Claimed by Shadow Page 0,9

and attack me long before I even knew who she was. She could even kill one of my parents, insuring I was never born. And Mircea couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"But if Antonio is protecting her, how do you expect-”

"I have a few surprises for Tony. What I need from you-”

"Is likely to cost me greatly. You cannot believe-" He broke off at my expression. "What is it?" I jumped to my feet, wobbling a little in the heels, and stared over his head at the sight barreling in the bar's entrance.

My least favorite war mage was heading across the lobby at a dead run. His short blond hair looked like it had been hacked at by a machete, and his icy green eyes were angry. Not that that was unusual: I'd never seen him smile, and normally considered it a good day if he wasn't trying to kill me. Considering that he was wearing his usual knee-length leather coat, the one that bulged with concealed weapons, it didn't look like today would be one of those.

Chapter 2

"Is that who I think it is?" Casanova gave a panicked glance at the mage, whose coat had blown open to reveal enough firepower to take out a platoon. Even vamps are cautious around war mages-wizards and witches who have been trained in human and magical combat techniques by the Circle. They have the Shoot first, ask questions if you feel like it later mentality that human law enforcement left behind with the Wild West. Of course, police officers don't have to face the kind of surprises the mages frequently get. I'd already seen as much of this particular mage as I wanted, and apparently Casanova felt the same. Without waiting for me to answer, he let go of dignity and dove under the table. I was wondering whether it was worth the effort to try to run, when Enyo hopped down from her bar stool and jogged over. She gestured at the mage and raised bushy eyebrows that in her case protected only empty folds of skin. I'm not sure how I knew what she was thinking, because she didn't say a word, but the point came across. I shook my head emphatically. I wasn't actually sure what he was, but "friend" didn't sound right.

Enyo whirled to face the mage, who was only a couple of tables away. He stopped dead in his tracks and a second later I realized why. The three sisters weren't pretty by anyone's standards, but they looked harmless enough. Enyo's squashed face-containing so many folds that the absence of eyes wasn't all that noticeable-toothless mouth and straggling hair normally made her resemble a particularly homely bag lady. But she didn't look that way now.

My mythological knowledge is not great, composed mainly of bits and pieces left over from long-ago lessons with Eugenie, my old governess. This was one of those times I wished I'd paid more attention. Where a diminutive old lady had been, a towering Amazon stood, clad only in matted ankle-length hair and a lot of blood. Enyo's transformation was so quick that I hadn't seen it take place, but Pritkin's face, which had shut down to the pale, closed look he gets when truly terrified, told me there was more to her story than I recalled. I decided I didn't want to know.

I have never claimed to be a hero. Besides, Casanova had started to crawl away, using the tables as cover, and I still didn't know where Tony was. I dropped to the floor and followed on his heels. The next second, it sounded like all hell had broken loose behind us, but I wasn't crazy enough to look around. I've had lots of practice running away, and I've learned that it's best to keep your mind on the goal.

Half of a black lacquered chair flew over my head, but I just ducked lower and crawled faster. Casanova appeared to be heading for a blank stretch of wall, but I knew better. This was one of Tony's places, and he never built anything that didn't have at least a dozen emergency exits. I was pretty sure that somewhere up ahead was a door hidden by a glamour, so when the top half of Casanova's body disappeared into the red Chinese wallpaper, I wasn't surprised. I grabbed a handful of his suit coat, scrunched up my eyes and followed. I opened them again to find that we were in a utilitarian corridor