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"True," I said

"That you&039;ve got soer, harder to hurt, impossible to kill, but you don&039;t shapeshift"

"Everything but the impossible to kill; I wouldn&039;t bet my life on that ru vaed "Not sure what to say to that one I don&039;t drink the blood of the living, if that&039;s what you mean"

"How about the blood of the dead?" he asked

Zerbrowski and I both stared at him "Are you serious?" I asked

He nodded "Rumor says that you feed off vampires the way they feed off us"

I shook my head "Not true"

"That you&039;re some kind of succubus and feed off sex with vampires"

"I hadn&039;t heard that one," I said, and it was true I hadn&039;t I&039;d heard that I was accused of feeding off sex, but not thatto never admit out loud that I actually did feed on sex, thanks to sharing Jean-Claude&039;s ardeur, which translated roughly to fire, passion, and was the blood right, extra-special gift of the bloodline of vampires descended from Belle Morte, Beautiful Death

"I take it that&039;s not true either"

I was giving hi and it was aleneral; it didn&039;t have to be with vampires "Let&039;s cut to the chase," I said "Sum up the rumors, I&039;m bored with the list"

"That your ability to raise zoe with all the undead, including vaives you the best of being human and animal That the reason you&039;re better than the rest of us is that you&039;re better than any human could ever be, and stay hu a theme," I said to Zerbrowski

"Don&039;t say it," he said

"I&039; the monsters, because I&039;m one of them, is that it?"

"I never said that"

"But that&039;s what soht?" I asked

He sort of shrugged, and looked uncomfortable

"Re that are jealous of my success rate, and others are just plain jealous like Arnet"

"Some of them are scared, Blake," he said

"Scared of me," I said, and I pushed my food away I was so done

"Not of you, of becoood as you is to become like you"

"You mean become one of the monsters," I said

"You were on the case where Marshal Laila Karlton caught lycanthropy"

"Yes" It had been Laila&039;s first vampire hunt, and it could have been her last She survived the olf attack, but she becae, and she&039;s still a Marshal She&039;s the first one as ever allowed to stay after they shifted"

"I was the first they let stay who tested positive," I said

"But you don&039;t change form," he said

"There is that"

"Soht for her job"

"It could have happened to any of us, Brice The only reason I&039;e fore, because it could be any of us next They&039;re afraid if she sues that she&039;ll win Right now she&039;s riding a desk, but if they put her in the field again, then that opens the way for people who are already wereanimals to try to join up"

I nodded "I think it&039;s a great idea I know soot attacked on the job and that&039;s an instant e"

He looked at me, and then at Zerbrowski "Would you partner with someone who shifted completely?"

"If it were Anita, sure"

Brice looked at his plate; there wasn&039;t much left of his food He ate like a lot of ood are you, Blake?"

I glanced at Zerbrowski He used his hands to uide people to their seats, but as I guiding Brice to: the truth, a lie, what?

"I&039;ood cop, if you don&039;t make hed into his water

I didn&039;t bother frowning at hi, it&039;s one of ood"

"Anyone else Iif it&039;s true," Brice said

"She&039;s not bragging," Zerbrowski said

I glanced at hi looks that men are so fond of, andwe needed to say about working together, being friends, holding each other&039;s lives in our hands I had literally held his internal organs inside his body after a shapeshifted and very non-Wiccan witch had gutted him When you&039;ve literally held someone&039;s life in your hands, it&039;s more than the word friend can hold, but a look, one look can hold it all

"Then I want to learn how to huntalong some of the time," I said

"Sure," Zerbrowski said, "the more the merrier"

"No do I keep Arnet fro me?"

I shook my head "I have no idea"

Zerbrowski said, "I only ever understood one woh to marry me so I didn&039;t have to decipher anyone else"

Brice nodded "Fair enough" Then he srin His teeth hite and even like a coely perfect in a down-home sort of way "I&039;ll date Arnet, and see if that takes the heat off you and your men"

"Won&039;t thatto avoid?" I asked

He shrugged "I&039;ll date her and a few others I can date around for a few months and sometimes by then I&039;ve been h that I&039;ll have to swear off dating anyone at work, and then it will be her fault, not mine"

"Not a bad idea," I said

"Andabout your Nathaniel, and the rest of yourto take one for the teaave me that smile of his

"You know the sht?"

The ses, which letit was to have it aimed at someone "Sorry, I&039;ll remember not to waste smiles on you"

That made me smile and Zerbrowski shake his head "You just can&039;t help but try to flirt o It&039;s fun, and if I flirt omen, people think that&039;s all I&039;," I said

"Yes," he said, and there was no s who you are, and who you really love," I said

He looked down at his hands on the tabletop "Yeah" There was absolutely no smile as he said that one short word

I don&039;t knohat made me do it, but I reached across the table and putto cover his, but it made him look up atto hide who you love"

That entle, more "real" s hands when Detective Jessica Arnet and h the door and saw us

Never had I ever wished not to have a perfect line of sight between me and a door more than in that moment Brice looked at my face and whispered, "It&039;s Arnet, isn&039;t it?"

"Yes," I said

"If I&039; you, that keepsmy mouth very still, "If you use me as a beard, I will hurt you"

He squeezed o so he could turn his shoulders and smile at the woed frory wasn&039;t from the policewomen, but from some of the office staff Cops hid their eot to be detectives Arnet&039;s face was hard to read, but it wasn&039;t a good look Her triangular face that looked delicate and pretty most of the time looked harsh, as if her emotions had honed her down to the bone structure underneath Her eyes were the darkest color I&039;d ever seen theet paler

The other women came at her back like a Greek chorus of disapproval "Are you dating Marshal Brice now, too?"

"No," I said

Brice stood up, and I kneasting that great smile on them The other woh the clouds, and it was a handso atMarshal Blake here, and Detective Zerbrowski, which of you had boyfriends and such I had a bit of trouble at one of my posts with a beautiful woman who failed to mention she had a fiance I don&039;t poach other irlfriends, or fiances"

"Why ask Anita?"

"Well, I wanted a woman&039;s opinion, because they paythan men do, and it needed to be a woman that I wasn&039;t interested in, so there&039;d be no conflict of interest"

Arnet looked at him then "Did she warn you off some of us?"

"She said you were all available, and char"

Arnet looked at , did you?"

"No, but it&039;s not ible bachelor and getting all pissy at another woman in front of him That&039;s all on you, Arnet"

That seeh to her, because she blinked and looked at Brice as hedirectly to some of the other woht back Arnet watched theure out how to join in, and then Brice turned and looked at her He s if you would domy first date here in St Louis, Detective Arnet?"

"I&039;d be happy to," she said, but her voice didn&039;t sound happy I could no longer see her face, but I was betting she didn&039;t look as gaga for hiuys and we&039;ll talk about details"

She gave him her cell phone number He took her hand and actually kissed it, andThe onlylike a fool to me had been Jean-Claude, but he was over six hundred years old, and had co the hand of a lady was a lot more popular Most modern men couldn&039;t pull it off

"You ladies enjoy your food, and we&039;ll see you back at the squad rooot up to follow Brice Arnet caught e to push her hand off me She whispered, low and harsh, "Stay away from this one, Blake"

"Happy to," I said, and kept on walking She had to either let go, or hold on tighter She let go Zerbrowski and Brice were looking back at us, waiting for ht up with Zerbrowski and we followed Brice through the tables to the parking lot

"What did she say to you?" Zerbrowski asked

"I&039;ve been warned off Brice" I moved toward the Jeep and the men followed me

"Have I made your problem with Arnet worse?" Brice asked

"I don&039;t know," I said, as I beeped the keys I took a deep breath of the fresh late-spring air, and let it out slow

Brice spoke over the roof of the car "I&039;m sorry, Blake, I didn&039;t mean to make it worse"

I clier seat, buckled up and ready to go Brice got in the back "You have to go on a date with her; that&039;s punishh," I said, as I started the car

"How did I start the evening trying to avoid Arnet, and end up having a date with her?"

"Welcoh it&039;s usually men for me"

"What do youfor so space and not hit us "Most of the men I&039;ve dated have been ones I tried not to date The ones I love the "

"Really?" Brice said

"Really," Zerbrowski and I said together We looked at each other, and then he grinned I s in love"

"Why?" Brice asked

I finished easing us out past the idiot driver behind us They couldn&039;t see "Not sure, so hurt, pick so in love," Brice said

"I like being in love with Katie," Zerbrowski said

I sht traffic, which was pretty sporadic in St Louis "I like being in love ho I&039;m in love with now," I said

"Too many men to list?" Brice asked

"No, just can&039;t honestly list all thewith me on the I love you list, so I&039;d rather not say the nas"

"We won&039;t tell," Zerbrowski said

"Neither will I," I said

"How did you end up living with men you aren&039;t in love with?" Brice asked

"I don&039;t know you well enough to answer that question, Brice"

"Sorry; have you answered it for Zerbrowski?"

"He hasn&039;t asked"

Zerbrowski held his fist out sideways to ently as I drove In all the years I&039;d known Zerbrowski, he&039;d never asked asI wasn&039;t sure Brice was going to stay onout with, not if he was always this nosy My life worked, it ram of hoorked Especially not a brand-new US Marshal who had just ridden into town days ago I realized that it wasn&039;t just Arnet I didn&039;t know roundwise, but I could fix that Was Brice just being friendly, or was he fishing? I realized that just by his saying he was gay, I&039;d let down a lot of my defenses Zerbrowski and I both had What if he&039;d lied? Was I being overly suspicious? Maybe, or maybe until I saw Brice in bed with atoI knew for certain was he was lying to somebody