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"A library," I said "How char," Dekes said "I have several valuable first editions in here, and the temperature is cliiven the wretched hu a vaht for a pittance a hundred years ago are quite valuable today"

Va time, just like dwarves Five hundred years wasn’t an uncoiants and elementals only tended to reach the one hundred fifty mark or so Finn had estimated Dekes to be at least three hundred, which e in vampire years

Some folks even speculated that va as they had a steady supply of blood and took care of their bodies by exercising, eating right, and whatnot But I’d never heard of a vaer folks lived, the reater the chance was of one of those ene someone like me to step in and cut a vamp’s life short

Dekes walked over to the fireplace I trailed along behind hi up the rear My eyes scanned the library for ca that looked like a panic button that the vaiants ateven more of his ht you here because I was told that you like books," Dekes said, turning to faceup er "How could you possibly know that?"

"An old friend of "

Suspicion surged throughand ask the obvious question "And what friend would that be?"

Dekes’s smile widened "Why, Jonah McAllister, of course He’s told me quite a bit about you, Ms Blanco Tell me, do you care if I call you Gin?"

Chapter 15

Fuck Randall Dekes knew exactly who I was - which ly I wasn’t just going to have a chat with the vampire and warn him to leave Callie alone Not any this roo to beinto full-scale attack mode but quickly discarded that idea - at least until I was out of reach of the two giants loo behind me It wouldn’t do to let them latch onto me, not when I still didn’t knohat kind of eleic Dekes had and what he planned to do to me with it I had no doubt that Dekes would kill his ownme doith them

No, the vampire was the real threat here, and I needed to deal with hiing at my enemies, I walked over, put my purse up on the ainst the fireplace, affecting a nonchalant air The whole tiles and wondering how ht blast ood

"So you know my real name Bravo for you I assuo as well?"

"That you’re really the assassin the Spider? Oh yes Jonah and I had quite a fascinating conversation about you - and the fact that you killed his son, Jake Jonah was very upset about that Still is, as aa party at Mab’s house, leaving his body in one of the Fire elemental’s bathtubs Jake had tried to rob the Pork Pit, in addition to wanting to rape and murder me, but I showed Jake just what a fatalto show Dekes

But instead of backing up or htly maniacal smile the Cheshire cat would have been envious of The vampire didn’t seem concerned at all that he was in the same room with a notorious assassin My worry cranked up another notch Dekes didn’t strike me as the kind ofabsolutely sure that he had the winning hand

"Tell ood friend Jonah here at the press conference?" I asked,Dekes’s calm with a bored, indifferent mask "Because I’d love to personally thank hi us, so to speak"

"Sadly, no Jonah couldn’tconversation on the phone thiswith other things, namely the discovery of the bodies of severalin the pool of the Blue Sands hotel It was doubly e for me, since not only did inally planned to have my press conference there, as I own the hotel Naturally, I had to change the location Bodies in the pool are not good for business"

"No," I agreed "They never are"

"I’ve known Jonah a long ti , and naturally I mentioned the unfortunate incident at the hotel and how I’d sent my men out to deal hat seemed to be a very small, easily solvable problem, but that they’d ended up dead instead"

The pleasant sreen eyes were just as cold and hard as mine were now "I la as simple as handle two female tourists,to help You can iine my surprise when he asked me what the two tourists looked like - and if my men had been stabbed to death When I told him that, yes, my men had indeed been stabbed to death, that’s when hetalk about you, Gin Jonah was even kind enough to textwith those of your friends"

Da out of Ashland for a few days e my perpetual bad luck, but the bitch was out in full force tonight and ready to fuckwhy I was really here any longer, I palmed one of my silverstone knives and held it up so that Dekes could see it