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"No He didn’t" Eli glanced from Derek to the bloodstained roo the vamp war?"

"Yeah" The cold closed on ain He was bent over, his head inside his SUV, his weapon down beside his leg He had said guns were equalizers in a ith vaht back to Juwan What had soated? What if Juas acting under Derek’s orders when he had attacked? What if someone had called Derek and warned him that I was onto hih?

Eli bladed his body so he could keep Derek in his peripheral vision and looked back into the house "That one is head height So is that one," Eli pointed to blood spatters high on the wall beside the door "Then below theether "They were shot, head shots, not staked Not killed in sword fights or blood duels Just shot and then beheaded," I said Execution-style

"Human soldiers did this Not vaain--still at his vehicle, but I realized I hadn’t seen the driver and I couldn’t tell if he was there or not We turned, quickly quartering the roo the wall spatters and the floor splatters They uns were equalizers Can you tell if he was here then?"

"Not unless he was injured There’s tooback He’s got soun wasIn his spine holster?

"Still" Eli stepped into the living roo cover behind a small bureau, which allowed him to see the entire foyer and keep me out of the line of fire He pulled his sidearot orders fro for the European vamps Or some other scenario we haven’t considered"

"Crap," I said But I rolledon Beast, who rose in hquestions later"

"Good by me"

I positioned myself so that I’d be behind the door when it opened When Derek opened it, I stuck out ed his head on the marble He went still Easiest takedown ever I picked up the paper he had been holding, which turned out to be an envelope, one of the fancy kinds Leo used I suddenly had a bad feeling about knocking Derek out Concussions could be healed by a va up dead I flipped the envelope over and saw the word Lachish written on the front, in Leo’s fancy penmanship "Well, crap," I said

"Don’t uy in jeans and T-shirt, with a weapon pointed at un, and he looked way too pleased to see hts at a ti to help or protect me Juwan had been the driver Or had followed Derek Soe at vaan to squeeze the trigger Rather than reply, I dove to the side, dropping the letter and drawing two nine millimeters Juwan’s weapon tracked me, and I heard the first shot

CHAPTER 15

By the Fluids of His Undeath

The next shots were overlaid, concussing and echoing Half-deaf, I heard aall at once Only to see Juwan fall Blood on both thighs

In a leaping crouch I crossed the floor and shoved the guns away fro hi wounds on the skin at his jugular, there were none, but Juwan’s left leg had sustained arterial da into the room Eli dropped to the floor besidefrom pockets and pouches He sliced open Juwan’s pants with a se--the latest medical wonder, developed for battlefield injuries, injectable, foae Still deaf, I dialed for help on my cell and held the phone to Eli’s head for him to handle Fortunately, his headset had protected his hearing in one ear Then, while he worked to stabilize Juwan, I gathered up all the unfired weapons, , the envelope addressed to Lachish, and all Eli’s extra a them over and beneath a shrub, where it would be hard to spot them from any direction Just in case

Minutes later an ambulance and police were out front, probably called by nervous neighbors, and the prih-priced firm The attorney was on the way,with Derek’s driver, and the cops would soon wantBecause, yeah, we had one unconscious guy and one shot guy lying on the foyer floor, with evidence of multiple shots fired But, ummm, we also had a crime scene withcalled to address a vauesses, and all of the about Derek and his driver being out to get h the unit’s side , and he gave a single quick nod, off to the side, away from the ruckus It was a tacit order for me to make our next appointment without hi I should be arrested too

I frowned but nodded I had given a preliood that it did, and if I stuck around, I’d be in cop central for hours while Joses/Joseph was still on the loose, with backup fro on Beast’s stealth abilities, I slid into the early shadows and along the house to the back I leaped the low fence and picked up all the gear

Crossing yards, courtyards, and streets, ju dark, I hoofed it out of the district, calling for a cab on the way I hadn’t contacted Rinaldo in ages, but he orking the dinner shift and said he’d pick ed on Jackson Avenue and spotted the cabbie in the rush-hour traffic Which was evento be very late to the appointment with Lachish, Molly, and Sabina On the way, I texted Alex with the deets of the a the entrance to the scion lair where we had trapped Juwan Fat lotta good it did us