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"With you, Emmaline This house is better suited toher cheek against his hand before releasing it and curling up under the blanket She was out in h he’d been prepared to nudge her into sleep if necessary He had a prisoner to interrogate The man who’d set fire to the residence, and who’d clearly intended to kill Duncan along with a few of his vampires, and perhaps Emma, as well It was not a task Duncan looked forward to, but it was so was more important to him than the safety of Emma and his people But somehow he doubted his beloved E for mercy

Chapter Twenty-Five

Duncan crossed his arainst the wall of the small, barren basement room He’d pulled a t-shirt on over his sweats and added a pair of black Nikes, but he hadn’t bothered with anything fancier, because he’d fully expected to be burning the clothes before the end of the night He’d also expected to be facing a quivering lu for its life Instead what he had was a puzzle

He frowned down at the hu across the table from him The man’s arms were handcuffed behind his back, but other than that he wasn’t restrained And he wasn’t particularly frightened, either

"My lord?" the uileless and confused "Has soed a welder’s propane tank froed it to blow like a sht beneath Duncan’s second floor office suite, then splashed paint thinner in a line from there to the main stairwell He’d then walked calh the kitchen door in back and returned to his regular peri plenty of tiuilt; they had security video both inside and out frouel had set up as soon as they ered, the ies were sent to a control center in the house down the block frouel and Louis had lived in while preparing for Duncan’s takeover of the territory, the sa in until either the old residence was repaired or new quarters were found and secured

And yet, despite this incontrovertible evidence, the guard seemed to remember none of it He still should have been afraid, however Even if he’d done nothing wrong, he should be terrified to find hi Duncan as his inquisitor

"Mister Daniels, isn’t it?" Duncan asked finally, although he knew the guard’s name

"Yes, my lord," the man said readily "Clint Daniels"

"Tell ht here?" Daniels shook his head woefully "Being handcuffed,by thethe fire, and then Jackson Hissong showed up and had one of the guys put these on me" He tried to lift his hands behind hirimaced "I don’t understand, my lord What’s happened?"

"May I touch you, Mister Daniels? It’s not necessary, but it will s easier"

"Of course, my lord"