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was so relieved that he wasn't about to die that he was positively giddy. |
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"Let me have a look," Kyna said. |
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She pulled the collar away and ran her fingers over the skin. Then she turned his head and checked the other side. "That hurt?" |
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"This is freaky. It isn't even red anymore." |
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The ranger took a look. "Darnedest thing I ever saw." |
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"Well," Cyrus remarked dryly. "I sure as heck didn't bite myself." |
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The Dark Man sat cross-legged on the floor of his hotel room, staring at a squat wax effigy. He suddenly blinked several times, scowled and cut his eyes to the bald man stretched out unconscious on a blanket next to the statue. The bald man was lying facedown, nude, and was bleeding heavily from a jagged quarter-inch hole in his back. |
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The thin man with the goatee looked over the Dark Man's shoulder as the witch doctor used his magic to close the wound. In a moment, the bald man groaned, flexed his fingers and rolled over onto his side. |
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"What happened?" the Dark Man demanded. |
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The bald man dropped his eyes. "There was a man with her. He attacked me from behind." |
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"This man, what did he look like?" |
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"Short, muscular, brown hair." |
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"And how did this happen?" |
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"I . . . I don't know." The bald man winced as he massaged his shoulder. "He was very fast, but I knocked him to the ground. I hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious." |
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"Why did you not just kill him?" |
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"I would have, but the woman was getting away and there was another man nearby; I could smell him. I planned to finish the short man when I was through with the woman." |
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"Finish him?" The Dark Man's face contorted in alarm. "You did not bite him?" |
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