s
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her for about two minutes while he counted backwards from one hundred.
What makes you think I am in any way about to help you and not skin you alive?
They didn t actually skin witches, just tended to box them or if they were particularly
naughty, kill them outright. Guess which one he was going to recommend to the others?
You have to help me. I won t undo the binding if you don t. And you ll be stuck
with her. I know what you are, even if she doesn t yet. The kid found a garbage pail and
dug through it for clues, not making eye contact with him
Help you what? He walked up to her, putting himself an inch from her body. The
kid didn t back away, though he saw the twitch in her eyes that said she wanted to. What
binding? He leaned closer. This time the kid did back away, biting her nails.
It worked, I know it worked. She pulled her blackened sweater down around her
hands and ran the edges over her mouth, like a baby would a favorite blanket. You
should be able to hear her thoughts, see where she is and make her do what you want.
You re the Master of the Hunt. That s what s supposed to happen, I think& Her voice
trailed off and she peeked at him, her wide eyes brimming with tears.
He leaned towards her. Supposed to? You don t know? He shivered. Witches were
one thing. New witches with all their powers turned to the on position were rare but not
unheard of. One thing everyone, even non-witches, agreed on was that trying a spell like
that without knowing what was going to happen was bad. The power could go wild, the
target could reverse itself and come after the witch, and the spell could become
something totally different, according to whoever had a will that was more powerful than
the witch s. There were so many things that could go wrong; he was a heartbeat away
from calling in a full-scale assault.
She s the key, the key to making it all work. I know I can fix it with her. She can
stop it. He backed away a bit. She was pacing and muttering to herself and it was
starting to give him the creeps. Witches didn t take chances. They didn t draw attention
to themselves, it was what made them so hard to find. This one seemed unhinged
www.samhainpublishing.com 33
Taryn Blackthorne
somehow. He was looking for something to knock the kid out with when she wheeled on
him. We have to find her! You have to bring her back! She flicked her wrist for a spell,
a flash blinding him and a bang knocking him down. She was gone when he got up off
his ass. He'd been whacked around by the same witch twice. There was no justice to the
world. There was a note with a phone number to call when he found his Mistress Hunter.
There was also a threat that if he brought in any of his friends she would just disappear,
leaving him permanently bound to a Shapeshifter. And that would be bad, read the note,
since if she dies, so do you unless I undo the binding.
This just kept getting worse. The witch was off her rocker and apparently one of the
most powerful he d ever run across. She d tied him to a bloodthirsty Shifter, and was
using him for an errand boy. He couldn t even call for help. The others would kill the
Shifter anyway and so sorry for him. He hated everything right now.
He shook his head, stuffed the note in his pocket and rumbled out to his vehicle. The
Shifter had left the keys in the ignition. He was pleasantly surprised to find all his gear
still hidden in place. Guns, knives with high silver content, silver bullets, standard witch
hazel switches and the vials of holy water, wolfsbane, and rose water were stored neatly
and covertly. He smiled. This was his job, after all. He cranked the engine, ignored the
whine of protest and stomped on the gas. The witch was right about one thing. He had to
find the Shifter before she killed again. At least that was something he knew how to deal
with. He chomped down on a cigarette, sucked back too quick and choked. Damn things
usually just came at him swinging, not all this crap. This was just getting too complicated
and messy. His head ached. He was never gonna live this down.
34 www.samhainpublishing.com
Even for Me
Chapter Eight: Ghost Cat
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