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Someone almost pounced on Mark He struck out with a kick that would have done Jackie Chan proud Hi attacker went flying back and struck a wall-hard-then just picked hiain

Mark had whirled, and for a un, but he wasn&039;t She heard a cry of fury, followed by that awful hissing right behind her She turned A black forirl hopped on Mark&039;s back He caught her with both hands, throwing her over his shoulder to the sidewalk

She looked like Pollyanna

He took dead aim between her eyes with his water pistol Shot

She screa came first

Then there was a san to spin, a steady spray of water coun

Sohed

A car horn blared

The hissing continued, punctuated by screams of fury

"Shoot!" Mark thundered "Turn and shoot"

She spun around Alost cavalier was almost on top of her He looked so much like pictures of Charles II that shock aler twitched

She pulled the trigger

Hiss

The man was just inches from her He snarled and let out a cry of fury as he dissipated right in front of her, the picture of his open ht that she saw fire, gleah a skull, as he burst into fla at her back Afor her throat

He touched the silver cross and screa into a hideous mask of fury

Then she saw fire for an instant, and the h the soot, she could see Mark, see that he had shot theof wings, saw a rising of shadows

In seconds the street was quiet again The sounds frorow louder Beco on the sidewalk

She was still staring at a , still holding her oater pistol He bought the good kind, she thought dryly They held a lot of water Kids would have a great ti with them at a pool

But she wasn&039;t a kid, and she wasn&039;t at a pool

And already she was finding it almost impossible to believe what had just taken place

"Are you all right?" Mark asked

Was she all right? What was he, out of his ht?" she repeated "Hell, no!"

He took a breath and offered a rueful sdid he touch you before I got here?"

She sed She was suddenly shaking uncontrollably

"No"

He took a careful step toward her

"I didn&039;t see what I just saw," she whispered

"You did," he told her

It was impossible It had all been so fast It couldn&039;t have been real

She looked at the ground It looked as if a careless gardener had lost dirt from a wheelbarrow as he hadthe water pistol froun

"We should get to Montresse House," he said gently

"The house," she echoed, frowning

"At least you&039;re not passing out," he th And the little voice at the back of her mind that had whispered that thereher suddenly spoke up loudly

They existed Va to pass out!" she snapped Right She was shaking so hard that she could barely stand

"Let&039;s go," he said

"To Montresse House?" she asked

"Yes"

"Of course," she said, the light dawning "You have a room there, too, don&039;t you?"

"Yes"

"Deanna&039;s been bitten by a vampire, hasn&039;t she" It was a state the fact that vampires were real

"Yes"

"Will she live?"

"I hope so"

She started walking, her movements jerky She felt as if she had beco of her own volition

As he walked at her side, it occurred to her that he had come in the nick of time

That he had saved her life

They were almost on Bourbon Street by then, and there were people everywhere, talking, laughing

A drunk passed her, and he onderful He was real Norly, stopping and turning on hi, too

She was teht you were at the hospital I caot word that you&039;d left," he told her

She wanted him to hold her She wanted to crawl into his arms No, she wanted him to be normal, too She desperately needed to take a step back

She opened her mouth to speak There was socame out She didn&039;t knohere to start

She took a step toward hiainst hi her, and she stood there, shaking

Oh, God, it was sothe strength of his body was through the fabric She had wanted to be near him, but she had been afraid

Even now, she didn&039;t dare trust him, even if

Even if he had saved her life

But she needed the clean, th of his form

The sound of his voice

Oh, God, it would be so easy to

She pulled away froain

They reached the house on Bourbon Street, and all of a sudden the air seeed shadows

Mark saw them, too, and his face tensed But he didn&039;t appear to be afraid Instead, he looked angry

"Open the gate," he said softly

She did, and the birds or bats, or shadows, continued to hover overhead But they didn&039;t come closer

She and Mark walked up the pathway to the house The front door opened before they were even half way there "Come in, come in, and hurry, please," Stacey said

It was evident that she&039;d already met Mark

"What happened?" she demanded

"Stephan made his first real play for Lauren," Mark explained

"Oh, my God, where? When?" She looked at Lauren suspiciously "He didn&039;t?"

"No," Mark told her "But he&039;s getting bolder She was right off Bourbon"

Stacey let out a sigh "Was he alone?"

"No He has an army with him, just as I predicted," Mark said

Lauren stared fro as if the city were under siege, and by an eneular infestation," Staceyat her and s her shoulders "I assu anyone in, anyone at all"

"Yeah, I understand," Lauren said Because she did They were insane And she was insane, too, because she was seeing what they saw

"I&039; so hard to"

"To believe what&039;s unbelievable," Stacey said

"So you do believe that vampires exist?" Lauren said

"Of course," Stacey told her

"But"

Stacey shook her head, staring at Lauren "But why doesn&039;t the world know? You&039;ve just seen them-and you still don&039;t co at Mark, "I think that Mr Davidson could tell you that there are plenty of va their lives in as nor no one But there are also those who" Again, she paused "There are people, regular people, who are psychotic Cold-blooded killers It&039;s no different in the world of the undead"

"The undead," Lauren murmured slowly "In other words, I ood vampires, and I just don&039;t realize it"

"Maybe" Stacey said "Many exist without their closest friends knowing the truth"

"Sure they do," Lauren said skeptically

"I know that this is a lot to take in," Mark said

"But the i Jie, Bobby is here a lot of the tih this myself before Our only weaknesses can come from within"

Lauren stared at the me that a police lieutenant believes in vampires?"

"Yes," Mark told her

"His wife used to be one," Stacey explained matter-of-factly

"Used to be?" Lauren said

"No one really understands what happened there, but Maggie was a vampire For years and years Then Sean came into her life, they had a major battle with a really vicious enereat for Maggie, because she desperately wanted to have a family It&039;s different with Jessica Fraser, ns this place She&039;s vaood one, of course"

"Of course"

"That&039;s why Sean sent you here," Stacey explained "We kno to fight evil We&039;ve all fought vampires before"

"The bad ones, of course," Lauren ravely serious

Could this nightmare be real? Lauren wondered

When she&039;d woken up just a few days ago, the world had been spinning on its axis, and, though they&039;d had their problems, they had all been

Sane

But now

Mark Davidson set a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up into his eyes Serious eyes, striking eyes, eyes that had practically hypnotized her froht I don&039;t intend to stop until I&039;ve taken Stephan down, and it won&039;this bidding"

"Right" She knew she sounded exhausted and disbelieving, and she didn&039;t care

"I need a shower," he said For the first time she noticed that there was black, sooty, stuff all over his shirt

She realized that she was covered withg it, as well

It was death

Ashes to ashes

Dust to dust

She was literally wearing the evil of untold years

Realization hit her, and suddenly she thought she was going to pass out

She remembered where she had seen the man who had accosted her on the street before

She had seen him in the crystal ball