though he knew the Teflon-coated bullets hit it.
Then he saw the other guy.
Tall. Dark like Darth Vader was dark. Menace radiating off him like chill off a chunk of dry ice. And Michael had made a command decision, right then and there. He’d run for his life. Out the side door, up the hill onto Riverside, yelping at every shadow.
But he wasn’t followed.
His hands shook as he got his Star-Tac open and dialled the private number they’d been given for emergencies.
“Boss? Boss! We’ve got a situation here—”

It was not much of a greenwood, but it was all these mortal drones deserved. Aerune reined in and dropped his burden ungently to the ground before vaulting down himself. A moment later he crouched on the turf beside the mortal.
The human creature twitched and muttered, still caught in a web of the elixir’s spinning. Aerune could see the nimbus of power grow brighter around him as the tiny guttering spark of the human’s innate magic grew and flowered under the effect of the draught he had imbibed.
Here is power indeed. Aerune basked in its presence as the mortal might bask in the warmth of a fire. It purged the Sidhe’s p