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I openedof faces around me Since none of them were the faces I wanted so desperately to see, I responded in the usual way: by yelling "Gah!"

"I think we&039;d better take you to the hospital," a curly haired blond woman I hadn&039;t noticed before said Since her hands reeked of gunpowder, and I could sood it did me to notice that now), I had an idea who to thank for my perforated heart "Can you walk?"

"I think she should stay put Hoould we explain this? We&039;re fifteen hundred miles from home I&039;m not sure how many of the locals would be syet the hell out of my house!" I then spat blood in a fine cloud that they all looked at Nauseating, yet weirdly pretty Focus, Betsy

I tried to sit up but, weirdly, they all had their hands on ently, for the kid&039;s sake) and sat up "O, ! You bue in, attack the hostess, then shoot her in front of a child?"

"I&039;old eyes at me It reminded me of a cute little owl, and I chomped on my lip so I wouldn&039;t smile at her "I&039;m the next Pack leader" She extended a small, chubby hand "My na Nice handshake Now get out and take your psycho guardians with you"

"I don&039;t think you should stand," Wedding Ring Asshole worried

"You weren&039;t too worried about o," I snapped "And I don&039;t think you should keep your hands on me for another half second" climbed unsteadily to my feet The room tilted, then steadied Luckily I&039;d fed a couple of days ago-another queen perk All vampires had to feed every day &039;Cept uy on the way home, then picked him up (literally), ran the eleven blocks to the nearest hospital (in three minutes), and dumped him at the ER for some blankets, TLC, and hot food

Anyway, thehad helped me more than he knew I heard three clinks as I the bullets worked their way out of nored them (must be a Tuesday!), but the other five stared at the misshapen bullets, then at me, then at the bullets

"Out, out, out!" I reiterated, since they all see Or both

"Truce?" WRA asked, se that brought to ions and crowed, "Oh ho! Now that your tiny brains have processed the fact that I&039;m fairly unkillable and you couldn&039;t beat me-or shoot me-into submission, you&039;re all Peace Talk Central Well, fu-" I reet you"

"We just wanted to talk," one of thein, but I sto without punching" I listened hard, but there wasn&039;t a sound froh the ruckus- and the gunshots! Or he&039;d crawled into the laundry chute Either way: quiet as a little baby ant intruders You don&039;t want to see ets worse than this?" one of thereen eyes, and a Schwarzenegger build He was the only one who looked genuinely friendly He earing faded blue jeans, beat-up sneakers, and a T-shirt that read "Martha Rules" He rubbed his chest and added, "You pack a pretty good punch, blondie Ever think of taking up the circus life as the stronga lady?"

"I&039; blond said, "and this is uy with the impressive smile and yellow eyes nodded at me "And our alpha female, Jeannie" The curly haired shooter also nodded "And Brendan, and Cain, and Lara-Michael and Jeannie&039;s daughter"

All the ridiculously good-looking people nodded at me, the soul of politeness, al to killas any vampire, except they were the picture of robust, superhu co at therapes on the vine Except for the blond gun-toter She s for Antonia," Jeannie said, not taking her hand off the butt of her thirty-eight I quickly revised "ordinary" into "gun-wielding psychobitch"

"Oh Duh Werewolves, right?"

"We did tell you ere co," Michael reminded me

"No, you duup"

"I told you she wouldn&039;t get it," Jeannie sighed She snapped her holster closed, zipped her hoodie (in late June!), and I felt a little better as the gun was hidden away Bullets couldn&039;t killlike crazy

"Antonia wouldn&039;t haveuic where Antonia&039;s concerned is a little faulty" Michael sighed and added soues"

Derik smirked, Jeannie rolled her eyes, and the other three rerace to look abashed "I, uht Antonia would have explained things to you I thought you were ignoring instructions and-"

"Hello? You&039;re her-what&039;s it? Pack leader?"

"So she did tell you"

"And you never noticed that Antonia wouldn&039;t say shit if she had a mouthful?"

"Point," Derik said cheerfully