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I padded along after him The urge to do more than simply haunt his steps still vibrated through my muscles, but attacking him here, on a main street, simply wasn't an option. The cops had undoubtedly been called by the restaurant, and the last thing I needed was interference from them. This killer was mine to question.
He headed toward the crowded, street-cafe rife environment that was Fitzroy Street, but thankfully didn't turn into it - probably because there was no place for shadows in that brightly lit place He headed for the gardens instead, avoiding the streetlights and paralleling Beaconsfield Parade I looked past him, studying the layout. Up ahead was a rotunda - the perfect place for an ambush. Better yet, there didn't seem to be anyone close, a fact backed up by the lack of human scents on the wind But the wail of sirens could now be heard I was running out of time to do this before the cops got here and started searching the area for evidence.
I shifted shape and wrapped the shadows around me hiding my form and my nakedness The stranger glanced over his shoulder and frowned. Maybe he was a sensitive, and able to feel the caress of magic. Or maybe he was simply ensuring that he wasn't being followed.
When he neared the rotunda, I ran at him Though I made no sound, he somehow sensed my approach, because suddenly he was facing me with a knife in his hand. His growl would have made any wolf proud, and the blade cut through the night so fast it was little more than a blur I slid to a halt and sucked in my stomach. The tip of the knife burned through flesh. Only one metal had that effect on wolves. The blade was made of silver.
I dropped and pivoted, sweeping with one foot, trying to knock him off his feet. He was every bit as fast, leaping over my leg then launching himself at me. He could see me, I realized then, even though I was wrapped in shadows. I rolled under his leap, and cast the cover from me, unable to see the point of wasting energy when it wasn't helping. I lashed out again, and this time he wasn't fast enough, the blow taking him high in the thigh. He grunted, but slashed with the knife. The blade scoured my jeans, nicking my knee. I swore softly, heard his chuckle of amusement. Obviously, his makers had failed to explain that laughing at a wolf in this type of situation was never a good idea. Anger rose in a red rage, and I threw myself at him.
The move caught him by surprise, and we went down in a tangle of arms and legs. He hit the ground first, cushioning my fall, his wheeze of breath whispering dead things and sour milk past my nose. I caught the wrist holding the knife with one hand, forcing the blade well away from my body as I tried to catch his other hand. His almost featureless face stared into mine, his eyes and mouth little more than thin slashes through which only gray was evident. There was no forehead bump, no cheek definition, and no nose. Only two holes that sat in the flat of his face.
His fist thumped into my side, and breath exploded from my body. But I ignored the haze of rising pain, bringing my knee up hard and fast. Like most men, he didn't appreciate a blow to the balls, and that brief moment of utter pain was long enough to hit him unhindered - and as hard as I could - across the jaw to knock him out.
I wrenched the knife from his nerveless fingers, and threw it as far as I could from the both of us. Then I rolled off him, and maneuvered him about until I got the pack off Inside were the various rifle bits. I reassembled it, loaded the chamber, then sat on his chest, my knees pinning his arms as I held the gun at his throat. If he knew who I was, then he'd know I was with the Directorate and more than capable of firing a weapon. And if he didn't know, then the mere fact that I'd assembled the weapon should warn him I knew how to use it.
What he wouldn't know was the fact that I had no real desire to actually use it.
He stirred. I pressed my free hand against his chin, forcing it back, thrusting the point of the rifle harder into the soft flesh of his neck.
He groined, and the thin, almost lizardlike coverings over his eyes flickered open.
"Don't move," I warned, jabbing with the weapon.
Death was back in his gray gaze. "I can't tell you anything."
I raised an eyebrow. "And I'm so believing that."
"I want a lawyer."
"Do I look like a cop to you? Do I actually look like someone who really cares what you do or don't want?"
He didn't answer Just glared.
"Why did you kill that woman in the restaurant?"
No response.
"Who paid you to kill the woman in the restaurant?"
Again with the silence. The wail of sirens had stopped, and though I was upwind of the restaurant, I could still hear the babble of voices, the rush of confusion. I didn't have all that much time to question this man.
I moved the rifle barrel down, and dug it into his Adam's apple. His grunt came out gargled.
"Tell me, or we do it the hard way."
"I know nothing."
Spittle sprayed my face as he spoke. I didn't have a free hand to wipe it away, and the small droplets stung. They also stunk... or was it him? For a man who had no odor, there sure was a God-awful stink coming from his body. And I doubted he'd shit himself. He was a professional, for heaven's sake, and despite what my brother said about my appearance in the mornings, I wasn't that scary at other times.
"Do your worst," he said.
I thrust the rifle point hard enough to break skin and draw blood. "You think I won't?"
"I think that soon it won't matter."
The amusement underlying his words sent chills down my spine. He was up to something, I was sure of it. But what?
Frowning, unease growing, I lowered a shield and psychically reached out. His mind was surprisingly unguarded, but maybe whoever had sent him here hadn't expected he'd be caught. I thrust deeper, capturing his thoughts, freezing both them and him.
