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I moved to the front s and saw that they were locked and secure P Shooter looked at round floor I nodded and he left to check it out I paused and sniffed, s fear and alcohol and blood and perfume Humans and two, maybe three vaular, the walls painted a pale reen tris twelve feet tall Leather sofas were in one area with athe less right-side wall for twelve feet or so, and was stocked with enough liquor to satisfy a platoon of soldiers on leave for a month Across from it was a library with books and shelves and an architectural-style desk A long table with upholstered chairss P Shooter disappeared into the rooht, in two burners, trying to mask the odor of

I counted the people sitting curled up together like puppies needing co up with eleven Because of the incense, I couldn’t tell by the smell, but tere vamp-pale Vamps each needed a minimum of three humans to feed from, which totaled up at three hu crew Which was funny Sorta

"Where" Are her ashes? Where did she die? No Wrong "Ummm" I floundered

"All the bedroo her nose with a wrist "Blood-servants are on the second floor Sonya’s, Liam’s, and Vivien’s are on the top floor" She sniffed "Sonya’s is theI was to check out the upstairs I nodded back and headed up the narrow, curving stairs by the front door Pulling back the slide, I off-safetied,the side of the weapon I paused at the top of the stairs, feeling P Shooter coeverything More blood and sex and humans and vamps and alcohol andall the others In the fu, but not parse the scents into the finer smells, like individuals and their previous locations The kids had been partying

"Downstairs?" I asked Shooter, sotto voce

"Everything secure, all locked up for the day," he ht and nals, Shooter and I divided the place up,the left half of the second floor The rooms were tiny, like dorms that had been halved They were cramped and messy, and the bathrooms orse There were only two baths on the second floor, one on the ground floor, for the nine messy humans And no place for a killer to hide

P Shooter and I headed up the stairs to the top floor Here there were threesuites, each done up like a swanky hotel, lots of crea-sized four-poster beds, drapery that puddled on the black hardwood floors, the rare rug in large blocks of bright color, siht pillows everywhere Squishy tan oversized ar and linear, done in whitesparse and very si humans Windoere actually doors, but all were locked and secured Shooter and I , beveled e, pink, and shriold sandals, two bracelets, a watch, a necklace, two earrings, and a heap of ash It was brownish and white with granules of red The brown for flesh, the white for bone, the red for blood, I guessed I breathed in and out Nothing had burned here Nothing had bled here except for huic, at least not over thewith the patchouli rising froain, short bursts of breath, ue and throat with a faint scree of sound No Nothing had burned No smell of cremated human or roasted vamp But the ash itself smelled like vamp--a thick and wiry s had turned a female vamp into an ash heap

I pulledWhen I was done, I pulled a wood stake and stirred the ashes No bones No fragments Weird I asked Shooter, "What’s protocol on this? Do I call the cops?"

He frowned, and I realized that he was one of twins fro now that I saw hinized him because his ponytail was tucked down inside the collar of his sweater, to keep an opponent fro it like a handle to control him, just as I had done with my own hair

"The primo’s call Except the primo’s new and won’t knoill she?"

"Wrassler’s call, then," I stated, and Shooter grinned "What?"

"Maybe I’ll have a nicknaun

"P Shooter P for Pellissier"