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To give us some privacy, Spade, Denise, Mencheres, and Kira went back to the guest cabin instead of rejoining us at our home We hadn&039;t needed to update everyone on what happened With their hearing, they&039;d gotten the full scoop while guarding the perimeter of the inn Annette, Ian, Bones, and I filed back into my house, where the balloons, confetti, and banners now seemed out of place with our new, soifts," Annette remarked

"All I want to hear froh nothing happened and give it to me"

Annette flounced onto the couch with none of her usual grace "I told you I&039;ve never seen him before"

Bones sat on the couch across fro ready for an extended nap "If that were true, you would have givento convince me that you don&039;t knoho he is"

"Not to mention you wouldn&039;t have let hi quiet while he carved into you," Ian added, ignoring the dirty look Annette shot hi your tio," I chi Master would allow the torture of one of his people to go unpunished You told o"

Under these ad we&039;d said was true, and she knew it Yet when I saw her lips coe even though it made no sense

Fabian materialized in the center of the room "There&039;s a va to our nearest cache of weapons Ian didn&039;t see up first He started toward the door

"Stop"

The single word came from Bones He hadn&039;t moved from his position on the couch, his lean body still sprawled as if totally relaxed I knew better The tension exuding from his aura made the air feel thicker

"I hoped we&039;d be followed here," Bones went on in that sa voice "Noe don&039;t need Annette to tell us who her attacker was We&039;ll find out for ourselves"

"Crispin, wait," Annette began, alar her features

"You had your chance," he said shortly Then he glanced at Ian and nodded in Annette&039;s direction Whatever else she was about to say was cut off when Ian slapped his hand over her runts caing her tight up against hiirl, won&039;t you, poppet?" Ian drawled in her ear

Annette&039;s grunts now sounded furious, but there was no way she could overpower Ian That was also why I wasn&039;t too worried about our uninvited guest Either he was suicidal, or he had no idea that he was sneaking up a hill where there were several Master vampires, one of whohts

"Fabian, you only saw one vahost bobbed his head "On the lower half of the hill"

Must be why the others didn&039;t sense hihest point of this hill, deliberately less accessible to any passersby

"Kitten, co at last "Fabian, tell the others to stay inside and talk as though nothing&039;s amy arms Wooden stakes would&039;ve been cheaper, but those only worked in the ainst the frigid Nove but to conceal allout of their own accord

Ian snorted "Appears as if Christlowered at hih me must be evident from my aura I hadn&039;t wanted a knife-happy intruder to crash Bones&039;s birthday party, but it had been weeks since I&039;d indulged in a little ass-kicking Who could bla to show this va for trouble?

"Reaze flared emerald with his own form of predatory anticipation "For now at least"

Frost-coated leaves crunched underneath h the woods My strappy heeled sandals were the worst choice of footwear for any norreat reflexes and couldn&039;t catch cold, so I hadn&039;t bothered to change my shoes Plus, if itout here in the dark withabove, but I didn&039;t see hiht sky, or hiirlfriend, either, but I knew they were out here, ready to notify our friends if our prowler turned out to have an entourage We&039;d guarded the location of our Blue Ridge home from all but close friends and faht have, too

Twigs snapped about a hundred yards to my left I didn&039;t jerk my head in that direction, but continued on ht stroll I doubted our trespasser would fall for the act, but he had to be somewhat stupid or he wouldn&039;t have attacked Annette while Bones ithin striking distance No Master va noises sounded, too close for me to pretend not to hear the ure lurking behind the trees

"Is sohter rolled across the cold night air "You&039;d lected to hunch your shoulders, clutch your coat, and bite your bottolish, and hissounded more like Spade and Annette&039;s aristocratic dialect than Bones and Ian&039;s less forht as he stepped out from behind the trees

It wasn&039;t his looks that h the vampire&039;s chiseled cheekbones and finely sculpted features reht, and he had to be at least six two It was his shirt Lace spilled out from under his coat sleeves to alathered at his neck and hung ot to scan hi