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"Let’s take this one day at a tiood idea Lord knehat to

Nevertheless, I was disappointed Where once sex with no strings hadn’t sounded bad, now it no longer sounded good

Nic lifted led hair from my neck and pressed his lips to the sensitive skin at the curve

Or ht you were dead Now I’ht end up that way, I can’t sleep at night"

Not exactly a declaration of everlasting love, but it was so

"I don’t kill easily," I murmured

"Maybe I should sleep in here fro just above mine

"Maybe you should" I lifted onto my toes and kissed him

He tasted both familiar and new, the past and the present in just oneI knew of sex and love, I’d learned from him

I wanted him now as I’d wanted hiain for a future only to have it snatched away? Was it better to dreaardless of what toht I planned tomy ankle around his, I tumbled us onto the bed We fell in a heap of lihed, and I stared down into his face

"What?" His laughter faded, leaving a puzzled sh like that since - " I broke off

"Stanford?"

I shrugged

"I don’t laugh much anymore Life without you hasn’t been very funny"

Withto be too ha-ha, either

He touchedso ed "Co my lips to his But when I tried to deepen the kiss, he wouldn’t let , le kiss, which went on and on, moved me more than the sex ever had

"Elise!"

Edward slammed the door, and I scrambled off Nic as if I were fifteen years old instead of twenty-nine

He appeared in the doorway, lifting his brows at the sight of led hair and twisted sweater I smelled smoke - he had taken care of the body in the woods - then his gaze went pastaway

"Kitchen," Edward snapped

I turned to see what had annoyed hiht have been kissing ently, but he still had a hard-on that was clearly visible beneath his jeans

"If he thinks he’s going to forceto kick his bony ass, then shoot him With silver, just to be sure"

I started to laugh, then I choked as a thought hita nasty chill from head to toe

"Stay here," I said, and followed Edward into the kitchen

He’d set a package on the table -to worry about On to the next

I crossed the roo as I neared him Could I shoot Edward? He could certainly shoot me

I touched his ar over a chair in his haste to get away But it was enough I glanced at Nic, who had followed despite my orders

When our eyes met, I shook my head and he lowered his hand froe that he would have shot Edward if I couldn’t

"You thought I was bitten?" Edward asked

I shrugged "Better safe than sorry You have been acting odd lately"

"How can you tell?" Nic lare from Edward

"I would shoot myself if I was infected"

"You know damn well if you were bitten you wouldn’t be you anymore," I said, "you’d be them Or us

Whatever"

"Don’t you have an antidote?" Nic asked

"Only if the victie"

"A concoction that would be more useful," Edward pointed out, "if it did not spoil within twenty-four hours ofit"

In that h for him And suddenly, I didn’t really care

"Getting back to our present troubles," Edward continued briskly "I did not know this Basil Moore"

"Why would you know him?" Nic asked

"To be a traitor, to know sos our enemies now do, the culprit would have had to be one of us once"

"Rogue agent," I supplied "Once J��ger-Suchers, until fired by Edward for inappropriate behavior"

"What kind of nutcase do you have to be to get ousted fro society?"

"I have rules" Edward sniffed "If they are not followed, out you go If you are lucky"

Unlucky people disappeared

Many forive up the danger, or hold down a regular job, so they went hunting on their own After searching out and destroying monsters most of mankind didn’t even know about, it was kind of hard to adjust to life as a librarian

"But since Basil was not one of us," Edward reiterated, "he could not be a traitor, though he ht information from one who is"

"And noe’ll never know, because someone killed him," I said

"A olf, not a someone," Edward pointed out "Now tell me what you have learned about witchie wolves"

Lydia’s book lay on the table Nic picked it up and started paging through as I filled Edward in

"Have you spoken with Jessie’s lover?" Edward asked

"Why do you call hiain?"

I rolled my eyes He knew damned hat Will’s name was

" ’Witchie wolves sleep in the sun until ,’ " Nic read

Edward and I glanced at each other, then at Nic

"And what do they plan to do under the ?" I frowned "What’s a ?"

"I have never heard that term before," Edward said

"We should really call Will"

"Wait" Edent into the hallway and came back with his briefcase He pulled out an electronic device I’d never seen before

"Speaker phone?" Nic asked

"Of a kind This is a prototype Not only can those we call hear all of us, but it nifies the other line so we can hear they froht spy stuff like this

"It will be easier to discuss the case, ja?"

" Ja," I said "I mean yes"

Edward hooked the contraption to the phone line, then dialed Jessie’s nuood," she answered, the slur in her voice ht Why was she asleep?

"We need to have a conference," Edward said "Set the phone on a flat surface so we lanced at me, scowled and muttered, "Cadotte"

"My Cadotte? Well, he is kind of mine" The phone clunked once ’Okay Go ahead"

"How up-to-date are they?" Edward asked

"Werewolf in huhost wolves - "

"Whoa!" Jessie interrupted "I never heard anything about ghost wolves"

The rustle of sheets preceded Will’s voice "Are you talking about witchie wolves?"

"We think so"

"They’re supposed to live - well, not live exactly, exist, I guess - on the shores of Lake Huron"

"Apparently they don’t know that, because they’re here"

"Fascinating," he oes," Jessie said "Computer Boy to the rescue"

"Hold on, Will," I ordered "Have you ever heard of the ?"

"No," Will said "Where did you hear it?"

"In a book Lydia gave us ’Witchie wolves sleep in the sun until the ’ Mean anything?"

"Not yet"

Sounds of a co up, came over the line This prototype phone was pretty cool