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"Nohat?" Holden asked

Turning, I propped aze He’d been politely silent while alked, giving hts, but now that we’d stoppeduess , because he persisted with a, "Well?"

"Okay, well, we know it’s not a vampire because there didn’t appear to be any blood taken We know it’s not a shifter, because none of theh to ht-lipped frown as if to doubt my certainty "That leaves us where?"

"Human, fae or other"

"Other?"

"I don’t know That’s the point Alien? Poltergeist?" When I said this, he rolled his eyes, so in spite of in down, I added, "Wookie?"

"Wookie" He looked duestion, but it seemed like he’d seen Star Wars because he didn’t askhere, specifically"

"Since I don’t knohat to look for, I guess I just figured we’d start at the botto See or sht know"

Holden stared atwe cover the entirety of Manhattan on foot looking for nothing in particular" His emphasis on the last three wordsto a child

If I knehere to look or what to look for, I’d be on my ith a weapon in hand to dispatch the evil bastard as doing this That was hoorked But I needed soood a place as any

"Did you have soht?"

Four hours later I alking back to my apartment with a surly vampire We’d covered the area from Battery Park to Gramercy Park and in spite of our cohtened senses, we’d co much

When we’d stopped into a loathsome little vampire bar called The Ruby Slipper on our way out of the financial district, there’d been ru down an adult shifter But since shifters weren’t known for sharing weaknesses with varound rumor mill

Nevertheless I’d called Nolan back to ask hi new had coe shifter, dis youths? And now the rus happened here all the tinore the likelihood of a connection

When we turned onto West 52nd, Holden thrust a white paper bag into my hand Once our search was exhausted and we’d set out on our way honolia so I could pick up cupcakes for Grandotten I gave it to him

"This wasn’t quite what I had inthe elusive cupcake isn’t a typical sentry job"

We stopped walking at a red light, and I looked at the bag with its chareted with the zipper onit up and down until Holden reached out and grabbedabsorbed the outside chill

Vampires eird like that They weren’t always cold, but they had an a to the te at twenty, arette s

Hehis lips until he spoke

"Secret…"

I countered by stepping out of his reach

Since su to terms with Holden’s attachment to me I wanted to believe he rateful for all I’d done to save hilances, the lingering touches, the comments laden with innuendo…they all spelled trouble