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"Vampires with their throats cut for one And they were all killed by another vampire--or more than one--as far as we can tell And no bitethese va off of the by cutting a person’s throat wouldn’t necessarily be enough to tie ether But if a vampire killed them all, the likeliness of the same killer increased exponentially Vas And the scent could be overwhel for them--particularly the smell of their own kind’s blood

It hy there were alal--that would be discriminatory--but because the vampires themselves would not allow their members to be put into such precarious positions The control it would take for a va their lifeblood out right in front of theine

Especially if the va to death in front of them--morals wouldn’t be a factor

Mason simply watched as I considered the ihts onto do, so I’d worked at schooling ot Sensory overload did that to a person

The waiter dropped off our drinks and promised our meals would be out soon

"Other connections," I asked after he’d ain

"They all see to take over a Magister’s position Repays of that nature"

"But not all connected to the saister?"

"Nope We think that the perp is soent" He stabbed at the ice in his glass with his straw, loosening it fro easier to drink around

"A vampire assassin," I muttered "Why doesn’t the killer take the blood?"

"We think it’s to sho tough he is Hoerful"

"He?"

"We have a suspect But we don’t have enough evidence on any of the cases to oes by Isaiah--no known last nalass and then took a long drink fro tohi behind his head, giving reat visual of the well-for the theory"

Suddenly warm, I picked up a small dessert menu that was propped up on our table and fanned ood theory"

"But?"

"But it doesn’t explain why the as so nervous Why she’d be hiding so from us"

Mason nodded "Like I said, it’s a theory And she could have been nervous for any nu lycan staring her down?"

A laugh escaped him, short, but it lit up his whole face for a briefto change right then and there and eat her" I grinned at the thought Sensitives weren’t the only misunderstood oh-dubs out there, and lycans were especially e into a beast-ood bite tended to intimidate people Not that the succubus could necessarily tell what Mason was, like I could, but the man felt like a predator You didn’t need a sensitive’s abilities to feel that

His light expression faltered "Not much chance of that"

I almost pressed him to explain what he meant, but his expression hardened as I watched Whatever it was, it wasn’t soed the topic to soreat interest to Mason

"So, how about the Bears this year?" Mason was intense about his work, and the first ti a football discussion

Mason looked at me quizzically for a second before he relaxed We chatted about football until the waiter dropped our food off and I let myself sink away froies I could see and feel as a sensitive, relaxedto ruin my afternoon fade away

"Are you done?" Mason asked, his voice startling me

"Oh, yes" I pushed my half-full plate forward and touched my napkin to the corners of my mouth

Mason frowned at ," he muttered Then more loudly to me, he said, "You should eat lanced at his watch "We have to leave now, anyway"

"Where to next?" I scooted out of the booth, pausing when he spoke

"To interview the Magister Maybe he’ll knoho has a beef with hiister’s estate But instead he drove north out of the city, then west When he parked in front of Casino Merveilleux, I wasn’t entirely surprised, but I was annoyed Not sopulse of va lot, Luc Chevalier le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>