now The Shifters he’d visited in Austin had tried to get him to wear a fake so he could avoid arrest if so hi to him—sucked out his soul maybe He didn’t know

As nice as Rae looked in her Collar, Zander would love to see her out of it The symbol of her captivity bothered him a lot

“So,” he said, balancing hiate opens in the h it What do you do?”

Zander drew his sith a whoosh of steel Sunlight flashed on the blade that he kept polished in honor of the man who’d bequeathed it to him

Rae started to lift her sword, holding it all wrong, then her eyes narrowed “I don’t think the Fae carry samurai swords”

Zander moved the sword in front of him, the blade perfectly balanced “Maybe not”

“Where did you get it?” Rae asked with curiosity, but she also had a teasing light in her eyes “A souvenir shop?”

“No, from a samurai,” Zander said “He was a friend He left his swords to me when he died”

“Oh” Rae flushed “I’m sorry”

“He was a good guy A Shifter I saved his life once and then when he was dying of old age, he sent forHe didn’t have anyone in his pack left alive and he didn’t want hu hold of them”

Rae lowered the sword, looking interested in his story “There are Shifters in Japan?”

“Not as many as there were Harder to hide these days—most have come to the States But yeah, there are Shifters in Japan Bears in the north and souy was Lupine” Zander raised the sword again, holding it with perfect steadiness “There are Shifters all over the world It’s called diaspora”