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But he needed to feed
Bars were closing After hours clubs, tucked into lofts and behind stage entrances, were opening There was a lot more traffic on the streets than Celluci had expected
"It&039;s &039;cause people live in the West End, they don&039;t just drink and shop here" Tony waved a hand to in?clude the apartment towers that rose to block the stars a both sides of the street "It&039;s not like Toronto, it&039;s all uys came up from Seattle to see hoe make it work so well"
Celluci s cans, a soft thud, and assorted profanity spilled out of the alley they&039;d just passed
"Relax" Tony grabbed his arm "It&039;s just dumpster divers"
"It&039;s just what?" Celluci asked, allowing hih duot hooks, soht in" He shoved his hands into the front pocket of his jeans and kicked at a bit of broken side?walk Although his face was in shadow, Celluci got the impression he was embarrassed by his comparative affluence "Lotta homeless people here Well, ityour ass to death back East" You wannaof it, his tone added
But Celluci, who&039;d bagged the bodies of those who froze to death every winter huddled at the base of million-dollar office towers, exposed skin stuck to the steel grates of the subway air vents, said only, "Good point"
They walked in silence for a few ot a new life here," Tony announced suddenly "I got a job, I got school, I got a chance; and I wouldn&039;t have if it wasn&039;t for Henry"
"And you feel like you owe hiested you owe hi?" Cel?luci knew daant, undead romance writer, but he wasn&039;t the type to put a lien on a man&039;s soul
"He doesn&039;t have to I feel it" One hand slapped a draht, what about the things you&039;ve done for his that have to be done in daylight The people who have to be dealt with The arrangelanced down to find Tony&039;s pale blue eyes locked on his face "Leaving aside certain other aspects of the relationship " His right thumb rubbed the tiny scar on his left wrist " I think you&039;ll find things haven&039;t been all that unequal"
"He trusts me with his life" It almost sounded like a question
"You trusted hiht buzzed, the recent hit of a popular grunge band throbbed through a dark but open , and bothroared down Granville Street toward the bridge
"What does sixty kout onto the street and flipping the car the finger as bright yellow ht "Idiots in fast cars think the bridge is a goddahway," he muttered as they crossed to the other side "Probably wouldn&039;t slon if they fucking ran over you"
"Feel better?"
Uncertain whether the olderit, Tony shrugged and discovered he did, indeed, feel better "Yeah" After they&039;d walked another block, he added, "Thanks"
When she opened the warehouse door, the blood-scent spilled out into the night Vicki sed hard and fought for control While an incredulous voice in the back of her head de, she stepped over the threshold andthe dark corridor created by two racks of floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with industrial tile
At the first cross corridor, she found a body He&039;d been shot four tie- the choice of professionals as it soaked up theheard
She could hear movement up ahead and the quiet drone of voices beyond that It sounded veryHunger made it hard to think, hard to plan She should leave This hunt did not concern her
Scrubbing one hand over her face, trying to block the distraction of the spilled blood, she stood and glanced up into the steel rafters No one appeared to have taken the high road S, she reached for the crossbrace on the closest rack and began to climb
"No The bottom line is if weapons move out of this city, I move the at the table leaned for?ward, scowling "You&039;re what, twenty-six? Twenty-seven? You&039;ve co, and you think you&039;re hot shit, but you&039;re not hot enough yet to take me out and you know it"
The other reement with it "Street wars are bad for business, Mr Dyshino"
"Fuckin&039; A, they are Which is why you andsit here until dawn"
The table sat in the middle of the open area where the forklifts were usually stored One section of the overhead lights had been turned on, but they didn&039;t quite e to illuminate the oil-stained floor The shadows of the sixshadow
"You don&039;t have to take this," one of the six an?nounced belligerently from behind David&039;s left shoulder
"Let&039;s hear Mr Dyshino&039;s suggestion of cooing to &039;co to stop"
A ed second "Ad is a very s it We appear to have reached an iain"
Fro&039;sferally, she enjoyed the view If the verhter each other, that was fine by her
The unexpectedly close whisper of aze to the top of the nearest rack A prone gunht, lay half hidden behind a crate of "parquet style" vinyl tiles Carefully searching the shadows, she spotted another three
This could get interesting
David Eng had the advantage in nuht up short by Vicki&039;s scent, Henry wondered what the hell was going on Growling low in his throat, he pushed open the warehouse door The air inside smelled of sweat and fear and anticipation
"We haven&039;t reached anything, you ied to his feet "This isn&039;t Hong Kong, this is Canada, and I say "
A 9-ht hiht shoulder and spun him around The rest of the burst killed the man behind him He hit the floor and rolled under the table as all hell broke loose
Crouched beside the man who&039;d been shot in the back, Henry flinched away fro shots had been fired, he was on his feet and racing toward the sound Vicki
Vicki watched in aht, face and hair a pale blur above the un that sounded like "Po?lice!" as she realized he had Henry in his sights
He got the shot off just as she knocked him into the air Henry&039;s howl of pain drowned out the ripecontact with the concrete floor, nine meters down
The scent of Henry&039;s blood rose to obliterate the singed sulfur ss, and the warm, meaty smell of the men below Henry&039;s blood The blood that had er ripped aside all controls
Tiers of his right glove to the hole in his left arht When he lifted his head, he saw a cold-eyed young un around until it pointed in his direction-each h he were rabbed the unman&039;s face
As the body fell, the wound throbbed once, sending a ripple of pain racing through Henry&039;s body, and tiain
He felt, rather than heard, Vicki&039;s screah to stop hi his shoulder, Dyshino stared out from under the table in horror as another of his men hit the floor This one was dead before impact
Shots ricocheted off the &039;s people leaned around a forklift and, grinning widely, sprayed bullets in the general direction of Dyshino&039;s bodyguard Soht he was crazy, but he loved this kind of stuff-the noise, the chaos, the way death was so coale shot?
All at once his grin twisted into a gririp locked onto his shoulder and yanked hier tightened on the trigger
He sent Death on an impersonal visit to two of his companions
Both sides realized they had a common enemy at about the same time Unfortunately, by then it was too late
The last sniper scra to outrun his own death He slipped,One step, two
Vicki reached out a hand and grabbed the back of his head, sla his throat in onehad planned Crouched behind a roll of no-wax vinyl flooring, he grabbed his second&039;s shoulder and waved his Ingraet the fuck out of here!"
The other an tothe other&039;s retreat They were almost at the door when a pale face appeared out of the darkness
"I don&039;t think so," Henry snarled His hand around the barrel of the Ingraazine had e&039;s hands and hurled it away
Howling with fear, the second started back the way they&039;d come and ran into Vicki&039;s outstretched arm
A few moments later, she dropped the body and wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her sweater When she saw Henry watching her, Eng lying lifeless at his feet, she s silver "There&039;re a few left"
He half turned toward the interior of the ware?house, then shook his head "No Not worth the risk"
"They&039;ve seen us "
"They saw so, but not us They don&039;t want to see us e Hunt; it reminds them of why chil?dren are afraid of the dark"
"Then what&039;s the risk?" She stepped toward hi in deep breaths of the rich, meaty, blood-scented air Another step and her palainst us" Leaning for?ward, she licked a bit of blood from the corner of his e when the world had been a kaleidoscope of new sensa?tions had she felt so alive
He caught her tongue between his teeth, carefully so as not to break the skin
Her arled in her hair
She &039;s body out of their ith the side of her foot
It was over very quickly
The darkness began to lift from Henry&039;s eyes as he held out a hand to help Vicki to her feet "We&039;d better get out of here before sounfire"
"But "
He could see the deaths not dealt glittering in her eyes "No" When she took a step back toward the light, he caught her arm "Vicki Listen to me We have to leave before the police arrive"
This was the voice that had guided her through the year of chaos that followed the change The silver faded Reluctantly, she allowed hiuide her out of the warehouse
An ocean breeze tattered the bloodscent that shrouded them
Vicki snarled softly at Henry&039;s touch, but when he released her, she stood where she was, staring at his face
"What?"
"Just re" Her tone clearly stated she wouldn&039;t identify the arage, and we&039;ll ride up to?gether I think we should talk" Then she was gone
Peeling off gloves that were already beginning to stiffen, Henry shook his head "She thinks we should talk," he said to the night Once, before Vicki, he&039;d thought that nothing re
Those still alive inside the warehouse, two of Eng&039;s ht and waited, without knowing exactly why, for the dawn
She aiting for hins of either the slaughter or the aftermath
"Handi-wipes and hairbrush," she explained when Henry raised a red-gold brow at her clean face and slicked-back hair "And I think I&039;ve discovered ear black"
They stayed a careful ten feet apart on the way to the elevator Once inside, in opposite corners, Henry studied her carefully "Are you all right?"
"I think I have a bruise on my butt" She rubbed it and snorted "Next time, you&039;re on the bottom"
"Next tihted in overturning his world, but this, this he hadn&039;t expected "There shouldn&039;t have been a this ti "
"What? In the er " sex is a well docu?er lifted " obviously the blood scent was over?whel, and three " Her eyes began to glitter again " it was so glorious finally being able to let go"
"You enjoyed it?" When she started to grin, he raised his hand "No I o"
"Yeah, I did And what&039;s the har aside what they&039;ve done previously, tonight they were planning on killing each other"
"Suppose there aren&039;t any bad ?"
"I wouldn&039;t "
"Are you sure?"
The silver faded "I could&039;ve controlled myself if you hadn&039;t been shot" Had she still been able, she&039;d have blushed as she suddenly realized what she&039;d just said "Uh, speaking of, are you okay?"
"The bullet razed me" He&039;d tucked his left hand in his waistband to support the injured arh the hole in his jacket "By sunset tomorrow you won&039;t be able to find the wound"
"Why on earth did you run out into the open like that?"
He shrugged and winced "When I heard the gun?fire, I thought you were in trouble"
Vicki snorted "Christ You&039;re as bad as Celluci I can take care of ht for very long"
"Henry, I hate to break this to you, but it was the guy with the centuries of experience who ju war"
They stepped out onto the fourteenth floor and in?creased the distance between theht?"
"We&039;d both fed," Henry said thoughtfully but with?out much conviction
Vicki shook her head "I think it&039;s o of control, we let go of all the baggage that co as we&039;re focused on wholesale destruction, we get along fine"
"Then perhaps that&039;s e&039;re solitary hunters If what happened tonight is what happens when our kind join forces, we&039;d soon wipe out our food supply"
Key in hand, she paused outside the door to the borrowed condo "What happens toht?"
"With you and me? I don&039;t know" He smiled, and stroked the curve of her cheek into the air because they stood too far apart to touch "But I have no doubt it will be an experience finding out"
Celluci was sound asleep Vicki stood just inside the master bedroom and watched him Watched the rise and fall of his chest Traced the curve of the ar over his head Listened to his heartbeat
He shifted position and a curl of hair fell down onto his face
She stepped forward, hand outstretched to brush it back but stopped as the movement pulled the satu?rated cuff of her sweater across her wrist, drawing a dark smear on the pale skin
All at once she didn&039;t want Mike to see her like this
Her clothes, all her clothes including her sneakers, went into the washing machine-cold wash, cold rinse, more soap than necessary
Then she stepped into the shower and watched the water run red down the drain