"Miss, please, we can't have this sort of thing here. Let the man go."

Sapphire's head twisted so sharply toward the guard that Leesil was unprepared.

Her free hand shot out.

Nails split the man's throat as her fingers drove deep into his neck and then jerked out again. Dark red liquid coated Sapphire's fingers and ran down the back of her hand. The guard crumpled, choking on blood overflowing his gasping mouth.

Leesil punched upward with his right hand, slashing the stiletto's blade against the underside of Sapphire's wrist. He grabbed her outstretched forearm and spun to his left, twisting her arm.

She lost her grip on his throat and screeched in surprise. As she jerked herself free of him, Leesil slashed downward across the top of her wrist. They stumbled apart, Leesil clutching only a severed sleeve cuff where he'd tried to take her entire hand.

Chap and Magiere burst through the door behind them. Fright replaced the fury on Sapphire's face. Clutching her slashed wrist with her bloodied hand, she fled down the passage toward the end door. Chap shot past and out the door as well. Leesil started after them.

"No!" Magiere yelled. "Let me."

He ignored her and shoved the piece of fabric inside his shirt, bolting after Sapphire.

Magiere's anger increased when Leesil ignored her order. She didn't even have her falchion, and all he carried were his stilettos. Fury fed her speed as she ran after him. She felt her eyeteeth elongate as the night around her brightened in her sight. The topaz amulet's light actually felt warm on her chest. Beneath rage, she remained focused-almost aware, almost controlled.

Leesil gained distance ahead of her, and she heard a crack and a snarling yelp echo down the alleyway. Chap must have reached the undead harlot first.

Magiere forced herself to run faster, anxious to reach the dog, and her body obeyed. Leesil reached a corner in the alley and was about to round it, when he suddenly threw himself to the ground in a roll, head over heels.

From around the corner, a wood timber struck down and smashed into the empty space he'd just occupied. Leesil's roll continued toward the far alley wall. Magiere reached the corner, and the timber rose again. She snatched the protruding end.

Holding the other end was the woman who'd been sitting in Leesil's lap. With a screech of frustration, she jerked the timber, but Magiere held on. Surprise and fear registered in the creature's bright blue eyes.

Leesil came off the far wall, body whirling across the alley floor. Scarf fallen away, his hair was a wild cloud moving across the ground. His right foot hooked the undead's ankle, and his body twisted over with both hands slapping hard against the alley floor. His left leg shot up.

The kick struck the woman's breastbone and ground its way up into her face. Magiere blinked as she felt the wood jerk harder in her hands. The undead arched backward, falling. Magiere toppled forward and threw her weight behind the timber.

The timber's splintered end struck the woman's sternum. A muffled snap of bone sounded from inside her chest as ribs gave way and a dark stain raced through her silk bodice around the wood. She screamed louder than Chap's hunting wail.

The sound pierced Magiere until she felt it inside her head. Heat and hunger answered it to rise up her throat. She shoved hard, and the timber drove through. When it struck the cobblestones beneath the undead, wood splintered in Magiere's grip.

The creature sprawled limp and silent on the alley floor.

Magiere dropped to her knees on top of the corpse, panting and regaining self-control. It came quickly this time, the ache washing from her jaw. She didn't have to slide fingers into her mouth to be certain.

Leesil rolled to his feet and ran to where Chap lay against the alley wall. Magiere got up to follow him. He had a lot to answer for, and there would be no more evasions.

Leesil gingerly touched Chap's legs and head.

"Anything broken?" Magiere panted.

"I don't think so, but he's still dazed. She must have hit him hard."

Chap groaned-and then growled. Magiere took a deep breath of relief.

This was what they did-always. They would speak of matters at hand and push aside all else. She was sick of it.

"Are you sober?" she asked bluntly.

"Yes, I…" He looked at her, amber eyes so sad that he seemed on the verge of pouring out words, but he simply looked away and said, "I am."

Anger drained from Magiere. What good would lecturing him do? What good had it ever done? Leesil lived in the moment and did whatever he wanted at the time, never realizing what his own lack of awareness could cost him.

Chap lifted his head with a rumble still in his throat. Magiere stroked him once and then rocked back on her heels.

"I doubt anyone can dismiss this," she said wryly. "We have proof enough even for the council."

They both turned toward the corpse. Leesil got quickly to his feet again.

"What…?"

Magiere stood as well, panic taking hold as she looked both ways down the alley.

The body was gone.

Chapter 9

Along, wailing cry rang out in the distance, and Toret's fingers dug into the coach seat. The sound brought a flash of memory.

He'd fled through the woods outside of Miiska from the half-blood and the dhampir, with a silvery hound leading their hunt. No other animal ever made such a sound.

Sapphire was out there alone. There couldn't be anyone else the beast hunted.

"Stop the coach!" he yelled at the driver.

The instant his feet touched cobblestone, he bolted, hearing Chane close behind. They wove through the streets faster than harnessed horses pulling a burden and neared the Rowanwood, but the hound's cry seemed to come from several directions.

"Which way?" Toret demanded.

Chane closed his eyes to listen, but the wailing had stopped.

"Chane!" Toret demanded. Helplessness mounted inside him, seeding anger within it.

"I hear nothing. She went to the Rowanwood. We will start from there."

"You don't know what that dog can do," Toret said, and reflexively touched the scars on his face as guilt and fear muddled his thoughts. "She doesn't know what's happening. I didn't even warn her."

"We will find her," Chane insisted, "but we must slow down. Gentlemen do not run through the streets attracting attention. She will try to get out of sight, taking to back roads and alleys."

"No!" Toret shouted. "She could get trapped in a dead end, or penned in some narrow way."

"I did not say it was wise," Chane answered, reaching out to pull Toret back. "I said it was what she would do."

For a moment, Chane sounded so much like Rashed that resentment passed through Toret. Always so calculating and focused, coldly thoughtful. Did Chane feel anything? For all Toret's immortality and cunning, he would never be tall and imposing like Rashed or Chane. But he had Sapphire, who loved and needed him, and now she was hunted.

Toret pressed on, but the drag of Chane's grip reduced him to a hurried walk. Peering into each empty side street and alley, he hastened to the next.

"Wait." Chane's grip tightened on his shoulder. "Can you feel her?"

Toret stopped, casting about for any hint of Sapphire's presence. When opened wide, his senses were more powerful than those of most of his kind. And he'd made Sapphire, so he could always feel her presence when she was near.

"Nothing," Toret answered. "It's like she isn't…" He couldn't bear to finish the thought as he looked to Chane.

His companion scanned about quickly and returned Toret's own puzzled expression. Neither Chane nor Sapphire was developing anything close to the mental abilities Teesha or Rashed had possessed. But Chane had other powers natural to him.