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gentleness of the woman's caressing touch was more revolting than a slap. Selena would have pulled away, but she was held fast by those eyes.
    "She didn't say she doesn't want to die, I noticed," one of the others said. A ripple of laughter spread around the circle of monsters.
    "No one wants to die," the diamond woman replied. She took her hard gaze away from Selena long enough to stab a look at the one who'd spoken. "Don't be in such haste to take life, Lawrence. Savor it. Always savor the moment." She turned back to Selena.
    "I didn't say I wanted her to die," Lawrence said.
    "I do," several of the others spoke as one.
    "This is all a mistake," Selena told the woman. This one was obviously the leader.
    Selena tried to ignore the others, especially the feral glitter of their eyes; eyes that glowed like animals out of the darkness. The eyes of animals intent on devouring her. It was a large storeroom, poorly lit, full of human-shaped creatures. Shelves and boxes disappeared in the blackness beyond the fluorescent bulb over her head. There were plenty of hiding places for more monsters out there.
    Selena knelt at the leader's feet, on cold concrete in the center of a pool of pitiless white light. She was trapped in the center of the crowd. She was sure she wouldn't survive the flight even if she could break away from this group. She also knew she'd run the moment she got the chance.
    The woman touched her cheek with only the needle tips of her long, painted nails. "But we want you to run." Her eyes gleamed with anticipation. Her smile gleamed with long, sharp teeth. "The more desperate the quarry, the more determined the victim to escape, the happier it makes us. If you want to live, don't run."
    Selena gulped down a scream, one that was as much of anger as it was alarm. The woman's words sent images of fresh terror through her, but they didn't change her resolve.
    Selena's mind was her own. The diamond woman wanted it. Selena could feel the leader of the monsters as she tried to force her way into her thoughts. There were claws trying to pry her head open from the inside. A horrible power pushed at her will.
    And Selena pushed back. She felt like she was going to be engulfed by a firestorm at any moment, but she resisted. She couldn't see anything but the woman's glittering eyes. Even those narrowed down to white-hot pinpoints of flame. She heard a whispered voice in herhead. The voice commanded. Selena ignored it. She stared at the flames and made herself think of birthday candles. Maybe, if she could find air somewhere in this stifling dark place, she could blow those candles out.
    The diamond-eyed monster bent close to whisper in Selena's ear. "Open to me willingly, child, and live." She ran a finger down Selena's throat and rested it against the pounding pulse. "I'll Page 16
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    take your memory and let you go free."
    "No one's taking my memory." The diamond woman was worried. It was as though Selena could read her with a sense she'd only just discovered. Or maybe it was just the sixth sense any cop acquired on the streets that kicked in over the fear she fought so hard not to show. Selena decided to play for time. "I'm Detective Selena Crawford. I'm a police officer."
    There was a collective gasp from the gathered monsters. The air went colder, more dense with danger, as a murmuring that reminded her of the swift scuttling of rats' feet raced around the room. The diamond woman's grasp tightened.
    "Tell me more," the woman suggested as some of the others moved into a tight circle around them.
    Selena wondered how much time she had before she died. Maybe the truth was the last thing these creatures wanted. She sensed they were disturbed by her words, but that it only made her situation worse. Maybe they weren't afraid of the consequences that came with cop killing. She didn't suppose they had anything to be afraid of. She only wished she hadn't