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"I’ll recognize her," Emma insisted stubbornly

Duncan frowned and shook his head slightly, as if already regretting his decision "You will tell me if you think it’s Lacey or not," he said finally "And then you will leave Baldill drive you home"

"But if it’s Lacey--"

"Take it or leave it," he said, his voice every bit as unco as hers had been

Emma nodded once Duncan reached for her hand, but she pulled away, choosing to proceed under her oer

She moved in a blur, her eyes so filled with tears she could barely see Herher it didn’t have to be Lacey, that there’d been other women at the parties, that this house and Victor had been around for years, and that the land around here was riddled with old burial grounds But in her heart she knehat she’d known ever since Lacey hadn’t co awful had happened, because nothing else would have kept Lacey fro her And now

"Eentle, full of compassion But she didn’t want his co She looked around and realized Duncan’s va in a circle around so, and now had opened the circle as if to adan to pound

"Emma, you don’t have to do this"

She brushed away Duncan’s hand and stepped between two of the va on a pile of dirt One of the va hole in the ground No, not so big Just big enough for

A cry of denial was torn frorief E she hadn’t insisted on being here She didn’t want to see as in that hole, didn’t want to see that dead thing wearing a grotesque caricature of Lacey’s face, her blond curls liled, her limbs twisted in death as they’d never been in life She wanted to rewind her life and keep Lacey home from Victor’s party They’d eat popcorn and drink bad wine and watch cheesy horror flicks until neither one of the worse than movie monsters under the bed

"Emma" She hadn’t even seen Duncanher in his arms And she knew the monsters were real this time

She shoved away from him "Don’t touchunfair, that it wasn’t Duncan who’d put Lacey in that grave But it was his people Vampires Monsters who preyed on humans, who seduced Lacey with their pro She stuainst the wall, deteret back to her car She had her cell phone there She’d call the police and--

Duncan’s strong arhtened his hold and ordered, "Stop it, E on his shoulders, hearing herself sob with grief and not recognizing it as co from her own throat "I don’t need--"

Duncan’s arms were like steel bands as he carried her to the front of the house, anger radiating off of hier wasn’t directed at her E ahead to open the door Duncan lowered his head to her ear and whispered so at all

Chapter Twelve

Duncan watched Emma’s car until it rolled beyond the line of spruce trees and he couldn’t see it any deeply, and she’d stay that way for several hours, until Lacey’s body had been recovered and the scene processed He and his team had a few hours left, but they would have to return to DC beforeThere was no way he’d ask any of his people to spend a single day sleeping in this nightmare of a house When they were finished here, when the forensic people had recovered every last bit of evidence they could find, he’d have the whole daround After that, the land could sit fallow Maybe in a century or three, the horror would fade

He’d already called the experts in to deal with this If there could be any good fortune in this tragedy, it was that it had happened in Virginia, with the FBI’s Quantico facilities so close by Several vah their identities were known to only a select few in the vampire community Raphael, of course, kneho they were, which meant Duncan did, too The death he and his vaht couldn’t be covered up coed Hoell depended on Emma If she went to the huationWell, he wouldn’t let it come to that He didn’t want to replace herthat if she ever found out, he would lose her trust, and ht very well lose her But he could not jeopardize the whole of vampire society for the sake of his affection for Emma Duquet

That didn’t ht cover up the specifics, but he wouldn’t forget the offense Victor was already dead, along with his four vauards, all of whom had no doubt participated in the violence and blood fest But there were others still out there, humans who had willfully, joyfully, joined in the torture of young woratification He would hunt them down and destroy them every bit as permanently as he’d destroyed Victor

"Sire"

Duncan turned "Yes, Miguel?"