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"Well, at least everyone knows she’s turned bad," he countered with

"Nope, everyone doesn’t know she’s turned bad Vah Council had decided to not do squat to her Humans, local humans--hell, our own mayor and his council--think that she’s practically Glenda the Good Witch of the North What pissed uys in suits and the PTAto do with her penthouse being vandalized last week because ‘poor Neferet,’" I air quoted, "hasn’t been seen since then"

"Really? I can’t believe they’re saying that"

"Believe it Neferet’s press conference set the stage for her to look like a victi happened to her"

"Doesn’t e the fact that we had to kick her ass to get your grandht No one saw us, so all that talk is just bullshit gossip It doesn’t , Stark In this case I think itthe fan for anyone who isn’t a vaht about that, but that’s actually good news," Stark said

"Huh?"

"Neferet has never kno to lay low and let a situation cool down And she sure as hell has never been able to pull off being a victiether--literally--and ht back where she was before She’s eventually going to realize that the local hu to bon and worship her A bunch of the tiain Then she’ll be outed with the humans, just like she ith the vamps That’ll leave her no shit pot to stir here, and if she can’t stir up so rid of her for good could actually be, as Stevie Rae would say, easy-peasy"

"Stevie Rae!" I felt a flush of guilt "Crap I pretty much left her alone to deal with the Erin deathit, and by it I ether for the bus Everyone wanted to knohere you were, which brought uess my second to breathe is up I’o say bye to Grandet on the bus"

"I’m with you, Z" Stark stood, pulled me to my feet, and kissed me softly "I’m alith you, even if thatsafe, e heard the screa start

"Holy crap, what is that?"

I could feel the tension in Stark’s body "Soain, and listened for a few seconds before he began guiding me toward the entrance to the field house "Co from around the other side of the school Stay close toabout this"

Oh, Goddess! Please, don’t let it be another kid dying … was all I could think as we cut through the field house and jogged to the school’s parking lot

We were co from a different direction than everyone else, so no one noticed us at first, and Stark and I got to get a good look at the creepy scene In the aggle of Benedictine nuns ere herding her froates of the school--was a tall blond wo an absolute and utter hystericalht cash pearls Her hair had co out froh the nuns hadin circles, she was shrieking and flailing her arms like a crazy person

I admit that my first reaction was to feel super relieved that it was a freaked-out local and not another dying fledgling

Sister Mary Angela stepped fro to calm the wo when a young person dies, but we all know death is never far fro They accept it, and sowoela as if she’d just realized where she was She drew a deep breath and her face twisted, changed, going froer so quickly it was scary Later I realized that should have ling? That’s absurd!" the woman hurled the words at the nun

"I’m sorry I don’t understand wh--"