Common sense would have said to take backup. I wasn’t in the mood for common sense right now. Old Town was warm, too warm, the heat settling onto the brick sidewalks. A lot of dogs.

No, that wasn’t a dog. I was pretty sure the woman opposite was walking a wolf. Our eyes met.

I had backup whether I wanted it or not. I nodded to Freya’s warrior…and to the wolf, who was probably just as smart as she was…then started to head towards the marina.

Heat. It beat down on me, too much of it. I might not feel it as much as most, but the fire inside me wanted to wake up in response.

I beat it down, still unsure of its source. Marina.

In the marina. I was probably looking for a boat. It was a good walk, though, King Street starting to slope downwards. This was the flood zone – people couldn’t get flood insurance here and some of the buildings had high water markers on them. Many of them sold seafood. I stopped, glancing around for warrior and wolf.

They were following me at a good distance. Good. Hopefully they would not be close enough for my opponents to spot them. If they thought I was truly alone, then they would probably do something stupid.

Or I would. I was doing something stupid as it was. I reached the Torpedo Factory and looked out at the marina. It was heavily secured and locked, but I knew exactly which boat my stuff was on. Not an ordinary looking boat, either.

An expensive one, one which glimmered with chrome. And they had my gun.

I was starting to have a very bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling, but I sensed I was committed now.

If I ran it would be weakness. If I attacked, it would be stupidity. So, instead, I moved to the edge of the dock and just watched them intently.

Above, I thought I saw the dark wings of a raven.