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Cooper looked away "You’re suited, is all I’ood run And he’d take care of you when it was over"

"Excuse me?"

"When it was over," Cooper said patiently "You’rewhat? Mid-twenties? You’d have at least ten years" Looking back at er these days, eh? You’ll be what they’re callin’ a cougar in your forties"

My mouth had fallen open I closed it Well, duh Of course it would end that way How else could it end? Even Ashton Kutcher and Deap was a hell of a lot bigger than an age difference And I didn’t doubt that Stefan would take good care of hly developed sense of honor

"Thanks," I said to Cooper "But I think I’d rather spend row old with"

"Or of course," he said in a casual tone, "you could always invoke your birthright and bargain for ieddon?" I stared at hi mind?"

"Don’t think so, no" Cooper rocked back and forth on his heels "But soeddon"

Cody finished his call and rejoined us "Okay, Daise I told the chief that the Cavannaugh curse was a dead end so far Levitt’s pulled files on a handful of kids with priors for vandalism in the cemetery, and that’s what the chief wants us to follow up on tolanced at Cooper "You willing to lend a hand again?"

Cooper sketched a bow "The big man’s placed" Cody frowned "Oh"

"I’ll call you," I said to Cooper With a nod, he straddled his bike, brought it to life, and chugged away

Cody watched hi"

"I know But he’s over two hundred years old" It occurred to ht be the perfect candidate to tell Heather Sis about the burden of ireat idea or a recipe for catastrophe I’d have to think about it ht now

Cody had to drive me back to his place to pick upwith the two of us standing in his driveway, both of us feeling that so what it was

"This has been a very, very disconcerting day," I said finally

He looked relieved that I’d broken the silence "No kidding"

"I should go" So and mournful Cody’s head turned "Kinfolk?"

"No Bob Conklin’s dog He keeps her tied up around the fullsky, then at the shadows falling around the woods, then at aze I didn’t need to read minds to read his at that moment If I were a suitable ht, running with the pack and calling to one another, the autu our pelts We’d hunt and kill and feast, and then we’d go home and fuck like olves, and one day we’d teach our own little wolf cubs to do the sa part with each other, obviously

I sighed "Just et so"

"I will" Cody hesitated, then grabbed my shoulders and kissed me It was quick, but firm and decisive

"You confuse htly breathless

"Sorry" He took a deep breath, possibly feeling the saot inaround all day in the passenger seat, and did what any sensible hell-spawn in my situation would do: I calledat the old Formica dinette table she’d found at a thrift store when I was still a kid, shuffling the deck of lotería cards she used to tell fortunes, which was the ostensible reason foron the Vanderhei kid’s death last July, and it had been uncannily accurate And as close as ere, I wasn’t ready to tell her that I’d hooked up with Cody thisNot yet I’d found the bandanna that Stefan had lent me in the cemetery in my car and tied it around my throat in what I hoped was a jaunty manner to conceal the evidence

I plucked out El Diablito, nificator, and laid it faceup on the table, then shuffled the cards a few an’sthe deck three tile" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>