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. Come on.I ll take you to the corpse I found. Chapter SixteenWind tickled my face as Nathanial carried me soundlessly through the air.We trailed theclanless from just above streetlight level, wrapped in the tightest illusion Nathanial couldcommand.Being on the street increased the danger of being caught, but Tatius was the onlyHaven vampire strong enough to break Nathanial s illusion.With any luck, he was stillpreoccupied with the Collector.But he might not be.He might be out searching.It was a chancewe had to take.Nathanial agreed with me, knowing more about the decapitated body could help us.So far, there was a human body with a missing head, and a vampire head with a missing body.We were either about to see the enforcer s body, or there had been another murder.The towering buildings rushed by on either side of us and made the flight more nerve rackingthan normal or maybe that was because I could only cling to Nathanial with one arm.Nathanial had fashioned a makeshift brace for my butchered arm and buttoned a borrowedcoat over me.The nervousness could also have something to do with being wrapped in thewarm circle of Nathanial s arms again, but Nathanial was completely focused on his illusion andon trailing Degan.If his thumb didn t occasionally trace a line along my spine, I d have thought he d forgotten Iwas even pressed up against him.There was no hint of the heat that had been between usearlier.I hated the twinge of disappointment I felt at that fact.Nathanial s secret home was close to Sydney Park, but Degan s path led us to a busier, morenightlife-oriented area of town.I tensed as we flew past Death s Angel, but no legion ofvampires burst through the door determined to drag us back.Soon its black lights faded behindus.We were only three streets from the club when Degan ducked into an alley and stopped.The clanless shifter hadn t looked behind him for the entire trip Nathanial had told him hewouldn t be able to see us following but now his gaze roved the street, trying to find us.Nathanial landed behind Degan.Snow crunched under my bare feet as Nathanial lowered meto the ground, and Degan spun around, energy leaking into the night.His eyes narrowed, but heonly nodded in greeting, not voicing the agitation I could feel swirling around him.I didn t holdit against him predators get cranky when you startle them. This way, he said, moving beside the boarded windows of a closed nightclub. Twice Dead Haven 02 Page 125 of 246A hint of acrid smoke clung to the building, offering a clue as to why it looked condemned,while the rest of the area hosted a thriving nightlife.Degan shoved his fingers under a largepiece of plywood and pulled it aside easily.Too easy, even for someone with a shifter sstrength.Clearly this has been used before.The question was whether Degan had made themakeshift entrance or if he d just stumbled over it.He disappeared into the dark opening, and I moved to follow, but Nathanial held up a hand,stalling me. In case this is a trick, he whispered.Then slipped around the crooked slab of wood.I gave Nathanial a five-second head start it had taken him mere seconds to subdue Deganearlier then I pulled the wood aside with my good hand and slid inside.The hint of smoke had merely tainted the alley, but inside the damaged building it threatenedto overwhelm my senses.I wrinkled my nose.Come on.Sift past the fire stink.I drew another breath.Under the acrid smell of burnt wood I caught dried blood and the sourscent of something foreign.A foreign scent that did smell a hell of a lot like the blood Biana had drained from me.My vampire eyes adjusted immediately to the inky darkness of the inside of the club, butbesides Degan and Nathanial, there wasn t much to see.Charred wood, barely recognizable astables and chairs, littered the large room.A darkened, hulking mass took up half the space, andI guessed it had been a bar at one time.Support beams, fallen from the floor above, broke thespace as if a designer had decided to decorate with a post-apocalyptic theme.A few bottomsteps remained from a wooden staircase, but the fire had consumed the rest.I walked to the center of the room and turned a full circle. No body. No blood pool either.Degan pointed up, and I glanced at the dark, half-fallen ceiling.Okay.Second floor.But thestairs were burned to a crisp.Nathanial could fly us up, but unless Degan had climbed up viaone of the fallen support beams, I didn t see how he d found the body in the first place.The clanless stayed by the entrance, watching me.What, am I supposed to figure it out myself?I glanced at Nathanial.He looked up, and then he was in the air.Degan started, his hand reaching for something in hispocket.He stared at Nathanial, who hung in midair between the two floors.Degan had known, Twice Dead Haven 02 Page 126 of 246in theory, that Nathanial could fly, but accepting something as possible and seeing the proofwere very different things.I felt for him; we were throwing a lot at him, and all and all, he wastaking it well. The body is up there, Nathanial said, landing beside me.He reached out, like he would pick me up.I stepped back. I ll find my own way. After all, if Degan could do it, so could I.Besides, unlessthe victim or possibly the killer could fly, they had to have found an alternate route upstairsas well.I traced my steps back to the boarded window and knelt.Charred bits of wood and ash covered the floor, clearly marking the outline of footprints.Lotsof footprints.The boxy, dress-shoe prints were Nathanial s and stopped right inside theentrance.The barefoot tracks were mine.There were also three sneaker impressions one thatleft zigzagged impressions in the ash, one with diamond-shaped impressions, and one that wasmissing large sections of the impression, like the sneakers were worn.Occasionally I caughtsight of another track, this one smaller, with a pointed-toe, but the person with the diamond-treaded sneakers had walked through those smaller prints, obscuring them.Two of the sneaker impressions, and the small, pointedtoe impression, all walked a direct pathlike they knew where they were going.The person leaving the zigzagged sneaker marks hadwandered the room, the tracks crossing themselves at times.I glanced at Degan. Let me see the sole of your shoes. He frowned, but lifted his feet [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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. Come on.I ll take you to the corpse I found. Chapter SixteenWind tickled my face as Nathanial carried me soundlessly through the air.We trailed theclanless from just above streetlight level, wrapped in the tightest illusion Nathanial couldcommand.Being on the street increased the danger of being caught, but Tatius was the onlyHaven vampire strong enough to break Nathanial s illusion.With any luck, he was stillpreoccupied with the Collector.But he might not be.He might be out searching.It was a chancewe had to take.Nathanial agreed with me, knowing more about the decapitated body could help us.So far, there was a human body with a missing head, and a vampire head with a missing body.We were either about to see the enforcer s body, or there had been another murder.The towering buildings rushed by on either side of us and made the flight more nerve rackingthan normal or maybe that was because I could only cling to Nathanial with one arm.Nathanial had fashioned a makeshift brace for my butchered arm and buttoned a borrowedcoat over me.The nervousness could also have something to do with being wrapped in thewarm circle of Nathanial s arms again, but Nathanial was completely focused on his illusion andon trailing Degan.If his thumb didn t occasionally trace a line along my spine, I d have thought he d forgotten Iwas even pressed up against him.There was no hint of the heat that had been between usearlier.I hated the twinge of disappointment I felt at that fact.Nathanial s secret home was close to Sydney Park, but Degan s path led us to a busier, morenightlife-oriented area of town.I tensed as we flew past Death s Angel, but no legion ofvampires burst through the door determined to drag us back.Soon its black lights faded behindus.We were only three streets from the club when Degan ducked into an alley and stopped.The clanless shifter hadn t looked behind him for the entire trip Nathanial had told him hewouldn t be able to see us following but now his gaze roved the street, trying to find us.Nathanial landed behind Degan.Snow crunched under my bare feet as Nathanial lowered meto the ground, and Degan spun around, energy leaking into the night.His eyes narrowed, but heonly nodded in greeting, not voicing the agitation I could feel swirling around him.I didn t holdit against him predators get cranky when you startle them. This way, he said, moving beside the boarded windows of a closed nightclub. Twice Dead Haven 02 Page 125 of 246A hint of acrid smoke clung to the building, offering a clue as to why it looked condemned,while the rest of the area hosted a thriving nightlife.Degan shoved his fingers under a largepiece of plywood and pulled it aside easily.Too easy, even for someone with a shifter sstrength.Clearly this has been used before.The question was whether Degan had made themakeshift entrance or if he d just stumbled over it.He disappeared into the dark opening, and I moved to follow, but Nathanial held up a hand,stalling me. In case this is a trick, he whispered.Then slipped around the crooked slab of wood.I gave Nathanial a five-second head start it had taken him mere seconds to subdue Deganearlier then I pulled the wood aside with my good hand and slid inside.The hint of smoke had merely tainted the alley, but inside the damaged building it threatenedto overwhelm my senses.I wrinkled my nose.Come on.Sift past the fire stink.I drew another breath.Under the acrid smell of burnt wood I caught dried blood and the sourscent of something foreign.A foreign scent that did smell a hell of a lot like the blood Biana had drained from me.My vampire eyes adjusted immediately to the inky darkness of the inside of the club, butbesides Degan and Nathanial, there wasn t much to see.Charred wood, barely recognizable astables and chairs, littered the large room.A darkened, hulking mass took up half the space, andI guessed it had been a bar at one time.Support beams, fallen from the floor above, broke thespace as if a designer had decided to decorate with a post-apocalyptic theme.A few bottomsteps remained from a wooden staircase, but the fire had consumed the rest.I walked to the center of the room and turned a full circle. No body. No blood pool either.Degan pointed up, and I glanced at the dark, half-fallen ceiling.Okay.Second floor.But thestairs were burned to a crisp.Nathanial could fly us up, but unless Degan had climbed up viaone of the fallen support beams, I didn t see how he d found the body in the first place.The clanless stayed by the entrance, watching me.What, am I supposed to figure it out myself?I glanced at Nathanial.He looked up, and then he was in the air.Degan started, his hand reaching for something in hispocket.He stared at Nathanial, who hung in midair between the two floors.Degan had known, Twice Dead Haven 02 Page 126 of 246in theory, that Nathanial could fly, but accepting something as possible and seeing the proofwere very different things.I felt for him; we were throwing a lot at him, and all and all, he wastaking it well. The body is up there, Nathanial said, landing beside me.He reached out, like he would pick me up.I stepped back. I ll find my own way. After all, if Degan could do it, so could I.Besides, unlessthe victim or possibly the killer could fly, they had to have found an alternate route upstairsas well.I traced my steps back to the boarded window and knelt.Charred bits of wood and ash covered the floor, clearly marking the outline of footprints.Lotsof footprints.The boxy, dress-shoe prints were Nathanial s and stopped right inside theentrance.The barefoot tracks were mine.There were also three sneaker impressions one thatleft zigzagged impressions in the ash, one with diamond-shaped impressions, and one that wasmissing large sections of the impression, like the sneakers were worn.Occasionally I caughtsight of another track, this one smaller, with a pointed-toe, but the person with the diamond-treaded sneakers had walked through those smaller prints, obscuring them.Two of the sneaker impressions, and the small, pointedtoe impression, all walked a direct pathlike they knew where they were going.The person leaving the zigzagged sneaker marks hadwandered the room, the tracks crossing themselves at times.I glanced at Degan. Let me see the sole of your shoes. He frowned, but lifted his feet [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]