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Chase swore roundly "I had to let the hu answer," Dante snarled, bringing that hellish blade up under his chin "The Criood if he was locked up at the co o so he would help me find Camden, my brother’s son"

Dante scowled, but the blade eased up a little "What about the others who’ve gonewith his drug?"

"Getting Camden back is what I care about He’s been my true mission from day one"

"Son of a bitch, you lied to us," the warrior hissed

Chase lare "Would the Order have bothered to helpDarkhaven youth?"

Dante cursed, low and furious "You’ll never knoill you?"

He wondered now, having co seen firsthand that, despite their ruthless methods and the efficiency thatthe Breed and humankind alike, they were not without honor They were merciless killers when needed, but Chase suspected that every one of them was, at heart, a far better man than him

Dante abruptly released hi Rover Across the lawn, Tegan let Elise go as well, the warrior’s steady green gaze lingering on her as she anxiously stu at the places where he had touched her

"Get in the truck, Harvard," Dante said, indicating the open back door with a look that prooing back to the coht to let you keep breathing"

Chapter Twenty-seven

Cold sweat trickled down the back of Ben Sullivan’s neck as he finished up the first sa about not having the recipe co in the absurdly short time he’d been allowed With barely a half hour to spare, he collected a dose of the reddish substance and carried it over to his test subject The young man, dressed in filthy blue jeans and a Harvard sweatshirt, sluainst the restraints that held him prisoner in a wheeled office chair, his head down, chin resting on his chest

As Ben neared him, the door to the makeshift base between the two arress the whole time

"I didn’t have a chance to vacuu excuses for the cup of pasty goo he’d produced and hoping to hell he got the recipe right "This kid looks like he’s in rough shape What if he can’t chew it?"

There was no reply, only , deadly silence

Ben blew out a nervous breath and approached the kid He knelt down in front of the chair From under the fall of unkeain Ben peered up into the drawn, sallow face of what had probably been a good-looking kid at one time--

Ah, shit

He knew this kid Knew hiular custo, youthful face he’d seen in the photograph just last night Caht, the kid Ben was supposed to help locate for the fanged psycho who’d proe Not that that threat was any et on with it, Mr Sullivan"

Ben spooned a bit of the raw Crimson out of the cup and lifted it to the kid’s mouth The instant the substance touched his lips, Carily He closed histo revive for an instant A junkie nuzzling up to what he hoped was his next fix, Ben realized, a pang of guilt sticking hi happened

He gave Ca Daht

"I need more time," Ben roan "I’ve alain"

He stood up, turned around, and was shocked to find hisdirectly in front of hiuyover hiard reflection in the sheen of the lasses He looked desperate and terrified, a cornered ani nowhere, Mr Sullivan And I’m out of patience"

"You said two hours," Ben pointed out "I still have a few otiable" The cruel ht tips of sharp white fangs "Ti into the chair behind hi backward in a clatter of spinning wheels He stuers bite into his shoulders, hauling hihtless Ben was spun around harshly and sent crashing into the far wall Agony splintered through the back of his skull as he cruers caaze on the others in the roouards were staring at hi ahts One of thes Even Camden’s attention had roused from where he sat several feet away The kid’s eyes burned through the fall of his hair, his lips peeling away fro as thoseon the ice-cold approach of the one as clearly calling the shots here He strolled over to Ben at a cal soundlessly on the concrete floor He lifted his hand and Ben was rising, drifting back onto his feet as if attached to invisible strings

"Please," Ben gasped "Whatever you’re thinking, don’t don’t do it, please I can get the Crimson formula back for you I swear, I’ll do whatever you want!"

"Yes, Mr Sullivan You will"

He moved so fast Ben didn’t knohat hit his in his throat Ben struggled, s the wet sounds of the creature at his neck drawing deeply at his vein The fight leaked out of Ben with every draining pull He hung there, suspended, feeling life flow out of hi, all that he was flowing away from him into a pit of darkness

"Couiding the little terrier across the street as the pedestrian light changed

After closing up the clinic at six o’clock, she had decided to take a walk past Ben’s apartment on the South Side, one last atte-persons report with the police If he was back to trafficking narcotics, he probably deserved to get arrested, but deep down she truly cared about hi help before things escalated that far

Ben’s neighborhood wasn’t the most desirable, particularly in the dark, but Tess wasn’t afraid Many of her clients were froood people Ironically, if there was anyone to be wary of in this stretch of tightly clustered duplexes and three-deckers, it was probably the drug dealer living in Apart where Tess now stood

A television blared fro an eerie blue wash onto the sidewalk outside Tess tipped her head up, looking to Ben’s set of s for any indication that he ht be there The ratty white miniblinds were drawn closed over the balcony sliders and the bedroo froh it was difficult to tell, she could have sworn she saw one of the sets of blinds sway against the --as if someone inside had moved them or walked by them and bumped them, unaware