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The phone rang, and I juer was over, I could be jumpy I went into the kitchen and picked up the phone Before I could even answer, I heard Dolph&039;s voice "Anita, you okay?"

"The police grapevine is even faster than I thought," I said

"What are you talking about?"

I told him what I&039;d told the 911 operator

"I didn&039;t know," Dolph said

"Then why did you want to know if I was okay?"

"Nearly every vampire-owned business or house in the city was hit about the sa They fire-bombed the Church of Eternal Life, and we&039;ve had one-on-one hits on non-vah o I had a lot of friends that were undead, not just Jean-Claude "Dead Dave&039;s, has it been hit?"

"I know Dave resents being kicked off the force after he died, but we take care of our own His bar&039;s got a uniforot the arsonist before he could do more than smoke up an outside wall"

I knew that only the bad vaht find it strange if I didn&039;t ask "The Circus?"

"They defended theainst a couple of arsonists Why didn&039;t you ask about the love of your life, first, Anita? Isn&039;t he home?"

Dolph asked like he already knehich couldBut I was pretty sure the council flunkies wouldn&039;t have told the whole truth Half-truth, it was "Jean-Claude stayed over last night"

The silence this ti thick and unpleasant enough to choke on I don&039;t kno long we listened to each other breathe, but it was Dolph who broke first "Lucky for hihtthis big, no wonder he was pissed at me "No, Dolph, I swear I had no idea"

"Did your boyfriend?"

I thought about that for a second "I don&039;t think so, but I&039;ll ask hiets up"

"Don&039;t you mean when he rises from the dead?"

"Yeah, Dolph," I said, "that&039;s what I mean"

"You think he could have known about all this shit and not told you?"

"Probably not, but he has his moments"

"Yet you still date him I just don&039;t understand that, Anita"

"If I could explain it so that it made sense to you, Dolph, I would, but I can&039;t"

He sighed "You got any ideas why so all the monsters today?"

"You mean, why monsters or why this date?" I asked

"Either," he said

"You&039;ve got soht?"

"Yes"

"They haven&039;t talked"

"Only to ask for a lawyer A lot of theainst Vampires, or Humans First, maybe," I said

"Would either of them hit shifters?"

My stoht knot "What do you mean?"

"A un with silver aht Dolph meant the Lunatic Cafe, Raina&039;s old restaurant, but it wasn&039;t an openly lycanthrope hangout I tried to think as up there that was openly shifter "The Leather Den?" I made it a question

"Yeah," he said

The Leather Den was the only bar in the country, to ay men who happened to be shapeshifters It was a triple threat to any hate with everything else, I&039;d say it could be alunner alive?"

"Nope," Dolph said "The survivors ate him"

"Bet they didn&039;t," I said

"They used teeth to kill hi him in my book"

I&039;d seen shapeshifters eat people, not just attack theal kills, ie , but hard to show hi people in trouble

"Whatever you say, Dolph"

He was quiet for long enough that I had to say, "You still there?"

"Why do I think you&039;re holding back on me, Anita?"

"Would I do that?"

"In a heartbeat," he said

His asking about the date had triggered so about today&039;s date"

"What is it?" he asked

"I don&039;t know--so Do you need me to come in?"

"Since almost all this shit is preternatural-related, every unifor for us So yeah, we need everybody in the field today They&039;ve been hitting the monster isolation wards of most of the major hospitals"

"Jesus, Stephen," I said

"He&039;s all right, they all are," Dolph said "A guy with a 9ot hit"

"He all right?" I asked

"He&039;ll live" Dolph didn&039;t sound happy, and it wasn&039;t just the hitter or a wounded cop

"What happened to the shooter?" I asked

He laughed, an abrupt, harsh sound "One of Stephen&039;s &039;cousins&039; threw hiainst a wall so hard, his skull cracked Nurses say the shooter was about to put a round right between the uniform&039;s eyes when he was stopped"

"So Stephen&039;s cousin saved the cop&039;s life," I said

"Yeah," Dolph said

"You don&039;t sound happy about that"

"Leave it alone, Anita"

"Sorry What do you want ett He&039;s a good cop"

"No s fro?"

"But," Dolph said, "he gets freaked around the o down there and hold his hand so he doesn&039;t get carried aith the murderous shapeshifters"

"So I&039;m a babysitter?"

"It&039;s your party, Anita I can send soht you&039;d want this one"

"I do, and thanks"

"Don&039;t stay all day, Anita Make it as quick as you can Pete McKinnon just called me to ask if he could borrow you"

"Was there another arson?"

"Yes, but it wasn&039;t his firebug I told you they bombed the Church of Eternal Life"

"Yeah"

"Malcolm is in there," he said

"Shit," I said Malcol denomination in the country It was the vampire church, but huh how long they stayed human was debatable

"I&039;m surprised his daytime retreat was that obvious"