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"… a concern, ht the tail end of Bastien’s sentence

Aden laughed dismissively "You know et inshe didn’t catch, but she did hear Aden’s reply

"It’s all about blood, rowled "But don’t worry She won’t be around er"

Sid blinked, surprised at howabout her, but she couldn’t shake the sense that they were That Bastien had been concerned she would get in the way of their plans to seize the territory, and that hers was the blood Aden had dismissed so readily

It shouldn’t have bothered her After all, it was no , that this thing between the So why did it hurt so s There was no more reason for her to stay Aden didn’t need her--he’dhere in the first place was done She’d wanted justice for Janey, and she’d gotten that Or close enough Carl Pinto was still out there somewhere, but she had the tools to find him Better tools than Aden had After all, she was the one who’d found the house last night She’d find Pinto, and, despite what Aden seemed to think, she wouldn’t be stupid about it either She’d find hi the day, when she could sie And that would be it as far as Aden was concerned There’d be no need to humiliate herself further, no need to pretend that there was so on between the at all

Tio back to her real life

The phone rang as she closed her laptop and slipped it into her backpack So a second time Not that she would have answered it anyway She wanted no otten in deeper than she’d ever intended

Stepping over to the office, she spied Aden and Bastien deep in conversation Whatever they were discussing now, they’d gone back to their secret va to do with the phone call Not that she cared, she reminded herself

Aden looked up the o, she’d have interpreted that to ured he wanted to make sure she didn’t overhear whatever he and Bastien were plotting

"I can see you guys are busy," she said, with false cheer "And if I’ to finish this, I’ll need my old notebooks, which are back at my condo I’ll head over there now, and if I coive you a call"

Bastien slance at Aden that he aiting for the boss to react before he said anything

Aden just studied her silently, as if waiting for her to sayhome

ADEN WATCHED Sidonie as she stood there in his office doorway and fed hi pile of bullshit that she apparently expected hiive you a call," she said, and turned aithout so much as a wave

He stared at the e of the elevator, followed by the sound of the doors closing Then he glanced at Bastien "Put Kage on her And tell Ha had put a bug up her ass He didn’t knohat it was, but he intended to find out If she thought she could dismiss him with a laoing to enjoy teaching it to her

But not tonight That phone call had been forht have been expected, but from a vampire named Ramiro Salvador Aden didn’t know much about Salvador He was from Mexico, which athering on Sunday which had officially launched the challenge Officially being the operative word, since the un days before… as Aden had reason to know