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"This isn’t about you," Elyssa said, anger rising in her voice "It’s a rescue operation, not a bag and tag"

"Are the bounties valid if they’re dead or alive?" I asked

"I’ues are officially off the protected list Still, living vamps are worth more Guess their elders have plans for them"

"How do you plan to take a vampire alive? The flames you shot at them didn’t seem too effective"

"I wasn’t exactly prepared for varurarahed "I still don’t understand how that works"

"It’s way too coo into now, kid--I ic just as there’s a cost to using a smartphone It all boils down to physics If I can offload some of the overhead on a coh juice and I can create a hell of a gateway or burn an entire building to slag"

"Fine, fine, I get it," I said, already bored with the lecturing tone of his voice "But what spells are you planning to use against the vamps?"

"Ultraviolet bursts"

Elyssa shook her head "Effective, but highly visible We can’t use those in a stealth operation"

"What would they do to vah burst will knock one out or iht the place up like a strobe light"

"Actually, the one I’ve coded should be no worse than a flashbulb," Shelton said "And one flash can take down ht in their faces"

"Not feasible," Elyssa said, shaking her head "Not unless we’re in trouble and need help"

"Aw, coency use only"

"You backing out or sticking around?" I said

He

"What was that?"

"I’ll coainst an oath like that, I’ll incur so ht things were coic Now you’re saying karic all unto its own It’s like a piggy-bank we carry around indirectly affecting everything we do"

"Great," I said "One htaround the string of the blinds to the kitchen"How does Nightliss feel about prowling around a den full of vaarded me with those vertically slit pupils of hers "She thinks it will be rather exciting"

I thought of so to prevent the vaet within a few yards of them"

"Vampires can smell spilled blood," Elyssa said "They can hear the pulse of a beating heart froave me a direct look that told me she spoke from experience And yet she spoke of vampires as if they were in no way related to her

"Why didn’t anyone mention this before?" I said "How in the hell can we sneak through a building full of va so can sensespell I use," Shelton said

"Te us," Elyssa said "I’m sure spawn have defensive measures as well I had just assumed you kne to do it"

"No," I said "I’ myself"

Elyssa pulled out her s keys Shelton did the sa for an answer," I said

Elyssa gave ht work," Shelton said "But I can’t just use it on you I’d have to stay within a few feet of you for it to reed through it After a old chain and stared at it "Ah, daraone stale"

"Stale?"

"Yeah, you gotta keep renewing enchantments or they wear off over time"

"Can you freshen it up?"

"Not without a few hours to do it in"

I groaned "What am I supposed to do then?"

"There’s a siht be able to do Mine is one-way,they can’t detect me, but I can detect the up a wall of insulation between you and them, but you won’t be able to sense theic," Elyssa said "He’s deic," Shelton said "But usually only if they’ve been around a long ti at all"

"Actually," Shelton said, givingme hold his wand a day earlier, "I think he can Can’t hurt to try"

"Fine," she said "Waste your ti to have to keep you closer to us than we’d planned so you can keep him masked"