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"Sounds nice," she said, andthat made my bruised ribs ache "You okay?"
"I&039;ll be okay"
"More ghostbusting with Michael What&039;s his story?"
"Off the record Publicity could hurt hiot kids"
Susan frowned, but nodded "All right," she said, and added a flair of melodrama to her words "So what is he? Soht woken in this desperate age to battle the forces of evil?"
"As far as I know he&039;s a carpenter"
Susan arched a brow at un or so?"
I tried not to smile The muscles at the corners of hteous h to hteous The real deal He&039;s honest, loyal, faithful He lives his ideals It gives hih I&039;d have expectedI&039; A different attitude"
"That&039;s because he&039;s huhteous, he&039;d laugh at the idea I guess that&039;s part of it I&039;ve never ood man"
She pursed her lips "And the sword?"
"Amoracchius," I supplied
"He named his sword How very Freudian of him But his wife just about reached down that clerk&039;s throat to get it back"
"It&039;s important to hiiven by God to mankind Three swords Each of them has a nail that is supposed to be frohteous can wield thehts of the Cross Others call thehts of the Sword"
Susan frowned "The Cross?" she said "As in the Crucifixion, capital C?"
I shrugged, uncomfortably "How should I know? Michael believes it That kind of belief is a power of its own Maybe that&039;s enough" I took a breath and changed the subject "Anyway, ot impounded I had to drive fast and CPD didn&039;t like it"
Her dark eyes sparkled "Anything worth a story?"
I laughed tiredly "Don&039;t you ever give up?"
"A girl&039;s got to earn a living," she said, and fell into step beside h et back houess" She smiled up at es
"Sorry I - "
"I know" She sighed I shortened h neither of usis important, Harry I just wish, so
"That what?"
"Nothing Really It&039;s selfish"
"That what?" I repeated I found her hand with hed, and stopped in the hall, turning to face me She took both of my hands, and didn&039;t look up when she said, "I just wish that I could be that i hit me in the middle of my sternum Ow It hurt to hear that, literally "Susan," I stammered "Hey Don&039;t ever think that you&039;re not important toup, "it&039;s not that Like I said, just selfish I&039;ll get over it"
"I just don&039;t want you to feel like " I frowned and took a breath "I don&039;t want you to think that I don&039;tWhat I mean to say is that I " Love you That should have been sih to say But the words stuck hard in my throat I&039;d never said them to anyone I didn&039;t lose, and every ti shut down so the way
Susan looked up atover e on entle, war stupidly at her
Finally, I leaned down and kissed her, hard, like I was trying to push the words out of my useless mouth and into her I don&039;t know if she understood, but sheof cinnamon, the sweetness of her lips soft and pliant beneath mine One of my hands drifted to the ses of ainstfrom the other direction made us both smile and break away from the kiss A fe little smirk, and I felt my cheeks flush
Susan took entle kiss onoff that easy, Harry Dresden," she said "I&039; if it kills you" But she didn&039;t press the issue, and together we reclaimed my stuff and left
I fell asleep on the drive back to ravel parking lot beside the stone stairs leading down to ot out of the car, and I stretched, looking around the su?" Susan asked
"Mister," I said "He&039;s usually running right up to "
"He&039;s a cat, Harry," Susan said, flashing ot a date"
"What if he got hit by a car? What if a dog got hih and walked over to me My libido noted the sway of her hips in the little skirt with an interest thatas a horse, Harry I pity the dog that tries so"
I reached back into the car for my staff and rod, then slipped an arm around her Susan&039;s war up today But it just didn&039;t feel right, to not have Mister run up to
That should have been enough to tip me off I&039;ll plead weariness, achiness, and sexual distraction It cay writhe intoup fro down to my apartment I froze and took a step back, only to see another silent shape step around the edge of the boardinghouse and start walking toward us Goose-flesh erupted up and down ht on a second or two after"Harry," she breathed "What is it? Who are they?"
"Take it easy, and get out your car keys," I said, as the two shapes approached us, the waves of cool energy increasing as they did Light froure&039;s eyes, glea out of here They&039;re vampires"