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"Until bagged blood became available," Vincent said "And then itched to it We’d buy bulk stores and keep the, we’d supplement with vampire blood"

"And the shifters?" Ethan asked

"They were here at the time of our arrival They lived primitively" His lip curled in distaste at the term From his dress, it seemed Vincent preferred a simple kind of life But I supposed there were limits even for him

"Primitively?"

"They’re mountain lions," he said with clear disdain "There were no permanent homesteads, at least of the variety that hunize We had no trouble from them at first We later learned they objected to our settlerowth as a community"

"How?" Ethan asked

"They killed livestock Destroyed fences Ripped shutters froht while we slept"

"And that was the origin of the feud?" I asked

"Love was the origin of the feud," he said "Fiona McKenzie and Christophe Marchand, one of my companions She, a shifter He, a vampire They first met in their ‘huainst the wishes of their respective family and Clan, they fell in love"

"You objected?" I asked

"I was not comfortable with their relationship but did not formally object Bernard was far orously He told Christophe he’d be cast from the Clan if he proceeded The Clan is a democracy, and Bernard won the vote"

That was as easy a justification for prejudice as I’d ever heard

"And so Christophe was cast out You host towns’ in this part of the country Villages were established for , for railroads, and abandoned when lodes ran dry or didn’t materialize Many were optimistic in that time Fiona and Christophe found such a place, not far fros, abandoned only a few years before They called it High Creek and made their home there"

Vincent’s eyes darkened "They were happy, as far as I are, although neither the Clan nor the family relented Their door was bloodied"

"Like they did to us," Nessa said, glancing at Ethan