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She couldn’t believe the way her body responded to his scent, as though it belonged to her and no one else, as though she had to have it or die Which was absurd, coestured to the now clean cement "What did you just do? Where did the woaze He reached a hand toward her then let it drop away "I do interdimensional cleanup hen death vampires hunt on Mortal Earth We work hard not to leave evidence of our world behind"
Alison nodded as though these words made perfect sense to her "So, you have a job description, which involvessure that we, us, this world doesn’t learn of your existence"
"In part Every night I patrol the Borderlands and battle ht-feeders Any of this make sense to you?"
She shook her head "Does any of this make sense? Death vampires? Borderlands? What do you think?" She hated the hysterical note in her voice She put a hand to her chest, a sense of deep inexplicable yearning still possessing her She took yet another deep breath "Okay So where are the bodies?"
"In a ue on Second"
"Second?"
"Second Earth Same earth, different dimensions Evolved powers Shit, you really aren’t in your call to ascension, are you?"
"Since I have no idea what any of that uess the ansould have to be no"
"But I watched you fold froht in front ofthing? Yeah, I’ve never done that before in public"
"But you’ve done it before"
"Sure Since childhood, although early on it happened mostly by accident"
"Anyone else in your family able to do this?"
She shook her head "My mother is telepathic but that’s about it"
"Yet you can see me," he stated "You dematerialize, you can fold objects, and you slip into aze fixed to his
He released a heavy sigh and shook his head "You have a shitload of power, but you don’t have the usual hallht now you’re a mystery to solve"
She looked him over Was he real? Oncefor an anchor He felt real
His nostrils flared suddenly He squeezed his eyes shut like he was in pain
Okay, she had to open the door She had to know the truth about hi "So, you’re a … vampire"
"Yes The ascended world is a vampire world but not in the way depicted in the worst of the Bram Stoker traditions"
"Except for the death va the source of that particular aspect of vas for some really hard-core shit However, s properly, to take blood and to give pleasure without doing har moment "I can’t even read your mind and I should be able to, which means you have powerful shields in place Who are you?"
Oncepractice here in this building Or had one I’ve been closing up shop for the last two aze and lowered his voice "Was your last client Darian Greaves?"
She nodded "Yes"
"Christ" He shoved a hand through his thick black hair, which gave her sudden cravings She drew in another breath and shifted back to his green eyes "Do you know Darian?"
"Shit It’s so weird to hear you call him by his first name No one does that Not on Second He’s known as the Co plans for our world as well as Mortal Earth--your earth--and these plans involve war, conquest, and slavery Right now he’s well on his way to succeeding I take it he didn’t discuss his ambitions with you or his vampire nature"
She shook her head "No But he offered me a job"
"What?" he cried
His deep rich voice flowed over her, and she forced herself to take a s he was, sent shock waves of desire through her body "He wantedI desired and now I see he really wasn’t kidding, was he?"
"No"
"I told him I couldn’t work for him I could never work for such ahihed "I don’t think you could ever call what I was doing ‘treating him’ He had an ability to s about h he never spoke directly of his wrongdoings, he shared a great enerally involved an advanced level of brutality Of course he would insist he would never think of acting out these fantasies If … if I truly can believe that you’re real, and that Darian is from Second Earth as you’ve said, then it would explain a lot but oh-s out loud makes me think I’m headed for the loony bin"