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I shouldn’t have been surprised when I awoke to sunshine and an empty bed, but I was

I’d suspected Adaht of day However, in the bright light of day, he was also gone again

Perhaps the crucifix test was as worthless as the zo poorked just fine - on an actual zoe of my mind Adam had told me I should wear a silver fleur-de-lis chain Two birds, one stone

For a guy as skeptical about vampires, olves, and zoive

I threw on so directly to the books Cassandra had lenttree after all Pardon the horrible pun

I flipped through one, found nothing A second yielded the sao," I whispered as the book fell open to an entire chapter on olves

Why is everything always in the last place we look?

Werewolves and vampires are alike in that they are both created by the bite of one similarly afflicted A vampire can take the form of a wolf, and a olf can take the form of a human However, silver will not harm a vampire and a crucifix will not harm a olf

"One stone," I

If a olf is touched by silver, fire results

I paused, re Cassandra’s knife and the smoke that had risen from Arianna Beasly’s arm Had that knife been silver? I wouldn’t be surprised

If shot with a silver bullet, a ill burst into flauess we had our vampires and our olves all mixed up"

But someone didn’t

Both the person who’d saved us last night and the deadan automatic rifle and silver bullets

Had Detective Sullivan ever discovered the identity of his strangled swaht leadbeliever I really wanted to talk to that person

I pulled out es fro for the man

Detective Sullivan wasn’t at his desk, so I left a e, then dialed my boss

"Diana?" He must have caller ED "Did you capture it?"

"Uh, not yet"

His sigh was both annoyed and disappointed "I expected better of you"

Noas annoyed Tin doing the best that I can"

"Do better I need that loup-garou"

There was that word again

"Why do you need it?"

"That’s what I’ you for I hate to wasteto do with a olf if you get one?"

"Werewolf?" Both surprise and delight lightened his voice "You told e yourin the swa the streets of New Orleans?

"Diana? Tell ency, communicated itself over thewith a full deck But since he was, as he’d so rudely pointed out, paying me, I told hi dead, silver bullets," he mused "How can you doubt what you’ve seen?"

"I haven’t seen a wolf"

I didn’t tell him about my dream of the beast with Adam’s eyes or about Simon My dreams were none of Frank’s business

"You will," he arou alive"

"I hadn’t planned on killing him Her It A dead cryptid won’t help my reputation or Simon’s"

"Of course" Frank cleared his throat "Is there anything else you need?"

I’d planned to ask for athe invisible nature of olves on filood

That olves couldn’t be photographed was an interesting factoid and could explain why there wasn’t ists are often sent to investigate a photo, which leads to the real thing But without that picture, no investigation

My heart danced with exciteht be the first scientist to prove the existence of a olf

"A cage," I said "And a tranquilizer gun I’ll need the dosage of the darts based on the size of a large male timber wolf About a hundred and twenty pounds"

"That’s Alaskan size"

Frank knew a lot about wolves In the lower US eighty pounds was considered big But considering the tracks I’d seen, the feeling I had, what I was after was one da wolf

"Just do it, Frank"

"All right"

"Also several portable tree stands The kind deer hunters use Black Metal"

I’d never gone deer hunting myself and neither had Simon, but we’d studied the best techniques There aren’t too many animals on earth more easily spooked than a deer Those who stalked theets

"Should I send everything to the Ruelle Mansion again?" Frank asked

"That would be great"

A momentary silence came over the line; then Frank blurted, "Have you seen him?"

I’d done a lot more than see Adam, but that wasn’t Frank’s business, either

"Why?"

’I did so around You’d do best to stay out of his way if you can He’s a dangerous erous how?"

"He was trained to kill in the army"

’Isn’t that what the army does?"

"Not like this He’s some uberwarrior I couldn’t even buy inforovernment wouldn’t sell info on their top-secret soldiers; as the world co to?

"I’ll be fine," I said

"Stay away froht be just sex, but it was great sex, and I wasn’t giving that up

As Frank said good-bye, I considered the unknown led with soht of Adaht?

I shook off the question What possible reason could Adaanyone?

The al rifle with silver bullets He’d obviously been hunting a olf So why had he been killed by a arou had so ers

I opened one of Cassandra’s books and then another A fewfor