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We were on her wide, wraparound patio deck

The deck overlooked the same Fullerton Hills that Robert Mason lived in And a faer And a very creepy old man who bartered in human life

Detective Hanner was a beautiful woman She was also a vampire Perhaps a very old vampire

We talked a little about the case as we sat back in wicker chairs, drinking froular people My ankles were crossed andshoes couldn&039;t have looked cuter Detective Hanner was barefoot Her talon-like toenails cah for one to lose one&039;s appetite

Almost

But not quite After all, ere both drinking fro casually Or trying to sip casually Generally, there were long beats of silence as we each glugged heartily, since drinking blood is really a race against tiulation It was all I could do to notsounds The blood was human, that much was obvious It was also fresh So very, very fresh

Straight-fro? I wondered

But I didn&039;t ask Not at the moment At the h, the joy, the pleasure, the satisfaction

Detective Hanner and Kingsley had slowly introduced me to the decadent pleasure of human blood I hadn&039;t liked it, not at first, and each time felt like a depraved journey into ecstasy

That&039;s a lie You always liked it A little tooall s with a vampire far older and more experienced than I was It felt natural, probably the way any addict feels when they tap the needle or pop a cork Like this hat I was made to do

But I didn&039;t have to enjoy its thick, sweet texture so ed to pull away I knew so down the corners of ers, I could only iine what I looked like

Like a ht

Hanner watchedwith supernatural intensity I noticed that she rarely blinked, and when she did, it alht A reminder to look human

I said, "I think our killer is a blood supplier"

She nodded "It&039;s easy to assume that"

"What do you know of blood suppliers?"

"Mortal or immortal?"

"What do you mean?" I asked