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The interrogation roorim The cinder-block walls were painted a funky pinkish-tan Brick red trim surrounded the one-way mirror familiar to anyone who has ever seen a crime drama on television A battered table was bolted to the floor On it, untouched, rested two glasses and a sweating plastic pitcher of water

Again, anyone atches television knohy the water is there But you’d be surprised how many people actually drink it It’s impossible to sit in a room like this and not be nervous Nerves make a person thirsty But a full bladder, when there’s no possibility of e yourself is degrading, hue with the interviewers The clock on the wall, with its big, easy-to-read numbers, is there so that the prisoner can’t help but be aware of the seconds,an effect on the prisoner, I couldn’t see it He sat cal slow and easy

He’d obviously played this gae h-end suit handed me an earpiece Baker had introduced him as the secretary of Siren Security, Gunnar Thorsen It was evidently a cabinet post, but with active duties Very active lately

He looked about as you’d expect fro blond hair was pulled back into a braid, revealing chiseled features and eyes the ice blue of a winter sky His expression was just that cold "We have a psychic on duty," he explained

As if on cue, the psychic began speaking in " I heard her loud and clear

"It works"

"Good You’ve fed?"

I blinked a little at the directness of the question "Yes"

"Right We need hi"

U control a time or two, but I have never actually fed off of a hue, make me fully a vampire I ah the glass at the prisoner and felt a fine burning rage fill ran I had no idea what he’d intended to do with her, but I assumed it would have been bad As it was, she’d wound up in the hospital

I wouldn’t feed on the bastard, but that didn’t e by force of will, cal myself with slow, deep, breaths After a ood Let’s do this"

The psychic nodded in approval, so Thorsen led ation roo the chair crashing to the floor behind hiave hi, breathing as heavily as if he’d been running It was obviously all he could do not to leap across the room and attack me

"He wants to kill you" The psychic’s voice ca because he knows he can’t , he’ll take it You will need to be very careful He’s hoping that if he kills you, ill kill hi the curse take hireat, a cause As if any religion justifiedof little old ladies I stared at hier on what it was about hiuy?

"Why do you look so fanizeabout a brother So it down Keep hied"

A desert And a demon

Just like that, I knew I had never seen hiht I’d met his brother His name was Barnes He’d delivered reater demon to devour ing Eirene in a battle to control thefor her It had been too much for them Their minds were destroyed, snuffed out like candles in a hurricane

I shuddered,at the memory It had been an accident I hadn’t meant to hurt anyone, much less kill them But I’d done it

He must have seen my expression The memory was still raw in my mind He nodded and sneered "So, you do remember You remember what you did to him Good I want you to know that you and that other siren bitch are the cause of this You reminded us why sirens have no place in this world We ipe you out like the ver That was evenhideous and evil by accident, his actions were absolutely deliberate

The tattoo on his forearh stained glass, like sparkling jewels He was talking, and that was starting to activate the death curse that was part of the binding oath he’d taken to keep their secrets I could feel theoff of him in waves of heat "The first real blow is tomorrow But it won’t end until you’re dead Every last one of you"

Noas foa back in his head He ly that he tripped over the chair It was like a grandsmell of sulfur filled the rooh to hurt iving CPR No artificial respiration The s too heavy on the body But he kept working to keep the prisoner’s heart pu until the EMTs arrived and pronounced hie, airy office, shivering in reaction, huddled over a cup of steae ofdebriefed and writing a report somewhere else

Emotions swept over me in waves Guilt: I was the one who caused this I personally had caused an entire terrorist organization to be for, and it was all my fault No, not all mine Eirene owned a share of the blame Of course, she was already dead, and even half the blaer and frustration: that man had been a terrorist and an asshole, but he shouldn’t have had to die like that The guys ere up against acted as if people were as disposable as used tissues That was just so wrong That they were heating it up and serving it as religion only ot the impression of a cross, and the tattoo on his arm was of a cross as well It’s obviously a symbol with some importance to them Do you have any idea, other than the obvious, of what it signifies?"

"Nope"