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They took his Tahoe and headed for Jereht by Colin’s house on the hich rab so to invade a s the Benelli as he laid it on the backseat He’d invited her into his house, but she’d chosen to wait by the car,fuel on the fire" Whatever the hell that hton" He closed the back door of the truck and opened the front "But when I’uh my personal choice of weapon focuses ave her a puzzled look as he slid back into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition key "I thought you worked with these guys"

"I do"

"Yeah, so?" He whipped into a fast 180 turn and headed up his driveway to the ave him a sideways smile "Not all vampires are created equal, Murphy There are all different kinds, just like the rest of us"

Colin shrugged and turned onto the highway toward Jeremy’s "Makes sense, I suppose, since they all started the sahtened of you"

"Yeah, well, I do what I can, hed, but sobered al nervously on the door frahtfully "It happened in daylight, for beginners You have any idea which of your fellow citizens htened than you are?"

Colin shook his head, frowning "When this thing with Mariane happened, I figured it had to be soh--tourists, people looking to coers This is a sht that soirl Besides, judging by what I saw in that house andwell, Mariane’s condition, I’m pretty sure there was , that makes it even less likely that it was locals People around here know Mariane and they like her" He slowed slightly,the turn onto Jereuy Preston were killed, and it makes me wonder hoell I really know the folks I live with"

"This is a pretty wild area," Leighton offered "Could be all sorts of people hanging around in the woods and you’d never know it"

He gave her a sharp look as he pulled up in front of Jerehtly and gave his" She showed hi to check my weapon Don’t panic, okay?"

It was his turn to scoff as she pulled a Glock 17 froazine and worked the slide before securing it back beneath her jacket

"Panic isn’t a word in rin of his own

"Good to know," she said, opening her door "Thataround to the back of the house, he saw that someone had boarded up the broken s and replaced the shattered door with a hton produced a key to the lock, which told hied the temporary repairs, or at least someone who cared about him and Mariane

Inside, she barely looked at the roo instead for Jere what to his eye was the utter destruction left behind Furniture had been tossed or tipped over, computers s for soave hi More curiosity than anything else" She turned her hands over, scowling at the gri to them "Let me wash my hands, and then I’m done here, if you are"

Colin watched as she washed at the kitchen sink "Jereht?"

She turned off the water and grabbed soive hily "Whoever did this tore the house apart There was equipoodAnd Mariane--" His lip curled "I found her, Leighton She wasn’t just raped; she was tortured They wanted so was Jereh to scare the shit out of ether, or we’re not I’ for any deep vampire secrets, but I like to know I can trust the person I’ htful breath and exhaled noisily "You have a point," she said slowly "So, yes, Jere the vamps who boarded up the house moved some stuff around to conceal its location, since the house isn’t really secure anyet inside Which is why Jeremy’s still alive"

"What about Marco?" he asked, as they locked the door once again and headed for his truck

"He and Preston both built their houses a while ago, and I’ neither one of them had updated their security"

Colin shook his head, then stopped, eyeing the ground around his truck "There’ve been a lot of vehicles here recently Your guys?"

Leighton nodded "Lord Raphael’s security teaht before last, and sos for Jeremy They’re also the ones who boarded the place up," she added, gesturing toward the house

"Lord Raphael?" he repeated, not bothering to hide his skepticislance "You better believe it In the vampire world, he controls all of the US west of the Rockies, plus a big chunk of the mountains themselves"

"What the hell does that mean, controls? I’ve never ever heard of hied, unconcerned "That’s because you’re not a vampire If you were, believehere, he’d be the only thing between you and instant death"

Colin frowned

"Trust e for yourself tonight You’ve got thatat the compound He’ll be there"