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Shoffru looked confused and then diso, heal hiet hirenade back in a pocket

"You have nothing hich to bargain," Shoffu said

"He dies, and neither do you," I said

Evan stepped up toIn Beast’s vision, I could see Evan’s ic And I knew the ic was familiar Was his wife’s His music nearly died as he breathed it in, but he played on, with only that single hitch in the h, and I sht And with Big Evan that always ht

"I have your friend"

"Not with you, you don’t See, I’ic, I don’t smell Molly You have her somewhere safe But not here" My words were spoken to Shoffru, but werestupid

Tosripped the blade and pulled It dragged from her body with an awful sound Shethe knife out Her blood poured fro and dark as the silver poisoned her She had started the night dressed in white Now she looked like death served cold Her arers went limp and released the hilt She took a breath, released it, and went still She wasn’t exactly true-dead She could be brought back if a master vamp was in the mood to save her Or she could rise as a revenant if no one took her head But for now, she was no danger to anyone At h I had little reason to suspect that Shoffru cared for her

Through the busted s I heard ured out where the proble trouble, and he wantedto fly off the handle, that he understood that Molly wasn’t here Wasn’t just outside, in need of his help I turned rip His black camo et and even blacker, drenched with blood "I’ll let you take Adrianna In return, you let Eli go"

"I bargain for only one thing The blood diamond"

Eli’s eyes rolled back in his head He wasn’t breathing His knees turned to water as he went liht as the Ranger passed out Panic shocked through ed the air I had to keep Shoffru fro him I had to keep the people in the house safe I had to find Molly and save her The goals could not be ed "It’s not like I carry it around with ray

"Pity," the pirate said "It seems our rapiers are locked"

Iwith swords "Yeah, life sucks that way sometimes" I juttedthe gesture to hideknife "So what about your girlfriend?"

He tilted his head to the side, one of those weirdits head Not human at all "I do not require the female" He lifted his head and sniffed The lizard poked its head out of Jack’s collar and raced around the vamp’s shoulder to the back

Behindan octave, now sounding like a challenge and not pure defense At the saic stopped cold Either she was dead or she was temporarily free of Shoffru’s control "Your pet sorcerer is a nuisance If you want the soldier back alive, bring the blood diah the air and buried itself in Shoffru’s chest Inches from his heart The pirate didn’t react He tossed Eli up into the air My partner landed on Shoffru’s shoulder like a rag doll, his blood spraying across the roo With a loud pop of air, Shoffru--and Eli--was gone Silence settled on the house, expectant and full of despair The sofa rolled over, thudding on its feet Rachael rose fro knife,the little witch behind her "Shiloh?" she called When nothing happened, she called louder, "Shiloh!"

The redheaded girl leaned in through the broken backSo Thin bloody streaks marked her cheeks Rachael rushed to theand pulled Shiloh through into the room "I’m sorry," Shiloh whispered "I’m sorry"