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"There he is" She pointed "Over there"

He sat with his back toon his desk, facing my as a woman Her raven black hair flowed past her shoulders, and she wore a tight black skirt with knee-high boots and a clingy red sweater that showed off her curves She laughed, white teeth glea to Daniel Well, how nice and cozy This had to be the wo Your Bimbo to Work Day

I strode over to Daniel’s desk "Hello, Detective Sorry I’m late"

He looked up atover a dark hill He stood and said, "Perfect ti isn’t going to take long, is it?" I said it half in the direction of Ms Desk Orna she’d take the hint and leave

Daniel’s suess"

The wo at me with a smile that rivaled Daniel’s in candlepower There ere, one big, happy farinfest around Daniel’s desk In another

Daniel spoke "Vicky, I’d like you towhether he’d say wife or girlfriend--"Roxana Jade She’s the leader of the Witches of the Shield"

I blinked One of the witches Not Daniel’s wife Or his girlfriend More relief than I’d care to admit washed over me But only for a second After all, so

Roxana pushed away from the desk and leaned toward hn Wow, I can’t believe it I’ve alanted to meet you"

I shook her hand "U skills are legendary into create a charm that repels de her lips "You actually killthe buggers"

I shrugged, feeling a little too aw, shucks and not knohat to say I’d been all prepared to hate this woest fan

Daniel rolled a chair over from another detective’s desk "Why don’t you both sit down? Vicky, Roxana can bring you up to speed on what she told"I told Daniel to call ht, I didn’t care When he called this , I was so thrilled I look a ht away I wouldn’t "

If Roxana was ahair and perfect makeup, I hated to think what I lanced in a ht’s shower I touchedit, then made myself stop

"and then, when I saw you on the news yesterday, I was bowled over You were so brave!" She finally paused for breath, gazing at ht in the Zone," I said, and she laughed like I’d said soh with the expression of souys who flirted with anything fehtat him, and we both looked away

I turned to Roxana "I don’t know much about witchcraft All I knohat I saw on PNN after the plague, that you put up a shield to keep Hellions out of the city"

"Yes, because large-scale destruction attracts Hellions in droves" She put a hand over her"But of course you know that"

"They’d say legions Instead of droves, I ether in an army" She nodded, and I went on "What I don’t know about is the shield When it was created, I assumed--everyone assumed--that Boston was protected, a Hellion-free zone So what happened?"

"Well, the shield is just a charic of the best witches in the city, but still a charrow old and fade They need to be renewed So we chose representatives from each of the local covens to maintain the shield That’s us, the Witches of the Shield We ht before the spirits pass through the veil, to renew the char to her that "spirits," ive a rat’s ass about Halloween, but she looked like one of those humans who’d be disappointed by the news Besides, we needed to focus on what had happened to the shield

"So you’re saying that the shield eak, and somebody was able to punch a hole in it"

"The shield is never weak; we don’t let that happen We fortify it with Blood of an Evil Man"

"With what?" This came fro whether he’d have to open an investigation