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Vivian

The shock of the outdoors sends a spike of pain through es and tightensthe happy twinkle of the Christola, I race into the deep twilight

Soon, the well-traveled asphalt pathway ends and I&039; over hard-packed snow that&039;s been plowed The employees don&039;t often walk all the way to the , especially this tih for vehicles It&039;s close to high noon and the sky is painted with the lingering colors of sunset

The fierce beauty of this harsh land is breathtaking, and despite how this dreaded week turns out, I&039;m still thrilled to be here even after two decades Once I veer off fros, the trek provesstops and huge snow banks tower in three directions

I climb to the top of the far one and take out the GPS to orient where I need to go The air burns in s as I note two blips on the screen Crap, Stanher pretty close when she skirted the property line

Slipping the tracker in rasp a nearby branch and drop softly to the ground The quiet presses in fro through the crust of the snow can be heard In athe resort&039;s property will couests should turn around soon Did Emiko not see it? They are placed pretty far apart Were her s off or perhaps she lost it?

I sense a presence and whip around to find Stan walking silently in my footprints "Vivian? Is that you?"

"Yes"

"What are you doing out here?" His face looks dark in the low light; he really should have worn a face in the fun?"

Shit I can&039;t believe I didn&039;t think up a viable excuse on ht haveto check Drew reported your and E froht I had her" He stops in front of me and the skin of his cheeks appears cracked and sore "But it&039;s like she&039;s disappeared"

"I doubt she&039;d coers to her bracelets start on those trees" I point across a s of snow-buried scrub bushes to soot too close she&039;d be stuck in one spot right now, right?"

I nod "That&039;s the idea" She&039;s here somewhere but I need to lead Stan away "You haven&039;t corin, "Now if I had don&039;t you think I&039;d be looking a bit bloody? I plan on drinking that bitch dry" He laughs at his own joke then shudders from the cold "Fuck, it&039;s bad out here"

"Look, if you&039;ve been scouring the area for a while then she ered the silver poison in the one"

He raises one eyebrow in hope, "You feel like calling in to confir me to cheat for you, Stan?" I say in a sweet, you-don&039;t-really-et close, she gets away"

I pat hi side by side with hiame You, Stephen, Jet and three of the wolves are all that&039;s left"

"You&039;d think withfootprints we&039;d have found her by now"

"Yeah, but two days with lots of feet and paws running off the trails can h the trees "Well, if it was easy, it wouldn&039;t be worth it, right?" he says

I nod reement and take my leave e reach the snow banks at the end of the plowed trail With a gentlethe sensors north of here and we part ways He&039;s heading back to warm up and plans to head back out when total darkness descends again this afternoon

Stan&039;s iven round when off a trail and have their whereabouts revealed so easily? If I were hunting, I&039;d be checking the trees ht in mind, I leap up and pull reen branches blockable to see too far, so I jump to the next tree and start to weave my way back to where I last saw E prey fills me Sure, it&039;s not a fair rendition of a sanctioned execution when she&039;s paralyzed by silver and I have a tracker on her, but my killer instincts don&039;t care My pulse quickens as excite an enforcer brought the creature withinin the power of taking a see justice can quickly entice even the most stalwart vampire to embrace their inner beast and not look back

For every va one&039;s baser nature away becoh the years A few decide to no longer fight it those are thetoo far gone forto do is put theht, I pushbeco the branches Every few ju for a sound of the poisoned vaain, what do I expect to hear when she&039;s paralyzed?

I take out the GPS to verify her location and see I&039;e hue paints the forest and up ahead I round A fewbehind the black-clad enforcer The branch sags under the additional weight and I step to a lower one to prevent it froainst the trunk and her ar how she stayed upright with her ar, I lean to peer around the other side Her wrists are bound together, ensuring she won&039;t slide off and plummet to the snow beneath

"Clever," I say "Or maybe more accurate would be &039;innovative&039;" Emiko&039;s face remains hidden behind her black ski ue? Oh, yes You tried to flee the property and got zapped? Must not be your first tih sense to climb the tree and bind your hands around the trunk before full paralysis set in"

Not waiting for a response, I slip a folding Spyderco knife out ofher hands One s to the ground Her body bounces off several sraceful heap in the snow

"Whoops" I don&039;t try to hide the hu face-to-face on the job, where one ht by the cops Classic idiot move

I descend the tree and stand by the assassin face-down in the snow "You&039;re lucky it&039;s ot a serious hard-on for cutting your heart out and drinking you dry

"I can&039;t be sure, but I think one of the perimeter sensors ot too close and it triggered only one bracelet?" I shakedown, I drag the limp form up and toss her over in while trudging through the snow, back toward the apart to escape You&039;ve been running these hunters ragged the whole dao? You don&039;t seem like the type to bolt unless there&039;s no other choice"

I pick up my pace and start to move as fast as the crusted surface will allow "I&039;ery Cook, our resident doctor She&039;s got plaset you up and running again"

"I know you can hearto tell you e found out We know about your husband and his six kids, three of whom are still alive and have wisely pulled back on the court case against you" A gentle probe ofI can&039;t discern her thoughts or e me

"We also uncovered the connection between the property, the video will, and two of the drained bodies left on the Tribunal&039;s doorstep Makes no sense you&039;d kill off the two key witnesses supporting your clais

"So it got us to thinking-who stands to gain the most with you out of the picture?"

I let her stew on this information and continue the rest of the trip in silence In a little while the six-story, brick apart comes into view The lobby is mercifully empty as I make my way down to the clinic next to the doctor&039;s apart vampire on the couch and head next door to have the doctor open the exas the auburn-haired physician to the entrance "Vivian? What are you doing here? I never see you in the building"

"I need access to the exaue&039;s ered and she&039;s been poisoned with silver"

"Oh, dear" The bespectacled older woman nods, "I&039;ll open from in here and meet you"

I head back the way I came and wait In a brief mo deeper into the clinic "Cos ready"

"Alley-oop," I say while hoisting the limp woman into my arms I don&039;t like that I can&039;t read herhow deeply she&039;s involved in the plot I could kick entina could let an opportunity pass to dig up dirt on me The past is the past; I wish they&039;d realize that No need harping over what can&039;t be changed Best to s

I lay Emiko down on an examination table with the back end raised With her head and heart elevated, a flush should ell

"How much silver is in her system?" the doctor asks

"Ten CC&039;s"

"Double that and she&039;d be in a coht not have helped"

"That was the idea" At the doctor&039;s shocked expression I shrug, "She&039;s dangerous, Margery We couldn&039;t take a chance"

"Let&039;s start with the plass a full, pale yellow bag on an IV pole and gets the drip started in Eht are, empty pouch

How much do I reveal to the e her death or keep her here out of the hile we try to save her from the Tribunal&039;s corruption?