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EYES narrowed, Henry glared at the handless ghost at the foot of his bed His idly precise, he folded back the sheet and sat up If he released even a fraction of the tight grip he ry accusa?tion and another innocent would die

He watched and waited, hoping the spirit would tire of less questions When it beca to scream, Henry snarled, "Was your mother a woman?"

Translucent features twisted into an annoyed frown, but it obeyed the rules and quietly vanished

"Man, that is one pissed-off spook"

Henry paused, one hand on the bathrooed against the wall "You could feel it?"

"Feel it?" Tony snorted, covering his fear with bra?vado "I could al out from your room I just, you knoondered if you were okay"

"I&039;m fine It can&039;t actually affect me"

"Uh-huh And that&039;s why you just crushed the doorknob?"

Opening his fingers, Henry dropped his gaze to the unrecognizable piece of brass protruding from the bathroom door "Perhaps I am a little irritated I&039;m sure I&039;ll feel better after a shower" He took a half a step forward-one bare foot on tile, the other on carpet-and paused "Don&039;t you usually work Sat?urday evenings?"

Tony took a deep breath, lifted his chin, and aze square on "I traded shifts," he an?nounced defiantly "So I could be here when Vicki arrived"

Red-gold brows rose "To protect her froerous that anger could be, Tony would have pre?ferred it to the undercurrent of amusement he could hear in Henry&039;s voice "Or to protect you froer hed "I appreciate the intent, Tony, I really do, but for your own safety, if anything happens, any?thing at all, don&039;t get between us While I would never intentionally har to count"

"Then why did you stay? You&039;re ready to go to the cabin, you could&039;ve been gone when she got here"

"If I was gone when she arrived, Vicki&039;d never be?lieve that two vaether She&039;d continue to think that I&039;, that a response innate to our natures can be over?come" His eyes darkened and an aura of ancient power seereen velour bathrobe "By reht, by actuallywith her, I&039;ll prove my point in the only way she&039;ll accept"

Tony nodded slowly Having known Vicki since he was a fifteen-year-old street kid, the explanation made perfect sense "I bet she was the kind of kid who stuck beans up her nose"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know" His voice lifted into a shrill falsetto "Now, Vicki, don&039;t stick beans up your nose"

Henry grinned "No bet"

"So you stayed to prove a point?"

"That&039;s right"

"Not because you wanted to see her again?"

"Vampires do not maintain attachments after the parent-child bond is broken" Henry&039;s tone ended the discussion For added emphasis, he stepped into the bathroom and emphatically closed the door

The knob fell off and bounced down the hall

Bending to pick it up, Tony fitted his fingers into the creases Henry&039;s fingers had et be?tween us, he repeated silently Yeah, like I&039; between The Terminator and theback and forth in the elevator-three steps back, three steps forth-and kept his , he wanted to know if she&039;d even considered the possibility that Henry h the words were pressing up against his teeth, he couldn&039;t ask because, from her expression, she ob?viously had

"His scent is all over this building," she

"Don&039;t tellin the corners"

Her teeth seeer than usual as she snarled, "That&039;s not what I lare at hihten the mood"

"Oh" The bell chimed for the fourteenth floor She spun back around to face the door

Following her out into the hall, Celluci shook his head "No need to thank me" As their names had been on a security list at the door, they&039;d been waved right through without needing to buzz up and so had no idea of what they were about to face Given Vicki&039;s reaction so far, if Henry had been stupid enough to stay ho

He found hih who he intended to shoot, he had no idea

"She&039;s coht he looked like a cat, watching the shad?ows for movement no one else could see A moment later, three evenly spaced raps that unmistakably said, This is the police, shattered the expectant silence into sharp-edged little pieces

"You&039;d better answer it" Hands locked behind his back, Henryrooht be best if I kepthimself on the shards of anticipation, Tony walked to the door, took a deep breath, and threw it open

Celluci, about to knock again, lowered his hand

Vicki, who&039;d been staring down the hall, spun around

Had Tony not spent the last two years sharing living space with a va As it was, he sed hard, tried to keep his legs fro, and forced his mouth into what he hoped was an approxiood"

The fear in his voice penetrated There were a great many people whose fear Vicki rather enjoyed, but Tony wasn&039;t one of them Let&039;s just prove Henry&039;s point for hiled for control I will not be do the silver lance with Celluci, who added an infinitesi Before either man could speak, however, Vicki found her voice

"I just spent four days on the road, I need a shower, and I look like shit, but thanks for lying" She cocked her head and looked him up and down-to Tony&039;s surprise the inspection didn&039;t make hi good You&039;ve filled out, got some color " Her brows dipped down " but your hair&039;s too short"

"It&039;s the style," he protested indignantly, rubbing a palhed "Tony, it didn&039;t look that good on Keanu Reeves either Now then, you going to invite us in, or are you going to leave us standing in the hall?"

Ears pink, Tony stepped out of the doorway "Sorry"

"Asappreciatively around the entry-Henry&039;d bought the Pacific Place condo after she&039;d returned to Toronto-she nodded toward the colonnaded arch "Living rooh there?"

"Yeah, but" As she disappeared, he let his voice trail off and glanced up at Detective Sergeant Michael Celluci During his years on the street, they hadn&039;t exactly gotten along, but judging froht the past had been buried under their cohed "Yeah"

"Why, if he believes in this territorial i?"

"He wants to prove a point"

Like Tony before him, Celluci understood "I can&039;t say as I blaether into the living roon

Henry stood with his back to the , the lights of Granville Island beginning to pierce the dusk be?hind him Head up, arms crossed over his chest, he wore a blue silk shirt, faded jeans, and white running shoes His lips were pressed into a thin line His eyes were dark

Vicki stood by the ultraht hand pressed hard against the green glass top Head up, her left hand opening and closing by her side, she wore a blue silk shirt, faded jeans, and white running shoes Her lips were drawn up enough to show the points of her teeth Her eyes were silver

Standing at the edge of the roo In asaid, it would build past the breaking point When that happened, he didn&039;t have the faintest idea of what he could do to prevent the inevitable violence or if he&039;d have the courage to do it even if he kneould they fight? Would there be bloodshed? Wouldn&039;t vampires instinctively refuse to waste so pre?cious a resource?

Beside hiaze over the rooot a uni?form What&039;s next? Tealance and faded back just far enough to use the detective&039;s bulk as a shield

The tableau broke As Henry snarled and stepped forward, Vicki&039;s sense of the ridiculous pushed past her instinctive responses She stared at Henry&039;s clothes, then down at her own, and snickered "Christ, we look like a set of undead Bobsey Twins"

Nostrils flared, Henry stopped and turned to face her again

His aborted charge had brought hi into a snarl, Vicki backed around the table "Don&039;t stand so close!" She didn&039;t want to attack, but she didn&039;t think she&039;d be able to stop herself if he caht to see past instinct, to the lover, to the friend, to the teacher who&039;d taught her to survive within the parae of what they&039;d once been to each other kept getting lost behind what they were

"This is raceful, deadly "Not yours You do not tell me what to do in ," Celluci muttered to no one in particular "That&039;s an inored him, and Tony fervently wished he&039;d shut up

A muscle jumped in Vicki&039;s jaw "You asked ether," he re?ly

"We could if you&039;d stop this Prince of Darkness bullshit and back off!"

"I&039;, Vicki I am older than you I am more powerful than you You can only see me as a threat You can&039;t help but respond"

"And what do you see er provoked by the implication that he didn&039;t see her as a threat

"Sorew scathing "I do not wishruined by a child"

Vicki dove up and over the table, almost before she&039;d decided to attack Her hands reached for Hen?ry&039;s throat and grabbed only air She spun around as she landed, but, off balance, she had no chance to block Henry&039;s blow He threw her against the far wall and was on her, fingers diround

When Tony e hand closed on his shoulder and pulled him back

"No," Celluci said softly "Let them work it out"

Startled, Tony stared up at the detective He couldn&039;t believe that Michael Celluci was allowing this to happen, but although he was frowning, neither the larger rip wavered

Her shoulders under Henry&039;s knees, her throat in his hands, Vicki froze, caught in his eyes and recogniz?ing defeat

"We cannot work together," Henry told her, all the posturing gone fro it flat and tired "And as youI&039;ve borrowed a cabin on Grouse Mountain from a friend I&039;ll leave immediately and return when you&039;ve solved the case" His eyes never leaving hers, he released her throat and stood

"So you&039;re proved right" Vicki got slowly to her feet, one hand supporting her weight against the wall "Happy?"

He sighed and one corner of his mouth twisted into an almost smile "Actually, no"

"Stay here," CelluciTony&039;s shoulder "Keep an eye on her, but don&039;t go near her until she&039;s caler man demanded, wide-eyed and twitchy fro?"

"I need to talk to Fitzroy"

"About what?" Then he followed the line of Celluci&039;s gaze to where Vicki stood, eyes closed, breathing heavily, the fingers of her left hand sunk knuckle-deep through the leather upholstery of the couch "Oh Never mind"

When Henry atte over one shoulder, Celluci ait?ing at the door He stopped with most of the entry between them Any closer and he&039;d have to look up at theto say, Detective?"

"You did that on purpose"

"What?"

"Provoked a fight You knew that she had to attack you, or she&039;d never be convinced you were right"

"That&039;s very perceptive of you, Detective" Henry studied the other man&039;s face, not entirely certain of what he saw "Are you going to tell her?"

"I haven&039;t decided But I&039;d like to ask you so?"

"Fro new in the history ofuh "

"Vampires?"

Celluci flushed "Yeah Vampires For the first ti over terri?tory because Vicki doesn&039;t want your territory What if you could&039;ve worked so out?" He spread his hands and stepped away from the door "Now, you&039;ll never know"

"Now, you&039;ll never know"

The detective&039;s words rang in his ears as Henry made his way down to his car Vicki&039;s scent reround park?ing It was the scent of another predator in his terri?tory It was also the scent of a wo they were two different people

He slid into the BMW and rested his head for awheel The difference in the scent that surrounded him and in the scent he remem?bered only served to remind hiathered and refined for over four hundred and fifty years, to drive away