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Damian and Blade had obviously declared a truce in the interest of va the house to Blade, one of Da room was sparsely furnished but a fire blazed in the stone fireplace Mara see so room This time there were almost thirty vamps present A coven? A herd? A flock? I was still plenty freaked out about Margie Valdez, our furry sentinel, settled near the front door

Kenny sat in an armchair and received condolences This see If so to lose it, big time

I had a killer headache I had vowed never to be in the sa with it I stood with Derek and Freddy and waited for so to wait

"People" Blade held up his hand and the roo of the wood fire "We have another danger in ourvampires with a wooden cross?" There was a murmur of speculation Flo stepped forward

"I know you think Ricardo did this, but he would not"

"Who’s Ricardo?" This was said by a vaht lifter in his for" Blade looked at me "He seems to hate vampires, some of them anyway I tried to find him, to question hiie? We knew him in Paris, but…" Kenny stood and looked around "You should be looking for mortal hunters instead We don’t kill our own We don’t"

"But we can" Daave him a sympathetic look "We can’t kill ourselves, but we can kill our own kind Anyone who can wield a stake can The wooden cross suggests our killer thinks he’s got so church services"

"I go to church" Another man spoke up

"So do I" A woman this tio out looking for other vampires to stake It doesn’t make sense"

"Ricardo is troubled He thinks maybe we are demons from hell" Flo had her chin up, but it wobbled a little I walked up to put an arry murmurs around the rooroup seemed civilized, more likely to form a book club, than a posse We all were civilized and into blending We condeue vas either Richard Mainwaring sure hadn’t shown

"People" Blade held up his hand again "Just watch out for Mainwaring He’s about Damian’s size hite hair Easy to spot But we’ve had no luck tracking him down Approach him cautiously and never alone"

"I still don’t think--" Flo sighed "We shouldn’t be hasty We have no proof that it’s Ricardo"

"No, we don’t" Mara had planted herself by Blade’s side "And, frankly, while I’m sorry for Kenneth’s loss, I doubt the cross killer is as well organized or as well equipped as Westwood Stay in pairs and I doubt this religious fanatic will approach you" Mara’s eyes blazed and even I had to give her credit for being bloody beautiful in her hatred "Westwood is stalking us Treating us like trophy anis around his neck We ht, Mara So what are we doing about hi Diana with me "Diana, Flo and I were aht We knoas Westwood because Diana took an arrow in the arm" I looked over at Valdez who had raised his head and was studying the crowd "My guard dog saved us" Valdez sat up as everyone turned to look at hiettin’ close to Blondie again"

"What scent?" The neoain

We’d skipped all the niceties this time and no one had bothered to introduce us There had been crystal glasses of Bloody Merry set out on the dining roo

Diana pulled the pieces of arrow out of her purse She’d washed them but the wood still had a distinct odor that our enhanced sense of smell would be able to pick up easily

"This is it, folks Olive wood It’s Westwood’s arrow of choice Take a whiff If you set the hell out of there" Diana looked at Blade "The cross that killed Margie wasn’t olive wood, was it?"