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Chapter Thirty-six

Mary Lou arrived an hour or so later with Tammy

They had stopped at McDonald&039;s and had sneaked in a Big Mac for Anthony I told the He devoured the sandwich in a few quick bites and was looking for more He next pounded his sister&039;s fries, and I waited for what I was sure was co next:

Upchuck city

Food, for me, lasts only a few minutes before it comes up violently But Anthony never did vohtly of an upset stoh only a half inch or so above his skin, his aura was still there His hue overca on the edge of his bed and playing "Angry Birds" on ht Pale yellows and reds, streaked with silvers and golds, surrounded her bodylike mini-nuclear explosions on the surface of the sun

But not Anthony His aura was only a fine dusting of light Alht

Shit

His last ht Or close to it

I was, admittedly, torn I knew I had to find Archibald Maxi clue Froathered, he lived in theBear, one of those, both popular ski resorts With Anthony getting better, and siood a time as any to set out for theboy was tearing ht up inbeen abducted by a true monster

Who was Bow Tie? A vampire? I had no doubt, unless the medallion could reverse other supernatural curses, which it very well ht That he ju behind no evidence - it turns out he had thrown a chair through the- could sley could withstand such a fall After all, I had seen hi a beat Whether or not Kingsley could perform such an act in his human form, I didn&039;t know There was so much I didn&039;t know

There was a family not very far from this room who had been torn to pieces All because of ain at the faint aura around ranted, but at least a day and a half, noredmuch better didn&039;t seem to matter much to her The faith of children No doubt she always assu e eyes She alternately looked at Anthony and I saw her confusion She suspected soh to confront me about it, and I couldn&039;t talk to her about it, not now, and not in present co

Where would the bastard have gone? Would he be contacting me soon? Had he realized hisafter Anthony?

I didn&039;t know, but I didn&039;t have long to wait

After pacing a fewalso what Danny was up to,Another restricted number

I answered with a simple hello

"Miss Moon," said aI want"

Chapter Thirty-seven

I stepped out of the room and into the hallway

"Who is this?"

"Never ency I realize I have made a critical error, but perhaps not all is lost"

He paused and I could have jumped in with another wasted question Instead, I waited, breathless, realizing without a doubt that a vampire was on the other end of the line

He spoke again in his heavy French accent "The real question here, Samantha Moon, is how much compassion you have for your fellow man Or, in this case, boy"

"Go on," I said

"Give ive you the boy, alive"

"You&039;re a piece of shit"

"A desperate piece of shit, Samantha Moon I knohat you are, and I know that you knohat I am At least now you do Who else would want the medallion?" He paused as my mind reeled He went on: "And perhaps you don&039;t realize that the longer you live, the harder you are to kill Has this occurred to you?"

"Fuck you"

"I see it hasn&039;t Well, let me assure you, I am old Very, very old And I am desperate to end this existence, Miss Moon Desperate I a, and I cannot die Not by silver Not by anything Do you understandwas hard The man&039;s voice was so damnhypnotic Even for iven hihts clear I felt hihts

"Ah, I see you are not new at this, Miss Moon Not everyone, undead included, can resist , and I will bring this entire fucking planet to hell withtotoexcept my own death, my removal from this earth Do you understand me?"

"Yes," I said, aware that I was indeed speaking oncan endalone The medallion The wonderfully enchanted "

"Where are you?"

"I am not far, my dear"

"How do I find you?"

For an answer, I suddenly had an ie of a rooftop But this wasn&039;t just any rooftop There were stairs leading everywhere The roof itself had many levels and platforms and turrets It was the roof to the Mission Inn in Riverside I would know it anywhere

"Good, good You recognize this Do not speak of it, my dear, or I will kill this little one and fetch another and another and another until you bring to ht of s, all of which I shielded frohts "I do"