“You cannot hide from me in my own home! I will—” Her words were cut off as she roared in pain, the grip of her right claw loosening automatically as the flesh spasmed in unfamiliar agony, blood spurting from the new wound. Handy had not considered the part where he fell and landed onto a body of rubies, but hindsight was a bitch. He slammed into the stones hard enough to scatter dozens of them out of where they were lodged into the rock itself. It hurt. A lot. In fact, he was sure it may well have killed him had he not taken that drop of blood. As his heartbeat slowed down and his insides began to feel as though he was freezing from the inside out, he began to wonder if that might not have been better.